Troubled Youth Downstairs
In Ningcheng, August was the peak of summer heat, as if the city had been thrown into a celestial furnace. The cicadas on the osmanthus trees outside were nearly lifeless from the heat, their incessant cries all afternoon making Jiang Xu’s head spin. His desk faced the window, and the letters on his English newspaper looked like sesame seeds. After two hours, he couldn’t focus anymore and tilted his head back, calling out for his mom.
“Mom—Mom—”
His voice harmonized with the cicadas outside, even more robust than theirs.
Ms. Xu was in the living room, preparing vegetables while watching the most popular fantasy drama of the summer. Jiang Xu had glanced at it with her a couple of times, but the characters’ names were too long to remember. Ms. Xu, however, was quite engrossed, though her son’s shouting was getting on her nerves. “What are you yelling about in this heat?”
Jiang Xu poked his head out from his room, whining playfully to his mom, “When’s dinner? I’m hungry.”
Ms. Xu glanced at the time, just past four in the afternoon, and knew Jiang Xu was just bored. She replied absentmindedly, “We’ll talk about it when your dad gets back.”
“Where’s Dad?”
“At school, of course. The new term’s about to start, and all the teachers have to attend a meeting.”
After saying this, Ms. Xu turned to look at Jiang Xu. “Jiang Xu, once summer break ends, you’ll be in your second year of high school. Just one more year, and then it’s senior year. Are you ready?”
Jiang Xu thought the timeline was too long, with ten days of summer left. Unlike his forward-thinking mom, he only knew how to joke around. “I’m always ready. I wish I could take the college entrance exam tomorrow and get the results the day after, so I can post them on the community hospital’s bulletin board and make you proud.”
Even a mother would find a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy annoying. Ms. Xu rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, right. You ranked fiftieth last term, which was embarrassing enough. Go clean your shoes first.”
Jiang Xu had indeed done poorly last term, and Ms. Xu was not to be trifled with when it came to this topic. Jiang Xu obediently followed orders, scrubbing his white sneakers until they were spotless, wrapping them in tissue paper, and taking them to the balcony to dry.
The harsh afternoon sun was blocked by the lush branches of the osmanthus tree, leaving only patches of light on the balcony.
This was originally a housing complex for a government department, which had since relocated, turning it into a residential area. The old apartments had semi-open balconies, surrounded by semi-hollow steel railings with wide surfaces on top. Jiang Zhenghua had planted a variety of flowers and plants with his son: daisies, roses, succulents, hyacinths… Not many survived, but the ivy Jiang Xu had planted thrived. He treasured it, tending to it carefully. It grew thick and lush, occasionally spreading to the floor below, for which Jiang Xu had once apologized.
The previous second-floor residents were a retired couple who weren’t upset about the ivy. They even praised Jiang Xu’s gardening skills and asked for a cutting. Before they could get one, they moved away, saying their daughter had taken a job in the provincial capital and brought them along. The apartment had been up for rent since.
Jiang Xu had just placed his shoes next to the ivy rack. The heat was unbearable, and he was only wearing a white T-shirt and shorts. His clothes were splashed with water from washing the shoes, but he couldn’t be bothered to change. He waited on the balcony for them to dry. After a few minutes, he heard a car horn nearby.
Jiang Xu leaned out to look. Through the shadows of the camphor trees, a small Wuling truck approached and finally stopped below his building.
The truck bed was packed with what looked like luggage and some small furniture. Once the vehicle was parked, the front doors opened with a clatter, and a young man jumped out.
He wore a blue short-sleeved shirt and jeans. He looked quite thin but tall, about Jiang Xu’s height. His hair was cut short, the kind that would please any school disciplinarian. But he didn’t look up, so Jiang Xu couldn’t see his face, only the smooth lines of his profile.
Jiang Xu watched as the young man turned back to the truck, opening his arms slightly to catch a six or seven-year-old girl.
In the sweltering heat, the little girl wore a long-sleeved sky-blue dress, her hair in pigtails. She obediently let the young man lift her and place her on the building’s steps. A woman got out from the other side, appearing a few years older than Ms. Xu, very thin, in long sleeves and pants. She took the little girl’s hand from the young man and slowly walked into the building. After a while, Jiang Xu heard the sound of a door opening on the second floor.
The young man didn’t follow them inside. He took off his shirt, casually hanging it on the car window, and began unloading items from the truck and carrying them upstairs.
Four or five blue and white woven bags, various cardboard boxes, quilts, wooden cabinets, storage boxes… He moved them all by himself. The driver stayed in the truck, lending a hand occasionally, but moving wasn’t part of his job. The woman came out a few times to take small items. The young man said something in a low voice, and Jiang Xu only caught, “Just watch her.”
So the woman didn’t come out again. The young man worked quickly. Jiang Xu went to the kitchen, grabbed a small milk cake, and returned to the balcony. By the time he finished the last bite, the young man had moved everything and was paying the driver at the building entrance. He also handed over two bottles of water, keeping one for himself.
Watching the truck leave the complex, Jiang Xu noticed the young man didn’t return inside immediately. He opened the bottle of water and tilted his head back to drink.
He must have been quite tired, drinking half the bottle in one go. As he raised his hand to drink, Jiang Xu noticed that although the young man was thin, the muscles in his arms were well-defined and eye-catching.
What caught his eye even more was a scar on the side of the young man’s right forearm, as long as his hand, looking like it had been cut by something sharp. It was just scabbing over, slightly red from sweat, and appeared somewhat alarming. Jiang Xu only noticed it now.
Wow, Jiang Xu thought, a problem child just moved in downstairs.
He had been staring for a bit too long. The young man downstairs lowered the water bottle, slowly twisting the cap back on, and looked up at Jiang Xu.
Jiang Xu couldn’t avoid it, meeting the young man’s cold gaze and finally seeing his full face.
It was a striking face, especially the eyes, black and indifferent, as if they could see right through Jiang Xu.
Jiang Xu suddenly felt that holding an ice cream stick probably made him look a bit silly, but he could only muster a nod and greet the young man.
“Hi, I live upstairs from you.”
Of course, he was standing on the third-floor balcony. Such an obvious statement made him feel like he was stating the obvious. Jiang Xu hesitated, wondering if he should introduce himself, but the young man had already looked away, saying nothing, and walked straight into the building. Moments later, Jiang Xu heard the door slam shut.
Jiang Xu snapped out of it, eyes wide with disbelief—what was with that attitude?
He pursed his lips, turned, and went into the living room. A TV episode had just finished, and Ms. Xu glanced at him. “What were you doing on the balcony for so long?”
“Nothing much,” Jiang Xu replied, still annoyed by the earlier encounter, as he flopped onto the sofa. “Someone moved in downstairs.”
“Really?” Ms. Xu had vaguely heard the car earlier. Since it was the downstairs neighbor, she was curious. “What kind of people are they? Do they seem nice?”
Appearance and friendliness were two different things. Jiang Xu initially wanted to say they were terrible, but that didn’t fit based on looks alone, so he emphasized, “They look fine, but their manners are lacking, very rude.”
In just a few words, he gave two completely opposite answers, leaving Ms. Xu puzzled. As it turned out, that evening, the supposedly rude downstairs neighbor came knocking.
At six in the evening, Jiang Xu’s family had just finished dinner.
Ms. Xu had cooked, so afterward, Jiang Zhenghua mopped the floor and wiped the table, while Jiang Xu washed the dishes. The father and son, each wearing an apron, bustled about under Ms. Xu’s direction. Just as they finished tidying up, there was a knock at the door.
The old-style apartment didn’t have a doorbell, so the knock came three times. Jiang Xu dried his hands and came out of the kitchen just as Ms. Xu opened the door.
Standing at the door was the woman who had moved in that afternoon, still in her plain long-sleeved outfit, her hair clipped back with a black pin, revealing a thin, clean face. She held a bag of apples in her right hand and the little girl’s hand in her left.
She smiled at Ms. Xu, her eyes showing a few fine lines, looking somewhat reserved, her voice soft and slow.
“Hello, we just moved in downstairs.”
Ms. Xu and Jiang Zhenghua warmly greeted her, inviting her in to sit. Jiang Zhenghua called back to Jiang Xu, “Jiang Xu, come say hello.”
Jiang Xu walked over and greeted her with a “Hello, ma’am.” He couldn’t help but glance into the hallway—just the two of them, no sign of the young man from the afternoon.
The woman seemed even more nervous under the enthusiastic welcome from the Jiang family, almost flustered. “No, no, I just wanted to say hello. We just moved in, and the noise from unpacking might have disturbed you.”
She handed the apples to Ms. Xu, insisting she take them.
Ms. Xu declined a few times, but the woman was adamant, so she accepted them, thinking their manners were quite good. Her son must have exaggerated earlier. She quickly responded, “It’s no problem. This complex may be old, but the soundproofing is pretty good. We didn’t hear a thing—have you finished moving everything? If not, let our Jiang help.”
Jiang Zhenghua, who had been teaching for nearly twenty years, had a natural affinity for children. He bent down and asked, “Little girl, what’s your name?”
The little girl seemed a bit nervous meeting strangers for the first time, but she wasn’t shy about speaking. She bowed to the two adults and said confidently, “Hello, sir and ma’am. My name is Chi Ruirui.”
“Hello, Chi Ruirui.”
Mr. Jiang beamed like a peony. “How old are you?”
Chi Ruirui answered methodically, “Six years and nine months. I’ll be seven in November.”
Mr. Jiang praised her for being well-behaved and then started chatting with the adults about the neighborhood’s utilities and other trivial matters. Jiang Xu stood by as a bystander, accidentally making eye contact with the girl named Ruirui.
Her forehead was slightly sweaty, her bangs damp—perhaps from nervousness or the heat. It was probably the heat, given the thirty-degree weather, and her sleeves were pulled all the way down. Her eyes were even darker and brighter than the young man’s from the afternoon, like glass marbles. When she met Jiang Xu’s gaze, she flashed him a bright smile.
“Hello, big brother. My name is Chi Ruirui.”
Oh, she’s quite polite.
Jiang Xu reciprocated, “Hello, I’m Jiang Xu.”
After speaking, he reached into his pocket and found an unopened pack of milk candies—something he had picked up at the supermarket while buying cola yesterday.
Jiang Xu crouched down to be at eye level with Chi Ruirui, waving the candy in front of her before handing it over.
This small interaction went unnoticed by the adults engrossed in conversation. Jiang Xu listened with one ear while offering the candy. The woman across from him seemed embarrassed, speaking softly.
“…We just moved in, and I’m worried about her wandering off since no one knows us yet… We haven’t found a school yet…”
Mr. Jiang, ever concerned about education, grew anxious. “Oh dear, you need to find one quickly. The new term is about to start. Have you checked the nearby schools?”
The adults were deep in discussion, oblivious to the small exchange beside them. The little girl hesitated for a few seconds, glanced at Jiang Xu’s face, and probably decided he didn’t look like a kidnapper. She finally accepted the candy and looked up at Jiang Xu, softly and politely saying, “Thank you, big brother.”
How adorable. Jiang Xu smiled at the little girl, thinking she was much more charming than the problem child from the afternoon.
After a few minutes of chatting at the door, the woman insisted on not coming inside, shaking her head and saying, “Someone’s waiting for dinner at home, so we should head back down.”
After a few polite exchanges, the Jiang family watched the two head down the stairs before closing the door. Ms. Xu placed the apples on the coffee table. “So it’s a family of three that moved in. The little girl is really pretty.”
She had assumed from the phrase “someone’s waiting” that it was a family of three. Jiang Xu glanced at the apples on the table, five or six of them, not very large but golden. He instinctively added, “No, the other one is a kid too, about my age.”
Jiang Zhenghua seemed pleased. “Oh, then you have a companion for the summer. You can invite him to play basketball or go swimming. That would be great.”
Ms. Xu chuckled, giving Jiang Zhenghua a sideways glance. “Mr. Jiang, you’re just encouraging your son to goof off. Next term, he’ll bring home another fiftieth place.”
Ms. Xu’s authority in the household was unchallenged, and Jiang Zhenghua dared not speak further. He made a funny face at Jiang Xu before quickly going to wash the mop. Jiang Xu thought to himself, what are they worried about? The guy doesn’t even want to talk to me.
With that thought, Jiang Xu couldn’t sit still. He paced to the balcony to check on his beloved ivy and couldn’t resist glancing down at the floor below.
The downstairs terrace was lit, a soft yellow glow spreading layer by layer, illuminating a small patch of the night sky.