Lin Shuang had the habit of staying up late and waking up late. This morning, she was jolted awake by a call from Fu Min.
The phone rang for a while before she finally pressed the answer button.
"Are you up yet?"
"Mm," Lin Shuang mumbled.
The sun seeped through the gap in the curtains, casting a warm glow at the foot of the bed. Lin Shuang kicked her legs out from under the covers, her toes brushing against the line of light.
"The sun's been out these past few days. Will you be home this weekend? I was thinking of coming over to help tidy up your place," Fu Min said.
Lin Shuang wasn’t a morning person and her tone was less than patient. "The place is clean enough. I can handle it myself. You don't need to come."
"Alright then," Fu Min softened her tone. "How about coming over for a meal this weekend? Your Uncle Qi bought some free-range chickens from the mountains recently. I’ll stew one for you."
Since Lin Shuang moved back to Beiquan, she saw her mom about once a month. Sometimes Fu Min was in the city for business, and other times they would visit Lin Shuang's grandmother at the nursing home. However, Lin Shuang rarely went to her mother's home.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Shuang replied, "Sure. It's been a while since I last had a meal there. I'll come by around noon."
Lin Shuang got up and, with a swift motion, pulled open the curtains. The sunlight was blinding, reflecting off the bright blue glass window. Outside, the rusted burglar bars on the window frame were strung with a tattered spider web in the corner.
The apartment was a simple two-bedroom unit with a thirty-year-old design. The layout and decor were outdated. The two large bedrooms were lined up on the east side, with the balcony and kitchen on the west, leaving a cramped little living room in the middle.
This was her parents' marital home, where Lin Shuang was born and raised. Later, the family moved to a better place, leaving this old apartment vacant for over a decade.
Last year, when Lin Shuang returned to Beiquan, Fu Min handed her the keys. When she opened the long-locked door, the place was filled with outdated, abandoned furniture, the ceiling stained with mold, and the yellowed wooden floors infested with insects. The house was in a state of decay.
Lin Shuang hired workers to renovate the place. She threw out her parents' old wedding furniture but kept the single bed she had slept in as a child. She added a few essentials and moved in with her belongings.
Apart from her room, the rest of the apartment was empty and spacious. It looked clean, with a robotic vacuum taking care of the floors. There wasn't much left to tidy up. Lin Shuang grabbed a cloth and started wiping the windows.
Half an hour later, she had cleaned the house. She leaned on the balcony and lit a cigarette. The view from there was expansive, the breeze pleasant. The blue sky and white clouds were still cut into small squares by the burglar bars. There were a few years during her childhood when burglaries were common in the neighborhood, prompting everyone in the building to install these bars. Nowadays, with security cameras everywhere and people carrying less cash, petty thieves had turned to online scams. Yet, the burglar bars in this old building had never been taken down.
Her phone rang with a call from an unknown number, but Lin Shuang didn’t pay it much attention. After finishing her cigarette, she pocketed her phone and headed out to find some food.
As she stepped out, she ran into a neighbor from the second floor, an auntie who was carrying a lunchbox to deliver food to her daughter at school. This family had a daughter in her senior year of high school. The couple had rented an apartment in Beiquan City to accompany their daughter during her studies.
The residents of the building had changed several times, long gone were the uncles and aunties Lin Shuang had known as a child. Now, gated communities with green spaces were all the rage. The old neighbors had moved to more modern housing, and this downtown apartment was now mostly occupied by renters.
"Miss Lin," the auntie greeted her with a warm smile, "Have you eaten yet?"
"Hello, Auntie," Lin Shuang returned the smile. "I’m just heading out to eat now."
"That's perfect. I was actually hoping to talk to you about something."
"About me?" Lin Shuang was surprised.
"Yes, it's about my daughter. You know, she's about to take the college entrance exams, and she's been under a lot of pressure. She hasn’t been sleeping well at night. Sometimes, around eleven or twelve, or even one or two in the morning, she hears the sound of water running through the pipes in the bathroom, and… well…" The auntie trailed off.
Lin Shuang understood immediately. Her irregular schedule meant that she sometimes took late showers, and the noise was disturbing the high school student downstairs.
With about forty days left until the college entrance exams, Lin Shuang wasn’t difficult to get along with. In fact, she was quite agreeable with others. "Auntie, when does your daughter finish her evening study sessions?"
"She gets home around ten-thirty, has a snack, tidies up, and usually studies for a bit until eleven," the auntie replied.
"I'll do my best to avoid using the bathroom after eleven, alright?" Lin Shuang offered.
"Oh, thank you so much! Sorry for the trouble," the auntie said, grateful.
After that encounter, Lin Shuang took her scooter and headed out. Sometimes, with nothing better to do, she’d wander around the city aimlessly. Beiquan City was small. Despite years of development, the city center remained pretty much the same. Old buildings had been replaced with new ones, but the area still felt familiar, with the same schools, parks, hospitals, and government buildings.
The area around Beiquan High School was still bustling. The school had expanded, adding a middle school section. The student street shops had all changed, but her favorite rice noodle shop was still there. The rental bookstore hidden in an alleyway looked even more rundown, and the photo sticker booth she used to visit had turned into a small supermarket, though the owner remained the same.
By one in the afternoon, the lunchtime crowd had thinned out. Lin Shuang entered the rice noodle shop and picked a corner seat. She ordered a bowl of beef rice noodles, just the way she liked it—with extra spice and beef offal.
As she paid, the shopkeeper smiled and said, "You look familiar. Have you eaten here before? You used to come with a tall, skinny boy, right?"
Lin Shuang was momentarily taken aback. She had eaten at this rice noodle shop for three years, often bringing her boyfriend at the time. They would sit in a corner, being all lovey-dovey.
"It’s been years since I graduated. I thought I’d stop by for a meal," Lin Shuang replied with a smile. "You haven’t changed a bit, still looking as young as ever."
"Oh, I’m getting old, getting old," the owner chuckled.
He added a poached egg to her rice noodles, on the house.
After finishing her meal, Lin Shuang walked out of the shop.
As she passed by an alley, she noticed a stationery store with a sign on the glass door: **"Prime Location for Rent. Call XXXXXXXX."**
Lin Shuang paused.
When she returned home that day, she had a shop lease agreement in her hand.
Fu Min called to ask when she would arrive.
"Around eleven."
"When you get to the corner, call me. I'll come down and meet you. The streets around here are under construction, so it's a bit tricky to navigate."
"I know," Lin Shuang replied. She was unfamiliar with that area and always got lost when visiting.
Since she was going to her mother’s place, Lin Shuang stopped by the supermarket to pick up some snacks and fruit.
Fu Min's house was in the suburbs of Beiquan City, quite a distance from where Lin Shuang lived. The bus had only a few passengers as it gradually left the city, entering a completely unfamiliar newly developed area. Lin Shuang occasionally glanced out the window, watching as the sparse residential areas and vast industrial trade zones merged into a receding landscape.
When her parents divorced, Lin Shuang had just started middle school. Two years later, her mother remarried. Her stepfather and mother ran a hardware wholesale business in the industrial park. Lin Shuang would occasionally spend weekends with her mother, but after her half-brother was born, she got busy with her studies. Later, she went to college and left Beiquan, rarely returning to this area.
Lin Shuang hopped off the bus, grocery bag in hand, and called Fu Min. After waiting for a while, she was greeted by her younger half-brother, Qi Shan. From a distance, he called out to her, "Over here."
Qi Shan wasn’t close to Lin Shuang. She had seen him a few times when he was a baby and even held him. But after graduating from college, Lin Shuang never returned to Beiquan. Qi Shan only remembered meeting his pretty sister twice, once when their mother took him to have a meal with her, and another time when she visited for the New Year.
"Mom’s cooking and sent me down to get you."
"I'm here," Lin Shuang replied, following the boy. He walked ahead, swinging his arms and moving quickly, clearly not very familiar with her. "Qi Shan, how old are you now?"
"Ten," he answered, stopping by the roadside to wait for her. Then, he quickly darted back to her side, reaching for her grocery bag. After a glance inside, he asked, "Did you buy me snacks?"
"Take whatever you like," Lin Shuang said, following him up the stairs. "What grade are you in now?"
"Fourth grade," Qi Shan replied, turning around with a slightly annoyed expression. "You asked me the same two questions last time we met. Why do you keep asking the same thing?"
"Did I?" she responded indifferently. "I forgot. When was the last time I saw you?"
"During the New Year. You came over to have dinner with us."
Lin Shuang treated this half-brother, born of the same mother but a different father, like any other distant relative’s child—acknowledging him with a glance and exchanging a few perfunctory words when they met.
The front door to the house was open, and the smell of cooking filled the stairwell, causing both Lin Shuang and Qi Shan to cough as they stepped inside. Fu Min was busy cooking in the kitchen. Through the glass door, Lin Shuang could see the stove covered in smoke, with flames flickering under the pots.
"They're here," Fu Min called, poking her head out of the kitchen and pointing into the living room. "It's smoky in here. Go watch TV in the living room; I'll be done soon."
As they entered, Lin Shuang was greeted by Qi Xiong, who had his arm around his eldest son. He beamed at Lin Shuang, saying, "Shuang, it's been a while. How have you been?"
The boy standing beside him was about sixteen or seventeen, tall with long hair that hung over his eyes, dressed in a black T-shirt. He stood in front of her with an awkward stiffness, like a hedgehog bristling with spikes.
"Hello, Uncle Qi," Lin Shuang greeted with a smile, pausing as she looked at the boy in front of her. She vaguely recognized him but couldn’t recall his name.
"This is Qi Ling. Say hi to your sister," Qi Xiong prompted, patting his son's shoulder.
Qi Ling glanced up at Lin Shuang, furrowing his brows with impatience, and nodded slightly.
Everyone sat down on the couch. The house was well-ventilated with open doors and windows, yet the air still felt stifling. The TV was playing a loud cartoon, and Qi Shan was engrossed, standing on the couch and mimicking the characters with animated gestures, shouting, "Here comes the Monkey King! Monsters, prepare to die!"
Qi Ling sat on the couch for about a minute before getting up to leave.
"Where are you going?" Qi Xiong asked.
"It’s too smoky. I’m going back to my room," Qi Ling replied curtly, his tone as sharp as his words.
Qi Xiong sighed helplessly at his son and turned to peel a pomelo for Lin Shuang, offering it to her, "Shuang, have some fruit."
Cooking in this house always resulted in a smoky atmosphere, no matter where you sat. Lin Shuang remembered it being like this when she was a child. Fu Min’s cooking, much like her temper, was fiery. Yet, despite the complaints, everyone ate heartily, coughing between bites.
"Dinner’s ready!" Fu Min called from the kitchen.
The table was filled to the brim: a dish of braised chicken, a pot of mushroom and chicken soup, and several stir-fried vegetables, all looking and smelling delicious. Fu Min placed two chicken drumsticks into Lin Shuang’s bowl, giving one to Qi Shan and the other to Qi Ling.
The dining table had been moved from the wall to the center of the dining area. Lin Shuang sat on a narrow, single-seat chair, facing an empty space across from her. Fu Min, sitting beside her younger son, left the long bench on the other side of the table for Qi Xiong and his two sons. Lin Shuang’s high chair made her position feel particularly elevated, almost regal.
Fu Min turned to Lin Shuang first. "Start with some soup to whet your appetite. Let me know if it’s too bland; I can add more salt."
"Mom, I want the braised chicken drumstick," Qi Shan interrupted, banging his bowl. "I don’t like the one from the soup."
"Well, ask your brother if he’ll trade with you," Fu Min replied, handing Lin Shuang her chopsticks. "Shuang Shuang, you start eating."
"Brother, trade with me."
Qi Ling frowned, covering his bowl protectively with a look of disdain. "No way," he mumbled.
Fu Min pressed her lips together, the lines on her cheeks deepening as she glanced wordlessly at her husband.
Qi Xiong tried to lighten the mood. "They’re both drumsticks, no difference at all. What's so special about the braised one? Qi Shan, there are some chicken wings here..."
"It’s not the same! I only like the braised drumstick!"
As the youngest child, Qi Shan had the privilege of choosing the drumstick.
Qi Shan pouted, his eyes darting to Lin Shuang's bowl, until Fu Min turned his head back to his own food. "Eat your own."
Lin Shuang picked up the braised drumstick with her chopsticks and placed it in her younger brother's bowl, her expression calm. "I can’t finish it all. Let Qi Shan have it."
"You’re too generous, really..."
"Say thank you to your sister..."
With five people at the table, dinner was lively and noisy. Fu Min juggled taking care of her youngest son while making sure Lin Shuang’s bowl was full. After drinking a bowl of oily chicken soup and finishing a bowl of rice, Lin Shuang stopped eating and retreated to the living room to watch TV for a while. Checking the time, she decided it was time to leave.
Fu Min walked her to the door, mother and daughter descending the stairs one after the other. "How have you been lately?" she asked.
Lin Shuang answered honestly, "Still staying at home."
"It’s not safe for you to live alone. Why don’t you move in with us? Qi Ling’s room is empty; he’s usually at school and rarely stays here on weekends. At least here, someone would be around to look after you."
"I prefer living alone," Lin Shuang replied, her eyes on her phone. "You’re busy with the store and taking care of the family. Don’t worry about me; I’m grown up now, I can take care of myself."
"Suit yourself," Fu Min sighed.
"Your Uncle Qi has a friend who runs a factory in the industrial park. They’re hiring office staff—regular hours, weekends off, and the pay’s decent. Do you want to give it a try?"
"No need, I don’t want a job."
After a pause, Fu Min asked, "Then what are your plans?"
"I’ve rented a storefront near the school. I’m thinking of starting a small business."
"What kind of store?"
"A milk tea shop. I worked at one during college."
Fu Min knew her daughter was headstrong. "Don’t rush into anything. Think it through before you act. And if anything comes up or you need help, make sure you tell me, alright?"
"Okay."
Neither mother nor daughter said anything more as they stood side by side at the bus stop, waiting.
After a long wait, Lin Shuang put her phone away and turned to her mother. "You dyed your hair."
"Yeah," Fu Min said, running her fingers through her short hair. "It was turning white on top, didn’t look good, so I bought a box of burgundy dye and did it myself."
"It looks nice," Lin Shuang commented, looking away.
As the bus slowly approached, Fu Min handed Lin Shuang a bag. "There’s a pot of chicken soup in here. Hold it carefully so it doesn’t spill. Heat it up tonight and have it for dinner. Living alone, you still need to take care of your meals. There are also some fruits and snacks there. Eat them on the way. I’ll come visit you next time I get the chance."
Lin Shuang boarded the bus, with the heavy bag in her arms. She watched her mother’s hair flutter in the breeze as the bus pulled away, her figure shrinking in the distance through the window.
Lin Shuang’s eyes remained on her phone, scrolling through the screen. The bag on her lap was heavy, and she could faintly smell the aroma of the soup. Opening the bag, she found an old-style double-handled aluminum pot, tightly wrapped in cling film.
On top of the pot was a green plastic bag, twisted together tightly, containing something square and solid. Lin Shuang untied it, revealing two thick bundles of red cash, tied with plastic bands. The money didn’t look like it came from a bank withdrawal, more like it had been saved bit by bit. Inside was also a receipt from the hardware store with a note written on it: **For your living expenses**.
Lin Shuang’s father had struck it rich in business, and with that came arrogance. Back then, the arguments between her parents were explosive, like firecrackers going off, with no end in sight. When Fu Min finally decided to divorce, she was so determined to leave that she gave up custody of Lin Shuang and walked away with nothing.
After remarrying, with Qi Xiong already having a son and then adding Qi Shan to the family, they never had much money to spare. When Lin Shuang was in college, her father had a financial setback, and Fu Min wanted to cover her tuition and living expenses, but Lin Shuang refused.
She called Fu Min, and their conversation, as always, was straightforward and without emotion.
"Did you get home?"
"Yes."
"Put the chicken soup in the fridge; it’ll spoil if you leave it out."
"Okay."
"If there’s anything you like to eat or drink, just buy it for yourself. Take good care of yourself."
"I know."