Chapter 05
They both walk on foot to the underground station at the crossroads. When they get there, they rapidly stroll to the food stall. The shopping centre at this station is not big. The food stalls are not many either. But as long as there are some decent foods, that is enough for them.
From the corner of his eyes, the man glances at the girl who is watching him eat heartily. He eats so fast. Although he is not fat at all, he eats like a horse. Because she eats a lot, then the man thinks that this girl is someone who likes to eat, just like himself. In this case, he feels a good fit with this girl.
Although the man realises the girl watches him, he doesn't stop what he is doing. He is starving right now, so he doesn't care about anything but eat. He usually eats four times a day. In the past, when he was still a young man, he always eats five times a day. Each time he gets a large portion of food. Sometimes he even has more for seconds. In the last twelve years, he has tried to limit himself to eating only four meals a day with a reasonable portion. He rarely makes extra portions, unlike in the past when he could eat two or three servings.
"So, the caretaker called you Mr Duānmù."
They are eating in silence, so this time the girl initiates the conversation.
"Yes. That's my name." The man replies. He keeps eating.
"My name is Lǘqiū," the girl says. She smiles.
"It's nice to meet you, Miss Lǘqiū," says the man called Duānmù.
Lǘqiū laughs. She doesn't seem to have any burden. Duānmù guesses she finds the situation is amusing. An introduction is supposed to take place at the beginning of the first meeting. But she only knows his name and vice versa after spending the night together. Duānmù also agrees that it is indeed a funny situation.
After they stuffed their stomachs. Both of them at once sneak away from the food stall.
Duānmù says,
"Do you want to go the surface now?"
Lǘqiū looks at Duānmù with an astonished look. As if she is asking for an explanation.
"I'm afraid this morning those criminals are still trying to find you up there. Better stay underground for a while. Without a doubt, it's much better if you go to another area. I think it might be best if you go to Yueming to meet your relatives. It is definitely safer for you than wandering around alone."
Duānmù's words make sense. For a young girl like Lǘqiū, it is certainly much safer to be with her own family.
"But I still have three days. I am afraid that I wouldn't be able to walk around freely after I meet my relatives. In reality, I don't even know them well. Although they are my relatives, they are strangers to me. I think you are even more familiar to me than them."
Duānmù looks at Lǘqiū in amazement. It seems that she does not like to be with her family.
This girl is so weird!
Duānmù nods his head repeatedly. Then he asks Lǘqiū.
"Concerning about the thing we have experienced. Don't you think we should report it to the police?"
When Lǘqiū heard this rhetorical question, she seems hesitant. She says, "What about Hànróng, the caretaker? If we report it, naturally, he'll be in trouble."
"We could just say that the caretaker already went home when those people came. Let me take responsibility."
Lǘqiū still looks doubtful.
She says, "I know as a good citizen, certainly, we should report to the authorities when we see a crime."
Lǘqiū stops talking.
"But.....?"
This time the man tries to continue Lǘqiū's words.
Lǘqiū stares straight ahead.
"I don't know how to explain it."
She stops talking again. After five seconds, she continues:
"I once had an awful experience with reporting a crime. There are several consequences that I have to face."
Lǘqiū pauses her words. Then she looks at the man and continues her words.
"And it's not just once. Three times it's happened in my life. Even the last one was really annoying because it got me into trouble."
When Duānmù hears this, he said to himself.
It turned out that this girl had experienced bad things with the authorities. I better not push it further.
"Okay, if that's the case. How about you just stay at my house in these three days? Of course, if you want to come with me."
Duānmù thought this offer is precisely what this girl is waiting for. Naturally, she is afraid to be alone in a big, unknown city. Somehow Duānmù wants her to have the feeling that Duānmù is someone she can trust. Somehow he is right because Lǘqiū immediately agrees to his offer right after he asks.
Duānmù also found himself in a dilemmatic position this time. Such incidents are not ordinary things that should be ignored. As a grown man, he naturally realises that he is obliged to report crimes that occur around him. He can't be selfish. How about the victims of the crimes? For example, a woman who seems to be a victim of kidnapping, as this girl told him. Silence means that he allows crimes to happen.
Silence means that Duānmù is involved in this evil. But Duānmù also recognises that many people do not want to go too far. As this girl said, there are consequences to witnessing a crime. Not to mention the complicated and stressful process. Many people do not want their lives to be disrupted because they have to be witnesses.
However, Duānmù also realised that he is already involved in this incident. If it really was a kidnapping, as they thought, then this girl's safety is threatened. Duānmù feels his encounter with this girl was not accidental. It could be an introduction that the universe intended for Duānmù to enter this girl's life, or it could be the other way round, that this girl enters Duānmù's life.
However, since this girl refuses to involve the authorities and also refuses to meet her family, Duānmù is responsible for this girl's safety, at least temporarily. Half of him feel that the best way is to contact the police and this girl's family, but the other half of him wants to be this girl's guardian. It's really confusing. Duānmā feels this time that he could not understand himself.
They come back to Duānmù's house by underground through this station. In fact, people can also take the train from the station near Duānmù's home to this station. But it is more complicated for two reasons. The first reason is people have to change lanes three times. The second is that the route is further because the train has to take a detour. Yesterday afternoon, Duānmù took another train and got off at the other station, which is two kilometres away from the building, to save time. Duanmu's experience on several visits to the building made him realise the journey time for trains on this route is considerably longer than the journey time for trains on a route that stops at a station two kilometres from the building. Probably because the lag time the train stops at the station is slightly longer.
They don't say much on the way. Lǘqiū's face is bright. Duānmù has the feeling that this girl is not afraid. She seems to enjoy every second that happened on the journey. The train is not too crowded because of the departure time for workers and students had passed. Later, before noon and in the afternoon, the passengers will crowd the train again.
When they have to change trains, the number of passengers starts to increase again. In the middle of the day, the train feels crowded with passengers. Although the number of passengers is not as high as in the morning or evening when the mobility is very high.
Finally, almost four hours later, they reach the station near Duānmù's house. It is already lunchtime. Duānmù first takes Lǘqiū to lunch at the food stall at the station, afraid that there will be no food at home.
This time they don't eat as quickly as they were because they aren't starving yet. Duānmù eats his favourite dish, which is spicy lamb noodles, while Yìngyuè eats seafood fried rice. They chat again during the meal.
"The fried rice is delicious," Lǘqiū says.
"Yes, it is. Next time you must try this spicy lamb noodle," says Duānmù.
At that point, a mother and her daughter are sitting at the table next to their table. It seems that the mother is scolding her child for not wanting to eat. The mother feels that her child eats too many sweets, so that she loses her appetite. When she sees that, Lǘqiū's suddenly changed as if she remembers something.
"Last night, I got a bizarre dream!"
When Duānmù hears Lǘqiū's words, he also remembers his strange dream again. Without waiting for Duānmù's response, Lǘqiū continues her words.
"I dreamt of selling sweets in the middle of a field near a meadow."
What she just said surprise Duānmù. He also had the same dream.
"Maybe my subconscious remembers that I used to sell sweets, so I got carried away in a dream."
Duānmù is curious. He then asks.
"Have you ever sold sweets?"
"Yes. Although it just for fun."
When Lǘqiū smiles, Duānmù can see her teeth.
She continues her story.
"There used to be a sweet shop near where I lived. I often play there. The sweet shop owner really likes me because he thought I looked like his daughter when his daughter was still a little girl. He gave me lots of sweets every time I went to his shop. Sometimes I just put it in my school bag. Because I was so lazy to unpack the bag, the sweets were usually still in the bag when I went to school. When my friends saw, they asked me for sweets. I saw an opportunity to make some extra money, so I sold the sweets for my friends. Half the regular price, of course. That's why my friends called me Sweet Shop after that. "
This girl's story sounds fascinating. Apparently, she has a business mind since her childhood time. Hearing that, Duānmù nods.
"I realised children love sweets. When I moved to another place to live with my other family, who took care of me, I sometimes sold sweets. But it's been three years since I stop selling sweets."
Duānmù thinks it makes senses that life experiences would appear in someone's dreams. But it is bizarre if it carried away into somebody else's dream.
Remembering something, Duānmù suddenly asks.
"Have you ever eat horse meat?"
Lǘqiū's expression changed when she hears Duānmù's question. At that time, Duānmù regrets asking such a ridiculous question.
"Sure!"
Lǘqiū's answer completely exceeds Duānmù's expectations.
"At that time, there was a relative of mine who liked to eat foods that were not commonly eaten. Among them is horse meat. In fact, horse meat is not uncommon because as far as I know, people who live in grasslands usually eat horse meat. It is just not common for us who live in this part of the continent."
Lǘqiū stops talking when she sees the little girl whose mother had scolded suddenly throw her bag on the floor. Naturally, the mother gets angry. After picking up the bag, the mother immediately drags the child and walks away from the stall. Lǘqiū looks at the mother and child until they disappear out of sight. Duānmù feels Lǘqiū seems jealous of the child who still has her mother.
Then Lǘqiū continues her words.
"The weird thing was last night. I also dreamt of cooking horse meat!"
Duānmù becomes even more shocked. It seems their dreams are connected. If it turns out that Duānmù also appeared in the girl's dream, it means that they dreamt the same thing.
After that, Lǘqiū says nothing more about her dream. Duānmù doesn't want to push her to talk further. Maybe one day she will be willing to tell him more about it.
Done eating, they instantly depart up to the surface. From the station way out point, they walk to Duanmu's house. Duānmù notices that the girl turns her head right and left all the way to the house. The hot weather does not make her feel uncomfortable. In no time at all, they have arrived.
Before arriving at home, Duanmu has already told Lǘqiū not to say anything when they arrive at home. Let him explain to his friends first, before Lǘqiū wants to tell them anything.
According to Duānmù's guesses, they were all not home. But he is wrong. All his four friends are inside the house. As soon as Duānmù and Lǘqiū enter the house, the eyes of the four friends are directly fixing on Lǘqiū. Duanmu remembers this morning he said nothing about Lǘqiū on the phone.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Duānmù greets them and waving his right hand.
"Let me introduce, this is Miss Lǘqiū. She will stay here with us for a while. I will tell the complete story later. Now we have to clean up first."
Without being asked, Yiren, one of Duanmu's friends, steps forward toward Duānmù and Lǘqiū. Then he stretched out his hand to grab the backpack that Lǘqiū just put on the floor. Iren then picked up the backpack and walked, following Duānmù and Lǘqiū. They walked towards Duānmù's bedroom. After they are already inside the room, Yiren put the backpack in one corner of the room. After that, he sits on the chair in front of the study table.
Duānmù wants to have a bath first. He tells Lǘqiū to wait in his room. Duānmù then asks Yiren to stay in the room, to help Lǘqiū is she needs anything, until he finish take shower.
About twenty minutes later, Duānmù has finished showering. He sets foot in the room, already neatly dressed, and orders Lǘqiū to take a shower. After Lǘqiū gets into the bathroom, Duānmù soon asks Yiren to gather their friends to explain what had really happened yesterday. Duānmù also explained the reason for bringing the girl home.
Duānmù's four friends only nod when they heard Duānmù's explanation. From the looks on their faces, Duānmù can tell that they think he is crazy. The events he was going through were not ordinary. As an adult, Duānmù naturally has a social responsibility.
The good news is they all agree to let Lǘqiū stay in the house. After all, it's only for three days. If a neighbour asks, just tell them that Lǘqiū is Duānmù's niece who has just come from out of town. After all, they will soon move from there too.
Not long after, the bathroom door opens. Lǘqiū dresses neatly. After putting dirty clothes in a plastic bag and bringing it into the room. Lǘqiū instantly joins Duānmù and his four friends in the living room. She stands in front of them.
In a loud voice, she says.
"Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Lǘqiū Yìngyuè. I just came to this city four days ago. In three days, I will meet my relatives who live in this city to live with them. I think Uncle has already Duānmù tell you what happened. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask."
Uncle Duānmù? Since when did this girl decide to call me uncle?
Duānmù says inwardly while smiles and looks at Lǘqiū. After inviting Lǘqiū to sit down, he stands. He says.
"My name is Duānmù Shànquán. If you want to call me Uncle, it's better to use my given name, Shànquán. So, you can call me Uncle Shànquán. I think it is so much better to hear."
Lǘqiū nods her head at Duānmù's request.
"I am the oldest in this house. So everyone here calls me Dàgē, which means the oldest brother.
Then it is Yìxióng's turn to introduce himself.
"My name is Xīmén Yìxióng. I am younger than Dàgē but older than others. So my friends call me Ergē or second brother."
"How are you, Second Uncle," Lǘqiū said.
"Maybe it's better if you don't have to use a number," Yìxióng said.
"Very well, Uncle Yìxióng," Lǘqiū says.
Then it is Zhèngyì's turn to introduce himself. Zhèngyì is the tallest among them. He isn't really that tall, but because the others are short, Zhèngyì looks up high.
"My name is Dōngfāng Zhèngyì. I am younger than Erge. That's why these two people here usually call Sange," Zhèngyì says, pointing to Yīrén and Xìnxiù.
"How are you, Uncle Zhèngyì," Lǘqiū says.
Then it is Yīrén's turn to introduce himself.
"My name is Nángōng Yīrén. My age is much, much younger than those three."
"It's not that much," Zhèngyì protests when he hears these words. Yīrén only replies with a smile.
"Should I call you Fourth Uncle or Uncle Yīrén?" Lǘqiū asks.
"Maybe it's better if you just call me Fourth Brother or brother Yīrén," Yīrén laughingly says.
"Okay, Brother Yīrén," Lǘqiū says, also laughing.
Without waiting long, Xìnxiù says at once.
"I am the youngest here. My name is Běihǎi Xìnxiù."
"How are you, Brother Xìnxiù," Lǘqiū says.
Xìnxiù laughs happily when he hears Lǘqiū call him, a brother without he has to prompt her.
Afterwards, the six of them chat about themselves in the living room.
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