Huang Mao had a peculiar habit – he preferred watching DVDs because he felt computer screens were too small and cramped when people gathered around. Watching on TV was more enjoyable, but DVDs were becoming obsolete, and only Xing Wu could get them.
Seeing Fat Hu and Xing Wu return, he hastily inserted the DVD, muttering, “My player might be broken. Last night when my dad suddenly came home, I panicked and unplugged it wrong. Brother Wu, can you help fix it later? I rely on it to stay alive.”
Quan Ya laughed beside him, “Would you die if you don’t watch for one day?”
They joked around as they played the disc. Meanwhile, Xing Wu was already sitting at the hot pot, which had been seasoned and started cooking lamb slices. The TV soon displayed explicit scenes, and the group of young men around twenty years old watched excitedly, urging Huang Mao to fast-forward.
Huang Mao gestured animatedly with the remote, saying, “Look, doesn’t she look like the girl we met on the street earlier?”
Everyone’s faces were practically pressed against the TV screen, their excitement obvious. Xing Wu glanced once and turned away with a cold expression.
Huang Mao excitedly turned to ask Xing Wu, “How about it, Brother Wu? She’s hot, right? That girl on the street probably looks just as wild underneath.”
As soon as he spoke, the atmosphere in the room became strange. Unlike usual, Xing Wu didn’t curse at him for being rude. Instead, he remained silent with furrowed brows, a sudden chill emanating from him as he said neither loudly nor softly, “Turn it off.”
Huang Mao thought he’d misheard, responding with a confused “Huh?”
Fat Hu stood to the side, frantically winking at Huang Mao, who didn’t catch on and continued excitedly, “Brother Wu, isn’t she hot?”
Fat Hu anxiously walked over, snatched the remote, turned off the TV, and bumped Huang Mao, saying, “Shut, shut up. The girl we saw on the street is, is Brother Wu’s cousin.”
Instantly, the room fell silent, everyone exchanging awkward glances and staring oddly at Xing Wu.
Seeing Xing Wu’s cold expression, Huang Mao said sheepishly, “Sorry, Brother Wu, I didn’t know that girl was… Hey, since when did you have a cousin? From Beijing too?”
Xing Wu remembered how Qing Ye had stood on the street earlier, head down and crying, her thin figure looking as if it might be blown away by the wind, utterly helpless and desperate.
He drained his glass in one gulp, stood up, and said as he left, “You guys eat, I’m leaving first.”
Huang Mao panicked, following to ask, “Leaving before eating?”
Xing Wu opened the door and left without looking back. Soon after, his motorcycle rushed past the window. Huang Mao scratched his head, “Did I say something wrong?”
Fat Hu patted him, saying, “Pro-probably Brother Wu has family issues. We should leave him alone for now. With his family situation, and suddenly having a cousin show up, who wouldn’t be in a bad mood?”
…
Qing Ye lay on the bed, staring vacantly at the mottled ceiling. She had been looking at it for half an hour, genuinely afraid that the peeling paint might suddenly fall. Beneath her was a skin-crawling red peony-patterned bedsheet. She hadn’t slept all night, thinking she would fall asleep once she lay down, but every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was that dirty, gray street and a sky without a single bird. The world outside the window seemed covered by a veil, separating her from her previous life. Everything felt like a dream, so unreal. Several times when she opened her eyes, she hoped she would still be lying in her soft bed at home.
However, the mahjong sounds from downstairs, the accented chatter, and the sound of people spitting outside the window all reminded her that this wasn’t a dream.
This continued until dark when Li Lanfang called her down for dinner. Qing Ye sat up suddenly, her head aching.
Looking at her dirty shoes, that nameless anger flared up again. The stairs were steep and narrow, and her eyes hurt more. She rubbed them and carefully descended the stairs while holding onto the wall.
The hair salon was already empty, the two hairdressers apparently off work. Small towns weren’t like big cities – shops closed early when streets emptied at night. Li Lanfang called out to Qing Ye from the backyard. She walked through the salon to the back, finding the backyard quite spacious. The kitchen was on the right side of the yard, with the toilet right next to it – who knows what kind of person would design it this way?
Under the shed outside the kitchen was a wooden table, with a broken light bulb hanging above it, moths relentlessly flying into it.
At the table sat an elderly woman with completely white hair, her head tilted abnormally. Li Lanfang came out carrying braised pork with vegetables, saying to Qing Ye, “Come eat. Oh, this is Xing Wu’s grandmother. She has cerebral palsy and doesn’t recognize people.”
Qing Ye sat down uncomfortably, glancing at Xing Wu’s grandmother. Her drool had flowed down to her chest and was bubbling – it was almost unbearable to watch.
Li Lanfang served rice to Qing Ye, telling her to eat first, then called out to Xing Wu’s grandmother, “Oh my, look at you, are you hungry?”
Li Lanfang roughly wiped the old woman’s collar and started feeding her.
Qing Ye completely lost her appetite, poking at the hard rice with her chopsticks. Just then, lights came on inside, and someone seemed to have returned.
Li Lanfang stretched her neck to look, put down her bowl, and said to Qing Ye, “I’ll go check. You eat first.”
As soon as Li Lanfang reached the shop, she saw Xing Wu who had just entered, and asked with surprise, “Have you eaten?”
“No.”
“Didn’t you say you weren’t coming home to eat?”
“Mind your own business.”
Xing Wu tried to walk past her to the backyard, but Li Lanfang grabbed him and said in a low voice, “Watch your temper. Let me tell you, your cousin’s mother just died, and her father’s in jail. She’s pitiful, and she’s counting on us now.”
Xing Wu shook off Li Lanfang impatiently, saying, “You got paid to take care of her, it’s none of my business. Stop with this cousin stuff. They didn’t even acknowledge you back then, and here you are eagerly taking care of their daughter. Playing the good Samaritan? Why don’t you open a shelter?”
He pushed open the backyard door with an angry expression. Li Lanfang cursed, “Is that any way to talk? Why did you come back? Just to anger me, you brat.”
After Li Lanfang left, Qing Ye faced a brain-damaged old woman who was drooling and staring at her – the atmosphere was extremely awkward. She had just taken a bite of rice when the old woman’s drool started dripping again, nearly making her throw up.
She looked around, took out a pack of tissues, folded several layers, and reluctantly wiped the old woman’s mouth with a disgusted expression, then threw the tissue aside. The old woman swayed back and forth, staring at the bowl in front of her.
Qing Ye looked into the salon, but Li Lanfang hadn’t come out yet. With no choice, she picked up the bowl and fed Xing Wu’s grandmother a spoonful.
Xing Wu happened to push the door open at that moment and froze at the sight of Qing Ye’s action. His previous anger seemed suddenly doused with ice water.
He walked over expressionlessly and snatched the bowl, then hooked a wooden stool with his foot and sat down.
Qing Ye’s inexplicable irritation resurfaced with Xing Wu’s appearance. She didn’t even look at him, turning away to eat.
With Xing Wu feeding his grandmother, Li Lanfang started eating herself.
Li Lanfang cooked with lard, which Qing Ye wasn’t used to. She already had little appetite, and Li Lanfang’s cooking skills were truly beyond words – even the vegetables were impossibly tough to chew, so Qing Ye could only eat plain rice.
Thinking Xing Wu wouldn’t come home for dinner, Li Lanfang had only made four meatballs. She ate two herself, the old woman had one, and after Xing Wu finished feeding his grandmother, only one meatball remained in the bowl.
After eating, Li Lanfang wheeled the old woman back to her room, which was in the yard directly opposite the toilet in a small house they had built. Xing Wu served himself a bowl of rice and sat across from Qing Ye, neither speaking to the other.
After a while, Xing Wu noticed the person opposite hadn’t touched any dishes. He looked at the two hastily prepared, unappetizing dishes on the table and suddenly burst out angrily, “All you know is gambling every day, might as well sew everyone’s mouths shut!”
Qing Ye jumped in shock, suddenly looking up at Xing Wu, with only four words in her mind: “What a mental case.”