Chapter 25
The air-conditioned mall at noon was so bright that the marble floor was mirror-clear. Lee Seo-yeon, wearing cracked flip-flops, walked past the windows of luxury stores, the salesgirl's gaze scanning the hem of his washed-out T-shirt like a scanner.
"What do you need, sir?" The male salesperson at the counter was standing at the door, with a trained curve at the corner of his mouth.
He walked straight towards the mannequin's dark grey suit, his fingertips brushing against the wool blend. The price tag felt like a knife piercing his retina, the number trailing more zeros than a supermarket's six-month turnover.
"Pack this set up, I'm going to the fitting room." He slapped the bank card that Lin Lixin had stuffed into him on the glass counter.
The mirror reflected a stranger. His suit's shoulders were perfectly tapered, and his trousers fell neatly over his shoes. As he ripped off his old T-shirt and donned a silk shirt, the scar on his collarbone shone like a silver medal in the light.
"Do you need a tie?" the salesperson's tone sounded more sincere.
He shook his head and pointed to the suede loafers in the window. When the old loafers were kicked into the trash can, the soft lining of the new shoes was like Wu Ye's first clumsy hug.
"A total of 87,000 yuan." The POS machine spit out the purchase slip, and the strokes of his signature were more relaxed than usual.
The next battleground was Versace. His printed shirt looked like a Venetian sunset, and the holes in his jeans just revealed his old knee injuries. When he tried on the pants, he realized they were two fingers too loose around the waist. The last time Wu Ye had put his arm around him and said, "You've lost weight again," he'd thought it was flirting, but it turned out to be true.
As he walked out of the mall carrying his shopping bags, the security guard gave him a second look. The scorching sun turned the brand-new shoes into a mirrored finish. He leaned against a Roman column and lit a cigarette, the smoke passing over his shirt cuffs without leaving a single ash.
He paused as he passed a jewelry store window. A platinum necklace curved into a crescent on the black velvet, like Wu Ye's smiling eyes. The price tag was equivalent to three months' profit for the supermarket. Wind chimes tinkled as he pushed open the door.
"I want this one." He pointed at the necklace, "Wrap it nicely."
When he got home, his mother was killing fish at the alley entrance. When she saw him, the scaler fell into the basin, and the splash of water soaked the hem of his new trousers.
"You..." Mother wiped her hands on her apron, "You went on a blind date?"
He didn't answer, but stuffed the jewelry bag into his mother's hands. When he turned around, he heard the plastic bag rustle. His mother muttered "spendthrift" but wrinkled the bag.
Li Xuan kept stealing glances at him during dinner. The old wooden table had advertising paper under its legs, but now he was sitting on a worn plastic stool that looked like a throne.
"Brother," Li Xuan whispered, "You look like that...um...CEO from a web drama."
The mother put the stir-fried vegetables into his bowl and said: "Eat more."
But when he got up to drink water at night, he saw his mother trying on a necklace in the dressing mirror. Behind her reading lenses, her always tired eyes shone with a strange light.
The next morning, he went to the market in his new clothes. The owner of the lottery station next door whistled, "Brother Yuan, have you become rich?"
He smiled and tossed over a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes. He was standing on tiptoe, tidying up the top shelf, when the first customer entered. The hem of his shirt lifted, revealing an old motorcycle key tucked away at the back of his waist—a strange blend of new life and past times.
Sunlight streamed through the rolling shutters, illuminating my suede shoes with a warm golden hue. A girl in a school uniform blushed and asked, "Brother...can I add you on WeChat?"
He flicked his phone's screen saver, which showed two folded hands in front of the red wall of the Forbidden City. "Sorry, I'm in a relationship," the girl said as she left.
Wind chimes tinkled, new leather shoes shone across the sunlight. On this ordinary Guangzhou morning, someone who had once huddled on the brink of survival finally straightened their back.
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