Chapter 3
THE SHINY HEAD between the store shelves belonged to Gu Miao—although now, post-haircut, it was difficult to tell that it belonged to a little girl. She had on a boy’s-style blue-gray puffer jacket, and if it weren’t for her eyes, Jiang Cheng wouldn’t have recognized her.
Behind her stood Gu Fei with a cigarette in his mouth and an electric shaver in his hand, paused in mid-air. He was surprised to see Jiang Cheng here, apparently.
He looked different from when Jiang Cheng had seen him yesterday. Wearing a sweater and joggers, he looked relaxed and comfortable. His appearance and mannerisms differed dramatically from his four friends by the door. He was eye-catching, the kind of person who stood out immediately in a crowd.
Emanating from every pore of his body was the message: I’m the top dog.
Personally, Jiang Cheng never thought of himself as someone who looked like a bad guy, though he scared even himself sometimes when his temper flared. He assumed he’d just never gotten over the transitory affliction of adolescent rebellion and had turned it into a chronic condition. But today, when all he wanted to do was purchase a bottle of water in peace, he was pretty sure he looked completely harmless. So when all eyes in the convenience-store-pretending-to-be-a-supermarket simultaneously converged on him with a silent expression that all but screamed “you’re looking for trouble,” he was more than a little perplexed.
In the midst of this tension, a bit of ash fell from the tip of Gu Fei’s cigarette onto Gu Miao’s newly shiny scalp, and she ducked her head and brushed at it roughly with both hands.
Jiang Cheng didn’t let the attention get to him. Growing up, he had never shied away from trouble and wasn’t intimidated by any “what are you looking at” stares. Especially when he wasn’t feeling well, mentally or physically. He walked to the shelf to grab himself a bottle of water. But when he glanced up, he saw Gu Fei standing on the other side of the shelves.
After a brief exchange of eye contact through the gap between two cans of chips, Gu Fei finally said, “Welcome.”
“This your family’s store?” Jiang Cheng asked.
Gu Fei nodded. “Yeah.”
“What a coincidence.”
Since Gu Fei said nothing in response, and Jiang Cheng didn’t feel much like making more small talk at the moment, he tossed the bottle gently in his hand and headed straight to the checkout.
A young man walked behind the cash register. Propping his hands on the counter, he leaned forward to stare at Jiang Cheng. “Two bucks.”
Jiang Cheng swept a glance at him. The “Fresh Out of Jail” quartet were still in their respective spots. This new guy was the one who’d been standing next to Gu Fei when he first came in.
He hadn’t noticed earlier in the dim lighting, but under the fluorescent ceiling light that hung over the counter, a cursory glance showed him a rather pretty face, almost feminine featured. Aside from the long, tapered eyes, the rest of his facial features actually made him seem more like Gu Miao’s older sister…no, brother. He looked the part more than Gu Fei did, anyway.
Jiang Cheng handed over a ten-yuan bill from his pocket. The young man looked down and punched it into the cash register, then gave him another look.
“You Da-Fei’s friend? I haven’t seen you around.”
“No.” Jiang Cheng popped a couple of pills from the pack of cold medicine he’d just bought and washed them down with some water.
“No?” The guy’s gaze traveled over his shoulder and landed somewhere behind him. He placed the change on the counter. “Ah.”
Jiang Cheng threw the half-finished bottle of water into the trash can by the door, then lifted the heavy curtains to go outside.2
“Geez, you should’ve gotten a smaller size.” The cashier’s voice sounded from behind. “How wasteful.”
“…I didn’t think about it,” Jiang Cheng said.
The guy was right, of course. Why hadn’t he gotten the smaller bottle? He wasn’t going to finish it anyway. Must’ve been the intensifying soreness all over his body short-circuiting his brain.
He stood on the steps outside, having trouble remembering where he was heading before he went into the store… Should he go back? Back where? Li Baoguo’s—no, his new home?
At the mere thought of the disgusting state of the apartment and Li Baoguo’s thunderous snores, he felt a tightness in his chest that crawled all the way up his throat. He suddenly found it difficult to get air into his lungs—it was like he couldn’t breathe at all.
Bright stars spread across the black background of his vision.
Having lost control of his body, Jiang Cheng felt himself drop to the ground, spinning like a sack of flour. With his last remaining shred of consciousness, he sighed.
This should be good.
Gu Miao rubbed her smooth head as she walked toward the door, skateboard in hand.
“Your hat.” Gu Fei picked up his jacket from a chair, pulling out a green knitted cap decorated with little flowers from where it was bunched up in one of the pockets, and tossed it onto her head.
Gu Miao yanked it roughly over her ears. Eyes on the ground, she went out the door…then immediately came back in, slapping the counter.
“What is it?” Li Yan leaned over the cash register and tugged on her hat, then raised his eyes at Gu Fei. “You really went and knitted her a green hat?”3
“She picked the color herself.” Gu Fei put the electric shaver away and turned his attention to Gu Miao. “What is it?”
Gu Miao pointed at the door.
“Is there a dog?” Gu Fei kicked his chair to one side and walked over, lifting the curtain.
The baller who’d bought a bottle of water just to throw half of it away was currently ass up on the sidewalk outside the store, hugging the ground with his face.
“Hey.” Gu Fei walked out and nudged Jiang Cheng’s leg with his toes. He didn’t even know the guy’s name. “You all right?”
The baller didn’t move. Gu Fei bent down to study his face where it was pressed against the ground, noticing that the tip of his nose was flattened against the sidewalk. He carefully lifted Jiang Cheng’s head and tilted it slightly so he could breathe, then turned and shouted into the store.
“Hey! We got a man down!”
Li Yan was the first one out the door. He froze at the scene before him. “Was he stabbed?”
“What, were you the one who stabbed him?” Gu Fei touched the baller’s face and felt its scorching temperature. “He’s burning up.”
“You can pass out from a fever?” Li Yan was clearly a little stunned. He turned to look at the others who had followed him out. “What do we do? Call an ambulance?”
“I say don’t bother.” Liu Fan looked around. “If some hypervigilant auntie sees and calls the cops, they’ll blame it on us for sure. I only just got out yesterday…”
“Drag him inside,” Gu Fei said.
“Drag… You know him, right?” Liu Fan asked.
“Just do as you’re told. Even if they don’t know each other, Da-Fei touched him just now,” Li Yan said. “If some auntie calls the cops, do you think they won’t think to ask us about it?”
“He’s passed out from a fever is all. Your non-existent screenwriting career must be a real disappointment to your mom and dad.” Gu Fei flipped Jiang Cheng over. “Hurry it up.”
Together, the bunch of them carried the unconscious body into the store and left him in the spare room Gu Fei usually used for breaks and naps.
“Tch, I didn’t even get to sleep properly in this bed,” Li Yan said once everyone else was out. “This weakling who popped out of nowhere got to enjoy it first.”
“You go out there and eat shit, and I’ll tuck you in right away,” said Gu Fei.