The misty and smoky November air made this southern city seem somewhat unstable. In this quiet midnight, the city became empty. I raised my head, wiping off the fine raindrops on my face, and put my phone back into my pocket. I had already made up my mind not to attend Leyao’s pre-wedding gathering with her fiancé in Suzhou the day after tomorrow, as there might be some unpredictable awkwardness. Therefore, I was not looking forward to tomorrow or the day after. Instead, I wanted to go back in time, holding a glass of wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other, seeking out our own brand of recklessness.
These past couple of days had been very peaceful for me. I hadn’t heard any more news about Leyao’s wedding. Most of my time had been immersed in busy work. During this period, I had accompanied company executives on a trip to Yangzhou to survey the local market, and we finalized plans to open a bar, an inn, and a restaurant in this ancient city before the New Year.
When I returned to Suzhou from Yangzhou, it was already 4 p.m. Coincidentally, I received a call from CC. She said she was going to Shanghai to pick up Leyao and Cao Jinfei and asked me to help pick up the little girl from school.
This was a simple favor for me, and I readily agreed. After getting off the overpass, I drove directly to the girl’s school.
At 5 o’clock, the little girl finally got out of school. Seeing me come to pick her up, she asked curiously, “Brother Zhaoyang, why are you the one picking me up today? Where is Sister CC?”
“She went to Shanghai to pick up Leyao.”
The girl’s face lit up with delight as she asked, “Will Leyao be back tonight?”
I stroked her messy hair and smiled, “Yes, and her fiancé will come too… Hey, who did your hair this morning? It’s so messy!”
“It was CC,” she replied softly, almost inaudibly.
“What a careless CC! She didn’t even do your hair carefully!”
The girl quickly shook her head, “It’s not CC’s fault! Her braid was really nice!”
Looking at her, I noticed that not only her hair was messy, but there was also a tear on her clothes. I frowned and asked, “Did other students bully you?”
She started to sob softly, “Brother Zhaoyang… I miss my friends and uncles and aunts back in the village!”
Her sobbing tugged at my heart. An orphan from the mountains, so innocent, how hard it must be for her to fit into this prickly city life. I held her hand and said, “Come on, let’s go find your teacher. Tell me who bullied you, and if the teacher doesn’t handle it, I’ll deal with those little brats myself.”
The girl held tightly to my hand but refused to move, sobbing, “Brother Zhaoyang, I don’t want to go… Please don’t go either. If I tell the teacher, they will call me a snitch, and they will hate me even more!”
I sighed inwardly. It seemed that endurance was something deeply rooted in the hearts of the weak. Just as I was thinking of another way to handle the situation, I suddenly noticed Xiaopang Wei Xiao and a group of children walking out of the school gate. He also spotted me at the same time, holding the oil-powered racing car that Mi Cai had given him, and waddled over with his jiggling fat, shouting confidently, “Brother Yang, are you here looking for me?”
I was somewhat surprised that Wei Xiao was also in this elementary school. I paused before replying, “Actually, I’m not here for you!”
Wei Xiao scratched his head and looked at the little girl beside me, asking, “Brother Yang, who is this little girl?”
“Your sister.”
“Brother Yang, why are you insulting me!”
I really didn’t know when the term “your sister” had evolved into an insult. I patiently explained to Wei Xiao, “What I mean is, she will be your little sister from now on…”
Wei Xiao looked at the girl again, his face showing surprise, “Ah! My little sister!”
I highlighted the key points, “We’ll talk about becoming siblings later. First, tell me how you’re doing in this school.”
Wei Xiao looked at a few kids waiting for him nearby, proudly replying, “Of course I’m the leader. Brother Yang, do you see those waiting for me over there? That’s Jiao Tai Lang, Xiao Bai Lang, Bei Ke Han Lang, and Shuang Dao Lang…”
Looking at Wei Xiao’s group of friends, I felt their momentum was pretty good and nodded approvingly, asking, “Then what wolf are you?”
Wei Xiao patted his chest proudly, “I’m Hui Tai Lang!!”
I nodded again, “Indeed wolfish!”
Wei Xiao grinned at me and asked, “Then what wolf are you? We’re still missing one wolf to form a group of seven wolves!”
I was infected by his childishness and replied somewhat playfully, “Yi Ye Ci Qi Ci Lang… Well, let’s call me Yue Ye Gu Lang instead!”
Wei Xiao looked at me in shock, then replied with admiration, “Yue Ye Gu Lang, what a cool and stylish name!!”
“I still think the first name is more practical… Enough nonsense, go tell your wolf friends, I’m treating them to KFC.”
Wei Xiao called over the other five wolves and said, “Brothers, today my Brother Yang is treating us to KFC. From now on, Brother Yang is our big brother. Oh, and his name is Yue Ye Gu Lang, isn’t it a cool wolf name?”
The other five wolves nodded in agreement and introduced themselves, telling me their wolf names. I couldn’t quite remember who was Shuang Dao Lang and who was Bei Ke Han Lang, so I ignored these less important names and signaled them to get into my car. Thus, the back seat of my A6 was filled with six wolves, slightly overloaded, heading toward the nearest KFC.
The significance of this journey was that during their intense discussion, they arranged the hierarchy of the seven wolves… making me suddenly forget the complexities of love and long for the lost childhood.
After arriving at KFC, I ordered a bunch of food. Just as the kids were about to start eating, I cleared my throat and said, “Dear wolf brothers, let’s make this clear beforehand: after this meal, we are brothers. If a brother is in trouble, will you help?”
Wei Xiao took the lead in expressing his stance, “Brother Yang, brothers share both good and bad times. We will definitely help.”
I nodded and then looked at the quiet little girl, saying, “This little sister, I will leave in your hands from now on. In the name of the wolves, tell me, will you let others bully her at school?”
The children strained their faces red and shouted in unison, “No!”
It was the peak dining hour, and immediately, the diners’ eyes all turned toward us, thinking we were holding some kind of oath-taking ceremony. I felt a bit embarrassed, but the children were completely unaffected, asking the girl all sorts of questions about who had bullied her.
After Wei Xiao understood the situation, he assured me that he would definitely beat up the kids who had bullied the little girl. I told him, however, that intimidation should be the main approach, with physical force as a secondary option. There was no need to easily use the power of the wolves, after all, benevolence knows no equal. Wei Xiao understood the message and immediately began planning with the other wolves, efficiently coming up with a strategy that primarily relied on intimidation. Thus, the matter was easily resolved thanks to the coincidence that Wei Xiao and the little girl attended the same elementary school.
Actually, aside from the childish jokes, I truly hoped that Wei Xiao and the little girl, who both had unfortunate backgrounds, could help each other and grow together, resolving the troubles and difficulties of life.
After sending the children and Wei Xiao back home, I planned to take the little girl to CC. I immediately called CC, but she told me that she had just picked up Leyao and Cao Jinfei at the airport and wouldn’t be back in Suzhou for at least another hour. I joked, saying since Cao Jinfei was so impressive, he might as well build an airport in Suzhou directly, saving us the trouble of going through Shanghai for every trip.
CC scolded me for being crazy, not understanding what I meant.
On this night when CC had scolded me, the little girl and I became the loneliest people wandering in this city. At a fountain plaza that was not very crowded due to the cold, I held a cigarette in my hand but didn’t smoke it. The little girl held a milk tea but didn’t drink it.
I took off my coat and wrapped it around the little girl to protect her from the cold wind, then lit the cigarette I had been holding. Taking advantage of the absence of the red armband patrol, I puffed away.
“Brother Zhaoyang, why isn’t it you who is marrying Sister Leyao?”
I looked at her, not knowing what kind of excuse I could use to escape from this question I was unwilling to face. After a long while, I replied, “Brother Zhaoyang is like a boat without a sail, but this boat really wants to reach the shore, so what it needs is an oar to row it there, not a lighthouse standing on the shore… Do you understand?”
The little girl shook her head. I smiled and said, “You’ll understand when you grow up.”
“But Sister Leyao isn’t happy at all… When we were in Singapore, she would cry every night, sometimes even crying in her sleep… I feel so bad for her!”
A wave of indescribable pain surged in my heart. I just took a deep puff of my cigarette without knowing what to say. After another long while, I replied, “After she gets married, she won’t cry like that anymore.”
“Why?”
I really couldn’t find a reason, so I evaded again, “You’ll understand when you grow up.”
The little girl pouted and looked at me. I avoided her gaze, looking at a landscape tree swaying in the wind not far away. Gradually, I felt tired. I checked my watch, wishing CC would come back soon so I could hand the little girl over to her and go home for a good sleep.
Putting out the cigarette butt, I instinctively pulled out another one from the pack to light up again. However, the little girl stopped me and asked me to drink her untouched milk tea instead.
Only then did I recall Mi Cai’s reminder before she left, asking me to smoke less. I put the cigarette back into the pack but didn’t drink the little girl’s milk tea either, letting her keep it to warm her hands. At that moment, CC finally called.
I hurriedly answered the call, about to ask how much longer she would be, when CC spoke first, “Zhaoyang, where are you and the little girl? We’ll come find you, and then we can go to the hotel together.”
I was somewhat surprised by CC’s invitation for me to join them for dinner at the hotel. Immediately, I felt a sense of resistance and replied, “Why don’t I just drop the little girl off at the Kongcheng Restaurant, and you can pick her up there… I just came back from Yangzhou today, and I’m a bit tired. I’ll go home and rest first.”
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