Chapter 81: Snowmen

[“Go die, then.”] Xu Lin had indeed said that. In anger, in despair, at the end of his rope.

Why bring it up now?

In the heat of an argument, people say things like that. Did anyone actually take it seriously? Who would be so stupid?

He had tried reasoning with Ji Jinxuan before, to no avail. Yet he remembered this one remark?

Ji Jinxuan must be insane.

“You can?” Xu Lin shot back. “You can what? Go die?” He stepped forward, fury in his eyes. “What you need most, aside from treatment, is to get your head checked. Whether you live or die is your own affair. Don’t say you’re dying for me and make me bear the guilt. If you die, I won’t be happy. I won’t be sad. I won’t forgive you one bit. I won’t feel anything. Your threats are useless.”

Ji Jinxuan was taken aback. “I’m not threatening you… I…” He realized his mistake, stammered, then asked cautiously, “Did I make you even angrier?”

Xu Lin gritted his teeth and said nothing. Ji Jinxuan understood and fell silent.

After a long pause, Xu Lin said coldly, “Ji Jinxuan, you really are insufferable.”

He turned and walked away, leaving Ji Jinxuan frozen in place.

Ji Jinxuan did not follow.

Xu Lin bought a ticket and boarded the boat. Two hours later, he was back in District Thirteen.

He had come home without telling Pu Sha, wanting to surprise him. He went to the school first, but it was empty. School was out. He headed home. It was getting dark, and the lights were on inside.

Pu Sha was home.

Xu Lin pushed the door open and called out, “Teacher, I’m back!” But the house was quiet. No one answered.

He took off his shoes and walked in. The living room was empty, the lights on, but no one was there.

Had he gone out?

“Teacher?” Xu Lin called again.

This time, he heard a loud clatter from Pu Sha’s bedroom. He was about to go check when Pu Sha burst out, saw him, and slammed the door shut. He looked flustered.

“Xu Lin, you… you should have told me you were coming home,” Pu Sha said, swallowing and unconsciously tugging at his clothes. “You startled me.”

“I told you I’d be back for the New Year.”

“I know, I just… I mean, you could have called ahead. I would have prepared something. There’s no food in the house. Are you hungry? Let me make you something.”

“No thanks, don’t bother.”

Pu Sha’s hair was a mess, as if it had been roughly tousled. Xu Lin reached out to smooth it down. “Your hair’s a mess. Were you sleeping?”

“Ah, yes.” Pu Sha nodded, his gaze shifting. He pressed his hair down with both hands, trying to straighten it.

Xu Lin glanced at the bedroom door, then back at Pu Sha, who looked visibly nervous. He had always been an open book.

Xu Lin smiled. “Do you have a guest?”

“Ah?” Pu Sha was caught off guard.

Xu Lin was even more certain. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

Pu Sha gripped Xu Lin’s arm tighter, afraid he would barge into the room. “No, no guests.”

If that were true, Xu Lin would be shocked. He did not call him out. He watched Pu Sha’s performance with amusement.

When Zhuang Xun had first shown up here, Pu Sha had gone with him to the capital. That was when Xu Lin had learned about Pu Sha’s hidden past. After some pressing, Pu Sha had finally told him everything.

No wonder Pu Sha had always seemed out of place in District Thirteen. He had grown up in the capital. He had met that Ji family member, been hurt, barely escaped with his life, and fled to District Thirteen.

It was a painful story.

Fate was strange. The two Ji brothers always seemed to find someone to torment.

The past was in the past. Pu Sha was older now. If he could move on and find someone new, that was a good thing. Xu Lin was happy for him.

Still, he wanted to see if the person was trustworthy. He wanted to make sure Pu Sha would not be hurt again.

Pu Sha dragged Xu Lin into the kitchen. “We’re out of vinegar. Can you go buy some? I’ll start dinner.”

Xu Lin glanced at the nearly full bottle of vinegar on the counter and raised an eyebrow.

He was trying to send him away so the person hiding in his room could slip out. Still keeping secrets.

It must not be the right time yet. Xu Lin did not push.

“Alright.” He pointed at the vinegar bottle, feigning ignorance. “Same brand?”

Pu Sha followed his gaze and realized how obvious he was being. His ears turned red.

Xu Lin laughed. “I’ll be right back.”

He strolled out, bought a bottle of vinegar from the shop down the street, and gave it some time before heading back.

With one hand in his pocket and a lit cigarette between his lips, he passed a narrow alley. From one of the low houses, he heard a woman crying and begging, mixed with a man’s angry shouts.

Soon, a woman with a bruised face came out, carrying a shopping basket, seemingly heading to the market.

As she passed Xu Lin, he caught the faint scent of blood on her.

Her head was bowed, her eyes lifeless. Her hair covered her face, but the bruises on her skin were still visible. It seemed she had endured this a hundred, a thousand times, and was long numb to it.

A few worn-out Go tables lined the alley. Several people were gathered around one, playing. One of the elderly players looked up at the woman’s retreating figure and shook his head.

“Old Wang’s been beating his wife again.”

“She’s waited on him hand and foot for over a decade, and he still beats her. Why won’t she divorce him? It’s a tragedy.”

“Forget it. It’s not our business. Your turn. Move.”

They played on.

Xu Lin turned the corner. The woman was gone.

When he got home, a table full of hot food was waiting. Pu Sha was busy at the stove, ladling soup.

Xu Lin set the vinegar beside him. “Need a hand?”

“No, sit down. I’m almost done.”

Xu Lin walked out of the kitchen and saw that Pu Sha’s bedroom door was wide open. The guest was gone.

“Who was that? Do they come often? How did you meet? Are they a Beta?”

Throughout the meal, Xu Lin’s questions outnumbered the grains of rice in his bowl, overwhelming Pu Sha. He could neither eat nor answer. He mumbled, “I’ll tell you another time.”

“When? When is another time?”

Xu Lin kept at it until Pu Sha had to change the subject. “How long are you staying this time?”

“Twenty days of leave. I’ll stay through the New Year and leave after.”

“Little Fatty and the others don’t know you’re back. You could go out with them tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Pu Sha asked, “Did he come to find you?”

Xu Lin’s chopsticks paused. He knew who he meant, but he could not answer.

Could he tell Pu Sha that he had spent the last two months in the capital, that he had already seen Ji Jinxuan and stayed at his place? That would only worry him.

Seeing Xu Lin’s expression, Pu Sha dropped the subject. “He hasn’t come here in two years. I’m worried he might show up now that you’re back. Would he?”

He was only concerned. Xu Lin did not answer.

Would he?

Ji Jinxuan had said he would come. Even though Xu Lin had forbidden it, Ji Jinxuan was never one to listen. He did what he wanted.

Who could predict Ji Jinxuan’s mind?

The New Year was approaching. District Thirteen’s winter was bitterly cold, the sky gray from morning till night, as if snow was about to fall.

Xu Lin had been back for a few days. He and Xiaopang and Shitou had bought New Year’s supplies and firecrackers, preparing for the big day.

Until New Year’s Eve, everything was normal. No strange events, no unwelcome faces.

It was a long-awaited, normal New Year’s Eve.

Pu Sha’s small yard was packed. Like every year, everyone gathered around the table for barbecue, drinking and chatting, sharing their lives. At midnight, fireworks bloomed over District Thirteen.

There were no firework bans here. It was a sight you could not see anywhere else.

Xu Lin had a few drinks, his cheeks flushed. Leaning against the flower wall in the yard, he looked up at the fireworks. Then, a drop of cold liquid landed on his face, followed by another.

Snowflakes, like torn cotton, drifted down from the sky.

It was snowing.

His breath condensed into white clouds in the cold air. His nose was red from the cold. He pulled up his collar to cover his chin.

A new year had begun.

“Happy New Year, Li-ge!”

“Happy New Year! What are you standing there for? Come drink!”

“Trying to dodge, are you?”

His friends called out to him, raising their glasses. Xu Lin ran over to join them.

After several rounds of drinks, the group began to disperse.

Pu Sha had also had a few drinks and was already in bed. Xu Lin saw off the last of the guests, looked at the mess in the yard, and resigned himself to cleaning up.

It was past three in the morning when he finished. The snow was still falling, showing no sign of stopping.

Snow had piled up on the eaves and the ground, a blanket of white.

Xu Lin carried two large black trash bags out to dump them. His shoes crunched on the snow.

On his way back, he stopped at the yard entrance.

Outside the fence, there were many footprints in one spot, the snow trampled and melted into mud. Someone had been there for a long time, pacing back and forth, never leaving.

Maybe they had been there during the fireworks, or while everyone was drinking, or even earlier.

More striking than the footprints were two palm-sized snowmen on the ground.

They were crude, poorly made. Just four snowballs stacked together. No eyes, no nose.

But they were pressed close together, as if trying to merge into one.

Xu Lin crouched down and looked at them.

He said nothing, went inside, and closed the door.

The next morning, after a sleepless night, Xu Lin heard Pu Sha groaning. He went to check. Pu Sha was suffering from a bad hangover.

Xu Lin went out to buy him some medicine.

As he left, he glanced at the yard entrance. The two snowmen were still there, just as they had been last night.

It was early, and the cold kept the streets empty.

Passing the Go tables in the alley, Xu Lin looked toward one of the houses. He saw the woman crouched in a corner by the door, curled up, her expression panicked. Her face was covered in blood.

In District Thirteen, violence was common. No one would call the police. But she looked terrible. Xu Lin walked over and crouched in front of her. “Are you alright?”

She looked at him fearfully, her lips trembling, unable to speak. She glanced back at the house. Xu Lin followed her gaze. The door was ajar. Inside, he could see a man lying on the floor, battered and bloody, unconscious or dead.

It was her husband.

She must have finally snapped under the abuse, fighting back with everything she had.

She was trembling, unable to speak. Before Xu Lin could ask more, she suddenly ran off, stumbling. He caught her before she fell. Something fell from her hand—a wad of bloody cash, crumpled in her grip.

“Wait, you need to see a—”

Up close, Xu Lin realized the blood on her face was not hers. It had splattered on her from the outside.

To fight a much larger man and come away unscathed was impossible. Something was wrong.

It was not her.

Her fragmented words confirmed his suspicion. “That person… he looked strange…”

“He seemed unwell, injured… money…”

Xu Lin picked up the cash from the ground and pressed it into her hand. Then he walked in the direction she had been running.

She had not run out of fear or guilt. She had been looking for the person who helped her. Or rather, the person who had given her the money.