Chapter 148: Stealing Fragrance (3)
With Xiao Ji’s level of alertness, in such a quiet alley in the middle of the night, it would be hard for him not to notice being followed.
He pretended to be completely unaware. After turning through a few intersections, he stopped in front of a house and knocked on the door.
After a long while, a dim yellow light lit up in the courtyard. A woman’s voice sounded from behind the door:
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Xiao Ji.”
Hearing the voice, the woman inside quickly unlocked the door, pulled the iron door open a crack, and poked her head out to carefully look at Xiao Ji standing outside.
Afterward, she immediately opened the door wide, grabbed Xiao Ji’s hand, her eyes turning red as she said in surprise:
“Son?”
Xiao Ji gave a nod. “Hello.”
The woman raised her hands to hold Xiao Ji’s face, looking left and right. Afterward, she let go and went into the house.
Just as Xiao Ji was about to follow her in, Mother Xiao came out with a broom and whacked Xiao Ji’s thigh:
“You little brat! I told you not to come back, not to come back! But you just wouldn’t listen!”
“What kind of mess has Huating become? Why couldn’t you stay outside properly? Did you come back to find death?!”
Xiao Ji didn’t move. He took the whack and didn’t say anything.
Seeing that he didn’t even know to dodge, Mother Xiao threw the broom down in heartache and gave Xiao Ji a slap on the arm, pushing him:
“Go back. Go back where you came from. Buy a ticket and leave tomorrow!”
Xiao Ji stood right there and said to her:
“Since I’m back, I’m back. I have no money; I can’t leave.”
Looking at her son whom she hadn’t seen for many years, Mother Xiao would be lying if she said she didn’t miss him.
The two hits she gave Xiao Ji were born out of anger, but in the end, she couldn’t bear to use force.
Standing at the courtyard gate, she calmed her emotions, wiped her tears, and then turned to walk into the house. She snapped at Xiao Ji with her back turned:
“Get inside!”
Xiao Ji entered and looked around this small, crowded courtyard.
Bluestone slabs, a well, quite a lot of clutter piled in the corners—and inside, there were only two rooms where people could live.
Xiao Ji went in and sat down. Mother Xiao poured a cup of water for him and asked:
“Are you hungry?”
Xiao Ji shook his head and didn’t speak.
Mother Xiao looked at Xiao Ji, her eyes turning red again as she complained:
“Look at you. Why did you come back instead of living your good life?”
Before Xiao Ji could speak, a girl’s voice came from outside the room:
“Mom, your words are really interesting. My health is poor; I can’t carry or lift anything. The little bit of money you earn from working at the restaurant in a month isn’t enough for the two of us to eat, let alone buy medicine for me.”
“My father is gone, and my brother is back, yet you’re driving him away. Are you planning to watch me die?”
As soon as she finished speaking, a girl who looked about eighteen or nineteen appeared in front of Xiao Ji, leaning against the doorframe and speaking with dissatisfaction.
Her features were fifty percent similar to Xiao Ji’s—very beautiful—but her body was too thin and withered, and her face was a bit sallow. She wore two braided pigtails and met Xiao Ji’s gaze directly.
Mother Xiao glared at her. “Xiao Ran! Your brother just got back; what nonsense are you talking?”
Xiao Ran ignored Mother Xiao, still looking at Xiao Ji:
“You’ve been living quite well abroad all these years, haven’t you? Eating and drinking the best, you must have been so happy studying and playing. Father died; did you ever care whether Mom and I lived or died?”
To tell the truth, putting Xiao Ji aside and just speaking of the original owner, he wasn’t someone who only cared about eating, drinking, and playing.
The original owner had been studying hard abroad all these years, and his life had been quite meager. If the original owner were here, hearing such sharp and unkind words, he would inevitably have argued with Xiao Ran.
But right now, Xiao Ji felt nothing. He only looked at Xiao Ran and said one sentence calmly:
“It was okay.”
Xiao Ran wanted to say more but was forcefully poked in the forehead by Mother Xiao:
“Shut up. Why are you playing for sympathy in front of your brother?”
Xiao Ran said angrily: “Anyway, I’m dying soon; why am I playing for sympathy? You only know how to care about your son!”
After speaking, she lifted the worn door curtain, turned, and left.
The atmosphere became awkward.
Mother Xiao turned and looked at Xiao Ji. “Don’t mind her. Her health has been poor these past two years, and she has a big temper. She doesn’t listen to anyone.”
The noise in the house stopped, and the driver who had been eavesdropping outside the door carefully looked at Xiao Ji’s house number before hurriedly leaving.
Pei Yinnian was resting with his eyes closed in the car. Seeing the driver return, his phoenix eyes narrowed slightly:
“Eavesdropped?”
The driver gave Pei Yinnian a thumb-up:
“You are wise, Master. I heard some things. The man is named Xiao Ji. He has no father, just an old mother and a sister at home. His mother works at a restaurant, and his sister’s health is failing; she stays home to recover. They are living very frugally.”
Pei Yinnian nodded thoughtfully. “Go back.”
…
Xiao Ji didn’t like dealing with people to begin with. Facing the Xiao family’s current situation, he could only maintain silence.
Mother Xiao was a very traditional woman of this era.
Her favoritism toward sons was deeply rooted. She was truly good to Xiao Ran, but she favored Xiao Ji even more.
She always felt that Xiao Ji had suffered a lot outside these years. Moreover, since Xiao Ji had returned at this time, he clearly wanted to take care of the family, which made Mother Xiao feel even more heartache for Xiao Ji.
That very night, she wanted Xiao Ran to vacate her room for Xiao Ji and let Xiao Ran stay with her, with the two of them squeezing into one room.
But Xiao Ji refused.
Firstly, he wasn’t willing to listen to Xiao Ran’s endless nagging.
Secondly, even if bluestone floors are cleaned frequently, they easily accumulate dust. He couldn’t sleep on the ground. And even if Xiao Ran was the original owner’s biological sister, he couldn’t touch the bed she had slept in at all.
He made do for the night on the narrow rattan sofa in the hall. The next morning, before it was even light, he left the house under the excuse of looking for a job.
He wandered aimlessly through the streets and alleys, observing the speech and behavior of humans in this era and the differences from the worlds he had experienced in the past.
As he walked, he noticed a black vintage car had been following him.
Neither too close nor too far—when Xiao Ji walked, the car moved slowly.
If Xiao Ji stopped to browse in a shop by the road for a while, the car would stop within twenty meters.
Xiao Ji acted as if he didn’t know and returned home before dark.
Just as he stepped into the house, there was a knock on the door.
At that time, Xiao Ran was sitting in the courtyard washing clothes. After ignoring Xiao Ji, she heard the knock and got up to open the door.
When she opened the door, she saw three men in military uniforms standing outside.
In these years, let alone the regular army of Huating, even the militia units in rural towns didn’t care about the common people.
When money was tight, it wasn’t impossible for them to pick a random unlucky household, go in and raid it, and have a meal without paying.
Xiao Ran’s heart immediately shivered. The face she had used to shout at Xiao Ji last night had completely vanished. She asked cautiously:
“Officers? Is there something wrong?”
The three men stood straight with rifles on their backs. The man in the lead didn’t look directly at Xiao Ran, and he even spoke with a bit of politeness:
“Hello. We are looking for Mr. Xiao Ji.”
Hearing this, the heart that Xiao Ran had almost held in her throat immediately dropped halfway.
She still felt fearful, but at least they had named Xiao Ji, so it had nothing to do with her. And they were speaking politely now.
So, she immediately turned and shouted:
“Xiao Ji! Someone’s looking for you!”
After shouting, she ducked into the house, hid behind the door, and peeked through the crack.
Recommended Reads
