Most people were understanding about Jiang Xiaoguang’s inappropriate behavior during the water ceremony.
After all, the pain of losing a son could make anyone act erratically.
Only Ding Changsheng felt something was wrong. After returning to the passenger boat, despite the late hour, he went to find Jiang Xiaoguang, pressing him: “What happened? No matter how urgent, you shouldn’t have answered the phone during the water ceremony. These past couple of days, you’ve been acting very strange.”
Jiang Xiaoguang sat on the small sofa, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. After a long while, he finally said: “Do you think… when Ding Xi handled that matter, was he seen by anyone?”
Ding Changsheng became alert: “What do you mean?”
Then he firmly denied it: “Impossible, Ding Xi has always been careful…”
Perhaps suddenly remembering that nothing is absolute, doubt crept into his tone: “Why? Is something wrong?”
Jiang Xiaoguang looked at him: “Haven’t you ever been suspicious? That strange incident they staged with Ding Xi in the kitchen – wasn’t that trying to hint at something to us?”
Ding Changsheng reassured him: “No, no, you’re overthinking. You’re fine in most ways, but you’re just too timid. Always worried about everything – a Water Ghost with a child’s courage.”
Jiang Xiaoguang said: “You need to ask Ding Xi properly. I know he’s reliable when handling matters but on this big boat with two to three hundred people, who knows if someone saw something… Ah, I said from the start, we should have just arranged an accident that didn’t involve water. Why did we have to go to such extremes?”
So after all this circling, it was still about that matter.
Ding Changsheng gave him a contemptuous look: “What kind of accident would you arrange? Minor injuries and illnesses heal quickly, then we’d have to open the Jin Tang again – what would you do then? Another accident? Accidents always happened before opening the Jin Tang, wouldn’t that make people suspicious?”
“Want a major accident without death? Quadriplegia? Vegetative state? Why bother with such half-measures? Besides, you can’t read people’s hearts. What if he grew to hate you and spread the story around? Wouldn’t that undo everything?”
He gave Jiang Xiaoguang reassurance: “Anyway, you weren’t the one who did it. They can’t trace it back to you. Just stay calm and don’t give yourself away by acting suspiciously.”
Jiang Xiaoguang sighed: “I know that I just…”
He became somewhat emotional: “After all, we’ve been together for so many years, and he was always so cooperative…”
Ding Changsheng gave a cold laugh: “Cooperative? He asked you for plenty of money, didn’t he? Even a real son wouldn’t cost so much. Besides, he’s just a Dizhi who knows too many secrets. Having Ding Xi take care of him wasn’t excessive.”
The 19th.
Early in the morning, the passenger boat docked.
According to the plan, the boat would head toward the major hub of Jiujiang, passing by Laoyemiao, Mount Lu scenic area, and other locations along the way. Many people, though this trip had been fruitless, thought they might as well enjoy some tourism and planned to stay with the boat. But those with urgent matters who couldn’t tolerate the slow boat speed – such as Jiang Xiaoguang who had arranged vehicles to transport the corpse quickly, and Yi Yunqiao who needed to hurry back for her eldest nephew’s wedding – would disembark here.
There were also those who, though not disembarking, wanted to take advantage of the stop to enjoy some local breakfast.
The whole boat was bustling with activity.
Yi Sa would also disembark here – Duck Head Mountain was nearby.
Zong Hang clearly sensed that her temper had been bad since morning, finding fault with everything: kicking doors that blocked her way, stomping at bed corners that bumped her, cursing the faucet as stupid when she was the one who turned it on too forcefully and got splashed.
Zong Hang was extremely careful with his words and actions, yet still received several glares from her. Even Ding Yudie, who came to help Zong Hang disembark, kept his head down like a submissive wife. After carrying the luggage out, he sighed to Zong Hang: “Scary, women with their periods are too scary. When Yi Sa has children someday, who knows what kind of drama she’ll create? Poor thing, her future husband will be so pitiful.”
Zong Hang said: “Having a baby is so difficult for women – their bellies get so big they can barely walk, they can’t eat and keep throwing up. What’s wrong with being a bit dramatic? When you have a headache, you lie in bed moaning for half a day.”
These were Tong Hong’s exact words, and Zong Hang strongly agreed.
Ding Yudie scorned Zong Hang: “Friend of women! I despise people like you who pander to women!”
At the disembarkation point, there were eight or nine iron cages, each containing a cormorant. The cages had tags – they belonged to people who had registered to disembark today.
At a glance, some birds were drinking water, some swallowing fish, some curled up listlessly. Only one stood proud and aloof, emanating coldness.
That one was Yi Sa’s. Ding Yudie felt a bit jealous: though she wasn’t much herself, her luck was good to have such an impressive cormorant.
But no matter how impressive, it wasn’t his. Ding Yudie tossed the cage to Zong Hang to carry, and they walked down the gangplank.
It was even busier on shore, with many pre-arranged cars waiting. Ding Yudie glanced over and happened to see Yi Yunqiao sitting in a car, secretly looking out the window.
What was she looking at? Ding Yudie wondered, following her gaze, and saw Jiang Xiaoguang’s group of cars finishing loading up and speeding away.
Looking up again, Ding Changsheng stood on the deck, his gaze also following those cars as they gradually disappeared into the distance.
Ding Yudie led Zong Hang towards less crowded areas, turning randomly, and finally found a place serving mixed rice noodles at the entrance of a small market. They sat down and ordered two bowls, then he sent the location to Yi Sa by phone.
Putting down his phone, he noticed Zong Hang had been bending his head to look at the cormorant, moving the cage to observe from different angles, occasionally trying to play with it – though the cormorant seemed annoyed and wouldn’t even glance at him.
Ding Yudie was puzzled: “Never seen a bird before?”
Zong Hang looked up, surprised and delighted: “I recognize it!”
Ding Yudie said: “Really? From its reaction, it doesn’t seem to recognize you.”
Zong Hang didn’t mind, resting his chin in his hand as he watched the cormorant, his face beaming with joy and a touch of infatuation.
Though water birds were hard to identify, he had carefully observed the fishing cormorant on the smuggling boat, and all the characteristics matched, including this haughty temperament – it couldn’t be any other.
It takes ten years of cultivation to share a boat crossing, let alone that smuggling boat.
Fate – he truly had a connection with Yi Sa, with her sister, even with her bird!
Maybe this newspaper stuck to the window really would fly up to the sky.
As the two bowls of noodles were served, Yi Sa arrived. She looked at the noodles’ appearance, had no appetite, and bought soy milk and steamed rice cakes instead.
Zong Hang listened to their conversation.
Ding Yudie: “So you’re… heading back to Cambodia now?”
Yi Sa made an affirming sound: “What about you? Going back from Jiujiang?”
Ding Yudie slurped his noodles: “We’re already near Laoyemiao, I’m not leaving. No matter what, I have to dive at Laoyemiao.”
Yi Sa frowned: “Don’t court death. If you get lost down there, they won’t even find your body.”
Ding Yudie spoke carelessly: “If I get lost down there, maybe I’ll discover the secret of the sunken ships… Hey, did you know that American diving expert Boll, the one I told you about, wrote a memoir forty years after the incident?”
Ding Yudie’s old habit of jumping topics and suddenly changing conversation partners surfaced again.
Zong Hang was startled for a moment, then quickly nodded.
“In his book, he recalled for the first time how his three companions disappeared at the bottom of the lake. He said they suddenly saw a dazzling white light and then were immediately seized by a tremendous suction force. The white light rolled and twisted at the lake bottom, taking all three of his companions. He was lucky enough to struggle to the surface…”
“This proves…” Ding Yudie lifted his chin at Yi Sa, “that even in the most dangerous situations, people with good skills can turn danger into safety. I’m a Water Ghost, blessed by our ancestors. If an American diving expert could escape, how could a native Water Ghost not make it?”
After finishing, he wiped his mouth with a tissue, rolled it into a ball, and accurately tossed it into a nearby garbage bin: “Bye-bye.”
Yi Sa found a small hotel not far from the waterfront and booked a double room. Because they had the cormorant, the owner grumbled but charged an extra fifty yuan.
Zong Hang waited expectantly downstairs, looking up until Yi Sa opened the window and signaled the room number to him. Then he seized an opportunity and quickly darted upstairs.
Having normal identity documents, you don’t realize how precious they are. Now as an “illegal resident,” he knew how difficult every step could be.
Entering the room, he saw Yi Sa sitting on the sofa, holding an antique-looking tape player – something Zong Hang had only seen on TV and never used himself.
Yi Sa pressed play.
“The queen was furious. She carefully made an apple, half red and half green. The red half was poisoned, terribly poisoned…”
This dramatic tone – it must be a children’s fairy tale.
Zong Hang wanted to hear which fairy tale it was, but Yi Sa stopped it, inserted another tape, rewound, tested, rewound again, and tested again.
The last song played was “Shanghai Beach.”
It was quite an old song, but due to several remakes in recent years, it sounded familiar. Zong Hang almost hummed along when she stopped it again.
Then she instructed him: “When I came over earlier, I reserved a rubber boat at the dock. You’ll take that over tonight.”
She pointed at the tape player: “Take this too. After meeting her, don’t rush to tell her I want to meet her. Ask if she recognizes this and if she’s familiar with this song.”
Zong Hang said: “This song – your sister liked it, right?”
Yi Sa nodded: “That person might be my sister, or might not be. If she’s not, and she learns you told me about her and want to bring me to meet her, she’ll think you betrayed her… So be steady, don’t rush.”
True enough, Zong Hang realized: he had gotten too excited about the “sisters’ reunion.” Yi Sa was thinking more thoroughly.
“There’s an issue with Duck Head Mountain – it’s surrounded by water, and the duck’s head is elevated. She can see you coming by boat from any direction, especially with a ‘brightener’ in her eyes. So I can’t go with you. If she sees you brought someone, she won’t meet you.”
Zong Hang nodded: “We should get her consent first anyway. Don’t worry, I’ll adapt to the situation.”
These recent experiences had given him much self-confidence: he couldn’t swim before, but now he could “ride the water”; he used to be afraid to touch crabs, but he escaped from a crocodile pool; guided by Yi Sa, he knew not to “clash head-on” with certain people, but to use his advantages – where there’s water, there’s support, and Duck Head Mountain was surrounded by water…
Yi Sa said nothing, lowering her head to sort through the luggage bag at her feet, seeing among the piled clothes that small brown medicine bottle and disposable syringe.
She had her plan.
She needed to meet Old K. For so many years, she had kept an inexplicable secret, and now finally found someone who might know the truth. She wouldn’t wait for Old K to decide whether to meet her – she would go to Duck Head Mountain too, even though it was the 19th.
Night fell quickly.
After eight o’clock, it started raining. Though not heavy, it showed no signs of stopping. When Yi Sa went to get the boat, the owner advised her: “Miss, don’t go boating at night. The wind on the lake is getting stronger, you might capsize.”
Yi Sa said: “It’s fine, I’ll just stay near the shore.”
She drove the speedboat away from the dock to the arranged meeting point.
Zong Hang came up carrying the tape player wrapped in plastic.
The speedboat’s operation was simple. Yi Sa taught him a few times, then put a brightener in his eyes.
Zong Hang was a bit nervous: riding a speedboat at night on the empty vast lake, in rain and wind, to meet a mysterious woman – he had never experienced anything like this.
Moreover, Yi Sa’s instructions were so simple, just give him a tape player. She hadn’t mentioned anything about other possible situations that might arise.
He couldn’t help asking Yi Sa: “What if after Old K meets me, she doesn’t let me come back, just takes me somewhere else – what then?”
Yi Sa smiled, reminding him not to be late: “Time to go, don’t be late.”
In her view, she no longer needed Zong Hang.
His function was perhaps just to bring Old K to her side.
She knew all his secrets now.
He was like a ferry, carrying her to a new position. Who would drag a boat along to the next journey? I saved you, you help fulfill my wish, we’re even. You were sent by Old K in the first place, so returning to her makes sense.
Zong Hang felt uneasy but still nodded: “You should go back then, it’s raining… I hope she’s your sister, it would be so good if she really is… Having one more family member would be wonderful for you.”
He started driving the speedboat away.
A white splash of water spread from the stern. From the shore, Duck Head Mountain looked small and blurry, like a lonely egg.
Yi Sa suddenly called out: “Zong Hang, come back!”
Zong Hang quickly turned back, though his inexpert handling almost threw him into the water.
He stopped the boat and waded over, panting: “Yes?”
Yi Sa said: “Let me tell you one more thing.”
After spending time together, say a few more words.
“Even if Old K is Yi Xiao, really is my sister, remember – don’t trust her.”
Zong Hang said: “But she’s your sister.”
Yi Sa laughed: “Own sister?”
“I haven’t seen her for over twenty years. What she’s been through, her way of doing things, what colors she likes, what tastes she prefers, what clothes she wears, what her hobbies are – I know none of it.”
“You can only guard against someone you understand. Not understanding is what’s scary – you can’t guard against it.”
What difference does being an own sister make?
A sister she had never truly known would forever remain a stranger.