◎ Very Seldom ◎

“Cousin, are you tired? If you are, I can swap — I’ll pedal and carry you.” She had once carried over a hundred jin of grain on her bicycle, so her cousin was probably manageable.

It was Gu Qiao’s first time going out at night since arriving in the city. She tilted her head back to look at the moon and, with her feet lazily swinging, asked Luo Peiyin: “Cousin, have you ever been to the countryside?”

“I have.”

“Out there, every household has their lights out by now — nothing like here, with all these street lamps still shining. When you step outside and see the moon, it means so much more. I’m not like most people — I really love walking at night. Nighttime is different from the day. Going out in the dark, there’s always the sense you might encounter something different from what the daylight holds.”

Luo Peiyin didn’t reply. Gu Qiao kept talking — she seemed to feel it was her duty to fill the silence. She told him about one Ghost Festival night on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, when she had gone out alone to collect scorpions from the crevices in the outer walls, catching nearly half a bottle, to soak in liquor for her grandparents. A few boys had crept up behind her to try to scare her, but she had spun around and pulled such a face that the boy had bolted, screaming “Mama!” as he ran.

Gu Qiao wasn’t sure why she felt such an urge to talk that night. She told Luo Peiyin many things about life in the countryside. Although Luo Peiyin said nothing in return, his pedaling was unhurried, which led Gu Qiao to conclude that at least he didn’t mind listening.

Gu Qiao and Luo Peiyin came in through the front door together. Her aunt was waiting in the living room. Luo Peiyin had earlier given her a brief account — Gu Qiao’s father had come looking for her, and the two of them had gone together to the home of Gu Qiao’s father’s friend. Luo the fourth child had filed his own report: Uncle-in-law had given him ten yuan and a box of pastries; Uncle-in-law had sent Cousin a sum of money but she hadn’t received it; Second Brother had taken them to the post office to collect it, and then dropped them off at Uncle-in-law’s friend’s house. The address matched what Gu Qiao had mentioned previously.

Luo Peiyin said his good night and went upstairs. What Gu Qiao had to say was mostly things Luo Madam had already known.

“Your cousin brought you home?”

Thinking of Luo Madam’s earlier reminder, Gu Qiao made a point of saying: “Cousin is this warm-hearted because of you, Aunt. You and Cousin have both been so good to me.”

Luo Madam thought to herself: *He was never this attentive toward his two younger siblings.* But this time she said nothing of it to Gu Qiao — she only said: “You’ve had a long day. Go and rest.”

The next morning, Gu Qiao was up at the crack of dawn. She took the lotus pod lantern she had made and knocked softly on Luo Peiyin’s door. School started the following day, and Luo Peiyin was leaving that afternoon. She had heard from Luo the fourth child that Luo Peiyin sometimes didn’t come home even once in a whole week. Though they were at the same school, it was a large campus and they might never cross paths. Afraid she wouldn’t see him once she came back from the train station, she decided to give him the small lotus lantern before going to the Chens’. She knew he was already up from seeing him go out for his morning run when she got up to make breakfast.

Not wanting to wake the others, Gu Qiao knocked very softly. She set the lotus pod lantern and a folded paper star at Luo Peiyin’s door. Inside the paper star, she had written a few words — a note of thanks to her cousin for his care and kindness during these past days.

When Luo Peiyin opened his door, Gu Qiao had already quickly made her way down to the first floor. He bent down to pick up the gifts from the floor, then called after her: “Shall I send you off?”

Gu Qiao’s voice was bright and clear: “No need — this time I’m taking the bus. No problem at all!” Ever since Auntie Zhang had come to the Luo household, the bicycle Gu Qiao used to take shopping had effectively become Auntie Zhang’s. She had no bicycle to use now. Halfway through her sentence she realized there were still people sleeping in the house, and lowered her voice.

By the time Gu Qiao arrived at the Chen household, Lou Deyu had already left. He had set off for the train station to queue for a ticket shortly after she had gone the night before. Before leaving, Lou Deyu had left a paper-wrapped package for Chen Hui. Inside were four hundred yuan — money earned through his work as a porter. Alongside the package was a slip of paper with two lopsided, unsteady lines of writing, telling Gu Qiao to take good care of herself — and that he had gone home.

Lou Deyu had specifically asked Chen Hui to take it to the Luo household, partly to let Gu Jinghui and that convenient stepson of his know that Gu Qiao had others to rely on besides them. What Lou Deyu hadn’t anticipated was that Gu Qiao was too afraid he might leave early — Chen Hui hadn’t even set off for the Luo household before she had already arrived.

Chen Hui handed Gu Qiao the package and the note. She opened it: four hundred yuan, forty bills — not a single one was clean or crisp. Every note looked as though it had been soaked in sweat, wrung out, and smoothed flat again more times than could be counted.

Chen Qing couldn’t help but ask: “Xiao Gu, are you planning to keep living at your aunt’s place?”

“If I can get a dormitory allocation, I’ll move into that.”

Gu Qiao declined Chen Hui’s offer to walk her back, and instead asked Chen Qing: “Where do you usually buy your clothes? Is there anywhere with good prices that sells things as nice as what you wear?” When it came to this subject, Chen Qing was always generous in sharing her knowledge. Hearing Gu Qiao compliment her taste, she decided that although Gu Qiao was currently out of step with fashion, she really did have a good eye.

Chen Qing said readily: “I’m not doing anything today anyway — let me take you around.” She brought Gu Qiao to the two markets she frequented most. Gu Qiao chatted enthusiastically with every stall owner, and Chen Qing nearly mistook her for being interested in every item they saw. But Gu Qiao didn’t buy a single thing. What she did do was spot a silk scarf that Chen Qing had been eyeing and absolutely insist on buying it for her. The scarf wasn’t expensive, but since she hadn’t come out today planning to shop, she hadn’t brought any money.

Chen Qing, upon receiving the scarf, said: “I’ll pay you back another day.”

“No need — it’s a gift from me. You came all this way to keep me company. I don’t even know how to thank you.”

Receiving the gift only made Chen Qing feel more obligated to help Gu Qiao find something she was truly satisfied with.

“Let me take you to another place. It’s a bit more expensive than the regular markets right now — most of it is export surplus stock. It’s surrounded by embassy districts, and many foreigners go there to shop. The prices only seem cheap to foreigners. Stall owners prefer selling to foreigners because they can accept foreign exchange certificates.”

Just as Chen Qing had said, once they arrived on that street, Gu Qiao did indeed spot many foreign faces. Stall owners called out to customers in accented Mandarin sprinkled with single foreign words. Chen Qing led Gu Qiao from stall to stall. By the time they had nearly made it through the whole street, she asked Gu Qiao: “Is there really not a single thing here that satisfies you?”

Gu Qiao had liked quite a few things, but her money couldn’t be spent on clothes. She hadn’t come to these markets just to shop for clothes.

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