Sun Xi in the past had often had similar moments when his energy was completely drained, like someone who’d walked alone in a maze for a lifetime, weary and powerless to the point of near despair, yet deeply knowing this despair had no end.

Often at times like these he would become especially clingy, silent and clingy.

He wasn’t a person who loved exposing himself, especially during these viscous, damp, low moments. No matter how much coaxing and pestering, it wasn’t easy to make him expose the real gap in his heart, much less ask for help.

He always wrapped his fragility up tightly, sealed with a layer of wax, disguised as greed.

So his way of being clingy was very direct—wanting a person, wanting companionship, wanting warmth, wanting a beating pulse and living flesh. Xiao Jiu once said at times like these he was exactly like a vampire. He didn’t refute it—if you say so, then so be it.

That vampire buried his head down into her neck again, in their hometown small city’s downtown, outdoors in minus twenty degrees, in a dim alley separated from her family by only one wall. His nose nudged open her sweater collar, exposing a small patch of warmth he needed. Holding back from biting, he just slowly ground and kissed it.

One hand moved from her waist to her face, kisses sliding upward along the way, his body still pressed tightly against hers, his breath scalding hot as it rushed over, revealing anxiety and dissatisfaction.

So in a low voice he continued being clingy: “Hungry?”

Xiao Jiu didn’t immediately understand what he meant.

He stated directly: “Eat, should we go eat?”

Mentioning eating, Yu Jiuqi suddenly felt somewhat moved. Sun Xi had come back twice within a month. Back and forth over all these days, they actually hadn’t sat down to have a proper meal together. Not even once.

Xiao Jiu’s hands still encircled his waist, asking: “What do you want to eat?”

“Anything.” His voice hoarse, “You decide.”

Xiao Jiu thought seriously about it. She wanted to take Sun Xi to eat something with local flavor: “Is barbecue okay? There’s a place in the development zone…”

“Okay.” He wasn’t picky at all.

“But not now.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s dinner time now. That place is pretty popular, there definitely won’t be any private rooms available.”

Sun Xi’s lips suddenly stopped on her face, slightly suspended in air. The burning breath also instantly vanished. A wisp of cold wind poured in along the gap, suddenly sweeping between them, cutting a cold light.

“Does it have to be in a private room?” After the cold light, he asked.

Xiao Jiu explained: “A private room is quieter after all…”

“Still can’t be seen in public, right?”

He interrupted crisply.

Only then did Xiao Jiu realize something was wrong. She lifted her head to look at him. The alley was very dark. Vaguely, she saw his face floating with a layer of rigidity, as if it would shatter with one tap.

“What’s wrong with you today, Sun Xi?”

“Nothing.”

She remembered the message at noon: “What did your grandmother say to you?”

He suddenly felt irritated, looking to the side: “I said it’s nothing.”

At this moment, Yu Jiuqi’s phone rang in her pocket. She separated from him, took it out to look—it was Ge Fan. Being so close, Sun Xi with drooping eyelids didn’t need to exert effort to see it too. Xiao Jiu blinked, hesitated for a moment, didn’t answer, directly hung up.

Explained: “Probably urging me to go up. My third uncle came back, everyone’s there.”

Sun Xi said calmly: “Then you should go.”

Xiao Jiu looked at him again, saw him lower his head, take out a cigarette and tap one out, then left.

After two steps, she stopped again, looking back at him: “I’m leaving.”

“Go ahead.”

He took a deep drag of the cigarette, looked at her again, recovering his usual composure, but nothing could be discerned in the deep darkness of his eyes.

Yu Jiuqi walked into the Wendu Water Spa lobby, saw Ge Fan coming down the spiral staircase. Across several customers holding selfie sticks taking photos and recording videos, he shouted to Xiao Jiu:

“Hurry up, Third Uncle’s just waiting for you.”

Xiao Jiu ran to catch up: “Waiting for me for what?”

“Waiting for you to start the feast.”

“What feast? Where’s the feast?”

Ge Fan smiled: “Steam room.”

Xiao Jiu ran in one breath to the steam room at the end of the second floor. Seeing the door wide open, Wen Wen seemed to find it too hot and was sitting in the rest area outside without going in. Seeing Xiao Jiu, she tilted her head toward the inside. Xiao Jiu went over, stood at the door, looking in shock at the bizarre scene before her.

On the steam room floor were dozens of small plates neatly arranged in a square—all fruits, snacks, and buffet items moved from the dining area outside, two plates of each type, everything you could want, with several large bottles of drinks placed beside them. Yu Kaixuan and a middle-aged man wearing a short-sleeved floral shirt sat facing each other, each holding a paper cup toasting, both steaming with sweat all over their faces.

Seeing Xiao Jiu, Second Brother Kai excitedly roared: “You’re finally here! Quick, Third Brother, look who’s here?”

The person opposite him turned his head. Except for being a circle thinner, with a face almost identical to Yu Kaixuan’s, his eyes blinked sluggishly, swept across Xiao Jiu’s face, and said: “Don’t recognize her.”

Yu Kaixuan got anxious: “Isn’t this Xiao Jiu? Your eldest niece.”

Third Uncle turned his head to look again, mouth half open, frowning hard trying to recognize: “Xiao Jiu?”

Yu Jiuqi smiled and called out “Third Uncle.”

“No.” Third Uncle turned his head back, lifted one hand to gesture, stammering when saying long sentences, “Xiao Jiu, Xiao Jiu is this tall, short hair, chubby, loves eating stewed green beans, loves sneaking into her mom’s high heels. This, this woman isn’t her.”

Yu Kaixuan got more anxious: “That was years ago!” Then waved at Yu Jiuqi, “You come here.”

Xiao Jiu took off her thick clothes, walked into the forty-plus-degree steam room, enduring the rolling billowing heat waves, standing between the two middle-aged men having a feast in the steam room like playing house. Tilting her head slightly, looking at Third Uncle, she clearly saw from his right temple to the back of his head two almost parallel, long, winding, terrifying scars.

These scars were from being hacked—with a grass-cutting sickle, two consecutive quick slashes. At the time he bled half his body’s worth of blood, and one slash even pierced into the back of his head.

His life was saved, but it damaged his cerebellar nerves. From that point on, he became erratic, his intelligence severely degraded, his memory also disordered, and he was especially prone to feeling cold. In earlier years, seeing him get sick every autumn, Yu Kaixuan had sent him to live at a sanatorium in Haikou.

Xiao Jiu had been very close to Third Uncle since childhood. Back then they both had childish personalities, would fight over snacks and toys, and would also watch cartoons and play games together. In childhood, whenever it rained or snowed, Third Uncle would go to the school gate to pick up Xiao Jiu. There were also mischievous bad kids who bullied Third Uncle. Yu Jiuqi would pull out the self-defense weapon Second Brother Kai had given her from her backpack and fight them.

For a long time, Third Uncle was Xiao Jiu’s best friend.

Later Xiao Jiu grew up, had new troubles, made new secret friends, but Third Uncle remained in childhood.

His memory had become increasingly disordered these past few years. In his impression, Yu Jiuqi had always looked like a child. Every time he came back he wanted to host Xiao Jiu, but every time he couldn’t recognize her.

So every year this comical family recognition segment had to be performed.

Yu Kaixuan typically served as the person hosting the recognition ceremony, pointing at Xiao Jiu, raising his voice and dripping with sweat, introducing to his younger brother: “Third Brother, this is Yu Jiuqi, my daughter, your eldest niece. Weren’t you just talking about her? You insisted this place is your home, you wanted to set up a table of good food at home to wait for Xiao Jiu. Well, here she is!”

Third Uncle looked at Yu Jiuqi, insisting: “She’s not Xiao Jiu.”

“Then who do you say she is!”

“How would I know, maybe she’s your newly changed young wife!”

Second Brother Kai shouted: “You’re just talking nonsense, at your age still spouting bullshit.”

Third Uncle wasn’t angry either: “Changing her would be pretty good. That, that Wen Wen isn’t anything good.”

“Who are you talking about, Third Brother!” Wen Wen sitting at the door hadn’t missed a word, called into the room: “So now I’m not anything good? Back when I bought you balls, who said I was your forever good sister-in-law?”

Third Uncle made a face at Second Brother Kai, perfunctorily said to the outside: “You are, you are.”

Ge Fan at the door, holding the thick clothes and shoulder bag Yu Jiuqi had taken off, watched this family bicker. Although he couldn’t get a word in, he got quite a bit of entertainment out of it.

Yu Kaixuan wiped the sweat covering his forehead, couldn’t keep acting anymore, directly asked the opposite: “Do you know how old Xiao Jiu is?”

Third Uncle calculated: “Nine years old!”

“Then what year is this year?”

“Year of the Monkey!”

Second Brother Kai was completely speechless, directly took out his phone, pointing at the calendar on the screen and shouting at his younger brother: “Look, look clearly. It’s December 2023 now, about to be 2024! Yu Jiuqi just had her birthday, she’s already twenty-five! Still Year of the Monkey? Several Years of the Monkey have passed!”

Third Uncle suddenly fell silent, head lowered.

Xiao Jiu saw sweat dripping down his forehead, so she pulled out two tissues, tentatively going to help Third Uncle wipe it.

Third Uncle dodged, then looked at Xiao Jiu again. His eyes reddened, as if he finally was willing to recognize her. His mouth twitched, looking at Yu Kaixuan again, only mumbling after a long while:

“Brother, how old am I then?”

Second Brother Kai inexplicably felt a wave of sadness, only saying: “Old, Third Brother. The kids have grown up, we’ve all gotten old too.”

“How did we get old?” He asked again.

Xiao Jiu helped Third Uncle wipe away the sweat, hearing Dad say with some difficulty:

“I can’t figure it out either. Seems like in the blink of an eye, we got here.”

Ge Fan at the door listened half-understanding, yet also grasped a trace of sadness. He turned his head to look at Wen Wen sitting nearby, saw her staring blankly ahead, not knowing what she was thinking, eyes vacant, but the area beneath them had turned red.

Yu Jiuqi sat down on the floor, poured herself a cup of drink, clinked glasses with Third Uncle, saying it was to thank him for his hospitality. She cooperated with his fussing about eating and drinking, then called Ge Fan in to join too, bringing up the atmosphere in no time.

But the sadness wasn’t any less. The laughter and reunion didn’t dilute the pain awakened at the bottom of everyone’s hearts just now.

Xiao Jiu understood very clearly the deep meaning hidden in Dad’s words. She’d known since childhood that the injury on Third Uncle’s head was inflicted when he followed Yu Kaixuan up the mountain to chase the fugitive Sun Yuwen, when Sun Yuwen accidentally slashed him.

Third Uncle’s life came to an abrupt halt at that moment, and with the flow of time, slowly regressed.

1999, twenty-five years ago. Two families, two lives, one severe injury, one life imprisonment. Since that winter, all who survived carried stubborn ailments of varying degrees that were difficult to cure.

No one was an outsider.

When Yu Jiuqi took Third Uncle upstairs to play the claw machine, looking at the teddy bear Third Uncle had caught in the claw machine, she suddenly felt worried—worried whether anyone could truly escape.

Can we successfully break free?

Will there be peace after breaking free?

She didn’t have time to think carefully. Third Uncle was suddenly attracted by something, abruptly dropped the claw machine and ran downstairs. Xiao Jiu hurried to follow. Only when going down the stairs did she discover he was chasing a blue bouncy ball.

Some kid’s toy had dropped and rolled down. The kid didn’t care, but Third Uncle enthusiastically chased after it. He’d always liked all kinds of balls before, especially colorful ones. Whenever he saw them he wanted them, gripping them in his hand and not letting go.

That bouncy ball rolled along the stairs from the third floor to the second floor, then from the second floor bounced down the spiral staircase to the first floor. Reaching the first floor it bounced high up, dropped heavily down, bouncing several times. By coincidence, just as several customers were coming in, it bounced out through the open door. Needless to say, Third Uncle naturally chased out too.

Xiao Jiu saw Third Uncle was still wearing that short-sleeved floral shirt, hurriedly ran to the front desk and got a down jacket from Sister Xiao Man. Yu Kaixuan was right beside her, communicating lodging issues with a southern tour group guide. He asked Xiao Jiu what was wrong. Xiao Jiu said it’s fine, I’ll go drag Third Uncle back.

Xiao Jiu ran out holding the down jacket, chasing that floral shirt figure, calling out to Third Uncle.

Third Uncle followed the bouncy ball that jumped down from the side of the steps, running toward the diagonal opposite, passing through scattered groups of people, to near the side door of Lesheng Huang.

Xiao Jiu caught up, saying Third Uncle don’t run anymore, I’ll go help you pick up the ball. Then staring at that jumping blue, her gaze followed as it leaped up, then fell down.

But it didn’t fall to the ground. Instead it landed nimbly in a hand with well-proportioned knuckles.

Seeing the familiar plain ring on that hand, Xiao Jiu’s heart plummeted with a thud.

Why is he here?

It looked like he’d just come down from Lesheng Huang.

Before she could lift her head to ask, she suddenly heard a shrill scream beside her.

Third Uncle suddenly held his head, covering those two scars on the right side of his brain, face full of fear, painfully lowering his head and spinning in place. After a scream, he muttered to himself repeatedly: “Run quickly, run fast, he has a knife in his hand, run, Brother, run fast!”

Then he peeked, fearfully and carefully glancing at Sun Xi beside him who was gripping that blue bouncy ball, his head lowering even deeper.

Xiao Jiu understood immediately, quickly put the down jacket on Third Uncle, coaxing him: “Third Uncle, it’s okay, don’t be afraid, it’s okay, I’m Xiao Jiu, Third Uncle.”

Third Uncle mumbled silently: “Xiao Jiu, Xiao Jiu, Sun Yuwen came.”

Xiao Jiu felt extremely uncomfortable: “No, Third Uncle, you saw wrong, he’s not.”

At this moment the figure beside them moved over, touched Xiao Jiu’s wrist. Xiao Jiu ignored him, still persuading Third Uncle.

He simply grabbed her wrist, suppressing his voice and said something.

Xiao Jiu didn’t hear clearly, turned to look at him, said urgently: “Can you leave first? Can you leave first, Sun Xi, please?”

Sun Xi was stunned, didn’t answer, his hand still on her wrist.

“What’s wrong!” It was Yu Kaixuan’s voice. He’d heard the commotion outside and came out.

Yu Jiuqi almost instinctively shook off Sun Xi’s hand.

Sun Xi stepped back one step.

Third Uncle saw Yu Kaixuan and started mumbling again: “Brother, I saw Sun Yuwen, it’s Sun Yuwen, Sun Yuwen.”

Yu Jiuqi hurriedly persuaded: “No, Third Uncle, you saw wrong.”

“Then who is he?”

“He’s nobody.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Xiao Jiu heard herself say decisively, “He’s nobody.”

From the corner of her eye she saw him step back again.

“Dad, Dad, can you please calm Third Uncle down? Can we quickly take Third Uncle back inside?” Yu Jiuqi, almost pleading, looked toward Yu Kaixuan.

Yu Kaixuan’s face was gloomy. He glanced at the tall figure behind his daughter, knew what she was pleading for, what she was afraid of, and also knew what she wanted to hide, what she wanted to protect.

Gritting his teeth, he glanced back coldly and said, Third Brother, it’s fine now, Sun Yuwen is about to die too, he can’t cause trouble anymore.

Yu Kaixuan practically supported Third Uncle as they walked toward Wendu Water Spa.

Xiao Jiu followed behind them. She wanted to look back, she really wanted to look back.

But she didn’t dare.

She was afraid of seeing a scene that would make her collapse.

After returning to Wendu Water Spa, Ge Fan had just heard the sound and was about to come out. Yu Kaixuan saw Third Uncle’s emotions had stabilized somewhat, but touching his icy hands, handed the person to Ge Fan, saying take him to the bath to soak, soak in the high-temperature pool, dispel the cold, otherwise he’ll definitely catch a cold. Ge Fan glanced at Xiao Jiu and took Third Uncle to the men’s changing room.

They’d just left when Yu Jiuqi stood in the lobby, looked up, and saw Wen Wen somehow standing on the spiral staircase. She was still in that navy blue knit dress, leaning against the staircase, looking down at them indifferently.

Xiao Jiu felt it was very strange. She must have also heard the commotion outside, yet remained unmoved, staying there.

Suddenly realizing something, she asked Yu Kaixuan in a small voice:

“Dad, you just said Sun Yuwen is about to die. Is that true?”

Yu Kaixuan went back to the front desk, irritably and distractedly continuing to deal with the earlier tour group matter, hurriedly answering: “Your mom said so. She said her old classmate from the prison told her. Cancer.”

Xiao Jiu followed him, asking: “When?”

“This morning.”

Xiao Jiu stood stunned, blinked, asked again:

“My third uncle, why did he suddenly come back?”

“Your mom bought him a plane ticket today, called him back early.”

“My mom?”

“Your mom said to come back early this year for New Year.”

Yu Jiuqi let out a long sigh.

“I see.”

Turning her head again, looking toward the spiral staircase, Wen Wen was no longer there. But Xiao Jiu knew what she’d been watching just now.

She was watching the net she’d laid and the fish she’d netted, struggling in the thin air.

Then before her eyes, that face she’d just refused to acknowledge and didn’t dare look back at flashed in and out of focus—that face in the alley separated by only one wall that would shatter with one blow.

Xiao Jiu suddenly knew what he’d experienced today.

Also guessed where his viscous dampness came from.

She turned and ran out.

Suddenly felt disgusted. She’d had enough of all this.