TA • Chapter 4

Cheng Ke stood in front of the subway map for several minutes before he finally figured out roughly how he was supposed to get there and which station he had to transfer at.

It was the first time in his life he had ever ridden the subway. Besides marveling at how fucking crowded it was, he was grateful he knew the geographic features around Xu Ding’s place, otherwise he wouldn’t even have known which stop to get off at.

He squeezed into the car with the crowd and got shoved right up against a pole. A middle-aged woman’s hand was wrapped tightly around it, and his stomach pressed against her fist. Under her furious glare, as if to say, "Why are you so lacking in manners? One person is supposed to hold one pole, and your body is blocking other people’s hands. Don’t you know to move aside?" Cheng Ke strained to breathe and leaned his body back, away from the pole.

After a long and miserable ride, the crowd finally thinned out when there was only one stop left.

When Cheng Ke walked out of the subway station, he lowered his head and tugged at his clothes. Two tiny tufts of white fluff were blown past his face by the wind.

Only then did he suddenly notice that he had been walking around all this time with a tear hanging there. The down in that section of the puffer jacket had already blown out. Those two little tufts just now were probably the very last of it.

Cheng Ke pressed the tear, and the knife wound at his waist started hurting again.

He had actually only been to Xu Ding’s place twice. Both times, he had stopped by briefly while passing through. When he went to the property office to get the key, maybe because his clothes looked a little miserable, the staff sized him up suspiciously for a while and even called Xu Ding to confirm he was really the person there to take the key.

Cheng Ke took the key and went inside. He took off his coat and collapsed onto the sofa, not wanting to move at all.

He had lived for more than twenty years. Though he spent his days idle and accomplished nothing, he had never worried about food or clothing, and he had never experienced, or even thought about, what the concept of "having no money" really meant.

Or rather, he had never imagined being broke could get this bad.

Right now, he couldn’t even afford a box meal.

Fuck!

Though he didn’t even want a box meal.

He calculated what he still had to do next. After resting a while and changing into one of Xu Ding’s jackets, he should head out to replace his card and buy a phone.

But the moment he thought about how the only transportation options available right now were the bus and the subway, he didn’t want to move at all. He was extremely irritated.

What the hell was going on? Why had things suddenly turned into this?

Cheng Ke didn’t want to dwell on these meaningless questions, but they kept haunting his mind no matter what.

He stayed dazed on the sofa until after lunch had passed before slowly sitting up and slowly walking into the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror.

He still looked okay, not too worn down. After all, he had been dealing with lunatics for the past two days.

He turned sideways and lifted his right arm, seeing the cut in his clothes. There was no blood like he had imagined, and when he lifted the shirt up further, he finally saw a dark red wound two or three inches long.

Cheng Ke turned on the faucet, wet his hand, and wiped the wound, brushing away the dried blood. A little more seeped out from inside, but the scene was very mild, not brutal at all.

Cheng Ke wasn’t the kind of person who held grudges, but he remembered this inexplicable slash from Jiang Yuduo.

He would definitely get it back.

Jiang Yuduo lay on his side in bed. In front of his face was a cat curled up asleep. Because it was too small, it might not survive, so Jiang Yuduo hadn’t given it a name. He only called it Miao.

Among the countless stray miaos out there, very few ever got a name. A name wasn’t something they needed. What they needed was only to stay alive.

A name.

Jiang Yuduo had always felt that names were a very strange thing.

If someone died, and if someone named so-and-so died, the feeling was completely different.

Maybe a name existed to prove that when this person died, he had once lived.

His nose was a little itchy, probably from cat fur. Jiang Yuduo didn’t have time to turn his head before he sneezed at the cat in front of him.

The sleeping cat didn’t even go through much of a startled waking-up process. It sprang and tumbled straight off the bed, then darted under the cabinet.

"You’re really timid, huh." Jiang Yuduo rubbed his nose, rolled over to lie flat, and closed his eyes.

Sunlight shone from beside the courtyard wall onto the bed. His whole face was covered in a bright halo, and in front of his eyes were glittering, jumping specks of light, with a patch of vivid red behind them.

Jiang Yuduo raised a hand and waved it in front of his eyes. When his hand blocked the sunlight, the specks of light slowly faded away. When he moved it, they jumped back again. Block it again…

The specks gradually blurred, and the vivid red in the background also started to darken, revealing a blood color.

Jiang Yuduo suddenly opened his eyes and sat up quickly.

Miao, who had just climbed to the edge of the bed while gripping the sheet, was so startled by that sudden movement that he fell back to the floor and once again scurried under the cabinet.

Jiang Yuduo sat on the edge of the table, dazed. The phone rang for a long time before he finally picked it up.

"Are you going to collect rent from Building 2 in the next couple of days?" Lu Qian’s voice carried a hint of irritation. "The second, fourth, and fifth floors in Building 1, those three asshole households still haven’t paid rent either, right?"

"Seems like they didn’t pay last month either." Jiang Yuduo pulled out a cigarette.

"The second-floor one hasn’t paid for two months already. If he doesn’t pay this month too, tell him to get out!" Lu Qian said. "I was letting that family get by because I felt sorry for them, thought I’d give them some time. But look at this, who the fuck is going to take pity on me?"

"I pity you." Jiang Yuduo lit the cigarette and glanced at the little alarm clock by the bed. "I’ll take some people over to check later."

"Don’t go too hard on the second-floor one. He’s dead and you still wouldn’t squeeze money out of him, and the kid’s still small," Lu Qian instructed. "As for the fourth and fifth floors, do whatever you want. I’ve been sick of those two on the fifth floor for ages. If needed, just kick them out."

"Then I’ll just kick them out." Jiang Yuduo said.

"That won’t do!" Lu Qian’s voice rose. "They have to pay before they leave!"

"Got it." Jiang Yuduo smiled.

"Come back and eat later," Lu Qian said. "I made a huge pot of sweet and sour spare ribs, your favorite. Bring some booze when you come."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo answered.

Around four in the afternoon, Jiang Yuduo had Chen Qing call over two people, and they went to Building 1 together.

Buildings 1 through 4 were Lu Qian’s rental properties in the urban village. Each building had seven floors, and most of the rent was paid in cash month to month. Jiang Yuduo was the one who went to collect it.

He had called Lu Qian "sis" for ten years. From Building 1 to Building 4, he had watched them all get built.

For several years, he had lived in Building 1. After Lu Qian bought a house, she let him move into the old place he was in now. When he moved out, he had been a little reluctant to leave.

At first, every time he went back to collect rent, he always felt a pang of nostalgia, like revisiting an old place. But after a while, it stopped mattering. After all, he went there dozens of times a year, and every month there were always a few people who dragged their feet. It was irritating.

"You want to do this hard or soft?" Chen Qing followed beside him, walking with great swagger. If Jiang Yuduo didn’t dodge a little, Chen Qing would probably step on his foot eight times in ten steps.

"Straight." Jiang Yuduo said.

"What straight?" Chen Qing patted the steel pipe tucked into his pants leg. "This steel pipe is straight."

"Walking," Jiang Yuduo glanced at him. In order to preserve Chen Qing’s image in the eyes of the other brothers, he forced himself not to yell. "Walk in a straight line. If you keep sticking your fucking foot out in front of me, I’ll break it."

Chen Qing stared for a moment, then laughed. "You’ve known I walk with a duck stance since today?"

"What duck stance?" Jiang Yuduo said. "That’s called a sweeping kick."

"I’m building momentum for you!" Chen Qing said. "Building momentum, you get it?"

"Save it," Jiang Yuduo sighed. "We’re just going to collect rent, not rob a road."

Half an hour later, Jiang Yuduo felt today might still look more like robbery.

"If you don’t open the door, I’m going to smash it!" Chen Qing banged on the door of 502. "Open up!"

"There’s a key," Jiang Yuduo said, reaching back and waving a hand. Behind him, a kid handed him a big bunch of keys, then singled out the one for 502. He glanced at the kid. "What’s your name?"

"Just call me Da Bin, Third Brother." The kid smiled.

Jiang Yuduo nodded and took the key to open the door.

He turned it twice, but the lock didn’t react. It was probably deadbolted from inside.

"You’ve got ten seconds to open the door," Jiang Yuduo said, tossing the key back to Da Bin. He felt around in his pocket, pulled out a receipt book, removed the two paper clips from it, and slowly bent them straight. "Once I open this door myself, it won’t be as simple as just collecting rent."

There was still no response from inside. Jiang Yuduo frowned and clicked his tongue. He shoved the two paper clips into the keyhole, lightly twisting them with his fingers. The lock clicked open.

"Fuck!" Chen Qing shoved the door open.

The scene inside was pretty shocking. Anyway, when Chen Qing stepped in, he froze in place.

The tenants in 502 were a young couple. The woman was tiny and thin, and because her makeup was always heavy, Jiang Yuduo had never clearly seen what she looked like. The man was big and muscular, with a beard all over his face. He liked to go shirtless whenever he could, and from the neck down to the waist, he was covered in tattoos. As for whether there were any on his ass, who knew, since he had never run around naked.

Right now, this big guy was sitting shirtless on a chair facing the door, holding a knife to his own neck. On the bed beside him sat his tiny girlfriend, crying pitifully.

"What kind of act is this?" Chen Qing was very shocked, but he hadn’t forgotten to maintain his presence. After exclaiming, he added, "Fuck your fucking grandpa!"

"No money," the big guy said in a low, firm voice. "If you’ve got the guts, come take my life!"

Jiang Yuduo said nothing. He strode over in two steps, and as the big guy’s attention shifted from Chen Qing to him, Jiang Yuduo shoved hard at the man’s elbow.

The big guy was forced into a one-armed self-hugging posture, and the knife at his neck shifted too. Jiang Yuduo kept pressure on his elbow and didn’t let up. Then he reached over and twisted the knife out of the man’s hand.

Very easily.

So easily that Jiang Yuduo even began to doubt the man’s build.

"Did your wife paint these muscles on with eyeshadow?" He handed the knife back to Chen Qing.

"But this knife really is real." Chen Qing tossed the knife in his hand.

"What!" The big guy sprang up from the chair, furious. "You still want to rob me?"

Jiang Yuduo chopped him across the face with one hand, then used the momentum to grab his hair and slam him onto the bed. "What, you think you’re filming a movie with me here?"

"You…" The big guy struggled to get up, but then immediately went still again.

A knife slid out from Jiang Yuduo’s sleeve. He didn’t catch it with his fingers. The blade tip lightly stabbed into the big guy’s beard.

The beard was thick, so it probably hadn’t even hit flesh, but the big guy immediately fell silent.

"Find the money." Jiang Yuduo said.

"Find it!" Chen Qing waved a hand, and several people started searching the room.

The girlfriend, who had been crying pitifully at the side, finally stopped crying. She wiped her tears and said, "Where would there be any money? If there was money, would you be able to bully us like this?"

"Who’s bullying who?" Chen Qing glared at her. "You motherfuckers haven’t paid rent for two months. Who’s bullying who?"

"No money!" The girlfriend kicked her legs out and flopped onto the bed, then yelled at Jiang Yuduo, "If you’re so capable, then sleep with me! Take it in sex!"

The people in the room all froze.

It took Jiang Yuduo quite a while to come back to his senses. Then he sighed in admiration. "You really fucking have a beautiful imagination."

Compared with the big guy, who looked very streetwise, this girlfriend was much harder to deal with. While Chen Qing and the two brothers searched for money in the room, Jiang Yuduo kept pacing around inside, dodging the girlfriend who kept throwing tantrums and clinging to him for sex settlement.

In the end, he really couldn’t take it anymore. He reached back, grabbed the tiny girlfriend, and tossed her onto the big guy. Pointing at the big guy, he said, "Hold on to her. If you let go for even a second, I’ll castrate you."

The big guy hugged his girlfriend tightly.

Chen Qing rummaged through the cabinet a few times, then suddenly turned around. "Third Brother!"

Jiang Yuduo walked over and saw that he was holding a small sealed bottle, half-full of something that looked like shredded tobacco.

"This guy’s also a flyer, huh." Chen Qing said.

"Call the police." Jiang Yuduo said decisively.

The big guy, who had been watching them silently rummage through everything with great restraint, finally exploded. He flung the thin girlfriend onto the bed and lunged over.

Jiang Yuduo turned and kicked him squarely in the chest. After he fell to the ground, Chen Qing and Da Bin held him down, and another kid used the thin girlfriend’s tights to tie his hands tightly.

"Third Brother, Third Brother!" The big guy panicked and writhed on the floor. "That stuff isn’t even mine. It was left here by the previous tenant! Don’t call the police, don’t call the police!"

Jiang Yuduo said nothing and looked at Chen Qing. Chen Qing took out his phone and turned to leave.

After everything was handled, Lu Qian’s third call came through. Jiang Yuduo sighed. "I shouldn’t have called her sis back then. I should’ve called her mom."

"Sister Qian is going to smack you," Chen Qing said with a laugh.

"How did it go?" Lu Qian asked over the phone.

"I’m coming over to eat now," Jiang Yuduo said. "It’s all taken care of."

"Did you beat him up!" Lu Qian raised her voice. "Messing around with that crap in my house! Son of a bitch!"

"I did." Jiang Yuduo said.

"Good. Hurry over, just come straight here. I already bought the booze." Lu Qian said.

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo answered, then hung up.

"I’m going to eat there too." Chen Qing looked at him.

"You take those two to eat something," Jiang Yuduo pulled out his wallet. "You all worked hard on this run, and we’ve still got two more places tomorrow."

"I’ve got it." Chen Qing pressed his hand down.

"Forget it," Jiang Yuduo frowned. "You’re so broke you’d want to rob a scavenger the second you see one."

"…Jiajiacchi isn’t a scavenger either," Chen Qing took the card he handed over. "A watch worth over a hundred thousand, and he’s wearing it right there… But you really are something. You got that watch just like that…"

"I didn’t say I wanted his watch," Jiang Yuduo said through gritted teeth. "Get lost."

Lu Qian’s newly bought house was fairly large, and it only had her and four Alaskan malamutes living in it.

When Jiang Yuduo came in, Lu Qian had already set out the dishes. There were six stools out, and one of them was empty.

"Stay away from me." Jiang Yuduo said as he sat down, pointing at the dogs on either side of him.

The two dogs very cooperatively shifted farther away.

"Are we still going tomorrow? We only got the fifth floor family today, right?" Lu Qian ladled him a bowl of soup and poured him some liquor too.

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo nodded.

"Come with me in the morning to pay the money for the house." Lu Qian said.

"Buying again?" Jiang Yuduo glanced at her. "Don’t you already have one place sitting empty?"

"Rent that one out. Go to the agent again in a couple of days," Lu Qian said, handing him a piece of spare rib. "It’s already renovated, so put it up. Rent it, sell it, whatever."

"Mm." Jiang Yuduo nodded. "That one’s in a good location."

"Tell the agent not to rent it to just anyone. Find someone cleaner, more particular," Lu Qian frowned. "I don’t want some crap like the people from the fifth floor today moving into that house."

"People like that can’t afford your place." Jiang Yuduo smiled.

Cheng Ke was deep in thought in Xu Ding’s house when Liu Tiancheng called on the third day.

Cheng Ke stared at the phone. The ringtone had gone on for almost thirty seconds before he finally answered. "Hello."

"Where are you?" Liu Tiancheng asked right away. "How’s it going?"

"Under a bridge," Cheng Ke said. "I just picked up half a box of leftovers."

Liu Tiancheng laughed. "Come on, it’s not like you were really kicked out with nothing. You didn’t ask your dad for money, but what you’ve got on hand isn’t exactly little either."

Cheng Ke smiled but didn’t say anything.

"Where are you? I’ll come get you in a bit. Tonight I’ll call them out so they can calm you down a little." Liu Tiancheng said.

"Did you ask Cheng Yi?" Cheng Ke yawned. "Without his nod, this scare can’t just be casually calmed down."

"You, talking like that is no fun at all," Liu Tiancheng said with a dry laugh, his awkwardness showing through. "I really didn’t hear the phone ring that day. Later I tried calling back, but it wouldn’t connect."

"I left my phone at home. I borrowed someone else’s phone to call," Cheng Ke didn’t want to put Liu Tiancheng in an awkward spot either. "You guys go have fun tonight. I’m not going."

"Don’t. If you don’t come, it’ll be no fun for us." Liu Tiancheng said.

Cheng Ke let out a soft sigh. "I really can’t. I still need to find somewhere to stay. I’ve been really busy these past couple of days, and I’m tired too. Let’s talk about it another time."

"Then… alright, I guess you really are busy. There’s probably a ton of stuff at the shop since you just started too." Liu Tiancheng said.

The shop? Cheng Ke paused, then said nothing.

"I heard this from someone. Didn’t Cheng Yi give you the shop he used to run for fun?" Liu Tiancheng said. "Just work at it for now. Even if it’s a bit small, it’s already on track. Spend a few days getting familiar with it, and later you won’t even need to worry about it…"

"Ah." Cheng Ke responded.

Liu Tiancheng didn’t continue. After a few casual exchanges, they hung up.

Cheng Ke sat up and stared blankly at the trees outside the window for a long time.

Only then did he gradually react to what Liu Tiancheng had said.

Cheng Yi had previously taken over a little bar, and after taking it over, he had never really managed it. He only went there occasionally with a few friends to hang out. Cheng Ke had never been there once, and he didn’t even know the exact address. Now it had suddenly become his?

The key thing was, nobody had actually said they were giving him that shop.

Cheng Ke didn’t know where Liu Tiancheng had heard that from. He only felt that after living with Cheng Yi for more than twenty years, he still hadn’t seen through him.

A chill suddenly crept up his back.

Xu Ding came back after midnight. When he opened the door and walked in, Cheng Ke was still lying on the sofa, staring blankly at the television. He didn’t even know what was playing on it.

The two of them both jumped when Xu Ding came in.

"Why aren’t you asleep in the middle of the night?" Xu Ding asked in surprise.

"You scared me to death," Cheng Ke sat up. "I thought a thief had broken in."

"There isn’t much in this place worth stealing," Xu Ding smiled. "Besides, even if a thief really did come in, you could probably handle one or two of them."

"Why didn’t you go home?" Cheng Ke asked.

"I came over first to see what was going on with you," Xu Ding said. "I only found out you’d had a falling-out with your family after Liu Tiancheng called me yesterday."

"You told him I was here?" Cheng Ke asked quickly.

"No." Xu Ding tossed his luggage and coat onto the floor, poured himself a glass of water, and sat beside him. "I felt this wasn’t that simple, so I didn’t say anything."

"Thanks." Cheng Ke let out a breath of relief.

"Did you have a falling-out with your dad, or with Xiaoyi?" Xu Ding looked at him.

"Same thing." Cheng Ke said.

"If you need help with anything, just say so." Xu Ding didn’t continue asking.

"I’ve been looking at places these past two days," Cheng Ke leaned back into the sofa. "I’ll stay at your place a few more days."

"Want me to help you look for one?" Xu Ding asked.

Cheng Ke hesitated for a few seconds, then shook his head. "No need. I can handle it myself. It’s not like I have anything else going on."

"Alright, I’m going to take a shower," Xu Ding said. "I’ll head home later."

"Don’t," Cheng Ke immediately felt a little embarrassed. "It’s the middle of the night. You sleep here. I’ve been sleeping on the sofa these past few days anyway."

Xu Ding stood up and looked at him. "You…"

You what?

Xu Ding said nothing more, and Cheng Ke didn’t ask.

He just felt that these friends, whether familiar or not, probably all thought he was pretty useless. Even something as simple as renting a place, Xu Ding would instinctively ask whether he needed help.

Cheng Ke was the kind of person who couldn’t even manage to rent a place properly.

"Did you buy everything in the bathroom?" Xu Ding asked after his shower, coming out shirtless while towel-drying his hair.

"Ah, yeah." Cheng Ke glanced over him once, then quickly moved his gaze back to the TV.

He wasn’t that familiar with Xu Ding. They usually didn’t hang out much. The reason he had met Xu Ding in the first place was because Xu Ding had found him through Liu Tiancheng and asked him to help record a sand art video.

"Then how about I just rent this place to you." Xu Ding said.

"Can’t afford it," Cheng Ke said. "It’s too high-end."

Xu Ding laughed for a long time. "Hearing that come out of your mouth, I’m kind of not used to it."

"Don’t worry about it," Cheng Ke said. "I’m not used to staying at your place either."

"Alright then." Xu Ding nodded and went into the bedroom.

Cheng Ke continued to glare at the TV. He didn’t want to stay at Xu Ding’s place for too long. Aside from the fact that the two of them weren’t all that close, he also didn’t really want to drag Xu Ding into the mess at his own home.

He looked at the agent’s number saved in his phone. Tomorrow, he’d go take a look at some places.