Chapter 22
When Gu Mengzhu returned home from get off work, Qi Yaoguang was sitting by the window, holding a book and reading.
Did the sun rise in the west today?
She looked up at the window but saw nothing amiss. She had initially wanted to make a sarcastic remark, but seeing how intently he was watching, she couldn't bring herself to engage in pointless chatter. The food was ready and laid out on the coffee table; it was still warm when she opened the lid. Gu Mengzhu ate while secretly watching him, wondering when he would notice her.
"You're back?"
Qi Yaoguang put down his book and drank some of the flower tea that was placed on the window frame. The stir-fried pork with chili peppers was very good. She took a big bite and chewed, squinting as she savored the aroma of the food. She didn't bother to reply to him, but simply nodded slightly.
What book are you reading?
After swallowing her food, she stared with great interest at the book he had opened in his hand.
"It's all about acting skills."
"oh oh."
Gu Mengzhu didn't understand either, and just kept agreeing. After eating a couple more bites of rice, she raised her head:
"To learn acting, you should find a proper teacher."
"But I don't have any money, big sister."
"That's true. Then keep up the good work."
The awkward silence gradually dissipated. Qi Yaoguang smiled, turned his head, picked up his book, and continued reading. She smiled back, picked up a piece of bok choy with her chopsticks, put it in her bowl, but didn't eat it, just staring blankly at his back.
The days that followed became increasingly strange. Gu Mengzhu didn't know where he had found work or what kind of jobs he had, but he was earning much more money each week than before. He spent less and less time at the rented apartment, and sometimes he would even come home later than her. Both of them would be starving and unable to eat, so they would have to go to a street vendor to order two bowls of wonton noodles to eat.
"I can't even earn three or five cents a day. I work myself to the bone, and then I spend it all on a couple of bites outside. My money, my money, it hurts."
She pounded her chest twice, then lowered her head and continued walking, supporting her stomach.
"I told you to just cook a bowl of egg noodles, but you wouldn't listen and insisted on coming out to eat."
"I have no energy! Besides, after a long day of work, all I can eat is egg noodles. Is there any hope for this life?"
Seeing her gritted teeth, Qi Yaoguang wisely raised an eyebrow, widened his eyes, shook his head, and exclaimed in a rather exaggerated manner:
No, absolutely not!
A faint echo came from the underground passage. She clicked her tongue and grabbed the hem of his shirt, making him lead her back. She hadn't been eating her noodles long before she started to feel sleepy, and now she was completely swaying.
"Huh, there's blood!"
He patted her shoulder, excitedly urging her to look. Gu Mengzhu struggled to open her eyes. Through her blurry vision, she saw a bloodstain the size of half a palm, tinged with an old purplish-red, clinging to the wall, while the dried blood dripped and hopped up the steps. For some reason, a discarded sock, stained with blood, was mixed in with the trash; even a glance at it was painful and cruel.
She closed her eyes, trying to stop herself from imagining, but a heart-wrenching pain surged from her heart, pounding against her trachea and brain as she ran forward in her studded running shoes. She was forced to recall a gloomy day after the rain had stopped, puddles on the roadside, and a delivery rider crashing to his death at a bend. The screech of the bike against the pavement was piercing, the rider and his box seemed to wail in pain, the food scattered, and the clouds swirling overhead—that cruel misfortune had occurred right at her feet. She couldn't stop blaming herself: had she walked too fast? Had she gone too far out? Should she have skipped and jumped along? Or had she gone out the door, allowing this tragedy to unfold before her eyes?
She could never forget the hardships of ordinary people living, like a partridge in the depths of winter, weeping night after night on a withered branch.
"What happened? A fight?"
"You want to know?"
He exclaimed "Ah!" without understanding.
"I know what I'm saying, so stick your ear out."
Qi Yaoguang obediently put his ear over, only to be met with a fierce blow.
"Ouch, that hurts! What are you doing?"
He hopped around, clutching his kicked right leg, yelling in pain. Gu Mengzhu rushed forward again and kicked him several more times. Seeing her approach, he immediately stopped, letting her vent her anger. She kicked with all her might, as if using all her strength and hatred, relentlessly striking his leg. Finally, she took a few steps back, covered her mouth, and laughed loudly, tears streaming down her face. Qi Yaoguang, in pain, knelt down, rubbing his badly kicked right leg, watching her as he did so.
"Feeling better now?"
"Um."
She wiped away the tears that had fallen from her eyes and nodded to him.
"Have you vented your anger enough?"
He nodded again, smiling at people with an attitude of no regrets.
"Great, excellent."
He leaned against the wall and struggled to his feet.
"Okay, miss, could you please explain the crime scene? Thank you."
Gu Mengzhu stopped laughing, put her hands on her hips, and began to analyze in a serious tone:
"This amount of blood is not enough to be considered evidence of a murder scene. No one specifically targets the legs in a fight. I estimate it's at most a collision where the foot is injured and bleeding profusely, so the only thing to do is take off the sock to stop the bleeding."
"Where are the shoes? I can't find them!"
"Shoes cost money, but socks aren't worth much. Do you know what's the worst part? It's not that you don't have money, or that the other person can't afford to pay and is even more pitiful than you, so they can only pay for medical expenses. It's that you fell here alone and no one saw you. In the end, you were the one limping and dragging the car, step by step, out of there, blood dripping down the steps. When you finally got back to your rented room, you were still all alone. You didn't even dare to go to the hospital. Why? Because you had no money, because you had no money."
Qi Yaoguang's eyes swept over the bloodied hand on the wall, and the pain in his leg seemed to vanish instantly, replaced by an unbearable heaviness in his heart. As if for the first time, his senses were overwhelmed by the unfamiliar and visceral pain.
Neither of them spoke on the way back.
The next day, Gu Mengzhu watched Qi Yaoguang, who was imitating someone acting in front of a second-hand computer, and closed her eyes in despair.
He must have been traumatized, right?
The way he was making those faces was too much for her to bear. Yet, she was also incredibly curious, so she couldn't resist peeking through a crack in her eye a few times.
What exactly are you doing?
"This is called liberating your true nature, you little bumpkin."
He pounded his chest and stamped his feet, roaring like a gorilla. She glanced out the darkening window and gave a dry laugh.
"I really don't understand what nature is. If the people downstairs call the police and arrest you, you can see what humanity is like in the police station."
Qi Yaoguang stopped talking, silently turned around and closed the window. Gu Mengzhu protested:
"It's so boring."
"It's freezing cold, just bear with it for a while."
Having missed the chance to unleash his true nature, he started thinking of other things. He was idle anyway, and someone had a day off tomorrow, so why not?
"Hey, play along with me in this little drama."
"Are you crazy?"
"I don't have money to find a teacher, so I had to ask you. I'm just helping out, it's not like I'm being stingy, is it?"
She looked troubled.
"Boss, I don't know how to act."
"What? I'm just asking you to read lines. You're dreaming."
No sooner had he finished speaking than he was struck hard by a hammer. Qi Yaoguang couldn't help but rub his aching arm.
This guy really went all out.
What are we acting in?
Someone awkwardly spoke up, and he immediately presented the prepared script with both hands, mimicking the manner of a courtier offering tribute, his respectful demeanor tinged with an overly fawning smile. Gu Mengzhu, too lazy to pay attention to his antics, widened her eyes as she flipped through it:
"Macbeth?"
"Yes, miss. Are you happy?"
She was unhappy, not at all. Qi Yaoguang's English was too difficult to understand, and she didn't want to torture her ears any longer, so she announced in public that she would only read the Chinese translation.
"Oh, what a pity. To be honest, my English isn't bad, but my Mandarin is much better!"
He smacked his lips and shook his head in regret.
"Really?"
“Riri riri ah.”
Gu Mengzhu was amused by him and kindly continued to be his sparring partner. However, no matter how they practiced, the two of them would always inexplicably start arguing about the same topic.
"Hey, ma'am, can't you tell the difference between nasal and non-nasal sounds?"
"I can't tell! This won't do!"
"If you don't like it, go find someone else!"
"Okay, okay, okay! How could it not be okay? You can speak gibberish too."
She was so angry that she turned her back to him and ignored him, so Qi Yaoguang could only lower his head and act submissively.
"Princess sister, you are incredibly charming and your accent is amazing. You are the most beautiful girl on this street. Please continue, I beg you."
Please.
He tugged at her sleeve, and after she calmed down, he started acting silly again:
"You are a candle in the wind, not a sausage hanging on a bamboo pole, not a ghostly figure wandering around, and certainly not a sausage, ho—"
Qi Yaoguang clutched his stomach, spat out a mouthful of blood, and collapsed onto the sofa.
"I'm dead."
Gu Mengzhu threw a book at him:
"Get up and practice seriously."
"oh."
He immediately sprang back to life, and seeing that serious face, he quickly and obediently began practicing. Outside the window, the stars blinked, and the long-dark night seemed far from over.
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