Chapter Two (Part 2): That Rainy Day
Lu Qiang watched the woman flee in panic through the rearview mirror.
She wore a tight-fitting white mermaid-tail wedding dress, its layers cascading below the knees and trailing a long way across the ground. Yet there were no cumbersome decorations. It was a simple, figure-hugging style. To emphasize her figure, the waist and abdomen were cinched tightly, while her hips rose in a full, graceful curve. Her entire silhouette was soft and sinuous.
After being drenched by the rain, the hem of the dress hung heavily downward. She hurriedly bent over, gathered up the skirt, and staggered back.
The traffic light changed. Genzi stepped on the accelerator. Lu Qiang rested his elbow against the window frame, the hand holding his cigarette against his lips, and glanced sideways at the rearview mirror.
In the mirror, that white figure was washed apart by the rain, becoming more and more blurred.
It receded farther and farther into the distance. Only when the car turned did he finally withdraw his gaze.
Lu Qiang licked his lips. In those brief few seconds, he seemed to remember her.
***
The rain continued throughout the afternoon, and the welcome banquet for Lu Qiang continued as well.
It was not until nightfall that the rain finally stopped. The air was exceptionally fresh, sweeping away the day’s oppressive heat.
They ate at a dumpling restaurant.
Deep within a cramped alley stood a secluded courtyard. The red lanterns hanging on either side of the gate illuminated the courtyard in a brilliant red. It was a very ordinary place, where loud shouting and streams of profanity could be heard everywhere.
The table was piled high with beer bottles and baijiu. Several people had already drunk beyond their limits. Only Genzi and Kun Dong were still barely able to keep him company.
Lu Qiang had his left foot planted on the stool, his upper body bare, looking as though nothing were the matter.
He stuffed two dumplings into his mouth in succession, narrowed his eyes at the few of them, and sneered. “Cowards.”
Kun Dong clinked his glass against Lu Qiang’s and drank straight from the bottle. Half a bottle of liquor went down his throat, and his speech was already slurred. “Qiang-ge, from now on… we can follow you again. We’ve been waiting for this day for so many years. We’ve just been waiting for you to make your comeback. For this, we have to have one…”
Before he could finish, there was a loud bang. Kun Dong, together with his liquor, crashed face-first onto the tabletop.
Lu Qiang burst into laughter.
Genzi laughed too. He was still fairly sober. “Pathetic.” He smacked Kun Dong twice on the head with his chopsticks, then looked at Lu Qiang. “I don’t care about the others, ge. From now on, I’m following you. Whatever happens, you have to take me with you.”
During the six years Lu Qiang was inside, his former brothers had made a living on their own. With no one to back them up, they gradually drifted away from their old way of life. Some now ran small businesses, some drove taxis, some worked as electricians using their skills, and one had a silver tongue and went into sales.
No more living by the blade, no more making a fortune overnight. Their incomes were barely enough to get by, but they lived steady and comfortable lives.
Lu Qiang rubbed his hand twice over his bald head. “You asked me today whether I was going back to Old Qiu.”
Genzi said, “Ah! Right.”
“I’m not following him.”
Genzi froze for a moment. “Why, ge?”
Lu Qiang took a sip of liquor, baring his teeth slightly as the fiery liquid slid down his esophagus, leaving his whole body feeling pleasantly refreshed. Instead of answering, he asked, “How are you doing these days?”
“…Getting by.” Genzi paused for two seconds. For a moment, he did not know what Lu Qiang was getting at, then added, “Money doesn’t come as quickly as it used to. I have to think carefully about everything I spend.”
Lu Qiang ate two more dumplings, chewing them at least a little before swallowing. “During these years inside, apart from when I first went in and people came looking for trouble, so I got into a few fights, afterward I worked during the day and slept at night. No matter how hard the bed was, once I lay down, I was out. Slept damn soundly.”
Genzi was quick-witted and caught the meaning behind his words. “Ge, then what are you planning to do afterward?”
“They don’t arrange jobs for you when you get out.”
Genzi gave an exaggerated “Ah.” “That’s it?”
“What?” Lu Qiang glanced sideways at him.
“Nothing, nothing…” Genzi gave two dry laughs. “That’s pretty good.”
By the time they called it a night, it was already deep into the night. Kun Dong had slept for a while and was much more sober, so he hailed a taxi and sent the others home.
Lu Qiang had nowhere to go, so he would stay at Genzi’s place for the time being. The two did not take a taxi. They walked along a small road for a while, the cool night breeze blowing away most of the alcohol on them.
When men were together, aside from talking about money, they talked about women.
Genzi asked, “Qiang-ge, there aren’t any women in there, right?”
Lu Qiang shot him a sideways look. “What do you think?”
“So you haven’t touched a woman all these years?”
Lu Qiang: “…”
Genzi looked around furtively. “Ge, I’ll take you somewhere good.”
“Not going.”
Lu Qiang turned his head and spat out the toothpick. The leaves by the roadside gleamed after being washed by the rain, while puddles had collected in the uneven stretches of road, constantly reflecting the city’s riot of colors.
A figure suddenly surfaced before his eyes, delicate and soft, pitiful and vulnerable, making him wish he could pull her into his arms and cherish her properly.
Lu Qiang slipped a hand beneath his shirt and rubbed his belly. The alcohol he had drunk was fermenting inside him, making him feel very hot.
“Ge?”
Lu Qiang came back to himself. It took him a long while before he asked, “Where are we going?”
“Huh?”
Ten minutes later, they were in a secluded alley glowing with neon lights. Lightboxes protruded from both sides of the road, flashing incessantly, casting the rainy night in a hazy, decadent glow. Occasionally, stray dogs passed by, watching them with curiosity and wariness, barking twice to work up their courage before running off.
Genzi knew the way like the back of his hand, while Lu Qiang followed unhurriedly.
He asked, “You come here often?”
“Heh heh, occasionally. I only come to find someone I regularly see.”
Lu Qiang laughed and cursed him. “You little punk, don’t wreck your kidneys.”
Genzi led him left and right, turning through one corner after another before stopping in front of an inconspicuous shop.
The two stood at the counter. Genzi cupped his hand around his mouth and made his declaration beforehand. “Ge, Li Qing is mine. Don’t you dare compete with me.”
Lu Qiang was utterly disdainful. “They’re all the same. Quit wasting time.”
The owner was familiar with Genzi. He found Lu Qiang a woman with a good figure and pleasant looks, then conveniently took two keys from beside him and handed them to Genzi.
In a place like this, most of the rooms had been converted by the owner. Instead of solid walls built from cement blocks and bricks, the rooms were all separated by extremely thin wooden laminated panels. There was practically no privacy at all. Someone sneezing next door could be heard crystal clear.
Of course, anyone who dared come to a place like this was not worried about such things.
Genzi took Li Qing into the room and impatiently planted two kisses on the girl’s face.
They had met three years ago, when Genzi had first come to a place like this. He was young then and somewhat unable to let go. The others were unwilling to entertain him after seeing his appearance and the way he dressed. As luck would have it, Li Qing had just entered the trade. She was honest and straightforward, without any ulterior motives. She did not look down on him. Throughout the entire process, she had been attentive, considerate, and thoughtful.
Little by little, they became familiar with each other. Once they began keeping in touch, it continued for three years.
Li Qing coyly dodged him, and the two immediately became entangled, tumbling onto the bed together.
Genzi had barely finished taking off his clothes when a woman suddenly screamed from the other side of the wall. This was followed by the sound of an iron bed crashing against the wooden panels. The entire room shook as though it were about to collapse.
Genzi coughed nervously and continued what he had been doing. His mind was elsewhere today, and perhaps because of the stimulation from outside, it was over very quickly. Even after the two of them had calmed down and were lying quietly on the bed, the woman next door was still screaming in agony, her voice sounding part pain, part pleasure.
After listening for a while, the two could not help feeling awkward. Li Qing said nothing, but the longing in her eyes was obvious.
Genzi pulled him into an embrace and gave an awkward laugh. “Been pent up too long. My brother—he’s just been holding it in for years.”
“…”
Lu Qiang really had not done this in a very long time, six or seven years at least, if he counted it up.
He had never been a particularly good man. Before going inside, women had always flocked around him and refused to leave even when he tried to drive them away. He had never even considered coming to a place like this. It was his first time here, yet he did not feel much of anything. As far as Lu Qiang was concerned, women were more or less all the same.
He tossed the woman around and had his way with her from every angle. When she first came in, she had still been fairly lively. Now she was panting weakly, barely able to breathe, her slender fingers covering his powerful chest, fingertips rubbing and lingering in a caress.
Lu Qiang seized both her wrists with one hand and held them suspended in the air, not allowing her to touch him.
He thrust hard, staring at her expression, his gaze cold and cruel, without the slightest trace of tenderness…
At the final moment, Lu Qiang closed his eyes, and a scene suddenly surfaced in his mind.
A cloudy day, a mist of rain, an intersection, a blurry white shadow.
In his ears was a timid, delicate voice, on the verge of breaking down yet desperately pretending to remain calm. And so he saw her face clearly, small and fair, filled with sorrow. Her hair was soaked and clung to her cheek. The droplets, impossible to tell whether they were rain or tears, made her look excessively disheveled. She stood scattered and forlorn in the curtain of rain, the vermilion at the corners of her lips blooming with an allure that was both bewitching and pitiful.
Lu Qiang felt an itch in his heart, his eyes repeatedly taking her in.
She wore the white veil that symbolized fidelity. Her slender waist could be encircled with one hand, flowing from her hips down to her calves in a winding, graceful curve. His gaze could not help but travel upward. Half of her breasts were exposed, so pale that the fine veins beneath her skin could be seen. Rainwater fell onto that expanse of whiteness, mischievously slipping into the deep valley between them…
He thought of the snow in his hometown, gathered into his hands, kneaded back and forth into round little snowballs, soft, pure, untouched by dust, like the most extravagant treasure in his filthy world.
Lu Qiang clenched his teeth hard. A low growl escaped his throat. At that very moment, he heard the sound of a spring tinkling somewhere in his heart, and a thought suddenly surged forth wildly. He felt excited and satisfied, yet this inexplicable thought lasted only a few seconds. The ecstasy of his body could not possibly replace the emptiness in his heart.
He opened his eyes and abruptly returned to reality. Beneath him lay an unfamiliar woman, every expression on her face making him feel disgusted. Before that sensation had even subsided, Lu Qiang suddenly withdrew, got up, removed the condom and threw it onto the floor, pulled out a few tissues and gave himself a cursory wipe, then bent down to put on his pants.
He had lingered in that room for nearly an hour. Once he had tidied himself up, he came out, sat down on the sofa in the hall, and lit a cigarette.
Genzi went to settle the bill.
The woman emerged from the room soon afterward as well, her steps unsteady and her posture awkward. Toward clients like this, women both loved and hated them. They were handsome and carried the unmistakable masculine scent of a man. Their endurance in bed was nothing to complain about, but they did not know how to cherish a woman. Most of them cared only about their own pleasure.
Pants off, onto the bed. Pants on, off the bed. Cold and heartless, lacking that little bit of human warmth.
The woman slumped limply against Lu Qiang. “Ge, when are you coming again?”
Lu Qiang exhaled softly. A wispy ring of smoke rose upward, slowly expanding until it disappeared.
He pushed her away. “Go find somewhere else to cool off.”
The woman stumbled from the push. She stood, swayed slightly, then leaned against the wall as she walked away awkwardly.
Genzi returned, stuffing the change into his pocket. He glanced in the direction the woman had disappeared and teased, “Qiang-ge, you’re really too heartless toward women.”
Lu Qiang gave a soft snort of laughter.
“She’s not my wife,” he said.
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