Pei Xiuyan bought Xiao Ciyou a new phone. Once they had taken care of getting her a phone number, they went to the bank and opened an account for her.
At the restaurant, she hugged her phone and opened the apps one by one, registering accounts one by one. At last, the twenty-first century began to feel real to her.
By then, Qi Jia had already sent a friend request to the number she’d received. Xiao Ciyou accepted it at once.
Qi Jia transferred 1,300 yuan and said, “Master, include the talisman you were going to give me last time in this payment! I’ll take it!”
Xiao Ciyou happily accepted. “No problem!”
Seeing the two of them chatting away, Pei Xiuyan opened his QR code and held it out to her. “Scan this and add me.”
As Xiao Ciyou did so, she said, “You know lots of people, so remember to spread the word for me. If anyone needs anything, tell them to contact me anytime.”
“Contact you?”
Xiao Ciyou raised her hand and shook the bracelet on her wrist. “Your life is safe for now, and you’ve already paid me. Qi Jia’s problem is taken care of, too. I’m going home.”
“Here come the dishes!”
The server brought out the restaurant’s signature dishes one after another. Xiao Ciyou’s appetite was whetted, and she ate with gusto.
Pei Xiuyan frowned slightly. “That’s fine, too. I’m not used to having another person at home.”
He quietly served himself and ate, then looked at Xiao Ciyou across the table, who was devouring everything in sight. She’d finished an ice cream with ten flavors and could still put away eight dishes and a soup. Her stomach was practically a bottomless pit!
He wondered how many dishes the Xiao family had at each meal.
Pei Xiuyan called over a server. “Pack up another serving each of the green crab, steamed pork with rice flour, and crispy lotus root balls for us to take away.”
Xiao Ciyou hurriedly raised a hand. “And the thousand-layer pastry!”
…
The afternoon sun was bright. Xiao Ciyou gave Uncle Li the address the Song Family had provided before the original owner was thrown out of their home.
The car drove to the old part of town and stopped at the entrance to the Happiness Garden residential complex.
Carrying the food containers from the restaurant and the large bag of cinnabar and yellow paper Old Madam Pei had given her, Xiao Ciyou hopped out and waved to Pei Xiuyan and Uncle Li.
“I’m home! Goodbye!”
Uncle Li watched Xiao Ciyou walk away, then looked at the peeling iron gate and the mottled exterior walls of the building. He couldn’t help sighing.
“Miss Xiao’s family is really struggling. Xiuyan, did you ask her if there was anything she needed help with? We could at least lend a hand.”
Pei Xiuyan rolled up the car window. “We only met by chance. Was giving her a bracelet not enough? Let’s go.”
…
Xiao Ciyou found Unit 102 in Building Two and knocked on the door.
Footsteps sounded inside almost immediately. A few seconds later, the dark-brown security door opened.
A weary-looking woman stood in the doorway. Most of her clothes were wet, and noodles were stuck to her shoulder. She smelled of tomato and egg.
Wiping at her clothes with a towel, she managed to ask, “Who are you looking for?”
Xiao Ciyou got straight to the point. “I’m the other baby who was switched at birth with Song Yingshi. My name is Xiao Ciyou. I’m your daughter.”
The woman’s hand stopped mid-wipe. She was about to say something when a scream suddenly came from inside.
“Come in and sit,” she said, then hurried away.
Carrying her things, Xiao Ciyou walked into the Xiao home.
The first thing she saw was a living room that wasn’t very spacious. The decor was old, but the wooden tabletop and cabinets had been polished until they gleamed. A lace cover lay over the sofa, and the cushions were arranged neatly.
The dining table was just around the corner, beside a small kitchen, with the bathroom next to it.
A girl’s screams and sobs came from inside.
Xiao Ciyou set down her things and walked over. The door was open. She saw a girl of about ten sitting on the floor, her clothes covered in spills. The woman tried to clean her up, but the girl flailed and screamed, shoving her away like a baby who couldn’t understand what an adult was saying.
Noticing Xiao Ciyou watching, the woman tried to keep the girl from scratching her while explaining with difficulty, “This is your little sister, Xiao Yanchun. She hit her head when she was little, and her intellectual development was impaired. She just knocked over the soup noodles and got them everywhere. I’ll clean her up first. You can look around.”
Before coming back, Xiao Ciyou had been prepared for this.
Song Yingshi had been born a jinx. The Xiao family had raised her for eighteen years, so of course they’d been affected. But Xiao Ciyou hadn’t expected the family to be not only poor, but to have a mentally disabled child as well. She hadn’t met the other siblings yet, but she couldn’t imagine they’d be much better off.
Both the mother and the younger sister were shrouded in black qi when she read their faces; she couldn’t see anything of their past or future. Their situation was worse than she’d expected.
She took an Exorcism Talisman from her bag and lit it, then walked once around the living room, first driving away some of the baleful qi in the house.
A man’s sullen voice came from behind her. “What are you doing?”
Xiao Ciyou turned and saw the young man in a wheelchair. She couldn’t help thinking again: Sure enough, there was a disabled one, too.
“I’m Xiao Ciyou. I—”
“I heard what you told Mom. I’m asking what you’re burning.”
Xiao Ciyou was perfectly frank. “An Exorcism Talisman. The feng shui in this house is bad.”
The man gave a scornful laugh. “What, are you so used to living like a rich young lady in the Song Family that you can’t stand what you see here? Now you’re blaming the feng shui? Driving away evil? Are we all demons and ghosts to you?
“You’re Xiao Ciyou, right? Nobody begged you to come back. If you’re unhappy, you can leave right now! Stop making snide remarks!”
The woman rushed out of the bathroom and scolded him. “Xiao Ze, your younger sister just got home. Is that any way to talk to her?”
The man in the wheelchair, Xiao Ze, shot back, “She didn’t come back here because she wanted to! Yingshi returned to the Song Family four days ago, and they said she left that very day.
“But for four days, you and Dad have been consumed with guilt over the switched babies, searching everywhere for her and worrying she might do something rash. And she didn’t even show her face. What right does she have to be my younger sister?!”
“You…”
The woman wanted to argue, but Xiao Yanchun’s cries came again from the bathroom, so she had to go take care of the younger girl first.
“Um… don’t mind your Third Brother. I’ll have a word with him later.”
With that, she hurried back into the bathroom.
Xiao Ciyou stared at the Xiao family’s third son, his face gloomy, for a long moment. At last, Xiao Ze couldn’t take it anymore. “What are you looking at?!”
Xiao Ciyou’s lips curled. “I’m wondering if the hospital made a mistake. Maybe you were the one who hit his head and turned stupid?”
“Who are you calling stupid?!”
“You.”
Xiao Ciyou didn’t hold back. “You believe everything the Song Family says? What if something happened to me during those four days? What if I needed time to process all this? Or what if something else kept me busy? Is the head on your shoulders just for decoration?”
Xiao Ze gripped the arms of his wheelchair, his face livid with anger.
“No wonder you grew up as a rich young lady in the Song Family. Unfortunately, we can’t afford to keep a spoiled little princess here. Why don’t you go back to the Song Family as soon as possible? You might still make it in time for dinner!
“The Song Family is rich and powerful, and Yingshi is sweet and sensible. I’m sure they won’t mind setting one more place at the table.”
A flash of anger crossed Xiao Ciyou’s eyes, but a smile lifted the corners of her mouth.
“Good point. I’ll take this opportunity to show you just how spoiled and unreasonable I can be!”
Xiao Ciyou circled behind Xiao Ze and wheeled him right out the door, pushing him all the way to an empty corner beside the building.
“Xiao Ciyou, what are you doing?! Let go of me!”
Xiao Ciyou rolled her ankle and kicked the chain on the wheel.
Click—
The chain snapped.
No matter how hard Xiao Ze tried, the wheelchair wouldn’t move an inch.
Xiao Ciyou smiled faintly. “Third Brother, let’s get reacquainted. I’m your younger sister, Xiao Ciyou. I have a bad temper, and if I can settle things with my fists, I can’t be bothered to argue.
“So either apologize to me right now, or sit here until someone finds you and takes you home. Your choice.”
Xiao Ze’s face darkened. “If you dare leave me here, I—”
“Goodbye.”
Xiao Ciyou ran off, disappearing from his sight.
“Xiao! Ci! You!!!”