The Fourth Fallen Leaf
Ji Shiqiu’s movements showed no consideration for a woman’s delicacy. He hastily threw the clothes over her head, knocking crooked the bun Wu Yu had tied up.
For no reason at all, anger flared. Wu Yu yanked it off and hurled it at the back of his head.
Ji Shiqiu took the blow for no reason, turned around in confusion, then glanced at the floor.
The hoodie lay in the stairwell like a great puddle of spilled cream.
The woman stared straight at him and ordered him to pick it up.
Ji Shiqiu ignored her and went downstairs on his own.
Wu Yu’s sour expression lasted all the way to the dining table. Sister Lin ladled porridge into their bowls, then looked at the old clothes of her husband’s that Ji Shiqiu was wearing with renewed curiosity, bluntly saying that they looked much better on him than on that dead man.
Ji Shiqiu was starving. He lowered his head and drank his porridge, not joining the conversation.
Wu Yu used the tip of her chopsticks to pick at the fermented bean curd, occasionally shooting him a glance, then said to Sister Lin, “Look at the way he’s drinking his porridge. Doesn’t he look like a pig rooting around in front of a feed trough?”
Ji Shiqiu’s chopsticks, which had been rapidly scooping up porridge, came to an abrupt stop.
Sister Lin was unconcerned. “No pig could look as good as he does.”
Wu Yu sneered. “Good-looking but useless.”
Sister Lin’s unnaturally tattooed eyebrows shot up, her face suddenly filled with wild imaginings and disbelief.
She wanted to ask whether it was true or not, but seeing the handsome face buried in his bowl grow darker and darker, she said no more. She merely offered politely, “There’s plenty of porridge in the pot. If you want more, help yourself.”
Ji Shiqiu thanked her.
After the meal, Ji Shiqiu took away his own bowl and chopsticks, washed them clean, and set them beside the sink to drain. Just as he was about to go upstairs, Wu Yu, who had barely eaten anything, called out to him.
“You’re going upstairs just like that?”
“Stay.” She tapped the table twice with the end of her chopsticks. “You’re not allowed to leave until I finish eating.”
Ji Shiqiu paused, pretended he had not heard her, and turned toward the stairs.
Sister Lin burst out laughing at the sight. “The person you brought home sure has quite an attitude.”
Wu Yu cursed under her breath, pushed her bowl aside, and followed him upstairs.
The bedroom door was not closed. All she could see was the young man standing with his back to her in front of the TV cabinet, apparently searching for something.
The sun had risen, filling the room with drifting motes of dust and light. Wu Yu had intended to approach him quietly, but the soles of her shoes were heavy, making the noise of her footsteps on the floor impossible to avoid.
Hearing the sound, Ji Shiqiu quickly pulled out whatever had been pressed beneath the set-top box and tucked it behind his back.
Wu Yu stopped pretending, strode over, and held out her hand for him to give it to her.
Ji Shiqiu said, “It’s nothing.”
Wu Yu looked coldly into his eyes. “You mooch off me for food, drinks, and a place to sleep, and you still dare hide things right under my nose?”
Ji Shiqiu said nothing.
“Give it to me.” Wu Yu stepped forward, forcing him back half a step.
Ji Shiqiu’s buttocks pressed against the screen. If he retreated any farther, he would knock the television over.
Wu Yu asked, “Are you stealing money?”
Ji Shiqiu said, “No.”
“Put both hands out.” She was like a stern teacher about to punish a student, her words an invisible ruler.
Ji Shiqiu’s chest rose and fell slowly as he handed over his hands.
Wu Yu lowered her eyes. The boy’s left hand hung empty, while his right hand held something.
It was a thin, flat object wrapped in a white tissue, held between his thumb and forefinger, though he was not gripping it with the slightest force.
Wu Yu snatched it away without a second thought.
Ji Shiqiu’s brow immediately furrowed tightly.
Wu Yu unfolded the tissue and saw a scene she had not expected.
It was a small photograph of two people together. Oxidation had caused the edges of the photographic paper to take on a faint grayish yellow, and the background was unmistakably that of a photography studio. The people in the center appeared to be a mother and son, the boy on the right and the woman on the left. The little boy on the right wore a white shirt and black trousers, with a red scarf tied around his neck. He had thick eyebrows and large eyes, his chin raised and chest puffed out. On the left, a woman sat leaning against a rattan chair, her hand resting on the boy’s shoulder. Her hair was cut short to her ears, and her features were gentle.
Neither of them had particularly good makeup. Their faces had been painted deathly white, disconnected from the color of their necks, while their lips were jarringly red. They both looked as though they were wearing masks.
But what made up for it was the sincerity and harmony in their smiles.
So the photograph as a whole did not look eerie. Instead, it had a kind of old-fashioned texture, stripped back to something simple and true.
“Is this you?” Wu Yu pointed at the little boy and raised her eyes, only to see that the whites of Ji Shiqiu’s eyes had turned slightly red.
He looked away without answering.
She had more or less guessed some of the information. “Is this your mother?”
Ji Shiqiu said, “Mm.”
Wu Yu asked, “She died?”
Ji Shiqiu corrected her impolite wording. “Passed away.”
“She passed away?”
“……”
The answer was obvious. Wu Yu did not dwell on it and continued examining the photograph. “The one you put in the chest pocket of your clothes yesterday was this photograph?”
Ji Shiqiu was slightly taken aback. “How did you know?”
“I felt it.”
Ji Shiqiu’s voice turned cold and hard as he demanded that she return it. “Give it to me.”
Wu Yu would never listen. Small in stature but nimble, she retreated several steps in quick succession. “Where exactly did you come from?”
“This morning, I went through the clothes you wore yesterday.” With her back against the wall, the woman held the photograph between her fingers, turning it over as though playing with it. “You came out here, and all you brought with you was a photograph?”
Ji Shiqiu’s jaw gradually tightened, hostility already churning in his eyes.
Wu Yu raised a hand and opened the window. “Don’t look at me like that. You have to explain yourself clearly. Otherwise, how am I supposed to feel safe letting you share my bed?”
Mountain wind rushed in, twisting the white gauze curtains into heaps of snow.
Ji Shiqiu stepped forward, seemingly about to snatch it back. “Give me the photograph. I’m leaving now.”
Wu Yu had clearly anticipated this. Without the slightest hesitation, the hand holding the photograph moved outside the window.
Ji Shiqiu froze in an instant.
The photographic paper fluttered in the wind like a withered leaf.
“Did I say you could leave?” Wu Yu stared straight at him. “Answer my questions.”
Ji Shiqiu neither moved nor made a sound.
“Speak.” The woman’s voice suddenly sharpened.
Ji Shiqiu took a deep breath. “I ran away from home. I brought my mom here to see the mountains.”
Wu Yu’s eyes flickered, then instantly calmed.
“I asked where you’re from.”
“Wanbei.”
“You people from Wanbei don’t have mountains?”
“We do, but we don’t have high mountains.”
“What’s the difference between high and low?”
“From high mountains, you can see a sea of clouds at sunrise.”
Wu Yu let out an incredulous, amused laugh. “You’re quite the romantic.”
Ji Shiqiu’s patience was nearing its limit. “Can you give me the photograph back now?”
Wu Yu withdrew her hand, her knuckles already chilled through by the wind. “You don’t have a single cent on you. How did you get from Wanbei to Wannan? Walk here?”
Wanbei (皖北): northern Anhui Province. Wannan (皖南): southern Anhui Province.
Like someone whose Achilles’ heel had been seized, Ji Shiqiu was forced to answer every question. “I had cash. I used it for the fare along the way.”
Wu Yu asked again, “You run off like this and your dad doesn’t care?”
Ji Shiqiu replied, “He’s dead too.”
Wu Yu raised an eyebrow and mimicked his earlier correction. “Not ‘passed away’?”
“Dead.”
His double standard amused Wu Yu into laughter. “You have no money, and you didn’t even bring your phone. Don’t expect me to help you get home later.”
Yet Ji Shiqiu said, “I never intended to go back.”
Wu Yu fell silent at his words.
Those black-and-white eyes before her were like a pond on an autumn night. No frost had yet appeared, yet there was a profound chill lurking in their unfathomable depths.
For no reason, Wu Yu felt a shiver run through her heart. She no longer met his gaze, instead looking again at the woman in the photograph, whose expression was gentle and serene.
“Here.” She lightly held the photograph out.
Ji Shiqiu moved closer to take it, only to come up empty-handed again.
Wu Yu gave the photograph a little shake, her delight at having successfully teased him obvious.
“What do you mean?” The boy’s voice dropped, carrying a hint of menace.
Wu Yu said, “If I give the photograph back to you, won’t you just run off?”
Ji Shiqiu remained silent.
“I guessed right.” The corners of Wu Yu’s lips curved slightly. She placed a hand against his right chest, then slid it up toward his neck like a white snake climbing a tree, letting it rest there loosely. “You eat your fill, get a good night’s sleep, then sneak away. What a heartless little thing you are, Xiao Qiu.”
Her knuckles scratched lightly at the skin of his neck, once, then again.
Ji Shiqiu’s neck gradually stiffened, veins rising beneath the skin.
He clenched both fists.
“You kept it tucked in your pocket, guarding it so carefully. Could your mom see the mountains from there?”
Having finished teasing him, Wu Yu finally let him off. She pulled out her phone, pried off the transparent case, slipped the photograph inside face-up, and snapped the case firmly back into place.
Then she raised the phone high, indicating that Ji Shiqiu should look at the back of it.
The boy stared.
The photograph of his mother and his younger self fit snugly inside.
And at that very moment, the woman’s face appeared from behind it at an angle.
“How about this?”
“You play with me, and I’ll take you up the mountain.”
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