Most of the things that came out of this man’s mouth hovered between truth and falsehood. Out of ten sentences, nine could not be taken seriously. After several encounters, Xu Fangfei had more or less gotten used to it, at least a little.
How to put it.
As the elders would say, anyone who dared to make a living in Lingcheng was living with a blade at their throat. People like him had no true sincerity and never spoke honestly. But because she knew his nature was not bad and that he had no real ill intent, Xu Fangfei would not genuinely get angry with him.
She was just a bit helpless.
Jokes like this, when made too often, became somewhat overly intimate, as if she and he were… very familiar, very close.
Xu Fangfei’s face felt hot. She lifted her eyes to look at Zheng Xiye, unable to hide her displeasure, and said sullenly, “You always tease me like this. Do you think it’s really that fun?”
Zheng Xiye returned to that expressionless look. His whole demeanor was cold and detached as he asked mockingly, “What man in this world doesn’t like looking at a pretty girl to please the eyes?”
Hearing this, Xu Fangfei’s chest thumped twice in quick succession, and her face grew even redder.
This seemed to be…
The second time he had praised her looks.
An eighteen-year-old girl was basically still half a child, with a simple mind and not so many twists and turns. Sometimes, whatever came to mind did not go through much thought before being blurted out.
Like right now.
Xu Fangfei looked at him and asked with utmost seriousness, “Then when you see me, are you really happy?”
At her words, Zheng Xiye’s gaze fixed on her fair little face, and he froze slightly.
Tick, tick. Time quietly slipped by for three seconds. Even the wind around them seemed to fall silent.
When Xu Fangfei saw that he did not speak, an answer had already surfaced in her heart. How could it be that he was happy just from seeing her? He was clearly teasing her, treating her like a monkey for amusement.
Thinking this, she suddenly felt a faint, almost imperceptible disappointment and low mood. When she spoke again, her tone was no longer as friendly, stiff as she said, “I seriously spent a long time picking out this gift for you. And you, you only know how to lie to me.”
The words were clearly unhappy, and her brows and eyes carried a hint of reproach, but her naturally soft, delicate voice was gentle and pliant, with no aggression at all. To Zheng Xiye’s ears, it sounded just like a little kitten.
The night was so quiet, the wind so soft.
Zheng Xiye stared at the girl in front of him, his eyelid suddenly twitching.
This little girl was too well-behaved, and also naive and green, beautiful without knowing it. Every frown and smile hovered between a mature woman and a childish girl. When she spoke, her thick eyelashes would unconsciously flutter. That fragile, pitiful quality could easily stir a person’s destructive impulses, and also make compassion and tenderness rise from the depths of one’s bones, making one want to pull her into their arms and cherish her fiercely.
This extreme charm and contradiction were fatally attractive to any man in the world.
Zheng Xiye’s dark eyes grew heavy. After looking at her for a few more seconds, his gaze shifted away without a trace.
He said, “I didn’t lie to you.”
Xu Fangfei did not believe his nonsense at all. She gave two light snorts, lowered her head, and refused to respond.
Zheng Xiye paused, stared straight ahead at the ink-black night sky, and let out a light scoff. His voice unconsciously softened. “Sometimes I feel like this damn life isn’t fit for a human being. But no matter how bad it gets, once I see you, it’s like everything eases up again.”
Xu Fangfei did not know that the fact Zheng Xiye could stand here intact today meant he had been dragged back from the gates of the underworld.
He had gone to Taicheng for seven days. Handling the business took less than an hour. The rest of the time, he lay in Old Qi’s underground clinic.
His left shoulder had been slashed. It was a flesh wound and should not have been fatal. The problem was that someone had smeared nerve toxin on the blade, causing him to run a high fever for four days without it subsiding.
Old Qi was frantic, pacing in circles. Seeing that Zheng Xiye remained unconscious, he had already prepared to notify Jiang Jiancheng’s side to go to Taicheng to deal with the aftermath.
Fortunately, Zheng Xiye’s life was tough enough that even the King of Hell dared not take him. He clenched his teeth and endured it.
After years of wind and blade, rain and sword, he had fought his way to this point and now sat as the second-in-command beside Jiang Jiancheng. On the surface, he looked impressive, but both his body and spirit were already exhausted. Like an ascetic monk, he walked alone through a long tunnel with no end in sight, surrounded by darkness and fog, bleak and biting cold. Outcomes, fate, answers, everything was unknown.
The trip to Taicheng had been a brush with death. It almost made Zheng Xiye begin to doubt whether everything he was doing truly held value and meaning commensurate with the price paid.
But those doubts vanished the moment the door of 3206 was knocked on.
He opened the door, and a little girl in a light-colored dress appeared before him, holding a lunchbox. She was full of vitality, slender and graceful, like a small rising sun, her whole body brimming with dazzling hope.
Zheng Xiye was almost dazed.
In this filthy land of sin, a clean and tenacious little flower had bloomed.
The girl was only eighteen, diligent in her studies, hardworking and sensible. She would surely have a bright and brilliant future.
At that moment, he saw Xu Fangfei glowing all over. The warm light that belonged to this resilient girl pierced through layers of darkness and also shone upon him.
*
Xu Fangfei’s mood suddenly became light and joyful.
Perhaps it was because she had successfully given the gift, or perhaps it was because of what Zheng Xiye said afterward. In any case, she was simply happy, the corners of her lips curved upward as she practically skipped and jogged all the way home.
“Didn’t you say you were going out to buy notebooks?”
Hearing the door open, Qiao Huilan came out of the bedroom. She sized her daughter up, frowning suspiciously. “Where are the notebooks?”
Xu Fangfei’s face warmed. Feeling guilty and embarrassed, she replied, “The stationery shop nearby didn’t have the style I like anymore. The owner said new ones will arrive tomorrow, so I’ll go buy them then.”
Qiao Huilan felt that something was off and was only half convinced. Looking at Xu Fangfei’s flushed cheeks, she frowned even more deeply. “Why do I feel like you’ve been acting kind of strange lately?”
Xu Fangfei gave a dry laugh. “No, not really. Mom, I’m fine.”
Qiao Huilan did not think further. She turned and went into the kitchen, took out a plate of sliced apples, and set it on the table, beckoning. “Go wash your hands and come eat some apples.”
“Mm.” Xu Fangfei nodded obediently. After washing her hands and coming out, she saw that the apples on the plate were large and plump, their color nearly dark red, unlike ordinary Red Fuji apples.
She picked up a piece with a toothpick and put it in her mouth. It was crisp, soft, and sweet, with a very distinctive texture. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she asked, “Mom, what kind of apples are these? I’ve never had them before.”
“It seems to be called Snake Fruit[1]蛇果 refers to a common apple variety in China, often the Red Delicious type, nicknamed “Snake Fruit” because of its dark red skin. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1541044_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1541044_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });,” Qiao Huilan said, taking out a small bowl, separating a few apple slices, and carrying them into her Grandpa’s room.
Xu Fangfei walked to the bedroom doorway. She examined the Snake Fruit in her hand, which had a crescent-shaped bite mark, hesitated for a moment, then asked, “This kind of fruit should be quite expensive, right?”
Qiao Huilan bent down and fed her father a small piece, replying casually, “Your eldest aunt sent these over. I’ve never bought them myself, so I don’t know the price.”
Xu Fangfei was surprised. “Eldest Aunt came over today?”
“She didn’t come to the house. She went to the paper offerings shop,” Qiao Huilan said. She paused, seeming a little hesitant, then continued after two seconds, “She said that in three days it’ll be your eldest uncle’s sixtieth birthday, and invited us to go over for a meal.”
Hearing this, Grandpa looked at Qiao Huilan and said, “There’s still four hundred yuan pressed under my pillow. Take it and give it as a gift.”
“No need, Dad,” Qiao Huilan said with a smile. “Business at the shop has been good lately. I have money on me.”
Qiao Huilan and her father continued chatting about family matters.
Xu Fangfei quietly withdrew. She took out her coin purse from her pocket, opened it, and once again carefully counted the neatly folded cash inside.
Buying the gift today had cost thirty yuan, leaving one hundred and seventy.
Xu Fangfei tidied the money again.
After a while, her grandfather finished eating the apple. Qiao Huilan came out with the empty bowl. Turning her head, she saw Xu Fangfei standing nearby with an expression that looked like she wanted to speak but was holding back, and she asked gently, “What’s wrong, Feifei?”
Xu Fangfei handed over the money in her hand and said, “Mom, I have one hundred and seventy here. Take it.”
Qiao Huilan froze for a moment, then reached out to push it away. “Keep it for yourself, to buy books and stationery.”
“Mom, I don’t usually have many places to spend money,” Xu Fangfei said. “When Dad passed away, Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt did everything, running back and forth to help. This time, with Eldest Uncle celebrating his birthday, whether it’s more or less, the money represents our family’s sincerity.”
Qiao Huilan said, “That’s not something a child like you should be worrying about.”
Xu Fangfei still refused to give up. “Mom, this money was given to me by you in the first place, and I saved it. Now that the family needs money, just take it.”
“I already said, I have money.”
“All these years, you’ve scrimped and saved and haven’t bought yourself a single new piece of clothing,” Xu Fangfei said, her nose stinging. “After Dad passed away, you’ve held this family together all by yourself, suffering countless grievances and enduring endless hardships. I’ve grown up now. I want to share the burden for you.”
Looking at her sensible, obedient daughter, Qiao Huilan’s eyes grew moist. Still, she waved her hand and gently stroked her daughter’s cheek, saying with relief, “Silly child. With you and Grandpa keeping Mom company, Mom has never felt that life was hard.”
Xu Fangfei hugged Qiao Huilan tightly.
She said softly, “Mom, I will definitely amount to something.”
Qiao Huilan smiled through her tears. “Of course you will.”
*
Not long after Xu Fangfei left, Zheng Xiye also entered the apartment building with the blue gift box in hand.
He inserted the key into the lock and turned it twice. When the door opened, a smell immediately drifted out of the pitch-black space.
Nicotine, alcohol, and mixed in with them, a trace of the ambiguous scent left behind after a man and a woman had tangled together. It was thick and pungent, truly unpleasant.
Zheng Xiye frowned in distaste. His cold gaze swept across the floor. Women’s skirts, stockings, bras, and panties were strewn everywhere, trailing all the way to the door of Jiang Zhi’ang’s bedroom.
That door was still tightly shut, with the occasional affected sounds of flirtatious banter drifting out.
Zheng Xiye went back to his own room without a word.
He could not be bothered to turn on the light. He bent down and sat on the edge of the bed, turned the gift box in his hands from side to side, lifted his eyelids, and examined it with interest. Then, with a slight movement of his fingers, he unwrapped the paper.
He opened the box.
By the light pouring in from the moon outside the window, Zheng Xiye narrowed his eyes and took a closer look, discovering that the gift box contained a small, multicolored figurine.
It was very small, delicate and compact, not even as big as his palm.
Zheng Xiye took the figurine out, pinching it between two long fingers and holding it up under the moonlight to examine it.
It was a clay doll, dressed in a little bee costume, sitting atop a hamburger. Its mouth was wide open, eyes bulging, with a comically exaggerated expression.
For some reason, the image of the girl’s shy, hesitant little face surfaced in his mind, along with her words, “I hope it can make you smile more.”
Thinking of her, Zheng Xiye’s gaze softened, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.
Just then, a sound came from next door. Jiang Zhi’ang, a cigarette clenched in his mouth, pulled open his bedroom door boldly while fastening his waistband. As he turned his head, he caught sight of someone sitting by the bed in the master bedroom. Not seeing clearly who it was, he cursed, startled so badly that the cigarette fell to the floor.
“Brother Ye? When did you get back?”
Jiang Zhi’ang looked shaken. He picked up the cigarette and stuck it back in his mouth, muttering in complaint, “Coming back so late and not even turning on the light. You scared the hell out of me. I thought a thief had broken in.”
Zheng Xiye put the clay doll back into the gift box. His expression instantly turned cold and unreadable.
He closed the lid. “Just now.”
“Oh.” Jiang Zhi’ang blew out a smoke ring and glanced back. Seeing that the woman was still sprawled on the bed like a dead fish, his impatience flared. He urged, “My brother doesn’t like having outsiders in the house. Hurry up and get lost.”
The woman panted softly, her whole body limp and weak. After a long while, she wrapped herself in the blanket and sat up, pinching her voice as she called out, “Boss, if you’re going to send me away, at least pass me my clothes. You’re not expecting me to run out naked, are you?”
Jiang Zhi’ang kicked her bra toward the door with his foot. “Pick it up yourself.”
The woman made a couple of coquettish complaints, got out of bed, wrapped in the blanket, and went to pick up her clothes. She did not even close the door, putting on each piece right in front of the man’s eyes.
Then she picked up her bag, walked out of the bedroom, gave Jiang Zhi’ang’s waist a pinch, threw him a flirtatious glance, and only then twisted her slim waist and left with full, sultry charm.
The front door closed.
Thinking back on her sultry, fiery figure, Jiang Zhi’ang still felt a bit unsatisfied. He licked his lips, looked at Zheng Xiye, and sincerely suggested, “Brother Ye, that chick has big tits and great skills. She’s really something. How about next time I let her keep you company?”
Zheng Xiye shot him a cold sideways glance and said nothing.
“What, afraid your little tender girl will pick a fight with you?”
Jiang Zhi’ang burst out laughing and stepped forward, slinging an arm around Zheng Xiye’s shoulder. He lowered his voice and said, “Brother Ye, don’t fucking take women so seriously. We’re brothers who’ve been through life and death together. Today you fuck my girl, tomorrow I fuck yours. What’s the big deal?”
Zheng Xiye still said nothing.
Jiang Zhi’ang continued, “Brother, with the relationship we have, I won’t beat around the bush with you. I really like that little tender one of yours. When you get tired of her, introduce her to me. How about it?”
These words were half a joke and half a probe.
Ever since seeing that little sister-in-law at the KTV last time, Jiang Zhi’ang had not been able to forget her. What he was saying now was both an implicit and explicit hint to Zheng Xiye. They were good brothers. He could send a woman to Zheng Xiye’s bed without blinking an eye, and he hoped Zheng Xiye would return the favor.
After speaking, Jiang Zhi’ang fixed his gaze on Zheng Xiye, waiting for his reaction.
At the side, Zheng Xiye lowered his eyes, fished a cigarette case out of his pocket, tapped it lightly with his fingers, took out a cigarette, and dropped it into his mouth. He flicked the lighter and lit it.
Immediately after, with the cigarette clenched between his teeth, he raised his hand and brushed away the arm Jiang Zhi’ang had draped over his shoulder.
Jiang Zhi’ang froze for a moment, frowned, and called out, “Brother Ye…”
Before he could finish speaking, a heavy punch smashed straight into his face.
Caught completely off guard, Jiang Zhi’ang did not even try to dodge. He took the blow full on. A tooth flew loose, and the taste of iron spread through his mouth.
The young master was beaten and was left completely dumbfounded. He staggered back two steps and collapsed onto the sofa, clutching his face, blood and the knocked-out tooth in his mouth, staring up at Zheng Xiye in shock.
Smoke blurred Zheng Xiye’s face.
He stood above him, flicked ash from his cigarette, and spoke with an unusually calm expression. “Young Master Jiang, all these years I’ve gone through life and death. If you and Old Master Jiang want my life, I won’t say a word. But if you want to touch my woman, it’ll only happen over my dead body.”
Jiang Zhi’ang: “……”
“Stay the hell away from your sister-in-law.” Zheng Xiye tilted his head slightly. In an instant, vicious intent surged in his eyes. “Did you hear me clearly?”
Jiang Zhi’ang was lecherous and a bastard, but he truly regarded Zheng Xiye as a brother. There was no need to tear things apart and get serious with Zheng Xiye over a woman. What was more, in Lingcheng, the surname Zheng carried weight. The desperate men under him all followed Zheng Xiye’s lead. Picking a fight with this living King Yama here left almost no chance of winning.
In the brief span of a moment, Jiang Zhi’ang’s thoughts had already turned over countless times. After only a few seconds, he forced out a sheepish smile and said, “Brother, I drank too much tonight and spouted nonsense. Don’t take it to heart.”
Zheng Xiye extended one hand expressionlessly.
Jiang Zhi’ang hurriedly grabbed it and was hauled up in one pull.
“As for what happened today, I’ll forget it overnight and treat it like it never happened.”
After dropping those words, Zheng Xiye turned and walked to the refrigerator, pulled open the door, took out a can of iced cola, and headed toward the bedroom while drinking it. He said indifferently, “In a couple of days, you still have to go see Gong She. Those Filipino thugs aren’t easy to deal with. Keep your wits about you.”
Bang.
The door closed.
Jiang Zhi’ang tilted his head and spat out the blood-mixed tooth, rubbed his cheek, and hissed in pain. He muttered in confusion, “It’s just a woman. Is she really worth treating like a treasure?”
*
Close to one in the morning, Zheng Xiye lay on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, still without the slightest hint of sleepiness.
After finishing a cigarette, he stubbed it out and tossed the butt into the trash, getting ready to go relieve himself and then try sleeping again. Just as he moved, the phone beside his pillow vibrated, the screen lighting up.
Zheng Xiye picked up the phone.
— [Have you looked at the gift?]
— [……I just realized it’s already past twelve. You should already be asleep, right? I hope I didn’t wake you T T.]
The contact name displayed in Zheng Xiye’s phone was “Little Brat.”
Zheng Xiye raised an eyebrow and replied.
— [You’re not asleep this late?]
*
One floor up.
Xu Fangfei had been working on a physics test paper tonight. The difficulty level was four stars and quite challenging. The last few big questions required a lot of thinking. She became completely absorbed. After finishing the final problem and thinking of the clay doll, she casually sent Zheng Xiye a message.
Only then did she happen to glance at the time in the top right corner of her phone and realize it was already the middle of the night.
Embarrassment welled up. Out of a desire to remedy the situation, she sent a second explanatory message.
At this moment, Xu Fangfei was curled up under the blanket, staring in surprise at the reply in her message box.
An instant reply…
He actually replied instantly?
Xu Fangfei hugged her phone and blinked, thinking to herself: As expected, a night owl. Not sleeping in the middle of the night. Who knows which bar he’s off enjoying himself at.
A moment later, she typed again:
[I was doing test papers just now. They were pretty hard. I spent a long time thinking before solving the last few big questions, so I didn’t notice the time.]
[What about you? It’s so late. Why are you not asleep either?]
*
Inside 3206.
Zheng Xiye lowered his eyelids and stared expressionlessly at the phone screen. In the darkness, the cold glow of the screen illuminated his face, light and shadow interlacing, faintly chilling.
[What about you? It’s so late. Why are you not asleep either?]
Why?
Because outside the window, the night was deep and silent, even the sounds of stray cats fighting had vanished without a trace.
Quiet.
A strange and gentle kind of quiet.
This kind of quiet made Zheng Xiye’s mind almost completely uncontrollably think of the little girl on the other end of the phone, the one named Xu Fangfei.
He thought of her cheeks tinged with red, her shy, faint smile, and her lips, naturally rosy even without lipstick.
A thread of restless irritation surged up.
He wanted to smoke again.
So he sat up, poured out the last cigarette from the bedside table, put it in his mouth, and lit it.
By nature, he was emotionally cold. Added to that, he had later undergone the most professional and iron-blooded training. His self-control was strong to the point of being nearly pathological. Learning to smoke had only been a matter of fitting in. His cold nerves did not feel much addiction to nicotine’s lure.
Thus, all along, Zheng Xiye’s dependence on cigarettes had never been heavy.
But recently, he had discovered that he was becoming more and more reliant on smoking. As for the reason behind it, when put into words, it could only be described as being possessed by obsession, because the frequency with which he thought of that girl had been steadily increasing.
Every time he thought of her, whether in body or in soul, it was as if he became unbearably thirsty.
Every inch of bone and blood, every single nerve, was suffused with a strange, unsettling thirst.
A thirst so intense it became stifling, so intense it turned irritable, so intense that it made him want to find some outlet for release.
At times, he also felt confused, unsure what he should do to quell this craving and desire.
He wanted to see her, wanted to hear her, wanted to watch her smile, wanted to share her sorrow and her joy, wanted to know every detail about her.
…
Zheng Xiye did not reply to Xu Fangfei.
He muttered a low curse, turned off the phone screen, closed his eyes, and pressed the hand holding the cigarette heavily against his forehead.
He felt as though he had been bewitched and that something was seriously wrong.
References[+]