So when Officer Fu showed up at the door, I instinctively assumed he was there to arrest someone.
It was eleven at night. Auntie had already gone to bed, and Zhou Haiyan was still in the studio working on a design.
Since it was Saturday the next day, I refused to go to sleep, insisting on staying to keep him company.
Thinking he hadn’t eaten much that evening, I decided to try out the cooking skills I’d been practicing and make him a late-night snack.
Just then, a young man walked into the tattoo shop, his face familiar—boyish, round.
It was the new officer in town, Fu Yuan.
He’d handled a few of the times I’d called the police before.
He asked me, “Is Zhou Haiyan home right now?”
My heart jumped, nerves flaring—I thought it must be because Zhou Haiyan had beaten my father, and he’d come to arrest him.
So I shook my head. “He’s out. Hasn’t come back yet.”
No sooner had the words left my mouth than Zhou Haiyan walked out from behind me.
The two of them came face to face.
They stared at each other in silence, and for a moment the air felt genuinely strange.
A long while passed, and just as I thought a fight was about to break out, Officer Fu’s eyes suddenly went red.
He said, fiercely,
“Zhou Haiyan, you’ve made me search everywhere for you, damn it!”
The man paused for a second, his tone friendly but distant, as if greeting an ordinary acquaintance he barely knew.
“Fu Yuan. Long time no see.”
The man across from him let out a cold laugh, and the next second he exploded, cursing like a firecracker that had just been lit.
“Long time no see, my ass! Who exactly are you putting on this act for? Now that you’re some kind of business owner, you don’t recognize your old buddies anymore?”
“Let me tell you something—the only way you’re getting rid of me is over my dead body!” As he spoke, the tears started pouring like a floodgate had been lifted.
“……”
Zhou Haiyan rubbed his temples.
Exasperated and clearly done with it, he shoved him down onto the sofa and tossed him a pack of tissues.
“Wipe your own face.”
Officer Fu flung the tissues right back at him.
His words came out in broken bursts, dripping with sarcasm. “Didn’t bring any money out with me, wouldn’t dare use yours, since we’re barely acquainted, after all.”
Then he stood back up from the sofa. “Actually, how would I dare sit? I only deserve to stand, since we’re barely acquainted, after all.”
Zhou Haiyan’s brows knitted, his voice sharp. “Fu Yuan!”
“Present! Squad leader!”
“Talk normally.”
“Fine. Fine, okay.”
……
Before either of them noticed, the distance that time had built between them slowly wore away, and what surrounded them instead was the easy rhythm of old familiarity.
Knowing that Officer Fu hadn’t come to arrest Zhou Haiyan, I relaxed and gave the living room over to them, heading to the kitchen to cook.
“Brother, is tomato beef stew okay? I just learned it from Auntie recently.”
Before Zhou Haiyan could answer, Officer Fu wiped his face and jumped in eagerly.
“Sounds great, sounds great, little sister, make plenty, I love that dish too.”
The next second he got an elbow to the ribs.
Zhou Haiyan glanced sideways at him. “Since when is she your sister?”
The latter said, entirely unashamed, “Your sister is my sister, no need to split hairs between us.”
Even after I’d gone into the kitchen, I could still hear him calling out.
“Little sister! Remember, extra spicy!”
The kitchen was right next to the living room, and with everything quiet at night and Officer Fu’s booming voice, even a quarter-deaf person like me could hear their entire conversation clearly.
“Wait, it hasn’t even been that long since I last saw you—where’d you get a little sister from?”
“Her name’s Tang Heqing. Quit calling her ‘little sister’ every other word.”
“Whoa, hold on. That bastard Tang Shiguo’s daughter? She’s changed so much I didn’t even recognize her. A few months ago she was skin and bones, hunched over, wouldn’t say a word to anyone.”
……
“I knew her dad was scum, but I didn’t realize he was this much of a monster. Guess he just can’t stand to see anyone doing well for once? Even had the nerve to demand two hundred thousand. For a scumbag gambler like that, unless you beat him to death or throw him behind bars, Little Sister Tang’s going to keep suffering right up until she’s an adult.
“Beating him to death isn’t an option, and getting him locked up is nearly as hard. Especially with minor domestic abuse cases like this—the law’s still not very developed in that area. You need at least a Level 2 minor injury classification before criminal charges kick in, otherwise it’s all handled with a light touch. And by the time it actually reaches Level 2, you’re racing the hospital against death itself. Too little, too late.”
The other person didn’t say anything—only the sound of a lighter clicking a cigarette to life.
……
Level 2 minor injury.
So domestic abuse actually could result in criminal charges, not just administrative detention.
No one had ever told me that before. They’d always just told me to endure it and let it go.
Even calling the police later had become a mere formality—not even detention anymore, just a verbal warning.
Only the newly arrived Officer Fu, again and again, tirelessly, kept pushing.
……
I stared at the oil bubbling in the pan, my hand gripping the seasoning slowly tightening.
By the time I came back to myself, I’d already poured half a bag of dried chili peppers into the pot.
As the oil heated up, the fragrance of the chilies was released to its fullest, so intense it made your eyes water.
They both rushed in, thinking there was a fire.
In the end, all three of us nearly choked to death in that kitchen.
Officer Fu cried out, “Whoa, little sister doesn’t hold back—this spice feels like it’s going to gouge my eyes right out.”
Zhou Haiyan pressed a wet towel to my eyes with one hand while kicking Officer Fu with the other.
“Go open a window. This is all your damn fault for wanting spicy food.”
“……”
After that day, Officer Fu started coming by often in the evenings to catch up with Zhou Haiyan.
Even though most of the time it was Fu Yuan doing the talking and Zhou Haiyan just listening.
But it was clear the two of them were close.