After placing a white stone, Jing Sicun met Ke Ni’s eyes calmly, then went inside the grocery store.
Jing Sicun brought out some cat food and water for the strays, and handed Ke Ni another can of beer.
What was this?
What did it mean?
Was he treating her like a stray, too?
Ke Lin frowned: “That’s not what you mean, is it…”
Jing Sicun had already picked up a black stone: “Hmm?”
“Nothing.”
Jing Sicun clearly misunderstood her, too.
Watching the board, he reached over and helped Ke Lin open her beer.
Ke Ni: “…”
“Thanks.”
The alley was very quiet late at night.
The cats ate, the people played Go.
Occasionally, someone would drop by, exchange a few words with Jing Sicun, then head inside to buy something.
Ke Ni remembered the two Labradors her mother raised when she was little.
They always wagged their tails and licked her face, even sneaking a lick of her ice cream when she wasn’t looking.
She also thought of her warm, lively home as a child—her dad talking about things at school, her mom showing them her latest jewelry designs.
If only life could always stay that way.
Ke Ni took a small sip of beer, gazing resentfully at the wall in the grocery store covered in old posters.
The spokesperson for that vinegar soda brand had changed many times by now.
Roughly counting, those posters had probably been on the wall for over ten years.
She thought, maybe her dad met Jing Sicun’s family here all those years ago?
A brilliant mind, a prestigious foreign school.
Good luck, friends, a loving family.
A cozy little shop, clingy pets…
Jing Sicun already had everything Ke Ni ever wanted.
Ke Ni felt both resentful and frustrated.
She took a swig of beer, glanced at Jing Sicun’s baseball cap;
Took another sip, glanced at the kitten sleeping on his shoulder;
Another sip, and glanced at the Go stone Jing Sicun just placed…
Ke Ni kept watching, her gaze drifting further and further.
First, she looked at Jing Sicun’s fingertips as he placed stones;
Then his slender fingers, the clearly defined back of his hand, the subtly raised veins on his wrist, the lean line of his arm;
Then the spot at the base of his ear, reddened by the kitten’s claw, and the lips and jaw partially hidden under the brim of his cap…
Ke Ni’s lips pressed against the cold beer can, not realizing her breathing had changed.
Jing Sicun suddenly looked up.
Their eyes met in a flash; Ke Ni tightened her grip on the now-empty beer can, condensation sliding along the lines of her palm.
Jing Sicun asked, “Out? Want another?”
Meeting those calm eyes, hearing his steady, unruffled voice,
She paused.
It was like she suddenly remembered who Jing Sicun was, and couldn’t help a surge of resentment.
Ke Ni didn’t answer whether she wanted another beer, but Jing Sicun still got up and fetched more.
This time, he brought two kinds.
For Ke Ni, he still brought a light canned beer; for himself, a large glass bottle.
Ke Ni drank, quietly watching Jing Sicun.
Jing Sicun took two sips, then suddenly asked, “Have we met somewhere before?” [@ Unlimited Good Stories, all at Jinjiang Literature City]
Ke Ni stiffened, flatly denying it: “No. Don’t try to act familiar.”
Jing Sicun didn’t continue the game, just played with the stones in the box.
Clack, clack, clack…
He said, “I get the feeling you hold a grudge against me.”
Ke Ni bristled: “I do not!”
Jing Sicun teased, “Lost to me in a competition?”
Ke Ni was immediately hit where it hurt.
She couldn’t hold back her feelings anymore and started venting nonstop—
“Someone as mediocre as me—do I even deserve to compete on the same stage as a genius like you?”
“I can’t even reach your level!”
“Jing Sicun, you know exactly who you’ve competed against, who you’ve beaten, don’t you?”
“Of course you do.”
“You know I’m not as good as you, know I’m not as talented as you in any way.”
“So after laughing at me, that’s not enough—you still have to rub it in?”
“Just because you went to a prestigious foreign school, you can look down on people?”
“Just because everything goes your way, you can look down on people?”
“Is this weird sarcasm supposed to be fun for you?”
“Now I finally know which window God closed for you.”
“God gave you intelligence, luck, talent, the most comfortable life.”
“Even the cats like you!”
“But he made you arrogant, conceited, and self-important…”
The next morning, Ke Ni sat on the big bed in her rental, replaying last night’s events over and over.
What on earth had she said…
Ke Ni had never argued with anyone in her life, never rattled off so many harsh words in a row.
And to Jing Sicun, no less…
Scenes like that only ever happened in her dreams after watching Jing Sicun’s TV show.
Was beer poisonous?
Or had she gone crazy?
What bothered Ke Ni most was that while yelling at Jing Sicun, she’d ended up crying herself.
She yelled at him, then stopped only when she was exhausted.
Then she stared blankly at Jing Sicun.
Jing Sicun was leaning on the Go board, propping up his head.
Her string of rambling nonsense—he actually listened, seriously, to the end.
This Jing Sicun really couldn’t be underestimated; his emotional stability was frightening.
He got scolded for no reason, yet listened quietly all the way, even asking Ke Ni, “Hungry?”
Back to now…
Ke Ni shut her eyes and flopped back onto the bed.
The nearly twenty-year-old bed frame couldn’t handle a grown woman flopping around like that, and creaked in protest.
Ke Ni ignored it, just wishing for the thousandth time she could disappear on the spot.
She could hardly imagine what kind of mood she’d been in, sitting outside the grocery store in the middle of the night, wiping her tears, eating the dumplings Jing Sicun’s neighbor had given his family, together with Jing Sicun.
The dumplings were boiled by Jing Sicun.
After eating, Jing Sicun even walked her home.
What had he said again?
It was too late; letting a drunk go home alone wasn’t safe?
Ke Lin lay in bed, dying of embarrassment.
Her “I refuse to face reality” mood lasted from five in the morning all the way past eight.
In the end, Ke Ni resigned herself and got up to wash.
She planned to apologize to Jing Sicun.
A lot of things she didn’t want to relive would pop up in her mind while brushing her teeth.
Like now:
Ke Ni suddenly realized she hadn’t paid for any of the beers she drank last night.
When alone, Ke Ni always felt she had a lot of resistance toward Jing Sicun.
A lot of resistance, and yet she’d freeloaded in his family’s home, eating and drinking for free…
What the heck was that about?
The homemade dumplings weren’t sold in the grocery store, so they couldn’t be priced—they’d have to count as Jing Sicun’s treat, and she’d just have to find a chance to repay him.
But the beer—Ke Ni definitely had to pay for that.
She counted the number of beers she’d drunk in front of the mirror, and suddenly remembered a scene from last night:
When she went to get another beer, Jing Sicun still gave her a small can, and took a big glass bottle for himself.
Ke Ni pouted: “Stingy.”
Jing Sicun asked, “What?”
By then, Ke Lin was already a little unreasonable, accusing Jing Sicun of only giving himself the 500ml bottles, while all she got were the 250ml minis.
Jing Sicun looked at her for a couple of seconds, then just took away the mini can in front of her.
“What are you doing?”
“You’ve had enough.”
Ke Ni, fuming, stuffed a dumpling in her mouth: “Cheapskate.”
By her logic at the time, Jing Sicun taking away her beer was a much bigger deal than any old grudge.
Ke Lin grumbled all the way.
The old family apartment was shabby, with a puddle by the entrance, two broken bikes, and some junk piled by the door.
Ke Ni skirted the puddle, put one foot into the stairwell, then suddenly turned around: “Why are you still following me?”
The sensor light in the stairwell wasn’t very sensitive, only turning on when Ke Ni spoke.
Jing Sicun’s eyes were hidden in the shadow of his baseball cap, both hands in his pockets.
He took his long strides, slowly stepping over the puddle and into the stairwell, stopping in front of Ke Ni.
He waited, watching her go inside, before leaving.
Ke Ni frowned and tried to push Jing Sicun: “Who needs you to watch me?”
Jing Sicun didn’t budge. In the dim stairwell light, he met Ke Ni’s eyes for a moment, then suddenly said, “Don’t go around committing crimes of passion.”
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