Chapter 5

 

Ming Xi dared not think too deeply, yet her thoughts kept running in that direction. The more she thought, the more frightened she became. The main reason was that she knew Ming Decheng all too well—

Ming Decheng was a man without morals and ability. The little money he had made before was only because he acted fast — nothing more.

Who could’ve thought that even when it came to selling his own daughter, his hands would be just as fast?

In the early 1990s, the street thugs grew faster than the leeks in the fields. They came out of the woodwork, batch after batch, freshly “reformed.” And after they were released from prison, it was almost impossible for them to find wives by any normal means, so they could only take the vile path… Ming Xi no longer doubted herself. Looking around at them, she was sure none of these men were decent.

…They were probably cellmates who had once sworn brotherhood in prison!

For a moment, Ming Xi felt hopeless and unable to move, staring at the pattern on the floor beneath her feet with red eyes.

She shrank in on herself — didn’t even dare to look up at them.

The atmosphere turned heavy. Qin Li and her husband tried to smooth things over. Her husband was a thug himself, friends with this whole gang of men. Ming Xi sat as if on needles and thorns; finally, she clenched her teeth and stood up.

“Aunt Qin, since my parents aren’t here… I’m leaving too!” Ming Xi shouted loudly towards the hosts, trying to act as if nothing had happened.

Her wrist was suddenly grabbed.

Every hair on her body stood on end. Ming Xi looked at “Brother Liu” in shock as he just laid hands on her.

She instinctively struggled to break free, her face showing more anger.

“Leaving already, just after we met?” Brother Liu said to her without any scruples.

“Hey, Brother Liu, you’re getting handsy right away!” one of the monkey-faced men jeered.

Brother Liu only grinned, proud of himself.

Malicious jokes began to emanate from the room, one after another.

“……!”

Ming Xi suddenly realized that the boys she met at the TVU could still at least speak human language. These men, who feared neither law nor reason, would hardly fear a girl’s temper.

This was no longer the elders’ home; it was a den of wolves. She had to leave, she was determined to leave, she had to, no matter what!

Qin Li came over, pretending not to understand, and patted her shoulder with false concern. “All right, all right. Don’t be so shy! They just talk rough; they’re not bad people.”

As soon as she finished, someone chimed in shamelessly, “Xiao Li, how can you say that? Aren’t we all good men here!”

“Haha, if anyone’s bad, it’s you. I’m a changed man now…”

Their words were not concealed at all. Ming Xi’s face gradually turned pale, and she said bluntly: “Aunt Qin, I treat you as an elder, how can you do something like this?”

Qin Li raised her brows, smiling sweetly as she played dumb. “Ming Xi, what are you saying? You must be misunderstood! I just invited you over for dinner…”

All lies — Ming Xi ignored her.

“Come on now, so many people here — give your Aunt Qin some face, hmm?” Qin Li suddenly leaned close to whisper, then, as if nothing were wrong, pulled Ming Xi toward the table and said loudly, “Sit down first! Don’t worry! Your parents might be here any minute… I really don’t know where they went! If you don’t want to talk to the others, just talk to me.”

Ming Xi pursed her lips and didn’t say a word.

Qin Li pretended not to notice, and even dragged her to the kitchen to help. Ming Xi forced herself to calm down. Since she couldn’t leave and couldn’t afford to make a scene, she decided to be like a wooden post: not move, not speak.

Qin Li was at a loss as to what to do with her. She glanced at her a few times and then looked at her husband with a thoughtful look.

Boss Yang stuck his hands in his pockets, shook his head, and theatrically pulled out his brand-new Motorola phone and dialed a number, and asked in a gruff voice: “Boss Ming! Where’d you and Sister Yumei run off to? Your daughter’s here raising hell with us already”

Ming Xi had no idea whether Ming Decheng was actually on the other end of the phone or whether he said anything.

Her chest ached with bitterness that words couldn’t express.

Cai Ni had told her a while ago that the hardest thing in the world was studying. She smiled and didn’t refute her, thinking to herself, how could studying be the hardest thing? What’s truly hard is realizing that studying is useless.

Her neck stiffened; she sucked in a sharp breath, eyes stinging as tears welled up. Then the tears spilled over, falling one after another.

Quietly, she lowered her head and began wiping them away, no longer caring how she looked.

“Fine! If you don’t want to eat at my house, I won’t keep you — go then!” Qin Li snapped, finally showing her irritation.

Ming Xi stood up stiffly, lowered her head and walked straight to the door. Seeing that no one tried to stop her, she quickly fled the apartment.

She hurried down the long, cluttered corridor. Ahead, a small window let in a dim shaft of light; from shadow to brightness, the change hurt her eyes.

At one point, Ming Xi felt the gray sunlight outside looked dirty — yet strangely tender, almost intimate. Quickly wiping the cold tears from her face, she practically ran to the street. She looked back twice to make sure no one was following her.

Finally, she reached the crowded street. Just as she exhaled in relief, a loud bang rang out behind her — as if something had fallen from above.

With a ‘clang’, many pedestrians stopped and looked up. It turned out that an aluminum can had been tossed from a second-floor window, landing not far behind a young girl.

Ming Xi slowly turned around, following everyone’s gaze upward—

A face popped out of the second-floor window. It was the man with the missing hair on his forehead. He leaned forward, his hands on the window, and smiled nonchalantly at the people below: “Whoops! My bad — slipped right out of my hand. Didn’t hit anyone, did it?”

“Nutcase.”

“Psycho……”

“Thug……”

People cursed and went on their way. Only Ming Xi stood there staring at the man named Liu Xinjun. His eyes naturally fell on her, looking at her with a half-smile, half-smirk, exuding confidence.

Ming Xi pursed her lips tightly, nearly stumbling as she turned away. After calming herself down, she quickened her pace and blended into the crowd.

…

In economics, there’s a term called the ripple effect — it means that once a variable changes in one area of the economy, it creates indirect impacts across other related fields. Misfortune works the same way. Since Ming Decheng and Yang Yumei had both fallen on hard times, naturally their bad luck rippled outward — to her.

Ming Xi ran back to her “home”, but still didn’t see Ming Decheng and Yang Yumei. She sat down on the edge of the bed, and without hesitating for too long, she packed up her things and left home to take refuge with her best friend.

Of course, showing up uninvited wasn’t ideal. Before catching a bus, Ming Xi went to a public phone booth, slipped in her IC card, and dialed Cai Ni’s home number.

The person who answered the phone happened to be Cai Ni——

“Hello!”

Ming Xi tightened her palm around the receiver, holding back her grievance. She spoke calmly: “Cai Ni… it’s me. Ming Xi.”

Ming Xi stayed at Cai Ni’s house.

Cai Ni was very happy about this, and her parents also made up a bed for her with smiles on their faces. Ming Xi explained to Cai Ni and her parents that her family had gone away for a while, and she was afraid to live alone, so she came to stay for a few days.

“I wish you could live in my house forever.” Cai Ni wanted to spin in circles with joy.

Ming Xi also brought the brown sugar cocoa powder that Professor Liang had given her to Cai Ni’s house. When Cai Ni’s parents saw she’d even brought a gift, they protested with friendly scolding: “Ming Xi, you’re being too formal.”

She said embarrassedly, “I brought it here to drink with Cai Ni.”

“Okay, I’ll make it for you now.”

Two steaming cups of sweet, fragrant cocoa were set before them. Ming Xi took a sip and found them delicious. Cai Ni was not surprised that she had such nice things. After all, she also had a father who was a “boss”.

For dinner, Cai Ni’s mother prepared four dishes and a soup, all delicious home-cooked meals. Throughout the meal, Cai Ni’s mother kept feeding her food. Ming Xi’s cheeks puffed up from eating so much that Cai Ni said she looked like a puffer fish.

Ming Xi had never seen a pufferfish before, so she asked awkwardly, “What is a pufferfish?”

“You’ve never watch Animal World?” Cai Ni sighed, puffed up her own cheeks, then scrunched her face and crossed her eyes in imitation.

Everyone at the table burst out laughing, including Ming Xi.

Then, a chestnut fell on Cai Ni’s head.

Cai Ni’s father teased his daughter: “Alright, alright, we know your greatest talent is playing the clown to make us laugh.”

Cai Ni was not happy with this statement: “I’m not a clown, I’m the heroine.”

Cai Ni’s mother: “You’re the fool who loves an audience.”

…

The Cai family were ordinary folks. Their apartment wasn’t big and had no separate dining room. They set up a small table in the living room, adding two stools beside the sofa — just enough for four people. A single yellow-tinted bulb hung overhead, casting a faint but cozy light. The walls were covered with calendars, family photos, posters of Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities, and a few of Cai Ni’s awards.

The most recent award dated back to fifth grade — Outstanding Student in Cleanliness and Civility.

After dinner, Cai Ni’s father washed the dishes while her mother sat down to watch a melodrama. Cai Ni, cracking sunflower seeds, pointed at the TV and said, “This actress looks just like Ming Xi!”

On TV, the heroine was crying and looking miserable.

Oh no, Ming Xi thought, nearly groaning. Her own life was bitter enough already — if she actually looked like one of those tragic heroines, wouldn’t her fate be even worse than Chinese bitter herb? She immediately shook her head like a rattle: “No, no, I don’t want to look like…”

“You really don’t recognize her? She’s the number-one beauty in all of China!” Cai Ni said exaggeratedly. These days, everyone was obsessed with being “number one” — number one in China, in Asia, in the world.

Ming Xi still shook her head. She didn’t want a face that looked doomed to tragedy!

That’s just makeup!

Cai Ni was about to explain, but her kind-hearted mother misunderstood — thinking Ming Xi might be insecure about her looks. She studied the girl under the lamplight and said gently, “Ming Xi’s features are so fine and classical. It’s just that your short hair changes your temperament. If you grew it out, you’d be a real beauty.”

Ming Xi: “…”

Yes, she’s always had ear-length hair; she’s never had long hair since she was a child. Long hair was difficult to maintain, and no one ever helped her braid it as a child, so ear-length hair had become her most usual style. Her bangs were short too; she sometimes trimmed them herself, unevenly, like a dog had chewed on them. Once, Cai Ni thought she was trying some kind of trendy hairstyle.

People who love you always know how to praise you — and that was true for both Cai Ni and her mother.

They misunderstood her as being modest and repeatedly emphasized that she looked like the actress on TV and that if she grew her hair, she’d be a classic beauty.

The praise was so over the top that even Ming Xi started to doubt herself.

She sighed and gave in a little. Then she thought, what’s the point of being beautiful? Can beauty make money? Can it guarantee a bright future? She didn’t have any chance of becoming an actress, and she didn’t want to be one anyway. What’s the point of acting like a puppet?

And the love scenes are always so fake.

“Ming Xi, promise me you’ll grow your hair long!” Cai Ni suddenly held her face affectionately and begged.

She refused: “No.”

“Long hair is so beautiful, and it can be permed.” Cai Ni shook her hair. “If you’re also grow long hair, we can go to the salon together every week to get it styled.”

“…”

This was exactly why she didn’t grow her hair long. Too much hassle and a waste of her time and energy.

“No. Too troublesome.” Ming Xi said softly, her tone slipping into something almost haughty without meaning to.

Cai Ni pinched Ming Xi’s face mercilessly.

Ming Xi retaliated by tickling her, and within moments Cai Ni was begging for mercy.

Ming Xi had short hair and a classically beautiful face, while Cai Ni had long curly hair and lively features. The two of them were equally lovely, and their playful wrestling on the sofa made a charming picture

Cai Ni’s mother regretted that she could only give birth to one daughter. She was knitting a sweater and her eyes would occasionally drift over to the two people playing.

Youth was wonderful — so full of possibilities.

… Even if her daughter only went to a TV university, Cai Ni’s mother still believed her girl’s future brimmed with possibilities.

It was an age of energy and hope. People’s hearts, too, were full of life.

…

The next day, staying at Cai Ni’s house gave Ming Xi a little more sense of security—but also a faint, indescribable gloom.

Cai Ni’s mother suggested taking them shopping to the big market in Yicheng to buy new clothes for the New Year.

Ming Xi already felt she was imposing enough by staying over; how could she also accept such generosity? She tried to find excuses to refuse, but Cai Ni dragged her out by force.

“My mom got a quarterly bonus, and she’s itching to spend it. Let’s help her spend some!”

“…”

Yicheng’s main market was a place the locals often frequented. Yicheng’s textile industry was quite developed, and many out-of-town clothing merchants came there to buy stock.

There was a frost last night, and when the sun came out in the morning, the green trees on the streets of Yicheng were still covered with a layer of shiny frost.

Inside the big market, it was bustling. The place was packed shoulder to shoulder, and every stall was crammed full of shoppers.

Cai Ni held Ming Xi’s hand and squeezed their way deeper inside, while Cai Ni’s mother got stuck at a small-goods stall near the entrance, endlessly haggling. The air was full of mixed smells, and Ming Xi suddenly caught a faint but peculiar scent.

Not quite fragrant—but not unpleasant either.

Ming Xi looked up and saw a young foreigner. He was lost in the crowd, looking both nervous and desperately trying to stay calm, as if he had never seen such chaos before.

Yicheng’s big market is so famous that it even attracts foreigners!

Ming Xi stole a couple of glances and saw that the foreigner really did look quite different: fluffy golden hair, a high nose, and a narrow, distinct face. Ming Xi raised her eyebrows, and to her surprise, the young foreigner also looked at her, his eyebrows lifted too, mirroring her.

Foreigner: …Hi?

Ming Xi: … She definitely hadn’t meant to greet him.

Ming Xi curled her lips and immediately showed the warm and simple smile of the local people. She took the initiative to ask the other party in English: Where are you from?

The young foreigner looked surprised and told her: I’m from the U.S.!

Cai Ni was busy scanning the racks of trendy women’s clothes when her ears suddenly picked up something that sounded exactly like an English-learning tape—those polite male-female dialogues. Which stall owner was so crazy as to put “Listen Carefully” on it?

She turned and saw Ming Xi chatting in English with a foreign guy. Oh—so it wasn’t the stall owner who was crazy, it was her ears.

Cai Ni knew Ming Xi’s English was good, especially her speaking. Seeing Ming Xi speak fluently and confidently with foreigners, Cai Ni, who was also in the English class, felt hurt. She wondered if she hadn’t been taught well enough by the teacher. Why couldn’t she understand a word?

Cai Ni winked at Ming Xi.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries with the foreign man, Ming Xi learned that his name was Henry, an American who came to Yicheng to discuss the fabric business. Now he had encountered a difficulty—

Turning to Cai Ni, Ming Xi explained, “He got separated from his business partner. Says our market’s too big, he can’t figure out where he is.”

Cai Ni’s patriotic enthusiasm burst out: “We Chinese kids are the best! Let’s show him the way!”

Ming Xi told Henry in English that they could help.

Henry, being polite, offered to pay them a small tip.

Cai Ni felt her years of English study had gone to waste. She could understand the words individually, but once strung together, they made no sense.

But why—why could Ming Xi not only understand, but also communicate?

In fact, Henry’s American accent wasn’t quite the polished version she’d heard on language tapes; his voice had a thick bubble-like lilt, almost as if he were speaking underwater. But for such simple conversation, it was easy enough to understand.

The three of them found a relatively quiet corner. Henry took out his phone from his jacket pocket and dialed a number. After saying a few words into it, he handed the phone to Ming Xi with a hopeful smile.

He wanted her help explaining where they were.

Ming Xi blinked, trying to start in English: “Ex—”.

But then, from the receiver, came a clear, deep, perfectly enunciated Mandarin voice—

“Thank you for helping. Could you describe the surroundings a bit more specifically?”

The man’s voice was clear and deep, and even through the converted sound quality of the phone, it was strangely familiar and caught her attention. The surroundings were noisy and bustling. Ming Xi looked ahead and saw an exit, which happened to be the west gate of the big market.

“Do you know the west gate? Inside it’s the leather goods area; outside, there are two big round pillars. We’ll wait for you there.” Ming Xi switched to Mandarin with a natural tone and clear pronunciation.

After giving the instructions, she returned the phone to Henry.

Henry: …Wonderful—met a good kid in China!

Cai Ni: Great—finally a sentence I can understand.

Henry put the phone to his ear again, and Liang Jiancheng told him on the phone: “Follow her and let her lead you.”

Henry joked, “What if she sells me off somewhere?”

Ming Xi understood and frowned—this American guy sure had a lot of nerve.

Henry realized his mistake and covered his mouth apologetically, forgetting that this good kid could understand English.

Liang Jiancheng’s calm question came from the phone receiver: “Do you think you’re a child?”

Exactly—stop acting like one. Ming Xi raised her head and pulled Cai Ni towards the west exit. As for whether the foreigner followed them or not—whatever!

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