Jiejie Is a Fairy
Shen Yu was Ji Xiao’s older sister, his real sister.
Before they had children, their mom was the queen of the house, so she declared that a daughter would take her surname, and a son would take their dad’s surname.
These days, there are not many families that favor boys over girls anymore. Usually, sons and daughters are treated equally. But ever since Ji Xiao was old enough to remember things, he had felt that families like his, the kind that valued daughters over sons to this extreme, were probably just as rare.
It was said that their mom had always wanted a daughter. When she was pregnant with Shen Yu, she asked someone to pull strings and get a hospital check done. The moment she found out it was a girl, tears streamed down her face on the spot. They poured and poured. Her doctor friend kept quietly comforting her, saying that boy or girl, it was all the same. Their dad immediately took out a red envelope and stuffed it into the friend’s hand, saying that if it had been a boy, there was no way the friend would be getting that envelope.
So under that nationwide-celebration kind of atmosphere, the family bought a huge pile of little girl’s clothes. Every day their mom just ate, slept, slept, ate, and by the time she gave birth to Shen Yu, she had gotten so fat she had nearly needed a C-section.
And when it came to Ji Xiao being born, in their mom’s words, that had simply been a case of carelessness.
The degree of carelessness left Ji Xiao amazed. Fine, accidentally getting pregnant could still be excused. They could just treat it as giving Shen Yu a little companion after he was born. But according to their dad, “Ai, it wasn’t until after you’d already been born that we realized we still hadn’t bought you any clothes…”
It was only on the second day after he was born that their dad rushed to the hospital carrying clothes he’d bought at the last minute.
Actually, Shen Yu wasn’t doted on just because she was a girl. It was also because she had been pretty since childhood, and clever too. She picked up music, chess, calligraphy, and painting with ease, learning each of them well enough to look impressive right away. In comparison, Ji Xiao, who ran around every day like a rolling mud ball, seemed to exist for the sole purpose of showing just how exceptional his sister was.
So the ranking in his family went like this. After Shen Yu came along, their mom’s status automatically dropped. Shen Yu became the sun of the family, their mom was the moon, and as for their dad, he could only count as a satellite.
And Ji Xiao… Ji Xiao felt that at best, he was a cloud of drifting space debris…
He sighed, sat up on the bed, and called their mom again. “What’s the flight number? Which flight am I supposed to pick up?”
“Dress a little more properly, don’t go out in nothing but a T-shirt all the time,” their mom said as she gave him the flight number. “Did you hear me? Change your clothes. Your sister hasn’t been home in two years. Don’t scare her again.”
“Got it.” Ji Xiao hung up, stood, and changed into another T-shirt. Scare Shen Yu?
It took two hours to get to the airport, and if he hit traffic, it would take even longer. He ran downstairs to borrow a car from Wu Zhijun. Wu Zhijun’s beat-up old Jetta had been driven for nearly ten years already. It was basically the shared car of the entire squad. Whenever anyone needed a car, they borrowed his.
“Heading out?” Wu Zhijun glanced at him and tossed him the keys. “Are you off today?”
“Yeah, I’m going to the airport to pick up my sister.” Ji Xiao caught the keys and stuffed them into his pocket. “Thanks, Captain Wu.”
“Your sister’s back in the country, huh.” Wu Zhijun laughed. “Bring her over to our place one day so she can have a look around.”
Ji Xiao gave two dry chuckles and ran out the door. He had once brought a photo of Shen Yu back to the dorm, and in less than two hours it had made the rounds through the whole squad. A bunch of grown men had been utterly stunned, like they’d seen a goddess. Too bad Shen Yu had always been overseas, so none of them had ever had the chance to meet her.
After waiting more than an hour, Ji Xiao finally saw the arrival notice for Shen Yu’s flight. He watched the stream of people slowly coming out, searching for Shen Yu.
Shen Yu was tall, and with high heels on top of that, Ji Xiao spotted her easily in the crowd. It had to be said, his sister really was the kind of beauty you could pick out at a glance even if you threw her into a sea of people. Shen Yu was looking down, tapping at her phone. When she walked right past Ji Xiao, she still didn’t notice him.
“Miss,” Ji Xiao leaned closer. “Got time to have a drink with me?”
Shen Yu turned her head. The moment she saw Ji Xiao, a smile spread across her face. She lifted a hand and smacked him lightly on the head. “Well now, handsome, it’s only been two years and you’ve really grown into yourself.”
“You came back alone?” Ji Xiao took the suitcase from her hand and looked behind her. “Didn’t bring back a future brother-in-law for us to sink our teeth into?”
“Forget it. How could I start ruining some nice young man’s life that early? Give it another couple of years,” Shen Yu said, looping her arm through Ji Xiao’s. “I’m staying a long time this time. Maybe I should just pick one from your squad.”
“Oh, give me a break. Just look at the wives of the married guys in our squad, not one of them doesn’t regret it.” Ji Xiao pulled open the car door and tossed Shen Yu’s luggage inside. “There are no fixed hours, and it’s dangerous too.”
“Then why are you still doing it? Aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to find a girlfriend?” Shen Yu clicked her tongue twice and got into the car.
“…Jie.” Ji Xiao frowned.
“Fine, fine, I won’t say it anymore.” Shen Yu smiled. She understood better than their mom and dad why Ji Xiao had become a firefighter. “My little brother doesn’t have any other great strong points, but he does have this one, he’s loyal and righteous.”
Ji Xiao drove fast the whole way. Their mom kept calling to rush him, and he was afraid this tiny junker might shake itself apart before they got there.
Once they entered the city, they hit traffic again. Their mom rushed him so hard that he felt if he didn’t get Shen Yu home right away, he’d be letting down the ancestors. After a great deal of effort, he finally turned onto the road by their neighborhood. Since it was behind the central garden and not a main road, there was hardly anyone around, so he stepped on the gas.
“Watch out, cat!” Shen Yu suddenly pointed ahead and shouted.
About ten meters in front of them, right in the middle of the road, a little black cat was slowly trotting across the street. Its tail stuck straight up like a little rod, and it wasn’t looking their way at all.
Ji Xiao hurriedly slammed on the brakes and hit the horn hard.
The little black cat had clearly been spacing out. The horn startled it so badly that it sprang straight up off all four paws on the spot, then landed on its butt. It turned its head, but showed no intention of leaving.
“Stupid cat!” Ji Xiao stuck his head out the window and shouted at it, “Move!”
After shouting, Ji Xiao looked at it and suddenly realized the little thing looked kind of familiar. He grinned and waved at the little kitty that was staring at him. “Hey. Is that you? Were you the one I pulled out of the sewer that day? Remember me, little buddy?”
‘Hey’ your big head. ‘Pulled out’ your big head!
It really had been distracted. The sunlight was so comfortable, baking its whole body until all its fur had puffed up. The whole way over, it had only wanted to close its eyes and enjoy itself properly, so when it crossed the street, it hadn’t paid attention to cars at all.
Looking at this man smiling and waving at it, the feeling in its heart was practically impossible to describe. Of course it remembered him. Over the last two days, it had run into him again and again like it was being haunted. It had had no chance at all to forget him.
It narrowed its eyes, lowered its head to lick its paw, then turned and continued across the street with its tail held high, almost bouncing as it went. Hey, firefighter. Hey. What a coincidence, huh? Tch.
The man was still saying something behind it, but it didn’t listen carefully. It leaped into the grass by the roadside.
“You know that cat?” Shen Yu watched the fluffy little backside of the black cat disappear into the grass. “It’s so cute.”
“Maybe. Yesterday I pulled one out of the sewer too, all black, pretty much the same as this one, also pretty small.” Ji Xiao started the car again and glanced toward the grass.
“We should’ve gotten out and caught it.” Shen Yu turned to keep looking back. “Ah, I really want to raise a cat.”
“I’ll go buy you one.”
“Forget it, I only want that one. Did you see its eyes?”
“Its eyes?” Ji Xiao shook his head. “Didn’t see them.”
“So cocky.” Shen Yu patted him on the shoulder. “Handsome, if you’re going to keep a cat, keep that kind. One that’s too docile is boring.”
“Got it. You just like the kind of cat that doesn’t treat you like a person.” Ji Xiao nodded.
“…That description is terrible,” Shen Yu said with a laugh, brushing back her hair. “But it’s pretty accurate. Very much your style, little brother.”
The apartment Lu Kuan found for Ding Wei really was right by the back gate of the central garden. The location was excellent. It wasn’t on the main street, so it was quiet. Although it was only a one-bedroom unit and didn’t have floor-to-ceiling windows, the little balcony wasn’t enclosed, which pleased Ding Wei quite a bit.
“I’ll give you the day off today. Get yourself settled.” Lu Kuan tossed him the keys.
“What’s the trade?” Ding Wei caught the keys and hooked them on one finger, twirling them lightly.
Over the past few years, Lu Kuan had helped Ding Wei quite a lot, but he often came with exchange conditions so ridiculous they left people speechless. One time, he had even made Ding Wei steal sausages from someone else’s balcony.
“None.” Lu Kuan smiled. “Next time. Next time help me…”
“Don’t you have something to do at four? Go on, then.” Ding Wei cut him off, pulled open the curtains, and looked down. The apartment was on the seventeenth floor. From the window, he could see the lawn in the central garden, and he had a strong urge to go down there and roll around on the grass in the sunlight.
Lu Kuan said nothing more and turned to leave. When he opened the door, he stopped again and turned back. “Little kitty, Uncle came looking for me yesterday. He still wants you to go to school. Think it over.”
“Not going.” Ding Wei didn’t even have to think about it. School? Learning all those baffling human things had no meaning whatsoever for him. Knowing those things would do nothing for a nine-tailed cat except take up space in his head.
All he wanted was to grow out all nine tails safely and peacefully. Who would want to stay mixed up with humans forever?
After Lu Kuan left, Ding Wei wanted to jump straight down from the balcony, but after clinging to the balcony ledge and thinking it over for quite a while, he gave up. Considering it was broad daylight, he chose the elevator instead.
The moment he came out of the building, he felt incomparably comfortable. The sun was bright, warm all over his body, and it made his fur fluff up. At the roadside, he first stuck his butt up and stretched long through his front paws in a lazy stretch. Then, feeling that still wasn’t enough, he lifted his tail, arched his body, and stretched again. Only then did he bounce forward along the path.
Running into that firefighter while crossing the street had been completely unexpected. After darting into the grass, he secretly looked back once. Only after the car disappeared at the end of the road did he come back out and continue running toward the central garden.
When he reached the edge of the lawn, he remembered what the mouse had said. Your lifesaver. Your lifesaver…
Come to think of it, this person really had saved him twice, even though he hadn’t needed saving.
Other than people with whom he had a fated connection, he rarely paid much attention to strangers. But this firefighter, whom he had seen several times over the span of only a day or two, he had noticed. At least just now, he had noticed him.
Because of his smile.
When that man smiled, it was bright and sunny, the sort that made people want to smile along with him. He shook his head, rubbed his face with a paw, and flopped down onto the grass. Maybe the reason he felt that way was simply because the sunshine was especially nice today.
The grass had been dried thoroughly by the sun. He rolled and rubbed himself all over it for quite a while before finally flipping onto his back with his belly facing up to sun himself.
The sunlight poured warm across his face. He closed his eyes, the tip of his tail swaying gently. To him, there was nothing more enjoyable than basking in the sun without anyone disturbing him.
He had only been lying there a short while when he heard soft footsteps. He didn’t care. Plenty of people cut through the central garden as a shortcut, but no one would pay much attention to a cat lying by the edge of the grass with its belly up in the sun. Besides, he only had seven tails at the moment, so there was no need to worry about running into someone fated to him.
But the footsteps did not go away. Instead, they quietly came closer, then stopped.
Annoying.
He wanted to frown, but right now he didn’t have eyebrows to frown with. Even if he did, no one would be able to pick out two eyebrows from a pile of black fur anyway.
Then he heard the soft chime of a bell above him. His eyes flew open at once. That pleasant metallic ringing was an irresistible temptation to him.
Tilting his face upward into the dazzling sunlight overhead, he saw a hand holding a little bell.
When it saw that his eyes were open, the owner of the hand gave the bell another gentle shake. He couldn’t help lifting a front paw and reaching toward the bell, wanting to snatch it down.
That hand quickly lifted out of the way, and at the same time, laughter sounded by his ear.
A bit annoyed, he turned his head. He hated being teased the way people teased cats, even though he really was a cat…
Someone was crouching beside him. He saw a very young face, a little pale, but smiling so happily that the eyes had curved into crescents.