It's Good to See You Again

At the little table in the storeroom, Jiang Xueming dragged over a low stool and sat down, ready to have a proper talk with Boss Ye.

The past few years had been rough on him. He knew the owner of the milk tea shop was wealthy, but he hadn't wanted to call home and ask Ye Bei for help.

"After I left the battery factory, I already owed Brother Ye a favor. Then I went to Hung Hom. Life was hard, sure, but—"

Mr. Ye poured tea for Jiang Xueming with practiced ease, grinning as he said, "You're being way too polite. The moment I saw that ridiculously handsome face of yours, I started thinking of you as my second son. After you came to work at my shop, the number of customers shot up every month. Half the young women came just for you."

"Uh..." Jiang Xueming didn't know what to say. Boss Ye had always been sharp-tongued and eccentric.

The tea flowed into the cup, giving off a light fragrance.

This is getting awkward...

Xue Ming collected himself and finally asked, "Then who's the first son in your heart, Brother Ye?"

"Don't ask about that," Ye Bei replied casually. "It's a very, very long story."

"All right, Brother Ye." Xue Ming got down to business. "Please look after Bailu for the next few days. I'll pay you later for whatever she spends here—"

Ye Bei cut him off at once. "No need. We don't talk money between us. Money ruins friendships. I don't need money; I need affection."

"Haha. Hahaha." Jiang Xueming rarely laughed out loud, showing a full set of white teeth.

They said that once you entered society, it was a blessing if strangers didn't swindle or take advantage of you. There were countless underhanded ways to exploit you, hire you, and make you work for free.

Jiang Xueming had seen too much of that crap and run into plenty of shady people who wanted to profit off him. The braised-food shop owner at Hung Hom MTR station was one of them.

But Brother Ye Bei is different.

Jiang Xueming thought Brother Ye Bei was a remarkable person. Ye Bei had helped him a lot, even arranging everything to get him from Pingyang to Hong Kong. Whenever Xue Ming brought up repaying him, Ye Bei just shook his head.

Thinking of Bailu happily helping out at the milk tea shop and playing with the cats over the next few days, with Brother Ye and the front-counter girls keeping an eye on her, brought a spark back to his eyes. He no longer looked like a block of wood.

Jiang Xueming nodded firmly. "Thank you, Brother."

"I help you, you help me. That's what people do. Two strokes leaning on each other—that's how you write the character for 'person.'" Ye Bei raised his cup. "There's nothing to thank me for. Let's not say things that don't need saying. And you don't have to put on a fake smile for me."

Those words made Jiang Xueming feel happy.

For a long, long time—so very long—

he hadn't talked to anyone like this.

"Brother Ye, you don't know what it was like after I went south. I..."

He had so much to say, but didn't know where to begin.

"I met all kinds of people. I was so scared, taking Bailu with me. I was afraid she wouldn't adjust to an unfamiliar city. I even tried enrolling her in school, but they turned us away."

"I waited in the villa district on Sanyuan Road for one of the school board members to drive out. I begged them to let Bailu go to school. Thankfully, that auntie was kind."

"Once I'd paid the tuition, I went back and forth between Zhuqing and Hung Hom looking for work. There were so many people traffickers. They saw I was young and told me I could go to Canada and work as a cook's helper in a Chinese restaurant. I almost got lured into a trap."

"Later, I found a job at a shop selling cooked food near the subway station. I argued with the landlord until I was hoarse before I finally rented a pigeonhole."

"When Bailu went to school, I was afraid she'd get into fights with the other students, so I tried to teach her how to protect herself. I'm no good at talking, and I couldn't teach her properly. Thankfully, she was quick-witted—but every day was still nerve-racking."

"When I left, I promised I'd give Bailu a good life. I'm sorry. I've failed her."

Ye Bei raised a hand to stop him. "Hold on. Are you sure that school board member was kind?"

Jiang Xueming thought carefully. "I vaguely remember her saying that helping students was a good thing. She wanted me to clean her house. But she was in a hurry and didn't leave me her contact information. I couldn't get into the villa district, either, so I lost touch with her."

Ye Bei frowned and pondered. "Hmm..."

Jiang Xueming asked, "Is something wrong?"

Ye Bei covered his mouth and coughed. "No, no, no. Nothing."

"Anyway, the first thing I did when I got back was come see you, Brother Ye." Jiang Xueming spoke earnestly. "There are a lot of things I can't tell other people, but for some reason, it feels natural to tell you."

Ye Bei covered his face and gave a wry smile. "That's certainly a novel way to say you're using someone as an emotional trash can."

At that moment, Xue Ming finally seemed like a twenty-one-year-old young man fresh out in the world.

"Sorry."

"It's fine. I'm not scolding you." Mr. Ye patted Xue Ming on the shoulder. "You've had it rough. I don't know what you've been through these past few years. I'm not you, so I can't feel what you've felt or use your body to live through your life. I wouldn't dare say, 'I understand.'"

Then Boss Ye pressed the teacup on the table into Jiang Xueming's hands. "Have some tea and catch your breath. You must have had something wonderful happen to make it back home."

"Yeah. Then Bailu got sick—with some strange illness. The doctors said they couldn't do anything. I kept telling my sister not to be scared, not to be scared. But I think I was saying it to myself. I was afraid I'd mess things up, that I wasn't good enough. I was afraid I'd blow it." Jiang Xueming took the cup and sipped his tea.

Ye Bei smiled warmly. "You've already done an incredible job, Jiang Xueming."

At that moment, Xue Ming lost himself in thought. His mind felt unusually clear, as if a gentle stream flowed through his veins and brain, and something had finally been lifted from his shoulders.

The little storeroom, once cold and dim, seemed to grow warm. He looked at Brother Ye, and for an instant, all his troubling memories vanished. Just like the sign on this shop, he forgot them.

Ye Bei topped up Jiang Xueming's tea and spoke at an unhurried pace.

"What you've done is already incredible. You set out from Pingyang County and faced so many difficulties and troubles along the way, so many obstacles. You beat every one of those bastards without losing your cool. That's really impressive. How many seventeen-year-olds in this day and age would dare leave home and go somewhere unfamiliar, more than a thousand kilometers away? How many would dare bring their little sister along to take a risk, make a living, and fight for a better life?"

Hearing those words, Xue Ming nodded in a daze.

Ye Bei said, "You really are amazing."

Those words filled Xue Ming with courage. The brothers and sisters couldn't learn the ways of the world or open-minded courage at school. Most of what they knew, Brother Ye had taught them through his words and example, putting his principles into practice in everyday life.

When Xue Ming had left home with Bailu, he remembered what Brother Ye had told him.

"Life only gives you a one-way ticket."

He couldn't spend his whole life regretting it, and he couldn't let Bailu spend her whole life regretting it, either. At that thought, Xue Ming returned to his usual calm, solemn self. He considered whether he should tell Brother Ye about the underground city and his strange encounter on that train.

After all, as far as he knew, Brother Ye was just an ordinary person. There was no need to tell him this underground secret, especially when it might bring trouble down on him.

Still, he shared what he could, mixing truth with half-truths.

"Brother Ye, Bailu might bring some trouble with her. Besides my parents, there are other strangers who've tried to approach her and hurt her."

Ye Bei raised an eyebrow. "Oh! You have enemies in Hung Hom? You're bound to have disagreements when you're making a living away from home. That's normal."

Jiang Xueming was worried. Thinking of the Armadillo Hunters, he carefully warned him, "If someone follows us here and tries to hurt Bailu..."

"Got it. I'll ask a few of my good buddies to come have tea at the shop tomorrow and keep watch. They're off work, so they can do me a favor." Ye Bei topped up Jiang Xueming's tea. "Still, anyone willing to follow you all the way from Hung Hom to Hengyin must have a serious grudge."

Jiang Xueming didn't dare say more.

Ye Bei seemed able to see right through people. His gaze was intense. "You can't talk about it, right?"

Xue Ming said, "That's right. I'd rather not."

Ye Bei dropped the look of a detective interrogating a suspect. "Then I won't ask."

Xue Ming asked one more question. "Brother Ye, you... aren't you afraid I did something bad out there?"

As soon as he said it, the cat on the table perked up and inexplicably ran over to Jiang Xueming, sniffed him all over, then slunk back to its spot, looking utterly dejected.

"I may not be good at much, but I'm a good judge of character." Ye Bei grinned. "And whether you're a bad egg matters more to my cat than it does to me. It's full of rotten ideas, always looking for ways to tear up the house and cause trouble. If you had that kind of talent, it'd be glued to your side."

"Please look after Bailu, Brother." Jiang Xueming finished his tea, feeling as if the whole world had brightened. "I don't have much time. I still have things to take care of at home, so I'd better go. I'll call Bailu over to meet you."

He was just about to step out and call his sister over.

"Wait!" Ye Bei held up both index fingers, as if trying hard to remember something. "Wait, wait, wait. My memory's not great. Give me a second!"

A dozen seconds later, the oddball milk tea shop owner clapped his hands as if he'd remembered something important. "Oh! I've got it!"

Jiang Xueming watched curiously as Brother Ye rummaged around the storeroom.

From an old wooden chest hidden among the piled-up odds and ends beside the shelves, Ye Bei pulled out a brocade box. "Xue Ming, didn't you say your enemies might come looking for trouble?"

Jiang Xueming nodded warily. "Yes."

Ye Bei asked again, "Are those enemies you mentioned strong?"

"I don't know, but they're probably hard to deal with."

"Then take this." Ye Bei handed the brocade box to Xue Ming.

Ye Bei added, "Bailu will be fine here. After the crackdown on organized crime a few years ago, my good buddies had nothing to do and spent all day worrying they wouldn't get a chance to distinguish themselves. If those bad guys you mentioned really do show up, that'd be a good thing. But..."

Mr. Ye patted the brocade box, then Xue Ming's shoulder.

"If they're coming after you and follow you all the way to Pingyang County, my good buddies won't be able to get their hands on guns right away. This is one of my collectibles. Take it to protect yourself. Remember, if you can't beat them, run. Hide and call the police. If anything happens, call the people's police first, then call me. I'll be right over."

The brocade box felt heavy. He had no idea what was inside, but it was probably some kind of collectible blade or weapon.

Xue Ming accepted the kindness behind Ye Bei's gift. He looked behind him, hoping to find Xiao Qi, then said to Ye Bei,

"Don't worry, Brother Ye. I have a bodyguard."

"Good!" Ye Bei said with a laugh. "You've gotten stronger. If you're in a hurry, get going! Be careful!"

Jiang Xueming slung the brocade box over his back and headed out, giving a thumbs-up over his shoulder.

"Long time no see!"