Chapter 05
The two of them headed toward the station at the intersection. When they get there, they headed directly to the food stall. The mall at this station was not big, nor were there too many food stalls. But as long as there was decent food, that's enough for them.
The man ate so quick. Usually, he ate four times a day. In the past, when he was younger, he even ate five times a day. Each time he ate large portions of food. Even then, sometimes, he had more for seconds. For the past twelve years, he had been trying to limit himself to eating only four meals a day with a reasonable portion. Unlike in the past, he rarely had some more meals or ate two or three servings.
"So your name is Duānmù?"
After for a while eating in silence, Yìngyuè started the conversation again.
"Yes." Replied the man.
"My name is Lǘqiū," said Yìngyuè.
"It is nice to meet you, Miss Lǘqiū," said the man named Duānmù.
Yìngyuè laughed. She found it hilarious to introduce herself to that man after spending the night together.
After feeling full, they inched away from the food shop. The man said,
"Do you want to go the surface now?"
Yìngyuè looked at Duānmù. She seemed astonished. As if she was asking for an explanation for that odd question.
"I'm afraid this morning those criminals are still trying to find you up there. Better to stay underground for a while. Of course, it's much better if you go to another area. I think it might be good if you go to Yueming to meet your relatives. It's definitely safer for you than wandering around alone."
Duānmù's words made sense. For a young girl like Yìngyuè, it was much safer to be with her family.
"But I still have three more days. I am afraid I could not walk around freely anymore after I meet them. I don't really know them either. Even though they are my relatives, to me, they are strangers. I think you are more familiar than them,"
Duānmù looked at Yìngyuè.
This girl is so weird!
He felt amazed. It seemed this girl was reluctant to be with her family. Then he asked Yìngyuè.
"Regarding the events we experienced. Don't you think we should report the police?"
Hearing that question, Yìngyuè hesitated. She said,
"What about the custodian? Hanrong, isn't it? If we report it, undoubtedly, he will get into trouble."
"Perhaps we could just say the guard already said he wanted to go home early. So he wasn't there when it happened. Let me take over the responsibility,"
Yìngyuè still looks doubtful. She said,
"As good citizens, of course, we should report to the authorities if we see a crime."
Yìngyuè stops talking.
"But…..?"
This time Duānmù tried to continue Yìngyuè's words.
Yìngyuè stared straight ahead.
"I don't know how to explain it."
She stopped talking again. After five seconds, she continued,
"I once had an unpleasant experience when reporting a crime. There are several consequences I have to face."
Yìngyuè stopped talking again. Then looked at the man and continued her words.
"And it's not just once. Three times this has happened in my life. Even the last one was really annoying because it got me into trouble. ,"
Hearing this, Duānmù said to himself in his mind.
It turns out that this girl experienced terrible things with the authorities. I better not push it any further.
"Okay, if that is the case. How about you just take a rest at my house? Of course, if you are willing,"
This offer was precisely what Yìngyuè was waiting for. It's understandable; she was afraid to be alone in a big, unfamiliar city. Somehow she felt this man was someone she could be trusted.
Duānmù also found himself in a dilemmatic position this time. Such incidents were not ordinary things that should be ignored. As an adult man, he realized that he should report crimes that occurred around him. People shouldn't be selfish. They could avoid getting into further trouble, but how about the victims of the crimes that occurred? For example, a woman who seems to be a kidnapping victim, as this girl told him. Silence meat he has allowed crime to occur.
Silence meant that Duānmù had a hand in this evil. But Duānmù also realized that many people did not want to get involved too far. As this girl said, being a crime witness had consequences. Not to mention the complicated and tiring procedure. Many people did not want their lives to be disturbed because they have to be witnesses.
Duānmù also realized that he was already involved in this incident. If it really was a kidnapping, like they thought. This girl's safety was being threatened. Duānmù felt this girl encountered with him was not by chance. It may be an introduction to something bigger. Perhaps the universe had arranged for Duānmù to enter this girl's life, or it may be the other way around, for this girl to enter Duānmù's life. However, since this girl refused to involve the authorities and refused to meet with her family, Duānmù was temporarily responsible for this girl's safety. Half of him felt that the best way was to contact the police and this girl's family, but the other half wanted to be the girl's guardian. It's really confusing. This time, Duānmu felt that he could not understand himself.
Then they returned to Duānmù's home by subway through this station. Actually, from the station near Duānmù's house, he could also take the train to this station, but it's more complicated. It's tricky because of two reasons. First, he had to change lanes three times. The second, the route was farther because it had to take a detour. So yesterday afternoon, Duānmù had taken another train and alight at the farther away station, two kilometers from the building, to save time. Duanmu's experience on several visits to the building had made him realize that the travel time for trains on this line was considerably longer than the travel times for trains on a line that stopped at a station two kilometers from the building. Probably because the lag time the train stopped at the station was a little longer.
On the way, they said little. Yìngyuè's face was bright. Duānmù could see this girl was not in fear. She seemed to enjoy every second that happened on the trip. The train was not too crowded because it was past the departure time for workers and students. Later, before noon, and in the afternoon, the train would be crowded again.
When they had to change trains, the number of passengers starting to increase again. High noon, the train crowded with passengers. Although the passengers were not as many as in the morning or evening when the mobility was very high.
Finally, almost four hours later, they arrived at the station near Duānmù's house. It was already lunchtime. Duānmù took Yìngyuè to lunch first at the station for fear that there would be no food at home.
Now both of them sat at the food stall. This time they didn't eat as fast as they were because they weren't hungry yet. Duānmù ate his favorite dish, which was spicy lamb noodles, while Yìngyuè ate seafood fried rice. While eating, they chat again.
"The fried rice is delicious," said Yìngyuè.
"Yes, it is. Next time, I suggest that you try this spicy lamb noodle, "said Duānmù.
At the table next to them, there were a mother and her daughter. The mother was scolding her child for not wanting to eat. The mother felt that her child overate candy, so she lost her appetite. Seeing that, Yìngyuè's face suddenly changed.
"Last night, I got a bizarre dream!"
Hearing Yìngyuè's words, Duānmù remembered his strange dream. Without waiting for Duānmù's responses, Yìngyuè continued her words.
"I dreamed of selling candy in the middle of a field close to a prairie."
Duānmù was very surprised to hear this. He also had the same dream.
"Maybe my subconscious mind remembers that I used to sell candy, so it carried away in my dream."
Duānmù was curious. He saw Yìngyuè's eyes then asked.
"Have you ever sold candy?"
"Yes. It just for fun though. There used to be a candy shop near where I lived. I often play there. The candy shop owner really likes me because he thought I looked like his daughter when she was little. He gave me lots of candy. Sometimes I just put it in my school bag. Because I was so lazy to unpack the bag, the candies were usually still in the bag when I went to school. When my friends saw it, they asked me for candy. I saw an opportunity to earn some extra money, so I sold the candies to my friends. Half of the normal price, of course. That's why, after that, my friends called me Candy Store."
This girl's story sounded fascinating. Apparently, she had a business spirit since her childhood time. Duānmù nodded his head to hear this.
"I realized young children love candy. So when I moved to another place to live with my other relatives, sometimes I also sold candy. But it has been three years since I stop selling candy. "
Duānmù thought it made sense for one's life experiences to carry over to dreams. But it was bizarre if it carried away into somebody else's dream.
Duānmù suddenly asked.
"Have you ever eat horse meat?"
Yìngyuè's expression changed upon hearing Duānmù's question. Duānmù regretted asking such a ridiculous question.
"Yes, I have!"
Yìngyuè's answer was entirely beyond Duānmù's expectations.
"There is my relative who likes to eat uncommon foods. Among those foods is horse meat. In fact, horse meat is not uncommon because people who live in grasslands usually eat horse meat, as far as I know. It's just not unusual for us who live in this part of the continent,"
Yìngyuè stopped talking when she saw the little girl whose mother had scolded suddenly threw her bag on the floor. The mother was getting angry. After picking up the bag, the mother dragged the child and left the place. Yìngyuè stared at the mother and child until they disappeared from her sight. Duānmù felt Yìngyuè looked jealous of the child who still had a mother. Then Yìngyuè continued her words.
"The more weird thing is, last night, I also dreamed of cooking horse meat! "
Duānmù grew even more shocked. Their dreams were connected. If Duānmù also appeared in the girl's dream, it means they were dreaming the same thing.
After that, Yìngyuè said nothing more about her dream. Duānmù also didn't want to press her to talk. Maybe someday she would tell him more about it.
After finishing their lunch, they rose to the surface. From the station exit point, Duānmù observed, the girl was turning her head right and left, all the way to the house. The hot weather did not make her felt uncomfortable. In no time, they have arrived.
Unlike Duānmù's guesses, everyone was home. Once inside the house, their eyes are fixed on Yìngyuè. This morning Duānmù said nothing on the phone.
"Good afternoon, everyone," Duānmù greeted them and waving his hand.
"Let me introduce, this is Miss Luqiu. For a while, she will stay here with us. Later I tell you the full story. Now we have to clean up first."
Before arriving home, Duānmù had already told Yìngyuè not to talk too much while at home. Let him explained to his friends first before Yìngyuè told them anything.
Duānmù took a bath first and told Yìngyuè to wait inside Duānmù's room. While resting, Yìngyuè observed the situation in the room. There was nothing unusual in the room. A bed, a study table, a few chairs, a wardrobe, and a wooden chest are there. Also, there were plain room walls, with no decoration, except for a wall clock that was not too big.
On the table was an alarm clock that was the size of the palm of a grown man's hand. There was a notebook next to the alarm with the name "Duānmù Shànquán" written on it. The name Shànquán really made Yìngyuè thought again about the rain she had yesterday.
About twenty minutes later, Shànquán finished taking a shower. He gets into the room, already dressed neatly, and tells Yìngyuè to take a shower. After Yìngyuè sets foot into the bathroom, Duānmù soon gathered his four friends to explain what really happened yesterday. Duānmù also explained the reason for bringing the girl home.
The four friends of Duānmù just nod when they hear Duānmù's explanation. From the looks on their faces, Duānmù could tell that they thought he was crazy. The events he was going through were no ordinary events. As an adult, Duānmu had a social responsibility.
The most important thing was they all agree to let Yìngyuè live in the house. It's only for three days, anyway. If a neighbor asked, just told them that Yìngyuè was Duanmu's niece who just comes from out of town. After all, soon they would also move from there.
Not long after that, Yìngyuè opened the bathroom door. She was well dressed. After putting dirty clothes into a plastic bag and putting it into the room, Yìngyuè joined Duanmu and his four friends in the living room. She stood before them. She said.
"Good afternoon, all. My name is Luqiu 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 Duanmu told you about what happened. If you have questions, please ask. "
Uncle Duanmu? Since when did this girl decide to call me uncle?
Duanmu said inwardly while he smiled and looking at Yìngyuè. After inviting Yìngyuè to sit down, he said.
"My name is Duanmu Shànquán. If you want to call me uncle, it's better to tie it up with Shànquán. Uncle Shànquán, it's so much better to hear. "
Yìngyuè nodded her head at Duanmu's request.
"I am the oldest in this house. So all of them here call me Dàgē, which means the oldest brother.
After that, it was 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," said Yìngyuè.
"Maybe it's better if you don't have to use a number," said Yìxióng.
"Very well, Uncle Yìxióng," said Yìngyuè.
Then it was Zhèngyì's turn to introduce himself. Zhèngyì is the tallest among them. He wasn't really that tall, but because the others were short, Zhèngyì looked towering.
"My name is Dōngfāng Zhèngyì. I am younger than Erge. So these two people usually call Sange here," said Zhèngyì, pointing to Yīrén and Xìnxiù.
"How are you, Uncle Zhèngyì," said Yìngyuè.
Then it was Yīrén's turn to introduce himself.
"My name is Nángōng Yīrén. I am a lot younger than the three of them."
"Just a little bit younger!" Zhèngyì protests when he heard these words. Yīrén just smiled.
"Should I call you Fourth Uncle or Uncle Yīrén?” Asked Yìngyuè.
"Maybe it's better if you just call me Fourth Brother or Brother Yīrén," Yīrén laughed while answering the question.
"Okay, Brother Yīrén," said Yìngyuè, laughing too.
Without waiting long, Xìnxiù immediately said.
"I am the youngest here. My name is Běihǎi Xìnxiù."
"How are you, Brother Xìnxiù," said Yìngyuè.
Xìnxiù laughed happily to hear Yìngyuè calling him as a brother without him had to prompt her.
After that, the six of them chatted about themselves in the living room.
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