Sun Xi didn’t finish that morning cigarette. He raised his hand and twisted it against the alley wall to extinguish it, also making up his mind not to take the bait anymore.

Looking left and right, he surprisingly couldn’t find a single trash can. Beside him was a dirty snow pile with a few cigarette butts of varying depths scattered on top, along with half a beer bottle broken by who knows who.

He fell silent for a moment, then with a slight effort of two fingers, flicked the cigarette butt into that half bottle. Walking against the morning sun, he left the alley by Leshenghuang’s side door and headed toward the parking lot across the way.

At this moment he received a call from Tingting. While answering, he scraped the soles of his shoes on the snow—a layer of dust had stuck on them from somewhere.

“Can you come home once?” The girl’s voice on the phone was a bit weak, as if she didn’t dare to ask.

“What’s wrong?”

“My dad and mom got into a fight.”

Sun Xi glanced at the soles of his shoes and continued walking toward the parking lot, still clutching in his hand those few photocopied evidence documents that Little Boss Fu’s lawyer had delivered overnight.

“Okay.”

“Do you still remember our home address?” The girl’s voice was obviously lighter.

“I remember.”

He didn’t use navigation. Along the main road, he drove from the city center toward the old town district relying on memory.

The old town district was to the west. Over ten years ago, it had been Shicheng’s most prosperous area. Later, as the city developed eastward step by step, buildings rose from the ground one after another, growing taller and taller. Commerce, entertainment, and dining all followed the move east. On the west side, besides some old residential complexes and farmers’ markets, only a few simple commercial streets held things up.

Xifeng Street, which specialized in building materials business, was one of them. The entire street was S-shaped, about several hundred meters long, with building material stores of various sizes scattered along it in disorder. Most of the people living on both sides were also in the building materials business. However, because these stores were all small-scale with murky waters and uneven quality and credibility, in recent years most of Shicheng’s better projects had been taken by contractors from big cities. Their days were all quite tight.

It took Sun Xi over half an hour to drive to a residential complex on Xifeng Street. In between he took a detour—the artificial lake where he used to ice skate as a child had been filled in at some unknown time and replaced with a building housing both a maternal and child health hospital and postpartum care center. He circled around before finding the road signs pointing to the past.

He had still underestimated the changes of these nine years.

Parking the car on the roadside, after entering the complex he became more familiar. He walked straight toward the mottled and dilapidated six-story residential building at the back. On the way, he ran into an elderly couple sorting winter storage cabbages and inadvertently made eye contact.

That elderly couple showed surprised expressions, then slowly, the surprise turned to disdain, and they began discussing him without any attempt at concealment.

At this moment, a crisp scolding voice shot straight at them: “At such an old age, have some shame. Mind your own cabbages!”

Sun Xi followed the voice and saw a blue-haired girl wearing a baseball cap standing at the unit entrance.

“Brother.” Sun Tingting called out loudly.

Sun Xi glanced at those strands of deep blue hair under her cap brim, then noticed she was only wearing a cotton jacket over her tracksuit, her face already frozen red: “How long have you been standing here?”

“Not that long.” Sun Tingting opened the unit door. “I was afraid you’d forgotten the building number.”

Sun Xi followed Tingting up the narrow, dim stairwell, staring at the melted snow and water stains on the concrete steps below. He only casually asked what happened, and Tingting began chattering away, turning back at every step.

“This morning my dad got a call from Fu’an Mall saying they were going to sue us. Then in the time it took me to deliver breakfast to my grandma at the hospital, the two of them got into a fight.”

“My mom scratched my dad’s face, leaving two bloody marks. My dad yanked out a big chunk of my mom’s hair.”

“My mom’s nose was bleeding.”

“My dad lost a tooth.”

“My mom said she wanted a divorce and to divide the assets again. My dad went to the kitchen and grabbed a cleaver.”

Sun Xi was startled: “Then what?”

Tingting stopped: “Then I came out and called you.”

They had just reached the fifth floor. Even through the security door they could hear the arguing inside. The door wasn’t locked tight. Tingting pushed it open and went in. Sun Xi paused slightly at the door, not rushing in, but clearly catching the quarreling sounds inside.

Nine years—this small city had changed enough to make him lose his way, yet the quarreling sounds behind this door seemed to drift over from the past, unchanged by even the slightest bit.

Crude, blunt, reckless, and full of indirect accusations.

He had thought that after leaving, he would never hear these embarrassing words again in this lifetime. Yet as he stepped into this old small two-bedroom apartment, they came rushing at him scalding hot, hitting him head-on.

Sun Xi stood at the entrance, seeing his uncle Sun Zhengwu holding a cleaver and his aunt Li Fang gripping a fruit knife. The two were cursing at each other across the small dining table, each blaming the other for pushing the family to such a desperate situation, shouting about perishing together.

Sun Zhengwu cursed Li Fang for being money-obsessed—if it weren’t for her greedy idea to substitute inferior materials, they wouldn’t have caused such big trouble. Money-grubbing, family-ruining old woman.

Li Fang said you agreed at the time too. Now that something happened, you’re blaming only me? Besides, why do you think Fu’an Mall is holding onto this matter? Don’t you know in your heart? I had the bad luck to marry into your Sun family. I wish I could stuff the child back into my belly and cut ties with you completely.

Sun Zhengwu became frantic—bullshit.

Li Fang said, I’ve had enough of you long ago.

Sun Zhengwu raised the knife and roared, I see you just haven’t been beaten enough.

Li Fang sneered coldly—then beat me, kill me with that knife. Your Sun family has done plenty of murder and breaking the law, haven’t you?

“Stop fighting! My brother is here!”

Tingting shouted loudly. Then Sun Xi slowly took a breath, raised his eyes, and met the gazes of his uncle and aunt whom he hadn’t seen in nine years.

“Uncle, Auntie.” His voice remained low and steady.

Sun Zhengwu looked at him blankly, sizing him up and down. His lips trembled as if wanting to say something, but after a long time only managed to squeeze out an “ah” sound.

Li Fang suddenly covered her face and sat on the sofa crying.

This couple who had just brandished knives at each other took only about ten minutes to collect their emotions. They sat side by side on the blue coarse cloth three-seater spring sofa, looking together at the profound-featured young man standing beside them.

When he left back then, his height was definitely not short, but because he was so thin—just a sliver—and habitually hunched over, he didn’t seem particularly noticeable. Now he had grown quite a bit taller, his build also solid and strong. Just standing there made the living room feel much more crowded.

Nine years had efficiently transformed him into an adult. Walking on the street, they wouldn’t even dare to recognize him. Looking carefully, only his eyes throughout his entire body remained exactly the same as before.

The same bright sharpness, revealing a cold sternness of ruthlessness and unrighteousness. Combined with his current mature man’s frame, it was particularly oppressive.

Sun Zhengwu withdrew his observing gaze from his nephew, coughed, and awkwardly began: “So… where have you been staying these days?”

“A hotel.”

“Ah… what about meals?”

“Eating whatever.”

“Ah…”

Li Fang couldn’t stand it anymore. She glared at Sun Zhengwu and took over the conversation. As if not quite daring to look directly into Sun Xi’s eyes, she only stared at the jet-black short hair on his head, issuing the question she had long prepared: “Sun Xi, earlier on the phone you said, you said you’d come back to solve this matter. So your aunt has to ask you, how did you solve it? Originally it was just about paying some compensation money, now how did it turn into having to go to court?”

Sun Xi didn’t answer. He leaned against the dining table standing, his hands loosely supporting the table edge behind him, his gaze tilting downward and sweeping across.

The several-square-meter living room was in complete disarray—a shattered vase, a damaged table corner, two clumps of brown hair pulled out on the floor, plus a pile of waste tissues used to wipe nosebleeds. Looking slightly up, he saw his uncle’s face with two fresh red bloody scratches, and his disheveled aunt.

Combined with the dry overnight cooking oil smell in the air, it made him feel dazed, as if still living in the darkness of youth.

Seeing him remain silent, Li Fang said aggrievedly again: “We can’t go to court. These years you might not know how much people look down on our family—cursing openly and secretly, everything. Your uncle’s shop doesn’t make much money in a year, just relying on those few old customers to hold on. It’s not even as good as farming in the countryside. If we go to court again, forget about doing business at all.”

“If we lose the lawsuit and your uncle really goes to prison, I don’t even dare to think carefully—how would we live in Shicheng? Your grandmother is still hospitalized, your sister hasn’t gone to college yet…”

Tingting had been sitting on a small stool in the balcony corner with a dark face scrolling through her phone. Only now did she stiffly interject: “Mom, that’s about enough. Are you chanting sutras all day long? At worst, I won’t take the college entrance exam.”

Hearing this, Li Fang covered her face and started crying again. While crying, she observed Sun Xi through her fingers. Seeing he still had no reaction, her body trembled and her elbow nudged the person beside her.

Sun Zhengwu immediately understood, perking up like in a relay race, and raised his head to ask Sun Xi: “Did the money negotiation fall through?”

Only then did Sun Xi speak: “We didn’t even get to discussing money.”

Sun Zhengwu sighed: “If two million won’t work, how about you try offering a bit more?”

“How much more?”

“You must have three million, right?” He straightened his back. “I heard you even bought a house in Beijing.”

Having said this, he also seemed to feel embarrassed. Sun Zhengwu’s eyes dodged left and right, then he raised his hand and vigorously rubbed his face hard.

With this face rub, Sun Xi froze for a moment, then suddenly lowered his head, pursed his lips and smiled. His eyes pressed downward, the cold and thin coolness on his face laid bare, like a cold-eyed outsider.

Li Fang frowned and asked: “What are you laughing at? Which sentence was funny?”

Sun Zhengwu pressed down Li Fang’s hand: “Sun Xi, this attitude of yours really hurts my heart. Wasn’t it your uncle and aunt who raised you from childhood? Don’t you understand gratitude?”

“Now it’s not about money anymore,” Sun Xi looked at the two people sitting on the sofa with their chins raised staring at him, saying, “I came also to ask you about the specific situation regarding the construction contract. They gave me some materials, don’t know if they’re real or fake. If this evidence isn’t true, or if there are other hidden circumstances, even if we go to court we won’t necessarily lose, and won’t have to pay so much money. The documents are in my car, let me go get them.”

“No need, don’t go, I know what evidence it is.” Sun Zhengwu suddenly called out to him, frowning, “…So let’s say, hypothetically speaking, what if it is true?”

Sun Xi fell silent for a moment, already having made a judgment. Without exposing it, he only said: “We’d still need to consult a lawyer.”

Sun Zhengwu panicked, raising his voice: “What about five million? Why don’t you try giving Little Boss Fu five million directly?”

Having said this, he randomly rubbed his face again.

This time Sun Xi couldn’t hold back at all. He pulled at the corner of his mouth and laughed out loud.

Li Fang was enraged: “Really interesting, you’re even having a laugh. Did you come back specifically to watch your uncle make a fool of himself?”

Sun Xi’s face still wore a smile—not concealing it, not explaining it—looking at her directly with a brazen roguish stare.

Li Fang felt uncertain and asked again: “Still laughing, what are you laughing at?”

“What am I laughing at?” Sun Xi looked at Sun Zhengwu again, his tone playful. “Uncle, you’ve rubbed off the wound on your face.”

Then he added another sentence: “How could you be so careless?”

Li Fang suddenly turned to look at the person beside her. Sure enough, she saw that those two uneven lines of blood on his cheek had disappeared without a trace. The exposed skin was intact and undamaged, even somewhat more tender and white, as if a layer of skincare-function smearing face mask had just been torn off.

Her mouth gaped open, struck speechless. After standing there awkwardly dazed for a while, her brain short-circuited and she actually reached out trying to cover that patch of skin.

Sun Zhengwu cursed a few words under his breath, slapped his wife’s hand down, touched his own face, then looked at his hand, wondering where those few scabbed fake blood stains had gone.

Sun Tingting also came over. She didn’t care about her dad’s face, but instead kicked the pile of blood-stained waste tissues on the floor, then picked up a clump of yanked-out brown hair and looked at it for a while. Then she suddenly bent over and let out a collapsed scream.

After the ear-piercing sound, in the cramped sixty-square-meter two-bedroom apartment, everyone looked at her in unison.

She also seemed to feel embarrassed. She stood in place with her head down for a while, considering whether she should just hide back in her room. She especially didn’t want to lose face in front of her brother. But thinking again, who in this entire household still cared about face? She couldn’t take it anymore.

So Tingting first muttered quietly: “I’m really fed up with this family.”

Then she raised her head, eyes downcast, looking at her parents: “You two are really something. You’re even using me? What tooth knocked out, nosebleed, face scratched—it’s all fake? You knew I would call my brother back, so you deliberately put on this act? And this hair, is this even your hair, Mom?”

Li Fang’s voice was weak, making a last struggle: “Didn’t I dye my hair…”

“This isn’t even real hair, the texture is completely different!” Saying this, Tingting ripped off her baseball cap, yanked off a strand of attached blue fake hair, and threw it all to her mom together. “Look and see if it’s the same. Do you think I’m stupid? This is my fake hair!”

Li Fang fell silent sullenly, saying nothing.

Tingting glanced at Sun Xi standing coldly to one side and said: “In the days since my brother came back, only I’ve seen him once. You two haven’t even called him home for a meal. Now afraid of going to prison, you trick people back here, asking for three million, five million—on what basis? Even I find it shameful!”

Sun Zhengwu cursed at his daughter for being disrespectful.

Li Fang glanced sideways at Sun Xi, simply going all out: “On what basis? This money should be paid by him, because this matter is fundamentally his family’s business!”

Sun Xi’s standing posture stiffened, tilting his head slightly to look diagonally downward.

Li Fang met his gaze, boldly looking directly at him: “Sun Xi, don’t blame your aunt for speaking harshly. I’ve been holding this in for a long time too. I’ll say it straight—you know what relationship Little Boss Fu has with Wen Wen, right? Before they got together, your uncle’s matter had already been settled—just compensate thirty thousand. How is it that as soon as Wen Wen appeared on the scene, Fu’an’s side said the first-floor collapse damaged the entire mall’s electrical circuit system, needs major renovation, how is it so coincidental, and they insist it’s our responsibility? They even directly shut down the mall, won’t let us investigate. At first they asked for two million, now they want our lives!”

Sun Xi stood frozen, motionless.

Li Fang continued: “Do you think this is Little Boss Fu’s idea? No, it’s Wen Wen!”

“So whose life do you think Wen Wen wants? Who owes her?”

“You say it yourself!”

Sun Xi only listened until here, then raised his leg, turned and left. The security door gently closed behind him, the closing sound slow and heavy.

Outside, strong winds had risen, howling as if rolling over from all directions. After Sun Xi walked out of the unit entrance, he pulled the zipper of his standing-collar down jacket all the way up, burying his chin, braving the bone-chilling winter cold wind as he walked out of the complex without looking back even once.

Not until he crossed the street and reached his parking spot did he discover Tingting had followed him out, standing right across the narrow road. Sun Xi stopped, looked at her, frowning in inquiry.

“Brother, I’m sorry!” She shouted in the strong wind, her crisp voice scattering then gathering again, smashing toward Sun Xi like fists. “My parents told me to say sorry to you!”

Sun Xi appeared unmoved, only saying: “You go back, go home quickly.”

He walked around the front of the car to open the car door, but saw Tingting still standing there motionless. The wind blew her hair, sticking it to her plain face, her gaze resolute, her nose bright red.

Sun Xi said nothing more, not wanting to care anymore. But just as he was about to get in the car, he heard Tingting shout another sentence.

“It’s all that bathhouse family’s fault, I hate them!”

“What?” Sun Xi’s expression shook, finally showing emotion.

“If it weren’t for that bathhouse family, our family wouldn’t have ended up like this!”

“Wen Wen, Yu Kaixuan, and Yu Jiuqi.” Tingting’s tears fell pitter-patter, crying as she spoke. “I hate them.”

“I hate that bathhouse family.”

…

Sun Xi sat dazedly in the car for over half an hour before deciding to message Yu Jiuqi.

First he felt cold and discovered the heat wasn’t on. He turned on the heat for a while, then stared at two plastic bags being swept up by the strong wind outside the car window for a while.

Watching them fly high, intertwine with each other, suddenly separate, then scatter in all directions.

Watching how they didn’t control their own fate for even a moment, yet didn’t doubt any of it for even a moment.

He opened Yu Jiuqi’s WeChat and replied to her: **[Okay.]**

Feeling it might be better to be straightforward, he also asked: **[Do you have time tonight?]**

In less than an hour he received Yu Jiuqi’s reply.

She said: [I can do it right now.]