Wen Ye and Gu Sheng wandered over to the middle-aged woman holding a baby. The woman was thin, with half-white hair, and wore a worn-out padded jacket whose cuffs were frayed and fuzzy. Her head bobbed up and down as she nodded off, looking thoroughly fast asleep.
Wen Ye thought to herself that this didn’t look like someone who would be carrying anything valuable. She glanced around, sat down on the edge of the woman’s large bag, and Gu Sheng stood in front of her to block her.
Silently, Wen Ye unzipped the zipper. The baby in the woman’s arms suddenly moved, startling Wen Ye into freezing. She held her breath, fixing her eyes straight on the infant, ready to bolt the moment it started crying.
Gu Sheng also stared anxiously at the baby, but fortunately, the infant only shifted its head a little and settled back down quietly.
Out of the corner of her eye, Wen Ye scanned her surroundings. People were sleeping, reading newspapers, or making phone calls; no one was paying attention to her.
She continued, using two fingers to pry the zipper open. Her slender fingers slipped inside along the gap, searching with small, probing movements. Got it. Pressing two fingers together, she pinched a small pouch. Usually, people kept a bit of cash in these, so she opened the bag to check.
First, she pulled out a piece of paper. Not caring for it, Wen Ye set it aside.
Gu Sheng noticed the corner of the paper had the word hospital written on it. Her gaze shifted; she picked up the paper and unfolded it.
There was a lot of text. Scanning it rapidly line by line, Gu Sheng caught a few key phrases: cancer cells, late stage. She looked over at the patient’s section: the patient’s age was 3 years old.
Gu Sheng handed the paper to Wen Ye.
Wen Ye was busy rummaging through the small pouch, having just spotted a stack of cash inside, lots of red bills.
Glancing at the paper handed to her, Wen Ye blinked, took it, put it back into the large bag, tucked the small pouch into her own jacket, and prepared to zip up the large bag.
Gu Sheng frowned, pressed down on her hand, and shook her head at her.
Anxiously looking from the woman to Gu Sheng, Wen Ye mouthed, Let go.
She almost forgot; she wasn’t very literate. Gu Sheng leaned close to Wen Ye’s ear and briefly explained the situation.
Gu Sheng’s words struck a chord in Wen Ye’s heart, making it shrink. She felt the pouch, then looked at the baby, who was bundled up like a zongzi.
In her two years of thievery, this was the first time Wen Ye had ever stolen from someone worse off than herself. At least she was still alive, whereas this baby didn’t have much time left. She had heard of cancer; once you got it, you were bound to die.
In a daze, Wen Ye felt as though Uncle Kai was watching her. Her calves began to tremble. What should I do? Should I just walk away? Yes, just walk away. Anyway, this baby is a goner, might as well take the money to save myself. But what if this baby still has a chance? If I take the money, wouldn’t I be sending her to death?
Wen Ye’s darting gaze finally settled on Gu Sheng’s eyes. She saw unease, fear, sadness, and panic in Gu Sheng’s eyes.
Gu Sheng was in a turmoil; she had no idea what to do either. Stopping Wen Ye just now had been purely instinctual.
The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds.
Wen Ye closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, pulled the pouch out from her jacket, stuffed it back into the large bag, and pulled the zipper shut. The whole sequence of actions was so fast, as if she was afraid she would change her mind.
Then, she gave the woman a gentle nudge. The woman jolted awake, her first reaction being to clasp the baby tightly to her chest before looking up at them.
Wen Ye: “Auntie, I accidentally bumped into you. I thought she was cute and wanted to get a closer look.”
Seeing that they were just two kids, the caution in the woman’s eyes faded. She pushed the cloth wrapping her daughter aside a bit, held her out toward Wen Ye, and gently rocked her. “Nuonuo, the big sister says you’re cute.”
Wen Ye reached out a hand wanting to touch the baby’s soft, plump cheek, but retracted it just as quickly. Her hands were too dirty; better not touch.
Avoiding the woman’s eyes, Wen Ye spoke quickly, “Auntie, you should keep an eye on your bag when you sleep.” With that, she stood up and ran off, and Gu Sheng hurried after her.
After sprinting past a few rows of seats, Wen Ye finally dared to stop and catch her breath. Once she had caught her breath, Gu Sheng came up, also panting heavily.
Not daring to look in Uncle Kai’s direction, Wen Ye quickly scanned the lobby to find a new target. She had to hurry today.
Wen Ye thought that perhaps the heavens pitied her after all, as she successfully managed to score from two wealthy-looking marks shortly after, both wallets bulging.
Having completed the thefts, she didn’t linger and quickly found Uncle Kai to regroup and evacuate.
Uncle Kai drove the van, picked up the rest of the crew scattered around the area, and headed back home.
The air pressure inside the car was at absolute rock bottom throughout the entire ride, and despite the freezing weather, a layer of sweat broke out on Wen Ye’s forehead.
That evening at the table, Aunt Rong held the two wallets Wen Ye had pilfered today. She took out the cash inside, stacked it together, licked her finger, and counted the bills one by one.
Wen Ye’s tongue felt stiff with anxiety. Her lips quivered as she silently counted along with the movement of Aunt Rong’s fingers.
“3,800.” Finishing her count, Aunt Rong tapped the money twice against the table, straightened the stack, and put it into her cross-body bag.
After putting the money away, Aunt Rong looked at Wen Ye. “For your skill level, this number is normal. Not a bad haul.”
Aunt Rong’s eyes flashed, and she nodded hurriedly.
“However.” Aunt Rong’s tone suddenly turned heavy.
Wen Ye clutched the seams of her pants tighter. It’s over.
“I heard you actually had a mark today, but you put the stuff back. Explain yourself. What’s the meaning of this?”
Wen Ye swallowed hard and opened her mouth, but her vocal cords felt as if they were being choked, unable to produce a sound.
Seeing Wen Ye unable to speak, Uncle Kai cracked his knuckle joints with loud pops off to the side, waiting for Aunt Rong’s command to step up and dish out a beating.
“Because people nearby were watching us, and I saw police patrolling close by. I was afraid that person would call the cops over. That way we wouldn’t get the stuff and we’d get arrested too. Besides, Uncle Kai was right nearby, and I was afraid the police would spot him.”
Gu Sheng had stepped up beside her at some point and rattled off a whole string of excuses. Once Wen Ye’s shock subsided, it turned straight into worry. Why is she sticking her neck out? One person getting beaten is enough.
“Is that true?” Aunt Rong turned to look at Xiao Kai.
Uncle Kai recalled the scene. “There seemed to be cops around, yeah.”
Aunt Rong turned back around. “Oh, you’re quite clever, aren’t you?”
Gu Sheng let out a breath of relief, only to hear Aunt Rong say the next second, “But rules are rules. In our line of work, once something is taken, there’s no such thing as putting it back. If everyone acts like Xiao Wu here, are we supposed to starve?”
Looking straight at Wen Ye, Aunt Rong asked, “Which hand put it back?”
Hesitating for a moment, Wen Ye tremblingly raised her right hand.
Aunt Rong pulled a cigarette case from her cross-body bag, flicked out a cigarette, lit it, and took a couple of puffs.
Exhaling smoke, she said, “Roll up your sleeve.”
Gu Sheng’s eyes widened in horror. Rushing forward, she grabbed Wen Ye’s arm and shielded her in front. “Auntie Rong, this isn’t Xiao Wu’s fault! I was the one who insisted she put it back, I was scared of the police.”
“Xiao Kai, pull her away.” Aunt Rong didn’t wait for her to finish.
Uncle Kai stepped forward, hoisted Gu Sheng aside like a little kitten, and pinned her hands behind her back. Rendered completely immobile, Gu Sheng could only watch helplessly as Wen Ye rolled up her sleeve.
“No! Auntie Rong! Please!” Gu Sheng’s cry carried a sob.
Smoking her cigarette, Aunt Rong narrowed her eyes and swept her gaze across the room. “All of you little brats, pay close attention. This is what happens when you try to pull tricks behind my back.”
With her head lowered and arm held out straight, Wen Ye actually stopped feeling scared once things reached this point. Her legs stopped shaking, and her heart stopped racing.
Aunt Rong took another couple of puffs until the glowing ember of the cigarette burned a bright red. Holding the cigarette, she pressed the lit end against Wen Ye’s forearm.
Trembling fiercely from the pain, Wen Ye bit down hard on her lower lip. She felt the skin on her forearm grow scorching hot first, followed by a piercing pain like needles. The muscle there seemed to twitch on its own, hurting with every single spasm.
Aunt Rong would take a puff, press against Wen Ye’s arm, take another puff, and press again.
Weeping uncontrollably off to the side, Gu Sheng bit her lip as she glared fiercely at the smoking demon. She hated her. If she could, she would love to rush up and bite this monster to death. The reality was that she was completely powerless against all of this, forced to watch the glowing red cigarette tip repeatedly press into Wen Ye’s arm.
Finishing the entire cigarette, Aunt Rong stubbed the butt out directly against Wen Ye’s skin.
Standing up, she patted down her clothes where no dust existed. “Xiao Wu gets no dinner tonight.”
With that, she wiggled her hips and walked back to her room.
Wen Ye’s strength completely gave out, and she collapsed to her knees, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes while her nose ran. Pressing a tight grip onto her right wrist, she desperately wanted to rub her searing wounds, yet didn’t dare touch them, so she could only pinch her wrist in a futile attempt to distract herself from some of the pain.
Uncle Kai released Gu Sheng as well and walked into the room.
The moment she was freed, Gu Sheng rushed over to Wen Ye’s side, grabbed her shoulders anxiously, and helped her up. “Wen Ye, I’ll take you to run some water over it.”
Gu Sheng supported Wen Ye to the bathroom, turned on the single faucet, and placed Wen Ye’s arm under the stream of running water. Forcing her mind to stay calm, she carefully recalled the first aid knowledge she had learned. She remembered that burns needed to be flushed with water, but not poured directly onto the wounds. Shifting Wen Ye’s arm slightly, she let the column of water flow over the skin just above the scattered, uneven burns.
Feeling the scorching arm find immediate relief, Wen Ye let out a slow breath from her tight chest as fresh tears rolled down. “Gu Sheng, it’s fine. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Crying along with her, Gu Sheng’s voice hitched between sobs. “I’m sorry, Wen Ye. It was me who stopped you.”
Staring at her arm, Wen Ye muttered under her breath, as if speaking to Gu Sheng, yet also to herself: “It wasn’t because of you, it was me. I pickpocket every day, but I felt like if I took that thing today, I would turn into a murderer. I didn’t dare take it. Earlier, when I thought about Xiao Er almost being sold for blood, I had nightmares all night. If I really took it today, I would definitely keep dreaming about that kid all the time. That TV show Huang Mao watched before was about kids turning into ghosts for revenge. I was scared.”
Sniffling after she finished speaking, Wen Ye turned to look at Gu Sheng, saying with lingering fright, “Good thing you stopped me.”
Thinking Wen Ye would either yell at her or refuse to speak to her ever again, Gu Sheng was surprised that not only was she not angry, but she was even thanking her.
Crying even harder now, Gu Sheng hugged Wen Ye tightly from the side, burying her face in Wen Ye’s neck, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed. She had been genuinely terrified just now, scared that Wen Ye would be beaten to death or crippled.
Using her left hand, Wen Ye patted Gu Sheng’s head. “Stop crying. You’re older than me, why are you such a crybaby?”
Embarrassed, Gu Sheng wiped her tears clean against Wen Ye’s neck and lifted her head.
Wen Ye: “You’re so gross, Gu Sheng. You wiped your snot all over me, I’m going to wipe mine on you too.”
A tearful smile broke across Gu Sheng’s face as she used her own sleeve to dab at Wen Ye’s nose, helping wipe away her mucus. When she pulled her sleeve back up, a long string of snot stretched out between them.
“Hey! What are you doing!” Wen Ye’s face flushed red. Temporarily forgetting the pain in her arm, she hurriedly lowered her head to blow her nose with clean water.
Gu Sheng rushed to protect her injured arm. “I wasn’t laughing at you.”
Looking up, Wen Ye caught the curve of her lips. “You say you aren’t, but you’re clearly smiling.”
“I am not.”
“You are.”
“I really am not.”
“You totally are.”
Going back and forth, their cheerful yet trivial dialogue made the two of them feel like nothing more than a couple of ordinary elementary school students in that exact moment.