Just as the small sampan was about to reach them, Yi Sa suddenly rapped her knuckles on the rudder. “Let’s go.”
Chen Tu asked in surprise, “Go?”
The visitors were right in front of them – common courtesy dictated at least exchanging pleasantries. Besides, moving the motorcycle wasn’t that urgent.
Yi Sa frowned. “Can’t you read between the lines?”
Now he understood – this man wasn’t welcome, and she had no intention of exchanging pleasantries. She was probably deliberately leaving to show him who’s boss.
Always eager for drama, Chen Tu got excited and fumbled with the boat controls. In his haste, he made a mistake and couldn’t get the engine started.
Those few seconds’ delay was enough for Ma Jiu to make a strong stroke with his oar, bringing the sampan alongside.
Chen Tu felt a wave of guilt, believing his slowness had created an awkward situation.
Unexpectedly, Yi Sa merely lifted her eyelids and greeted Ding Xi casually: “You’re here?”
Ding Xi smiled. “Yes.”
“Have you eaten?”
“Not yet.”
Yi Sa turned back and called out, “Sister Xiang.”
Li Zhenxiang was in the kitchen killing fish and came out with bloody hands.
Yi Sa asked her, “Are there any rice noodles left from earlier?”
Li Zhenxiang nodded. “Enough for a bowl or two.”
“Then serve him a bowl.”
She turned back to look at Ding Xi, smiling warmly: “I have things to do. Eat first, we’ll talk later.”
Then she knocked on the rudder again.
Chen Tu finally caught on and started the boat. This time it went smoothly, and Ma Jiu hurriedly moved aside.
As they passed each other, Chen Tu saw several large plastic supermarket bags on the sampan, stuffed full of colorful snacks, cookies, and chocolates.
Though he couldn’t see Ding Xi’s expression, it must have been quite awkward.
Long after they’d moved away, Chen Tu was still sighing, saying that when someone brings gifts to your door, you should at least be polite.
Yi Sa ignored him, only asking when he changed direction: “Why are you taking this route? The other way is shorter.”
Chen Tu said, “I can’t stand those Thai people.”
This floating village was originally home to only local fishermen and Vietnamese. Chinese came later, and the Thai were the last to arrive and the fewest in number. Perhaps because they were so few, they feared being bullied and acted aggressively, managing to offend all the original residents over trivial matters. Eventually, showing some self-awareness, they gathered in the southwest corner, forming a village within the village, maintaining minimal contact with their neighbors despite living nearby.
Moreover, Chen Tu had heard some rumors about these Thai people. If true, they were not people he could afford to offend.
Yi Sa said: “The clinic serves everyone, Thai people are customers too, you can’t discriminate against them… By the way, your houseboat is big, set up a bed for Ding Xi and provide his meals. I’ll cover the costs.”
Chen Tu gave her a sidelong glance: “Why?”
Yi Sa remained composed: “My place is small, and besides, I’m conservative. A single man and woman living together would damage my reputation.”
Chen Tu said: “You could just say you can’t stand him, no need to be so humorous.”
Once ashore, the motorcycle was still propped against the bamboo pole, but the area under the stilt house was empty, with no sign of Old Ma anywhere.
Yi Sa tossed the motorcycle keys to Chen Tu, indicating the heavy lifting was men’s work, while she sat down on a pile of scrap materials: “That Ma fellow gave me a missing person notice a few days ago, and now he’s moved elsewhere. Looks like he’s given up hope here.”
Chen Tu unlocked the motorcycle: “There’s no hope anywhere. Anyone with eyes can see his daughter is probably dead. A young woman missing for so long without news – if she’s not dead, what miracle could have happened?”
Yi Sa said: “I feel the same way.”
She sighed: “When I was young, I used to enjoy fairy tales and believed in miracles. Not anymore. I’ve grown old, become realistic, my heart has hardened.”
Chen Tu spat at her: “Talking about being old in front of me – who are you insulting? You don’t even have a single wrinkle… Are you planning to rest here all day? Let’s go!”
Yi Sa got up lazily.
The scrap materials were loosely piled, and her sitting and rising caused them to scatter, revealing a blue corner underneath.
Yi Sa bent down to look.
Chen Tu had pushed the motorcycle a few steps when he noticed she hadn’t followed. Growing impatient and about to urge her again, he saw Yi Sa suddenly kick the pile of materials hard several times, scattering them.
Then she waved him over: “Come look at this.”
Chen Tu was puzzled but set up the motorcycle stand and went back.
There was a blue plastic flip-flop on the ground, half-worn, on the left foot.
Yi Sa said: “I remember, this was Old Ma’s shoe, but only one remains.”
If someone had left and thrown away their shoes, why throw away just one?
She stepped over the scattered materials in a few strides and bent down to look around under the hollow framework.
She saw messy footprints and scratch marks where nails had dug into the mud.
She pondered for a moment before emerging.
Chen Tu asked: “What do you think?”
Yi Sa said: “Probably kidnapped.”
She frowned: “Strange, what’s the point of targeting an old man?”
Chen Tu clicked his tongue: “Hard to say. Could be sold to fishing boats as slave labor. Once on board and signed into bondage, they’ll never set foot on land again, working from dawn to dusk. Age doesn’t matter – when they die, they’re thrown into the sea… Our countrymen have it rough – couldn’t find his daughter, and now he’s gone too.”
He spoke sympathetically but felt no real compassion: Having fled their homeland to settle in such a place, he had seen many worse things. His heart had grown calloused seven or eight layers thick, long forgetting what it meant to be soft-hearted.
Yi Sa looked up at the scattered houses on the great lake: “Know who did it?”
Chen Tu shrugged: “Could be anyone. In this place, nobody knows anyone else’s true nature.”
You might think that quiet man is just a fisherman, but he’s got guns and drugs stacked under his bed. That woman smiling shyly at you might have a person she just killed lying behind her door…
Best to be extra careful and look out for yourself.
Yi Sa’s brows furrowed: “Next time you see the community leaders, tell them there need to be rules wherever people live. Can’t have chaos right at our doorstep.”
Heavy rain started falling in the evening.
With the rain came darkness. The lake was windy, making the rain sound especially loud. Vision was limited to a blur, unable to see clearly beyond three to five steps.
Chen Tu lived on the second floor. The first floor of his houseboat contained the kitchen, bathroom, storage room, and crocodile cage.
Ding Xi’s bed was set up in a corner of the storage room, very crude – strictly speaking, it wasn’t even a bed but two square tables pushed together with an old straw mat laid on top.
Ding Xi stared at the bed, feeling both helpless and somewhat amused.
There was a rustling sound of plastic raincoats outside the door.
Looking back, he saw Yi Sa wearing a bamboo hat and buttoned raincoat: “Any problems? If not, I’m leaving.”
Suddenly remembering something, she added: “Oh right, keep the snacks you bought for yourself. I just had a medical check-up, and my blood sugar is too high. The doctor said I can’t eat sweets, worried I might get diabetes.”
She finished speaking and gave Ding Xi a sweet smile, with a few strands of rain-dampened hair clinging to her porcelain-white face.
She had a face that looked extremely pure and harmless when smiling – others might easily be deceived by it.
But not him. Just days ago, she had led him into a minefield.
Ding Xi said: “Yi Sa, there might be some misunderstanding between us…”
Yi Sa smiled: “Misunderstanding?”
The rain was heavy, and afraid of getting her shoes wet, she was barefoot, carrying her canvas shoes in a plastic bag. The bag was rain-soaked, with water droplets sliding down to gather at the bottom before dripping off.
Dropping near her feet.
Her feet were pale from the water, with two characters on her ankle – the only hard element in her external appearance:
“Go die.”
Ding Xi lowered his voice: “I did follow you those two days, but not for any other reason – just out of curiosity. In the Three Rivers Source incident where so many died, you were the only survivor. Everyone sees you as legendary.”
He had heard about the car she was in blood-stained all over, with a human-shaped dent in the roof. When the car was found, the doors were wide open with peanuts and shells scattered everywhere.
The radio was playing fairy tales, but no one was inside.
At the time, the rescue team thought: this child is gone, or dead.
But they found her, by a small stream about ten miles from the convoy’s base camp, curled up and frozen like an ice block.
Everyone thought she couldn’t be saved, but surprisingly, after building a fire, giving her a hot bath, and wrapping her in blankets, she started breathing again.
But she had a high fever that lasted seven full days. They say in her delirium, she kept muttering words that always included “death.”
“Go die…”
“I’m going to die…”
“Scared me to death, I’m just a child…”
This was the version widely circulated among the three water ghost families.
But the story had a continuation in Ding Changsheng’s version: While the women were bathing young Yi Sa, he used a stick to examine her removed clothes one by one.
From the innermost undershirt to the sweater to the thick cotton jacket with a green background and white dots.
All the clothes were tattered, each piece bloodstained.
But on her body, there wasn’t a single wound.
…
Ding Xi spoke earnestly: “You survived a brush with death at such a young age, then became the Yi family’s water ghost. To me, you’re especially mysterious, so I just wanted to see…”
Yi Sa interrupted him: “Watch for two days?”
Ding Xi was momentarily speechless.
Yi Sa smiled again, adjusting her bamboo hat to better shed the rain: “Don’t worry, I know why you’re here.”
Ding Xi’s hand at his side imperceptibly curled.
Yi Sa stepped closer, her voice low as a whisper: “Following me for two straight days, even when I left the city, you just wanted to see if I was doing anything strange if my behavior was abnormal…”
“After the Three Rivers Source incident, your godfather Ding Changsheng kept watching me, insisting something was wrong with me, even advocating to lock me up… But what happened? Have I ever been abnormal growing up? Have my medical check-ups ever shown problems?”
She sneered: “I’m tired of dealing with you people, so I live far away, even left the country, just for some peace. Who knew Ding Changsheng’s reach was so long, insisting on sending you to ‘visit’ me.”
Her voice dripped with sarcasm: “Everyone knows what this ‘visit’ really means.”
“But it doesn’t matter. I have no secrets, I’m not afraid of your visit. I’ll provide your food and lodging, for as long as you want. See what you can discover.”
With that, she turned and left, her figure flickering in the doorway before melting into the rain curtain.
Wu Gui spread its wings and followed.
One tall and one short shadow, twisting in the rain, swaying in the wind like apparitions.
Ding Xi stood there for a long time, then let out a long breath.
He took out his phone and sent a text message to Ding Changsheng.
The signal was weak, and the progress bar moved as slowly as constipation before finally sending those few words:
“She still doesn’t know why I’m here.”