When the apartment door opened, warm-toned light spilled onto her shoulders. With each step she took inside, the carpet was trampled into wet patches. Behind her, a set of keys flew through the air and landed with a smack on top of the shoe cabinet.

“Change into those white ones.”

After Long Qi changed into slippers, the woman had already removed her suit jacket and put up her long hair. An auntie was cooking in the kitchen, sending out waves of fragrant aromas. When the woman returned to the living room from the bedroom, she had a change of clothes in her hands: “Go take a hot shower.”

At the same time, she patted Long Qi’s forehead with her palm: “What’s wrong with you? Huh? Don’t even know to take shelter from the rain, just letting yourself get drenched like that?”

Long Qi tilted her forehead away from the tapping, silently taking the clothes into the washroom.

When the bathroom filled with steam, the woman came in again to take away her changed clothes. Long Qi was inside the shower curtain, the woman outside examining one of her garments for a while before asking: “When did you change cup sizes?”

“Already changed when I started high school.”

The shower curtain was suddenly pulled open with a swoosh. Long Qi covered her upper body with her arms, completely caught off guard: “Hey!”

“Oh my,” she raised an eyebrow, “they really have gotten quite a bit bigger.”

Long Qi pulled the shower curtain closed again. The woman fiddled with the clothes for a while, asking: “Have you dated anyone?”

She didn’t answer.

So the woman asked: “What kind of character? Male or female?”

This time it was Long Qi who pulled open the shower curtain, glaring at the woman. The woman sorted things on her own, continuing to ask: “So has some little punk gotten my daughter yet?”

“No!”

She pulled the curtain back and continued showering. Outside, the woman said: “You keep washing. I’m going to pick up the two younger brothers. If you’re tired, soak in the tub for a bit. If anything comes up, call Auntie—the one cooking in the kitchen. Her surname is Cai, remember that.”

“Wasn’t it Lin?”

“Changed.”

After the woman finished speaking, she left the bathroom. The bathtub had just been filled with hot water, and Long Qi lay down in it. From outside came the faint sounds of changing shoes and closing doors. She closed her eyes and leaned against the tub wall, slowly rubbing her shoulders.

…

The sound of the door opening again in the living room came half an hour later. She had already put on clothes and dried her hair. Before going out, she drew her eyebrows in front of the mirror, completing the deliberately interrupted tail of her right eyebrow.

Auntie Cai was bringing dishes to the dining table. Two children sat together in the living room watching TV. They wore matching elementary school uniforms, each holding an iPad, while their backpacks and violin cases were tossed on another sofa.

Two little chubby kids. Twins.

The woman changed into home wear and came out, walking to the table and calling: “Dinner’s ready, stop playing, come here.”

The children lazily climbed down from the sofa. Auntie Cai pulled out a chair for Long Qi, positioning her directly across from the two kids. After the kids sat in their seats, they looked at Long Qi, while Long Qi looked at her own bowl and chopsticks.

“Vincent? William?”

The woman called the two children’s names, and only then did they say: “Hello, big sister.”

But when the woman went to bring the soup, the two kids—one stuck out his tongue, the other rolled his eyes—made identical faces at her. Long Qi picked up her chopsticks as if she hadn’t seen anything.

“Mommy, she’s eating without waiting for you to come over.” The younger twin immediately shouted.

The woman called from the kitchen: “William, you need to say ‘big sister.'”

“Big sister is eating without waiting for you to come over.”

Long Qi continued to pick up food and eat as if she hadn’t heard. The little brat grew anxious: “Mommy, she’s eating the dishes again!”

“William, if you’re eating, then eat. Don’t make noise.”

Long Qi picked up a lion’s head meatball right in front of him. This time he stopped talking, puffing out his cheeks and breathing through his nostrils, all alone.

“Watch out for snot,” she said leisurely.

The older twin spat out the gum he was chewing with a pfft sound.

After dinner, the woman went to the study to work. Long Qi helped Auntie Cai clear the dishes. The TV was on in the living room, and the two children chased each other around the dining table, playing and fighting.

While carrying dishes, she ran into Vincent running toward her at full speed. He was being chased by his younger brother, not watching where he was going and charging straight this way. Long Qi quickly blocked his forehead with her hand, stopping the child half a meter from her stomach. He didn’t crash into her, but the little fatty’s momentum was strong. Long Qi took a step back and braced against the wall to steady herself. Instead, the child got a fright and insisted his forehead had been bruised by her.

The woman came out of the study following the commotion. After coaxing the older brother with much effort, she went back to work.

Long Qi went alone to the balcony to get some air. She rested her elbows on the railing, looking down at the night market and traffic below for a long time. As she watched, she closed her eyes and tapped her forehead with her palm.

But she didn’t know when the balcony door had opened. Suddenly something small hit the back of her head. It hurt, and there was also a bit of annoyance at being disturbed. When she turned around, she saw the two little fatties giggling at the doorway, holding toy guns in their hands.

“Bang bang bang bang!” they shouted at her.

“Little brother!” The woman came out again upon hearing the noise, calling them: “Come back and practice piano. Show Mommy what the teacher taught you in violin class today—play it once.”

The two kids went inside. Long Qi leaned back against the railing, her expression neither bad nor good.

That night, after Auntie Cai left, the woman helped her arrange the guest room. As she was making the bed, Long Qi asked: “Where’s your husband?”

“On a business trip.”

“Then I want to sleep in the same bed with you tonight.”

The woman paused in her bed-making: “Ai, you should have said so earlier.”

The two kids made a fuss. The woman spent a full two hours before finally coaxing them to sleep separately. Long Qi chose the outer position and went to bed before the woman returned to the master bedroom. The woman didn’t come to bed until after eleven. She brought in a wave of coolness when she entered. Then Long Qi’s waist was encircled by the woman’s arm, her shoulder also pressed by the woman’s chin, and she heard her say: “My daughter smells so nice.”

Long Qi opened her eyes.

Her hand was also held by the woman.

“Your skin is so tender too. You’re getting prettier and prettier—you take after me.”

“Long Ziyi,” she finally said, “stop being so narcissistic. Daughters take after their fathers, sons take after their mothers.”

“How do you talk? Does this child have any home training?” The woman propped her head up from the pillow.

Long Qi continued lying on her side, ignoring her.

She lay back down: “But honestly, my daughter with this appearance is quite soul-stirring and captivating, better looking than anyone else’s. Are you the school beauty at your school?”

Long Qi covered her head with the blanket.

Half the long night passed unknowingly in Long Ziyi’s self-admiration. Long Qi dreamed. In the dream was a field of blood red, with a baby’s crying and Bai Aiting’s incessant chatter. Talking and talking, crying and crying—it gave her a headache. Later the blood red dissipated, and she saw two figures. No, three. One was Dong Xi holding a baby, and another was Jin Yiken with his arm around Dong Xi.

Her spine suddenly shuddered. Her forehead slid off the pillow, and she woke up just like that. Everything was pitch black before her eyes, her body soaked in damp heat. Only then did she realize she’d been sleeping with the blanket covering her the whole time. She gasped and forcefully threw off the blanket. But the tall figure standing straight beside the bed at that moment gave her a fright. In the pitch-black master bedroom, this figure was standing right there within inches of her. She immediately propped herself up on her elbow and moved toward the woman: “Who is it?”

“What…” Long Ziyi was awakened by her, her voice hoarse.

Long Qi turned on the bedside lamp with lightning speed. Only then did the man’s appearance clearly emerge before her eyes. Long Ziyi squinted once, her face full of fatigue as she asked: “Aren’t you on a business trip…”

He said: “Took an earlier connecting flight.”

His suit jacket hung over his arm, his shirt collar half-open, his belt also half-unbuckled. Long Qi inconspicuously pulled up the blanket to cover herself. The man glanced at her lightly and said: “Qiqi is here.”

“Right… you sleep in the guest room…”

As Long Ziyi spoke, her eyes weren’t even open. Before long she was dead asleep again. The man’s already stern features became even more serious under the lamplight. He pulled off his entire belt and took out a set of men’s pajamas from the wardrobe, unbuttoning his shirt in front of the mirror.

“Uncle Chu.”

The man looked back at her.

“I’m already over eighteen after all,” Long Qi looked into his eyes and said, “If you’re going to change clothes, don’t change here.”

After listening, he paused his movements and looked at her. After looking for a while, he withdrew his gaze and walked out the door carrying his pajamas.

His expression remained blank throughout.

On Sunday morning, Long Ziyi was taking the two children to learn calligraphy and would drop Long Qi off on the way.

Light rain fell outside the car. Inside, the two children were making noise. Long Qi sat in the passenger seat. The windshield wipers worked silently in front. She leaned against the window listening to music.

“By the way,” Long Ziyi finally remembered to ask, “how’s your schoolwork been lately?”

“Pretty good.”

“Doesn’t your school have a class ranking system? Which class are you in again?”

“Didn’t you attend the parent meeting?”

“I forgot. Tell me again—which class?”

“Class Six.”

“Is that considered good or bad?”

“There are six classes total in the whole grade. Class One is the best.”

“Ahahahahaha big dummy!” As soon as she finished speaking, laughter erupted from the back seat. Long Qi looked in the rearview mirror at the two kids doubled over with laughter. Long Ziyi told them to be quiet.

Vincent climbed forward and poked Long Qi’s temple with his index finger: “You’re so stupid!”

She made no sound.

“So stupid! Hahaha!”

William seized the opportunity to curry favor: “Mommy, I got first place in calligraphy practice this time.”

“Good, William is great. Vincent, sit back down. Don’t poke big sister—don’t you know that’s rude?”

“Mommy, she’s so stupid, she’s super dumb.”

They just happened to arrive at the training class. The car stopped at the elementary school entrance. Long Ziyi made a shushing gesture to her two sons with a motherly attitude. Only then did the two barely make no sound. Long Qi suppressed her emotions and straightened her posture.

After the two children got out of the car, Long Ziyi took a phone call, then looked around at the nearby bus stops and said: “I’ll call you a taxi to go back.”

Long Qi looked at her.

“Something came up at the company. I need to rush back. Can you get home by yourself?”

After listening, Long Qi no longer looked at Long Ziyi but instead turned to look at the light rain outside the car. She laughed once, full of irony, and was about to get out decisively when Long Ziyi saw something was wrong with her mood and immediately said: “Wait!”

Long Qi sat there temporarily. Long Ziyi took out two small boxes of cake from her bag in the back seat: “I didn’t celebrate your birthday last time. This time I ordered you two pieces of mango cake—you love mango most.”

The cakes were placed on her knees. She didn’t react for a moment, just looked at the wipers in front of the car. The rain was really heavy, and the wind outside was strong too. Long Ziyi chattered on and on in her ear.

“Two pieces,” before long she finally responded. Her right hand clicked open the car door. “Your two sons also like mango, don’t they?”

After getting out, she slammed the door shut with a bang. Long Ziyi looked at her from inside the car. She carried the cakes and walked toward the twins. They had just reached the school gate, and the training class teacher was holding both their hands, preparing to go inside.

“Vincent,” she called them separately, “William!”

The two children turned their heads. The teacher looked toward her.

As Long Qi walked toward them, she opened the cake boxes and held the two pieces of cake in her hands. The two little brats still had their noses up in the air. She squatted down in front of them: “Do you like mango cake?”

Their eyes lit up as they said in unison: “Yes.”

As soon as they finished speaking, the two cakes were smacked onto their faces with two slaps. Behind her came the piercing horn of Long Ziyi’s car. The tutoring class teacher’s eyes widened. Long Qi used her hands to gently smear the cream, smearing their entire faces, their collars, their shirts—everything was covered. The children stood frozen in place without a sound. After she finished smearing, she wiped her palms on their uniforms until they were clean before slowly standing up.

Long Ziyi got out of the car and ran toward the two stunned children. The tutoring teacher also finally reacted and called security. Long Qi walked toward the bus stop feeling physically and mentally refreshed. As she walked, she raised her hand and wiped her right eyebrow, finally wiping away the powder on the eyebrow tail, revealing that section of interrupted eyebrow that concealed a fierce edge.

Then she hailed a taxi. Before Long Ziyi could look this way, she closed the car door, told the driver the location, then took out her phone from her bag and made a call to Jin Yiken.

…

“Are you free?” she asked first after connecting. After hearing the reply, she said: “Then meet me at the usual place in an hour.”

…

“I need to let you know something.”