twenty two
Li Zitong raised his head and stared into my eyes for a long time. "Didn't you just persuade me to surrender?"
"Forget what I just said. That was just my selfish nonsense from my own perspective. You didn't do anything wrong. Just live your life well."
"But this isn't right, is it?"
"It's okay."
"Like you said, someone else will come to me soon."
"It's okay, I will protect you."
"Even if you say so..."
"I've already told you that I'll be with you. You just need to hide your identity, and I'll figure out how to handle the rest. Two people can always be more resourceful than one."
"We'll find a way to solve it..." She repeated my words, as if trying to guess if there was any seriousness in them. "How are you going to solve the money problem?"
"money?"
"Yeah, at least my part-time job at the noodle shop includes food and lodging. If we flee to a strange place again, food and lodging will become a problem. With two people together, the cost will double."
"I brought some money, over fifty yuan," I said. "It should be enough to last a few days."
"How long can we hold on?" she sighed. "You don't think we can survive just by having money to buy some steamed buns and porridge, do you? We need a stable place to stay. Even the cheapest hotel costs ten yuan a night. Once we're on the streets, trouble will soon come. Kind-hearted people will call the police for help, thugs will want to squeeze something out of you, and law enforcement will be determined to send you back to your hometown. Then everything will be exposed. And whether it's over fifty yuan or two hundred yuan, sooner or later it's all gone. What are you going to do then?"
"I'll figure something out before then."
"You mean looking for a job?"
"I'll do my best," I said.
Li Zitong shook his head. "You probably have no idea what society is like. Outside of school, society operates according to the rules of adults. A kid who hasn't even graduated from high school is excluded from the outside from the start. It's a blessing to be able to survive in the cracks. How can he possibly find a decent job? Besides, the economy is so bad everywhere right now. Even adults are fighting tooth and nail over such things."
I blushed a little, "Just help out at the noodle shop like you do."
"That was just my luck. We can't expect miracles to happen all the time, right? Besides, compared to boys, girls are more likely to be taken in because they're less dangerous."
I didn't know how to answer for a moment.
Li Zitong added, "Compared to me, your life is like a blank slate. You've never stayed out all night, have you? Have you ever slept on the streets? Do you know how to recycle waste for money?"
Every time she spoke, I shook my head helplessly.
"I know you're dissatisfied with your current life. But you're only sixteen, and your life hasn't really begun yet. Unlike me, although your parents may not agree on a relationship, neither of them wants to abandon you. You can definitely follow a normal life path and embrace a bright future. If you impulsively choose to be with me, there's no turning back."
"I know, but it's okay."
Her whole body was stiff.
"Even though I don't know anything, I can learn. Just teach me. When two people are together, there's always a way."
"Fool," she seemed to want to laugh but didn't laugh out loud, "you obviously don't understand anything."
I took her hand and immediately felt her fingers trembling. Her fingers were already damp with cold sweat, and there was no trace of warmth.
"I'm sorry, I'm so useless and can't be your support," I said.
Silence descended once more, and we could only listen to the clatter of people surging through the ticket hall. There was so much I wanted to tell her, so much I desperately wanted to express, but I didn't know how to put it into words. Her past was something I had never experienced, and I couldn't even imagine. Even if I offered words of comfort, they would probably just seem dismissive, like she couldn't relate.
She suddenly called my name softly.
I turned my head and looked at her. Her eyes seemed to want to tell something, or to be gazing into the distance. Finally, like a bird folding its wings, she landed lightly and steadily on my shoulder.
"I'm glad you said that just now."
"Yeah," I agreed, knowing that I had finally conveyed my feelings to her completely. She understood it perfectly.
An old man selling roasted sweet potatoes pushed his stove among the crowd and slipped into the ticket hall. The familiar sweet smell wafted over from afar.
Since I hadn't eaten lunch yet, I couldn't help swallowing my saliva. Suddenly, I heard the rumbling of hunger next to me. I looked at Li Zitong with some surprise. She pushed my face hard with her hand, forcing me to keep looking straight ahead.
"Are you hungry?"
"But just now..."
"Are you hungry?" She emphasized the word "you".
I understood and suppressed a smile, "Okay, I'm hungry. I'll go buy some."
The piping hot roasted sweet potatoes were unexpectedly delicious, like molten liquid gold. The waiting room was bathed in orange light, and the coal stove warmed us to a mellow warmth. We completely cast aside our worries and chatted happily as we peeled our sweet potatoes, oblivious to the waves of passengers passing us.
The topic accidentally turned to me. She asked me how I found this place, and I said Zheng Kun told me.
"Zheng Kun?"
"Oh, you might not remember me, but I was the little thug who threatened me to steal from your video store in elementary school."
"he?"
"Yes, you gave me a photo." I took it out of my pocket. She looked at it front and back, her expression dazed and uncertain.
I knew she was thinking about the murder again and was filled with regret. I reached out and snatched the photo back. "Don't take it too seriously, it doesn't matter what happened to that rotten guy."
The atmosphere fell back below freezing. She said nothing more, silently finished her sweet potato, and stood up.
"It's time to go," she said.
"Where are you going?"
"Buy two train tickets and go anywhere. Now that our whereabouts have been exposed, it's only a matter of time before others find us. Didn't you say you wanted to escape with me? Do you regret it?"
I shook my head earnestly, stood up and walked towards the ticket window, but was stopped by her.
"You're responsible for taking this back for me." She handed me the bag of vegetables she had carried along the way. "By the way, please thank the boss and apologize for leaving without saying goodbye."
I hesitated a little, "Is it appropriate for me to say this?"
"Please, you know me. I'm not good at dealing with emotional situations like this." She pleaded. Whenever this happened, I had to relent and agree, no matter how troublesome the request was.
I returned to the snack street, to the entrance of Ma Xin Noodle House. The elderly couple were still busy serving customers. I raised my bag of vegetables, ready to greet them, when I realized something was wrong.
Unlike me, who had no social experience, Li Zitong must have known what necessities she needed for life outside and had already prepared them for herself. But she and I had just met on the street in a hurry, so she must have brought nothing with her.
If she wanted to continue her escape, she would have to come back and take away necessities like a change of clothes. At the very least, she would have to take away her savings, but she had no intention of returning to retrieve them.
Moreover, from my understanding, she is a person who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside. If she was not forced to do so, she would definitely bid farewell formally to the couple who have done her a favor.
"Could it be..." I threw the vegetables on the ground and quickly glanced at my watch. It was 7:10, and the last train back to Chengguan was about to depart tonight.
I ran as fast as I could back to the train station, ignoring the staff's attempts to stop me, and I scaled the railings and rushed into the waiting hall. From a distance, I spotted a green train parked on the tracks, passengers filing into the carriages. As I ran, I observed Li Zitong, standing at the end of the line in carriage number two.
By this time I had already rushed to the ticket gate and couldn't help but call out her name. She turned her head and looked at me with a very complicated expression.
I tried to climb over the gate railing again, but was attacked from both sides by the gate staff and was pinned to the ground.
The train whistle blew. Li Zitong stood at the door of the carriage and shouted something to me. His voice was completely muffled, but he lip-synced something like "I'm sorry."
As I was underage, I was naturally handed over to the railway police at the station. Before the police even opened their mouths, I couldn't wait to confess that I was a runaway student and reported the city where my household registration was located, hoping that they would send me back as soon as possible.
"There's no point in being anxious. There are no cars tonight." The plainclothes policeman said with a yawn.
It was already nine o'clock the next morning when I boarded the return train. I knew it was pointless to say anything more.
The police escorted me out of the station. From a distance, I saw my father waiting on the other side of the iron fence. I instinctively knew I was in serious trouble. But strangely, I felt no emotion at all, neither fear nor panic.
My father bowed to the police officer who brought me here and took me out of the station.
"You must be tired. Go home and get some sleep." He said softly, in a very stiff accent, which was very different from his usual rough tone.
"Is Li Zitong back?" I asked.
"I arrived early, more than ten hours before you. I've explained everything I should have explained."
"What did you do with her? Did you lock her up? Although she did something wrong, it was excusable..."
"Okay, you don't have to worry about her. Police interrogations must be legal and compliant. If her testimony is true, she should be released soon."
Let her out? I was stunned. What are you talking about? Those are two lives.
The father was also stunned. "What are you talking about? The child came to report the crime, not to surrender himself."
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