Not long after daybreak, Li Kun and Li Que arrived together at the riverside bamboo hut.

Li Kun, bearing a mountain of luggage on his back, huffed and puffed to the doorway, then hastily set everything down and immediately began searching for food.

Shen Zhuxi had just arrived; apart from dust, there was nothing but more dust in the hut. How could there be any food? Li Kun searched every corner, and his face drooped with visible disappointment.

No one paid any attention to the dejected Li Kun. Shen Zhuxi, unable to look on, took the initiative to say to him: “In a little while, you can come with me to town to buy food and drink. What do you want to eat? I’ll buy it for you.”

Li Kun’s face brightened visibly before her eyes. He nodded vigorously and murmured: “Piggy is good… Li Diao’er wants roast chicken. Big roast chicken.”

Shen Zhuxi agreed without hesitation. With his promise secured, Li Kun went off happily to play in the sand by the river.

The hut was dirty and in disarray. Li Que set about doing a thorough cleaning, and Shen Zhuxi couldn’t bear to just stand by idly, so she took it upon herself to organize the luggage.

She was crouching at the doorway sorting and arranging everything into categories when Li Wu walked out of the bamboo hut and stopped beside her. His tall shadow fell exactly where the sun had been scorching the top of her head.

“Go into town to buy things early.” Li Wu muttered away. “Otherwise the heat will get to you and you’ll start whining.”

“I know — that’s the third time you’ve said it —” Shen Zhuxi couldn’t help but say.

“I’ve said it three times and you’re still not moving?” Li Wu said. “Are you waiting for me to send you in an eight-bearer palanquin?”

“All right, all right — I’m going right now!” Shen Zhuxi got up from the ground.

He went on and on calling other people chatterboxes, when it was plainly him nattering and muttering without pause!

Li Wu was satisfied. He made a sound of approval from the back of his throat.

“I’m going across to pick banana leaves too. Be careful on your own.” He finished reminding Shen Zhuxi and then called out toward Li Kun, who was crouched by the river digging in the sand: “Li Diao’er — time to get to work —”

Li Kun swirled his mud-caked hands in the river water to clean them, then rose and walked toward Shen Zhuxi.

He shook the water droplets carelessly from his hands and said cheerfully: “To work, to work… escort Piggy, get to eat Piggy’s food…”

Shen Zhuxi couldn’t help but smile. Li Kun saw her smile and gave her a shy, childlike grin in return.

“Let’s go.” Shen Zhuxi said softly, and Li Kun fell in happily beside her.

The last time the two of them had set out alone together was three months ago. Compared to then, how Shen Zhuxi felt right now was entirely different.

Li Kun was no longer a frightening-looking man with something wrong in his head, but a simple, honest big child. When she spoke with him now, Shen Zhuxi no longer felt nervous and kept a three-foot distance — she walked right beside him, relaxed and at ease.

Li Kun shifted between smiling and scowling; his emotions were as easy to read as a child’s. Curious on a whim, Shen Zhuxi asked how he and Li Wu had first come to know each other.

Li Kun rubbed his round, ball-like head, the same roundness as his eyes, and looked blankly vacant:

“Don’t remember… Li Diao’er and Big Brother have been together since a very, very long time ago.”

“Does Big Brother treat you well?”

“Well — Big Brother treats me best of all.” Li Kun nodded firmly. “Li Diao’er likes Big Brother first of all…”

“Then who do you like second?” Shen Zhuxi asked. “Second Brother?”

“No… won’t tell you.” Li Kun uncharacteristically hemmed and hawed.

Shen Zhuxi was surprised. “It’s not Second Brother?”

“Won’t tell you!” Li Kun swung his arms and quickened his pace.

“Wait for me…” Shen Zhuxi hurried to catch up, coaxing him as one would a child. “Good Li Diao’er, I won’t ask who’s second anymore. Just tell me — who do you like third? Let me guess — it must be Second Brother this time?”

Li Kun slid her a sidelong glance and said, drawing out the words: “…You.”

This answer came as a surprise. Shen Zhuxi was first startled, then delighted.

“Why?”

“You’re good to me.” Li Kun said without a moment’s hesitation. “You haven’t looked down on me. You buy me food. You don’t trick me. You smile at me… Li Diao’er knows — they all look down on him… You haven’t looked down on me…”

Shen Zhuxi was taken aback.

Li Kun looked at her earnestly: “…Piggy likes me, so I like Piggy too.”

Shen Zhuxi felt happy and sad at once, with a thread of shame woven through. Happy because Li Kun had felt her goodwill and was returning it in kind; sad because behind Li Kun’s carefree, blustering exterior, there was a sensitive soul; and ashamed because she did not deserve his praise.

He had gotten it wrong. She had not been without contempt for him.

She had always assumed that because his mind had suffered harm, his thoughts were as simple and pure as a child’s — incapable of distinguishing between another’s pity and another’s disdain. But she had forgotten: children are the keenest observers of all.

Li Kun knew everything. He simply kept it all locked away in his heart.

“Did I… say something wrong?” Li Kun, seeing that she had been silent for a long while, tugged gently at a corner of her sleeve, cautious and tentative.

“You said nothing wrong. I was simply a little taken aback.” Shen Zhuxi smiled quickly to put him at ease. “Li Diao’er, you’re truly clever.”

Receiving the praise, Li Kun lifted his chin.

“Li Diao’er… has always been very clever.”

While they talked, the two had unknowingly reached the town.

No matter what time one arrived, the market at Yutou Town was always full of life. Vendors selling vegetables, fruit, and meat filled both sides of the street, leaving only a narrow path through the middle for shoppers to enter the stalls on either side. The most clamorous spot was Ding’s pastry shop, while the loudest hawking voice came from the Welcome Guest Inn. Cooking smoke rose from many places — roasting melon seeds, steaming pastries, boiling noodles — all manner of aromas mingling together.

Shen Zhuxi loved this kind of place.

Everyone here was full of vitality. Mingling among them, Shen Zhuxi felt as though she too drew in something extra, and even her footsteps lightened without meaning to.

“Taro cakes, taro cakes… Piggy, buy taro cakes…”

As they passed Ding’s pastry shop, Li Kun plucked urgently at her sleeve.

“I know, just a moment.” Shen Zhuxi said patiently.

The moment she joined the long queue, Li Kun moved to drag her straight to the very front. Fortunately Shen Zhuxi had expected this and wasn’t swept forward.

“You can’t do that — you need to queue, then I’ll buy you your taro cakes.” Shen Zhuxi said.

“Why do I have to queue?” Li Kun scrunched up his face and said with great displeasure: “Have to wait… Li Diao’er doesn’t want to wait.”

“Other people are waiting too, and they’ve been waiting a long time. If you were in line and someone suddenly cut in front of you and bought the thing you wanted, how would you feel?”

“I… I’d beat him senseless.” Li Kun clenched his fists, gnashing his teeth.

“Exactly — so if you cut in line, other people want to beat you senseless too.”

“Nobody dares beat me.” Li Kun said at once, puffing up with pride. “Big Brother said… in Yutou Town, I walk… like a crab walks…”

“It’s walk sideways, not ‘walk like a crab walks.'” Shen Zhuxi said. “Other people may not dare hit you, but they still want to inside. Even the person you like second — if they found out, they’d definitely want to hit you too. Do you want to be disliked by them?”

Li Kun was stunned. After a long moment, he shook his head: “Don’t want…”

“Then queue with me.”

“Oh…” Li Kun drooped his head and shuffled to stand behind Shen Zhuxi.

After the span of one cup of tea, Shen Zhuxi reached the front and stood before Ding Sanniang. She took out the copper coins from her pouch and bought four taro cakes.

Li Kun couldn’t wait to get home. He started eating right there on the way back.

The only things still left to buy were spirits and pig’s trotters. With Li Kun around, Shen Zhuxi managed to buy a whole jar of strong grain liquor weighing twenty catties. Once she had her purchases, she picked up the pig’s trotters and was just about to head home when Li Kun, cradling the liquor jar in one arm and gnawing on a taro cake in the other, reminded her in a muffled voice: “Roast chicken… big roast chicken.”

Shen Zhuxi remembered the roast chicken she had promised him and headed toward Sui’s Chicken Shop.

As they approached the door, Li Kun’s footsteps slowed for some reason. Shen Zhuxi, concerned, said: “Are you tired? Do you want to put things down and rest for a moment?”

“Not tired, not tired…” Li Kun shook his head repeatedly, his wandering gaze drifting again and again toward the inside of the chicken shop.

It was plain to see he truly craved that roast chicken.

Shen Zhuxi stepped up to the entrance of Sui’s Chicken Shop and said to Sui Rui, who lay with eyes closed in a rocking chair just inside the door: “Miss Sui, could you pick out a good roast chicken for me?”

Deep in the shop, bright red charcoal burned, and rows of golden roast chickens hung on iron frames. As the hot air rushed out, so did the aroma of fat dripping onto hot coals. Shen Zhuxi had been standing there barely a moment before beads of sweat were already forming on her forehead.

Sui Rui, who had been fanning herself languidly with a palm-leaf fan in the chair by the door, opened her eyes and unhurriedly left the rocking chair.

“Is it for you or for Li Wu?” She walked over to the rack and glanced lazily at Shen Zhuxi.

Shen Zhuxi didn’t understand the question. “We’re all eating together,” she answered.

“Hmph… if it’s for Li Wu, I’ll pick him the scrawniest one.” Sui Rui said, then turned and flipped through the rack with a pair of long chopsticks, lifting the fattest, largest roast chicken and setting it on the cutting board. “Eating together, then. Do you want it cut?”

Shen Zhuxi remembered that every roast chicken she’d ever brought home had come whole, and quickly said: “No cutting, please.”

Sui Rui pulled a lotus leaf from under the counter and was just about to wrap the chicken when a small scrap of fabric — no bigger than a plum — suddenly hit her.

The scrap was small, but it genuinely infuriated Sui Rui. Without a second thought, she called out the culprit’s name: “You big oaf — causing trouble again!”

Li Kun set down the twenty-catty liquor jar and turned to run.

Sui Rui bolted after him, leaving a bewildered Shen Zhuxi behind.

Torn between worry for Li Kun’s feelings at the hands of the sharp-tongued Sui Rui, and worry that the oblivious Li Kun might hurt Sui Rui, Shen Zhuxi had no time to think. She hastily left the braised trotters on the shop counter and ran after them.

“Li Kun! Sui Rui! Wait — wait for me —”

Shen Zhuxi ran until she was panting for breath, and finally caught up with the two of them at the next corner.

Li Kun was crouched on top of a half-collapsed low wall — no telling how he had climbed up — looking down at Sui Rui, who was seething with rage.

Sui Rui pointed up at him and cursed: “You big oaf! Get down here! Get down and let’s settle this one-on-one! If I don’t deal with you today, I swear I don’t deserve the name Sui!”

Li Kun didn’t budge — neither speaking nor coming down. Sui Rui’s expression turned furious. She swept a glance around her surroundings and suddenly started toward a pile of broken roof tiles in the corner of the wall.

Shen Zhuxi quickly stepped forward to block her way.

“Miss Sui, please calm down… I’ll apologize on his behalf. Please don’t —”

“Who are you to him that you can apologize on his behalf?!” Sui Rui raged. “Did I offend him in a past life or something?! Every time I run into him, something goes wrong!”

Shen Zhuxi was puzzled too. Why did Li Kun always play pranks on Sui Rui every time he saw her? He might look frightening, but at heart he was actually a very well-behaved child! Yet every time he set eyes on Sui Rui, he became like a horse that had broken free of its reins — completely beyond reason.

For him to throw something at her was easy enough, but it was Shen Zhuxi who bore the brunt of it all — talking herself dry, exhausting every kind word she could think of, before Sui Rui gradually settled down a little.

“No matter what — today you owe me an explanation. He —”

“What are you all doing here?”

A clear, bright male voice came from behind them. Sui Rui’s two raised willow-leaf brows went stiff, then slowly lowered. Her expression turned strange, and the movement as she turned around was slightly rigid — not as natural as before.

“Young Master Wen, what a coincidence…”

Shen Zhuxi hadn’t had a chance to turn around, because she saw Li Kun on top of the low wall pull a dark expression and pick up a sharp, broken roof tile lying on the wall.

Afraid he would throw it and truly injure someone, Shen Zhuxi said sharply:

“Li Diao’er, put that down!”

Li Kun paused. He looked at her with resistance, and Shen Zhuxi did her best to fix him with the sternest, most commanding gaze she could manage. Finally, Li Kun’s hand, which had been gripping the tile, slowly lowered.

“Is this Li Niang’zi?”

Footsteps sounded from behind. Shen Zhuxi didn’t dare turn her back completely, so she only turned partway and caught the figure standing before her in the corner of her eye.

“You are…”

A bookish young man wearing a reddish-brown long robe cupped his hands in greeting toward her, a faint smile on his face:

“This humble student is Wen Youzhi. It is an honor to meet you.”

Shen Zhuxi reflexively returned the greeting: “You are too kind, young master.”

Wen Youzhi looked at the way she returned the bow, and a light came into his eyes.

Shen Zhuxi didn’t notice the change in him — her attention was not on him at all. She turned back to face the low wall, speaking earnestly and at length to coax Li Kun down.

“It’s quite dangerous up there. If you slip and fall, Big Brother will be furious, and then you’ll have no pig innards to eat for days.”

The reliably effective pig innards trick seemed to have no effect on Li Kun this time. He stood motionless on the wall, eyes fixed on Sui Rui below. Shen Zhuxi followed his gaze — he was watching Sui Rui, but Sui Rui was watching Wen Youzhi, who stood to one side with arms folded.

And Wen Youzhi? He was looking at her with a smile.

Shen Zhuxi instinctively sensed that this situation made her uneasy. Just as she was at a loss for how to get Li Kun off the wall, Wen Youzhi spoke.

“Miss Sui, I can see Li Niang’zi is quite troubled. Why not help her — tell Li Diao’er to come down nicely.”

“I changed my name! I’m not called Li Diao’er!” Li Kun said, indignant.

“This humble student spoke carelessly.” Wen Youzhi said with a smile. “May I ask, elder brother, what name you go by now?”

Shen Zhuxi didn’t like the trace of mockery behind his smile. Before Li Kun could answer, she stepped in and spoke first, brows furrowed: “His name is Li Kun. Kun as in the great bird, the Kun of Kunpeng.”

Wen Youzhi seemed genuinely surprised that she would speak up for Li Kun. He gave her a glance that seemed more amused than otherwise. “…I see.”

Sui Rui looked between Shen Zhuxi and Wen Youzhi, and a touch of restlessness crept into her expression. She cut in quickly: “If he didn’t come to cause trouble, would I be cursing at him? I’m not deranged!”

Wen Youzhi smiled nonetheless: “Then just try it and see.”

Sui Rui looked at Li Kun on the wall with great reluctance: “Hey! You big oaf! Come down!”

“Miss Sui, that won’t do,” Wen Youzhi said. “You need to be a little gentler.”

“Gentle…” The expression on Sui Rui’s face was beyond words.

“If you can’t imagine how, you can also follow the example of how Li Niang’zi usually acts.” Wen Youzhi said. “Or you could have Li Niang’zi teach you.”

Sui Rui’s expression darkened. Her mouth opened slightly as if to argue, then closed quickly again.

Shen Zhuxi quickly tried to smooth things over: “It’s all right — what if we just —”

Sui Rui suddenly turned around and, in a halting and awkward manner, said to Li Kun: “You… could you come over here? I have something to say to you…”

This cannot possibly work, thought Shen Zhuxi.

And yet the most impossible thing she could have imagined proceeded to happen before her very eyes.

Li Kun jumped down from the low wall without a moment’s hesitation.