Chapter Five (Part 1): Dream
Thump, thump—
In the darkness, Lu Yin could hear nothing but her own heartbeat.
He was standing right in front of her, the heat from his body tightly enveloping her. The scent that belonged to this man lingered at the tip of her nose, leaving her unable to breathe in any fresh air at all. But the corridor was narrow, as though this was simply the distance they were supposed to be from each other. She could find no reasonable excuse to push him away or scream.
The question Lu Qiang had just asked made her freeze instantly. It was as though a thorn had lodged itself in her throat, and she did not know how to answer.
Lu Qiang did not retreat. His chest rose and fell with measured breaths.
Lu Yin could not stand it any longer. Wanting to break the awkward stalemate, she shifted toward the doorway on the right.
She had barely taken half a step when she jolted to a stop. A series of vibrations sounded especially abrupt in the quiet space. After half a second, Lu Yin hurriedly fumbled her phone out of her bag and, without making it obvious, retreated to the doorway.
She stepped outside. One stood inside the door, the other outside.
Lu Yin glanced at the incoming call and quickly answered.
“Husband?”
“…” Ye Fan. “Yinyin? It’s me…”
“How much longer until you get home?”
There was a silence of two seconds before the other person reminded her, “It’s Ye Fan!”
“Almost at the residential compound? Perfect, I just came through the door too.”
“…Are you crazy?”
She bit her lip and asked, bracing herself, “What do you want to eat tonight? I’ll go buy it.”
The other end cursed under her breath, exasperated by her hopelessness. “How long has it been already? Can you pull yourself together?”
“Let’s just have steamed sea bass, or sweet-and-sour pork ribs, or crispy fried chicken.”
A roar came through the receiver. “What’s so good about that bastard that he’s worth turning yourself into a nervous wreck over?”
Ye Fan’s tone was unpleasant. Listening to her, Lu Yin walked a few steps farther away and casually lowered the phone’s volume.
Lu Qiang let out a faint, breathy laugh and shook his head. He was still standing sideways inside the doorway, turning his head to look at the indistinct figure in the stairwell. It was extremely quiet at that moment. The person on the other end of the phone was worked up, shouting one thing after another. By contrast, her voice was soft and gentle, like the mellow breeze of a summer night. The way she called him “husband” made a person’s bones go weak.
Lu Qiang slipped his hands into his pockets. His tongue brushed back and forth over his lower lip several times. He had been drinking too little water. There were several dry vertical lines on his lips. After moistening them, his lips were wet, yet his thirst grew even stronger. He wished there were a glass of pure, refreshing water in front of him.
Lu Yin said, “Anything else you want to eat?”
“You…” Ye Fan thought for a moment, then suddenly lowered her voice. “What exactly is wrong with you? Did you run into some kind of danger?”
“I’m fine… Let’s settle on that.”
“Don’t scare me. If something really happened, just say ‘en,’ and I’ll call the police.”
“No need…” Lu Yin’s face burned bright red. She hurriedly stopped her. “I’ll go buy it. See you in a bit.” Before the other person could finish speaking, Lu Yin hung up first.
Lu Qiang looked at her once more, then shifted his gaze away. Reaching back with one hand, he accurately pressed the switch and turned on the light in the corridor.
Lu Yin was still standing straight in the stairwell. The sudden bright light made her eyes uncomfortable, but she finally regained her sense of safety, and her heart settled back into place.
Lu Qiang asked, “Where should I put this?”
She came back to herself and glanced at the box on his shoulder. “Just put it in the open space.”
He set the things down, then swept his eyes over the room before turning and coming back out.
As he passed by her, Lu Yin moved half a step backward and said softly, “Thank you.”
Lu Qiang stopped and looked down at her.
Her soft waist was pressed against the railing, her upper body leaning backward. Her collarbones appeared even straighter, with two deep hollows at her shoulders, their rise and fall seeming suited to the tracing of a fingertip. His gaze lowered slightly. The movement caused the shape of her chest to face him, prominent and brazen, while she herself remained unaware.
Lu Qiang hooked a finger along the bridge of his nose and, without revealing anything, took a step backward, afraid that if he made any further movement, she would fall backward with it.
After they remained locked in silence for a moment, Lu Yin repeated, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“…Then, goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
Lu Qiang turned and went downstairs. After descending two steps, he stopped again and raised his eyes. Two shallow, short lines appeared on his forehead.
“You can cook?”
Lu Yin was utterly baffled. “…”
“Looks like you can make quite a few things.”
“…”
“Can you make little stewed pork?”
“…Never made it.”
“Learn. It’s pretty good.”
After saying this, he went downstairs. The sound-activated light on the second floor came on, and he did not look back again.
Lu Yin stood in the stairwell for a moment. The phone in her hand was buzzing incessantly. It was Ye Fan. She went inside, closed the door behind her, and immediately began explaining what had just happened to her.
***
Back at the security room, Old Li had already tidied everything up and was chatting with a passing resident.
When he saw Lu Qiang return, he waved a hand. The resident headed inside, and when he encountered Lu Qiang, he smiled and greeted him again. Lu Qiang nodded once before going inside to look for some water to drink.
Old Li patted the bicycle seat and lifted his foot onto the pedal. “Delivered?”
Lu Qiang tipped his head back and gulped down water. He drank so quickly that some of it ran down his chin onto his chest. He wiped it away with his hand and gave a low “mm” through his nose.
Old Li said, “Then I’m heading out.”
Lu Qiang did not answer. He took off his short-sleeved shirt, his dark, muscular chest gleaming as though a layer of oil had been rubbed over it. He casually wiped himself down a couple of times with the shirt, then pulled on his security guard uniform. There were five buttons. He fastened them one by one. When he reached the third, his movements paused. He walked outside and called, “Old Li.”
Old Li stopped. “What is it?”
Lu Qiang narrowed his eyes. “Nothing.”
“Then why’d you call me?”
Lu Qiang said, “That woman just now, her name is Lu Yin?”
“Ah.” He took a moment to react.
“How many years has she lived here?”
“Four or five, I guess. Her family isn’t from around here either. She’s renting the place.” Old Li looked at him. “Why are you asking?”
Lu Qiang said, “Just getting familiar with the situation.”
Old Li understood and nodded approvingly.
He offered Old Li a cigarette, then lit one for himself as well. “She’s married?”
“Seems like it.”
Lu Qiang’s cigarette stopped at his lips.
Old Li set the kickstand back down and prepared to finish this cigarette before leaving. He thought for a moment. “Seems like it was at the beginning of this month.”
Lu Qiang said nothing. It was a long while before he finally took his first drag. The smoke drifted softly out through his nostrils. There was no wind, so the smoke rings gathered and lingered, the air filled with a sharp, pungent smell.
Old Li glanced at him. “You call this getting familiar with the situation?”
He lowered his head and said nothing.
Old Li sighed and continued, “But, you know, life is unpredictable. It was supposed to be a happy occasion.” He paused. “What a pity…”
Lu Qiang raised the corner of his eye. “A pity about what?”
“I only heard it from someone else, so I don’t know if it’s true. Apparently the wedding didn’t go through. A third party showed up halfway and caused a huge scene at the wedding.” He clapped his hands twice, then spread them apart. “They called it quits.”
“Really?”
Old Li gave him a blank look. “I said I heard it from someone. Who knows if it’s true?”
Lu Qiang fell silent for a while. He thought back to that rainy day: the disheveled figure, the forlorn and sorrowful expression, appearing in a white veil at an ill-timed intersection.
“What date was it?”
“What date?” Old Li asked.
“The day she got married.”
Old Li took a drag of his cigarette and looked sideways at the sky, trying hard to remember. “The eighth?” He thought about it, then said with certainty, “Right, the eighth. I remember getting paid the night before, and Xiao Lu happened to come by to give out wedding candies.”
Everything matched up. He had gone out on the eighth. He would never forget that date.
“Is that so.” The corner of Lu Qiang’s mouth curved involuntarily. He said, sounding rather pleased, “That useless? Lost to a third party?”
Old Li said, “That woman’s child is almost due. What else could he do but give way?”
Lu Qiang looked at him. “You sure are a gossip.”
“It’s not gossip, exactly. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen that man around lately. He’s probably moved out and doesn’t live here anymore. No wonder.” He paused. “Seems there was a reason too. It was for the child.”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard they’d been together for almost six years, but Xiao Lu never got pregnant. When a woman can’t have children, the man looks elsewhere.”
Lu Qiang looked at him again. Half the cigarette remained. He took a deep drag, drawing his cheeks inward. The ember glowed and dimmed, then he tossed it onto the ground and crushed it beneath his foot.
He shifted into a more comfortable position, relaxing his whole body as he stood there even more lazily.
There had been no wind just now. The oppressive heat clung to his body, as though it meant to stew a person alive. Now, though, a faint breeze had begun to blow. The crabapple trees in the distance were in full bloom, and within the dry, hot wind, he seemed able to distinguish a trace of their delicate fragrance. The restlessness that had filled him just minutes ago gradually settled as well.
After a moment, he gave a derisive laugh. “Maybe he was the one who couldn’t do it.”
Old Li caught the implication. He pointed a finger at him. “You’d better not get any funny ideas. I’ve seen her. She’s a good girl.”
Lu Qiang glanced sideways. “Do I look like a bad guy?”
Old Li did not answer his question. He looked him up and down twice, pondering for a moment. “Not suitable.”
He did not say what was unsuitable about it.
Lu Qiang joked, “Whether we’re suitable or not, that’s for me to decide.”
Old Li laughed, not taking him seriously. After finishing his cigarette, he got on his bicycle and went home.
Lu Qiang watched his back disappear, then turned his gaze away. There was no one left near the guard booth except him. In the residential compound’s garden, the square-dance crowd had started up again. The same cheerful songs that never seemed to change made the distance seem extraordinarily lively.
Here, everything was quiet. Light spilled down from above, passing through the dense branches. By the time it reached the ground below, there was not much of it left.
He remembered that night, the thousands of household lights, the gentle breeze.
Car horns sounded outside the residential compound. Sitting on a wooden chair inside the booth, he saw, through the glass, a head sticking out from a car window in the distance. The wind gently lifted the tips of her hair. Her neck was slender and long, her face clear and beautiful.
That face suddenly entered his field of vision. Everything around her was dim, while light seemed to radiate from above her head. The dusky yellow glow softened her features. He heard a dong, as though something had struck him hard in the chest. No matter how rigid the outer shell, it was not enough to conceal the sudden joy that had caught him completely off guard.
He had never known that, all along, he had been waiting for an unknown reunion.
***
That night, Lu Qiang had no sleepiness at all.
It grew quieter and quieter. One by one, the lights in the residential compound’s windows went out. There was no television in the guard booth, only an old radio blaring noisily as it aired an emotional talk show. Someone was crying to the host about the hardships of life and her husband’s indifference.
Lu Qiang turned the knob. Another channel was playing an old song. He rested both legs on the desk and looked out the window. It was deep into the night, quiet and still, and even the streetlights had gone out. He pressed his phone. It was still the popular model from the year he had first joined the job, and the screen took a long moment to light up. He glanced at the time. It was already one in the morning.
There was someone else who was awake too. Lu Yin tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. It had already been like this for half a month. Even though her emotions had gradually settled, her biological clock had been disrupted. She could not fall asleep even a moment earlier.
She got out of bed and rummaged through boxes and cabinets. From behind the bookshelf, she found half a bottle of baijiu. Liu Zecheng had bought it, and she had forgotten to clear it away. Lu Yin found a glass and poured half a glass.
She had not turned on the lights in the room. By the light of the moon, she wandered over to the window and took small sips. Lu Yin normally did not drink at all and had little tolerance for alcohol. At this moment, she only wanted to use alcohol to put herself to sleep, to stop being so painfully clear-headed.
Someone who did not know how to drink could finish it in just a few mouthfuls. The spicy pain burned all the way from her throat down into her chest. She stood there for another moment. When the alcohol began to take effect, she supported herself against the wall and lay back down on the bed. She closed her eyes. Her head spun, yet she remained completely awake.
She let her thoughts run wild for a while, then took out her phone and lit up the screen. It was already one in the morning. She finished scrolling through her Moments, then went to Weibo. In the end, when there was truly nothing left to look at, she opened Baidu and, as if possessed by some inexplicable impulse, typed in a few words:
How to make little stewed pork
The progress bar buffered for several seconds, and lines of information appeared one after another.
She clicked the first result. The instructions said: Blanch pork belly, then cut it into small cubes. Add spices and dark soy sauce, bring to a boil over high heat, then turn to low heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Soak for 12 hours, bring to a boil again over high heat, then simmer slowly over low heat for another hour and a half. Finally, add sugar…
There was nothing particularly difficult about it. Lu Yin only skimmed it casually.
Her finger slid upward. At the very bottom, there was another line marked in red.
Her sleepiness gradually came over her. She closed her eyes, then opened them again and reluctantly finished reading the small print.
Cooking tip: Remember, slow simmering over gentle heat, with a long soaking and resting time, is what gives it its flavor.
No comments:
Post a Comment