Chapter 388: Qionglong Stone Shadow: Living Together

What Huo Xiuxiu said made sense; without Old Mrs. Huo's protective umbrella, the next period of time would be very hard for us.

I hadn't had time to think carefully about how to clean up the mess we'd made; of the three of us, I was the only one with any real underworld connections, so in the end I'd have to put in the effort to settle things. In my worldview, I believed in a society ruled by law—if we truly had no money, there was always a compromise—but when I thought a bit more carefully, I felt very uneasy, because I'd never experienced anything like this before, and maybe the severity was beyond my imagination.

Sometimes I felt the three of us were like those ignorant, reckless kids in old gambling movies, relying on a little skill to go cause trouble in the adult world, only to have our elders cut off their own fingers to atone for us, and then we'd realize the trouble we'd caused was beyond our worldview. At that point we'd sigh, "How did it come to this? I didn't mean to." Such regrets were useless. I had a vague worry that the disaster we'd caused might be far beyond anything I could imagine.

So as soon as Huo Xiuxiu brought it up, I was immediately interested.

On the other hand, I felt Old Mrs. Huo's attitude was very subtle. Things had gotten into a very chaotic, unmanageable state. Originally I just wanted to ask about the Yangshilei blueprints, but I ended up prying into the old lady's past, and it seemed the matter afterward had countless connections—a feeling of wanting to pull back yet also being drawn in. I had the sense that maybe the old lady couldn't figure something out right away, and once she did, there would be more to come.

Protecting us was a roundabout way for her, and a way to buy time for us. It benefited both sides: she could think through her own thoughts, and we could have time to react and figure out just how big a mess we'd made.

Fatty thought pretty much the same as I did; he was the most practical. Since we couldn't go back to the shop anyway, he said we should agree first, at least to have a place to discuss the next move. So we agreed.

I thought they'd find us a room inside the compound, but Huo Xiuxiu called a driver, who switched to an unremarkable Passat. We kept our heads down as we drove out of the compound, and didn't dare look up on the street either. Remembering Huo Xiuxiu's somewhat suggestive words, I asked her if she had any news about Poker-face. But she didn't answer, saying that was big information and I'd have to trade something with her. She told me not to rush—she'd catch up with me properly tonight.

From Princess Grave we drove all the way to Dongsi, twisting and turning until we reached an inconspicuous spot in an alley. In front of us appeared a very grand old mansion.

"Damn, was this where some prince from the Qing dynasty lived?" Fatty got out of the car and exclaimed at the white marble stone wall outside the old mansion. "There are pillar bases outside the wall too—this wall isn't even the outer wall. Which big mansion is this a part of?"

"I'm not sure either. When my grandmother bought this place, I was still in Changsha and hadn't come yet." Huo Xiuxiu led me inside the house; I found it completely abandoned. The courtyard was very large, and the main structure was a typical siheyuan but much bigger, with many rooms. The overgrown weeds made me feel like I wasn't in Beijing at all.

"It used to be a building of some government agency," Huo Xiuxiu pointed to a second-floor room. "You can stay there—it's cleaner."

Fortunately, the doors and floors had been renovated, though quite some time ago, but they were still sturdy. The walls were covered in ivy that had grown over the doors and windows from years of vacancy. Fatty cut it open with his pocket knife before we could enter. Inside, the dust was thick, and there was no furniture at all.

"Sis, this place looks like a place to train your courage, not a place to live," Fatty said.

"My grandmother said that if you've offended the people at New Moon Hotel, you're lucky to have a place to sleep in one piece—better than sleeping on the street." Huo Xiuxiu pulled a bag out of her purse. "Here's toothpaste, a cup, and a towel. I found them at home—my grandmother's old work supplies. Use them for now. Bedding will be sent over later. I'm a pampered young lady—I don't do housework. You'll have to clean this place yourselves, okay?"

Fatty made an eating motion: "What about food? I can't very well order KFC here—the delivery guy would be terrified."

"When the bedding comes, they'll bring a fast-boil kettle, hot water bottle, and instant noodles. The bathroom is downstairs—it's a dry latrine. There's tap water in the courtyard; it might be rusty at first, but let it run for a while and it'll clear. You can't go out—just hole up here for a few days, and my grandmother will think of something for you." She looked at the jade seal, and Fatty immediately shrank back: "Girl, this thing is our last line of defense, like our underwear. You can take it off when your grandmother comes up with a plan, but for now we still need to wear it."

Huo Xiuxiu gave a snort of disgust: "Gross, who wants your underwear?" She looked around and sighed like a grown-up. "Alright, I'll go prepare your bedding. See you tonight. I'll bring some wine for you."

"Aiya, good little sister!" Fatty's eyes nearly watered. "Come back soon then. Your big brother will be waiting for you."

Huo Xiuxiu skipped away. Fatty and I watched her leave and close the courtyard gate, then both breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the floor. We had been tense and on reflex alert the whole time; now that we were alone, we could finally relax.

Fatty looked around and said, "Do you think that old lady is messing with us?" I shook my head. "Probably not. To be honest, this place is relatively safe. Staying here tonight should be wise. If anything's off, we can discuss it tonight and slip away tomorrow at the latest." I turned to Poker-face. "You said you didn't trust that old lady. Why? I don't think she's lying."

Poker-face stood by the window covered in ivy, looking out at the desolate courtyard. It was a long time before he answered: "A feeling."

Fatty said, "Actually, your fat uncle here feels that way too. The old lady's first reaction when she saw Little Brother was probably genuine, but after that she rambled a bit, like she was deliberately changing the subject to buy time to think. I always thought Little Brother was muddled because of his amnesia, but turns out he's just as sharp as I am. Birds of a feather flock together, huh."

I thought, amnesia doesn't mean being an idiot. At the time I was stunned by the scene and didn't have any special feelings, but after hearing what they said, I grew a bit concerned too.

"That old lady is a seasoned schemer. When Little Brother wanted to leave at the end, she still hadn't figured out her countermove, so she had to take the risk and protect us for now. What Little Brother did is called a goad. He's got a venomous mind." Fatty gave Poker-face a thumbs-up.

Poker-face didn't react.

Fatty said quietly to me, "This guy's been talking less and less lately."

I felt the same way. I sighed and changed the subject: "Anyway, I believe the old lady will come up with something in the end. We shouldn't waste this good opportunity—let's think hard. Who knows, maybe tomorrow the old lady will change her mind and kick us out."

"That's true. But before that, we need to clean up a bit. Otherwise this place is really uninhabitable. If we die of pneumoconiosis before anyone kills us, the old lady probably won't compensate us. What do you think, Tianzhen? You're an only child—you don't know how to do anything, do you?"

I really didn't do much housework, but I believed anyone with normal intelligence could clean. So I said I'd help.

So we tore the towel in half, one for each of us as rags, went to the courtyard to get water, and started wiping down the floor and cleaning. Poker-face didn't get to stand there in a daze either; Fatty dragged him over to wipe the windows.

We explored the other rooms and found some leftover discarded furniture. We moved it all to the second floor—desks, stools, washbasin stands, and many other odds and ends—and wiped them all clean. When we were done, the old house no longer felt messy; instead, a very neutral, nostalgic atmosphere surrounded us.

We were drenched in sweat, but seeing the room transformed gave us a surge of pride. We thought to ourselves, being a housewife actually feels pretty satisfying.

Next to me, Fatty handled the housework very efficiently. You really wouldn't guess he was that kind of man. Fatty said he once had a girlfriend, and he learned everything to please his future father-in-law, but in the end he got dumped. From then on he became a drifter, but he never forgot those domestic skills.

Fatty's life came in all sorts of versions—I always felt like he knew a bit of everything, but his reasons were different every time, and I didn't really believe him. I told him that if that was the case, after he retired he could start a housekeeping company, and I could refer clients to him.

He laughed and said, "Sure, I'll specialize in old houses, do housekeeping in ancient towns. One day I'll swipe a tile, the next day I'll steal a table leg—I'd definitely live better than now." As he spoke, he took out the jade seal we had snatched. "Alright, since we have time now, let's check out our spoils. Who knows, we might not be able to touch it tomorrow."

We took it out and placed it in a patch of sunlight that streamed through the window onto the floor. We both froze—liquid was actually seeping out of the jade seal.