Ji Huan carried Hei Dan down from the ferris wheel.
As they were leaving the ferris wheel, Hei Dan kept turning his head to stare back with fixed eyes. Ji Huan rubbed his little head, “Why are you more reluctant to leave than me?”
After stretching his little claws up and grabbing one of his uncle’s fingers, Hei Dan was perfectly satisfied again.
He was such an easily satiated baby.
Ji Huan carried Hei Dan to the supermarket. He didn’t buy anything but essential items like beef, potatoes, powdered milk and diapers. Because the bank card he was shopping with was Ah Jin’s, he didn’t want to spent too much of the other man’s money. However, when he noticed Hei Dan’s eyes lingering on some colorful snack packaging, he scooped up a bag. In the end, he used his own money to buy a large bag of candy for Hei Dan with his last twenty yuan. He opened the package and put a candy in Hei Dan’s palm. The little guy’s entire attention was instantly attracted to the candy and he started to carefully inspect the candy’s packaging.
With two bags of potatoes and beef in his hands, and diapers and powdered milk on his back and Hei Dan hanging off his chest, Ji Huan slowly walked.
“This is a street light, it’s used to light up the dark.”
“This is a trash can. Trash has to be thrown into the can.”
“That’s a bus. For a yuan, you can sit in the back.”
……
He told Hei Dan about everything he saw in front of his eyes.
They hadn’t been in this world for long. They might never come back. He didn’t know if Hei Dan would remember the days he lived here when he grew up. Even if he had bad memories of it, he still hoped that Hei Dan could remember a little bit more of belonging in this place.
Hei Dan remembered quietly.
“That’s a sweet osmanthus tree. It’ll be time again for the osmanthus flowers to bloom in a while. Osmanthus flowers are tiny and yellow, yellow like… just like the color of the bracelet Hei Dan used to have. They’re especially fragrant. There used to be many sweet osmanthus trees near our house.”
“That’s the hospital, it has a red cross. If you’re sick, you have to go to the hospital and see a doctor. If Hei Dan gets a little older, he’ll come here to get injections…”
“This is the supermarket. You can buy a lot of food inside. Children like to come here to buy snacks. When I was a child, Grandpa gave Uncle and Hei Dan’s mom a yuan every day. Uncle doesn’t spend a lot of money, so your mom would buy all kinds of little snacks every day. Half for her, half for Uncle… When Hei Dan grows up, Uncle will give Hei Dan a yuan every day, too.”
“But prices have risen. I might need to give you two yuan by then.”
Ji Huan rarely talked so much. From a simple introduction to start with to an intense, subjective description later… Every time he introduced a place, it reminded him of the same place in Bade Town. The tiny Bade Town where he lived for eighteen years. He had thought of himself as a lone wolf that hadn’t saved up too many memories of the town, but the fact was that whenever he introduced a location, he would remember old memories.
Little Bade Town! It was that kind of lovely place.
In spring, Bade Town was powdery white. When it was time for the cherry blossoms to bloom, there were white local cherry blossoms everywhere. From on the mountain to below the mountain, from the top of the streets to the bottom of the alleys. The entire town looked like it was enveloped in clouds and mist. When it rained, thick petals were knocked down one by one, slowly dripping down with the rain. They covered the ground of every street and alley. The branches were empty, but the ground was full. It was just like cherry blossoms had fallen to the ground from heaven.
In summer, Bade Town was green. There were trees everywhere in town and shaded by trees, the girls there never had to hold up umbrellas but were all pale. The boys were also very pale and didn’t put on sunscreen. Layer upon layers of tree canopies along the roadsides filtered out the harsh sunlight, and the sunshine that did get through was very comfortable. Because of the many trees and the water, it was never too hot in Bade Town during the summer. You almost didn’t need an air conditioner. A palm-leaf fan was very nice, though. Sometimes, when it was hot and he couldn’t sleep, Grandpa would take out a big palm-leaf fan. Fanning and fanning, Ji Huan would fall asleep with cicadas singing outside his window and the squeaking of his window shutters being blown by the wind.
In autumn, Bade Town was pale yellow. When the osmanthus flowers bloomed, every family would go out to pick osmanthus flowers, pickle them in honey and make them into candy. All children loved to eat them and pastry shops, large and small, would seize the opportunity to launch seasonal osmanthus cakes. Grandpa loves osmanthus cakes the best.
In winter, Bade Town was white. Not the powdery white of spring, but pure white. White pressed on the leaves of green trees that had yet to fall and it was extremely beautiful…
Ji Huan was shocked.
Hei Dan, he hadn’t seen the four seasons of Bade Town yet…
Grandpa, he hadn’t tasted the new season’s osmanthus cakes yet…
And he…
Students from who-knew-where had gotten out of class. They were around the same height as Ji Huan, so they should be students in the same grade as Ji Huan, right?
They were talking enthusiastically, apparently in the middle of discussing the difficult problems left by their math teacher that day.
Ji Huan subconsciously hid under the eaves of a roof next to him.
Then, he suddenly saw a familiar figure.
Wang Xiaochuan.
Wang Xiaochuan, who had changed to a new uniform, was now walking with those students. Although he wasn’t in the center of them, there were many people around him and talking to him from time to time. It seemed like he had a good relationship with the people around him.
He was a little skinnier, but he looked in good spirits. The news said that the people of Bade Town would be settled in various places after the move. Could it be that Wang Xiaochuan’s family just happened to be arranged to move to this town?
That was good. This town was very close to Bade Town. The social customs, habits and pace of life were very close to it, so they shouldn’t have too much trouble adjusting. This would be beneficial for Xiaochuan who was just getting ready to take exams, too.
Wang Xiaochuan seemed well.
After quietly examining Wang Xiaochuan for a moment, Ji Huan suddenly lowered his head. “Hei Dan, look, among those people over there, the skinniest person is Uncle Wang Xiaochuan. He’s your uncle’s classmate and a good friend. The one who bought you vaccinations, powdered milk and the frog doll was him.”
The group of teenagers were talking and laughing as they walked in front of him.
“Did you see it clearly? Okay, let’s go home.”
With one last look at Wang Xiaochuan, Ji Huan carried Hei Dan past them.
Great, he had no more regrets.
He could leave now.
He tied everything to the motor bike. Before driving off, Ji Huan thought for a moment and then pulled out the reference book and set of test questions from the pile of things he bought from the bookstore. At first, he wanted to throw them in the trash can, but in the end, he didn’t want to waste things. Finally, Ji Huan put the two books on the closest park bench.
It didn’t matter who picked them up. He didn’t need them anymore.
While carrying the food and Hei Dan, Ji Huan drove away.
He didn’t know it, but not long after he left, Wang Xiaochuan came chasing after him.
“Ji Huan!” Wang Xiaochuan yelled Ji Huan’s name but by that time, Ji Huan was already far away.
“What’s wrong with you?” Not long after, his new classmates chased after him, too.
“I… the back of that person just now, it look a lot like my friend’s…” Wang Xiaochuan was bewildered and uncertain.
“But there’s no one here. Let’s go, let’s go! I’m gonna starve to death. Let’s go eat something together?”
In the end, Wang Xiaochuan was pulled away.
Finally, he looked in the direction where the man had disappeared and he suddenly thought: there, that’s in the direction of Bade Town.
In a daze, his eyes were suddenly damp.
“I’ve decided, I choose option three: I want to go to the other side with Grandpa and Hei Dan.” Back home, Ji Huan first made powdered milk for Hei Dan, steeped tea for Ah Jin and prepared a very large serving of potatoes and roast beef for Grandpa. After he tasted it and decided it was pretty good, he brought out a serving for Ah Jin. When he gave it to Ah Jin along with the bank card, he said those words.
“You don’t have to give the card back to me. If it isn’t enough, ask me.” Ah Jin looked down at the delicious potatoes and roast beef in front of him. After using his chopsticks to taste a small piece, he responded to what Ji Huan had said before. “Are you sure? It’ll be very hard over there for ordinary people. I can’t even check if there are humans over there right now.”
“I’m certain. I won’t let Grandpa and Hei Dan just follow you like that.” Ji Huan was sitting upright and still. Although the potatoes and roast beef in front of him destroyed the mood some, it didn’t stop him from wanting to have a serious conversation.
“Oh? Don’t trust me?” Raising his chin slightly, Ah Jin looked at him.
“I don’t believe in anyone but myself,” Ji Huan said.
Then, Ah Jin smiled.
“On that matter, we’re actually the same.
Alright, I accept your decision.”
Ah Jin smiled slightly at him and saw that Ji Huan was still sitting there with a solemn face. He suddenly extended his thumb.
“To make you feel a little more at ease, should we agree to a vow?
I, Ah Jin, vowing with blood, promise not to harm Ji Huan and his family who have made this vow with me. If I violate it, I will suffer a thousand devils and die.”
As Ah Jin said it, he bit the tip of his left ring finger. Red blood flowed out and he lifted the palm of his left hand to Ji Huan.
Dark eyes faintly met the pitch-black eyes of the youth. At that moment, he didn’t have any expression on his face.
After watching him for a moment, Ji Huan also bit his left ring finger and aligned his bleeding fingertip with the tip of the other man’s finger. He recited the vow in accordance to the other man’s words.
“I, Ji Huan, vowing with blood, promise not to harm Ah Jin who has made this vowwith me. If I violate it, I will suffer a thousand devils and die.”
After he finished saying it, Ah Jin repeated the vow again and right as he finished reciting it, a strong force suddenly sucked the blood from Ji Huan’s wound! Just as Ji Huan couldn’t bear the strength of it and started turning pale, the flow suddenly reversed and a powerful force ran through Ji Huan’s body!
The wound on the tip of his finger was scorching hot like volcanic lava was flowing through his body from Ah Jin through the wound! In an instant, Ji Huan felt as if his entire body was on fire!
Across from him, Ah Jin also sat in the fire. His delicate robe suddenly disappeared and the body that had always been tightly wrapped in a robe was completely exposed to Ji Huan’s eyes.
In the instant that he saw it, Ji Huan widened his eyes in astonishment:
What kind of body was that…
His flesh was completely putrefied and rotten. On the left-hand side of his chest, Ji Huan could even see the beating of his heart through his white bones!
Besides his face and heart that seemed to be in good condition, Ah Jin’s body didn’t look like that of a living person’s.
Ji Huan suddenly heard an immense roar!
Not like the sound of ringing in his ears, but a real roar! By exchanging vows, Ji Huan heard the eager roars of the devils circling the courtyard for the first time.
It seemed like they smelled Ah Jin’s rotting flesh. They were caught in a fever of excitement, their roars getting higher than the ones before. The wave of sound spread outside one by one, and Ji Huan could almost see the essence of the sound wave!
“Contract completed.” In the loud roars, Ah Jin’s dull voice penetrated all of the noise and passed into Ji Huan’s ears.
All of the sounds disappeared in an instant.
The ring fingers of the two men suddenly seperated.
As if he instantly lost the strength to support himself, Ji Huan suddenly knelt to the ground. The flames surrounding him and Ah Jin suddenly disappeared as if what had just happened was only Ji Huan’s imagination.
Ji Huan panted heavily. After a while, a pale hand suddenly appeared in front of him.
“Get up.” It was Ah Jin. His robe was still intact and it seemed that everything that had just happened had just been a hallucination.
However, Ji Huan knew that everything that happened hadn’t been his imagination.
“When we get over there, I’ll give you a deed for a house. It’s not a residence in a good area, but the devils in the area aren’t too high level. You can live there with no worries with the rank of a Callas,” Ah Jin continued to say unhurriedly.
“There’s also some uncultivated land. Didn’t you say you can grow vegetables? Maybe you can make use of it,” Ah Jin continued to say. As he spoke, a picture started to unfold in front of Ji Huan and he suddenly realized that their future days might not be as terrible as he imagined.
But…
“Excuse me, what can I do for you?” There wasn’t anything in the world you could get for free and even if there was, Ji Huan wouldn’t dare ask for it.
Ah Jin glanced up at him.
“Care for me. Take care of me here and for a while after we get there. And occasionally let me come back to live there for a short time. That’s all.”
“Okay.”
Ji Huan agreed to his request.
Ah Jin smiled, picked up the beef and potatoes in front of him and ate in small bites. After declining Ji Huan’s offer to heat up the food, he pushed back the bank card that Ji Huan had just returned to him. “Use it to buy anything you need. If it isn’t enough, ask me. I still have a lot.”
This time, Ji Huan didn’t refuse.
When Ji Huan went to take a bath that night, he discovered that a tiny design had appeared over his heart, like a red crest.
There was a similar design on Hei Dan’s butt and Grandpa’s back. It seemed like the vow he made with Ah Jin was working.
Without thinking too much, Ji Huan started to earnestly plan for their future lives.
And at the same time, Ah Jin also found a design on his chest while cleaning his body in the hot springs.
It was completely different from the mark on Ji Huan’s body. It was very simple with an indistinct design.
“Interesting.”
He had made vows with many people, but no vow had managed to leave a brand on him.
Ji Huan had surprised him again.
But, this was also the first time in his life that he didn’t have any ulterior motives and simply made a vow with someone else.
He didn’t intend to get anything from Ji Huan there and neither did he ask for something from him.
This time, he was just doing a favor.
It wasn’t even an empty gesture.
His eyes indifferently swept across the mark and Ah Jin looked up at the surrounding devils.
Almost.
The day that he went back was almost here.
It was almost the day for him to free himself from this frail body and recover some of his previous strength. Almost…
He rose up from the water.
oh wow, it’s been two months. i’m so sorry for disappearing! i got really busy with school and i got sick for a bit (thankfully, just a sinus infection) so i didn’t really have time to think of much outside that. i’m feeling a bit more energetic now and i missed translating, so here it is! i’m gonna try to get back to a semi-regular schedule, but i can’t promise anything unfortunately.
anyway, i hope everyone is doing well! stay safe, especially those in thailand right now.