It was nearing ten at night.
The restaurant's guests had already been waiting for an hour and a half, but Jiang Xueming still hadn't returned.
Bu Liuxing and the head chef were tidying up the last few dishes in the kitchen.
Jiang Bailu had made several rounds between the living room and the garden, gazing curiously at the various sea fish in the aquarium.
The two waiters, 9527 and 3301, were tending the pot of soup. They weren't in the least bit anxious, chatting idly with each other.
"Xiao Qi, why's your passenger taking so long? You don't think something happened to him, do you?"
"What could happen? Mr. Xue Ming is so gentle. He takes his time and does things carefully. When he dried my hair, he was so careful—he's super sweet!"
Just then.
Bu Liuxing called over the housekeeper to bring the last few dishes to the table.
"Everything's ready!" he asked everyone. "Has Ming Ge come back yet?"
Before he had even finished speaking, Jiang Bailu came running back through the side entrance, shouting, "He's back, he's back! My brother's back! Let's eat, let's eat!"
Everyone took their seats at the dining table and waited quietly.
They heard the sound of something heavy being dragged across the floor.
Then they saw Jiang Xueming, panting and drenched in sweat, backing out through the side passage. He had just emerged halfway from behind the screen.
Jiang Xueming asked, "Who are you still waiting for?"
"Uh..." Bu Liuxing hesitated to ask. There was something indescribably eerie about the way Xue Ming was acting.
A Xing's mind was full of teasing remarks.
In the end, he asked anyway.
"Are you okay, Ming Ge? Um... where are my coach and the two teachers? Didn't they come back with you?"
"Mm." Jiang Xueming slowly dragged Li Zongzhu into the dining room, handling him like a corpse being disposed of in a murder case.
Everyone at the table froze at the sight.
Only Bailu looked perfectly composed. As if she knew her brother inside out, she turned into the group's ferocious food-serving captain and dished out rice for everyone.
Nobody dared breathe too loudly, and nobody spoke.
3301 looked horrified. She leaned close to Xiao Qi's ear and whispered in a tiny voice.
"Qi, are you sure this is the sweet, gentle guy you just said was too careful to even mess up your hair?"
Brother Qi's mouth twitched as she answered in an equally tiny voice.
"A man with a few little secrets is more charming. It's just like my old math teacher. In class, I always thought he had tons and tons of secrets. My whole time in high school, I never figured them out."
Jiang Xueming seated Teacher Li in the place of honor. Only then did everyone realize that Teacher Li was still conscious, though extremely weak.
"Thanks, apprentice." Teacher Li's raspy voice conveyed his gratitude. His eyes were sunken, his lips cracked, and he was pale as a ghost. Straining to prop himself up on his arms, he insisted on giving a fist-and-palm salute, preserving the dignity of a man of the martial world.
Jiang Xueming returned the salute. "You're welcome, Teacher. Thanks for all your hard work."
Bu Liuxing still had no idea what had happened, so he pressed on. "Ming Ge, what about my fitness coach and Teacher Liu, the one who gave you your shooting assessment?"
"Oh," Jiang Xueming began.
Teacher Li weakly cut in, "Those two bastards ran off faster than each other and didn't even take me with them..."
Jiang Xueming explained, "Teacher Liu came by the martial arts gym, took one look, then suddenly got a call saying his wife was about to give birth. He left first."
"That's great news! I can send the baby a red envelope! I'm going to be an uncle! I used to call other people uncle, and now I'm a senior myself!" Bu Liuxing immediately cheered up, then asked, "So Teacher Liu went home. What about Coach Zhou?"
Teacher Li accepted the bowl Bailu handed him and gratefully sipped the ginseng soup, recovering a little strength.
Jiang Xueming answered, "Coach Zhou also said his wife was about to give birth. It was an emergency—she was having twins, and it was a difficult delivery."
"Oh! That's good news too!" Bu Liuxing clapped happily, not sensing anything amiss. "Yes! Another baby to send a red envelope to. Double the joy!"
The family sat down together, with A Xing at the head of the table. He enthusiastically served the guests food and chatted about this and that.
"My mom's away traveling, so I just threw something together. I'm a bit of a scatterbrain, so don't judge me, okay?"
"I made the flower crab and the blanched choy sum. The aunties made everything else. We've got milk-and-butter toast, char siu, asparagus and mushrooms, and the main dish is pork shank soup with aged wild ginseng. This isn't Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, but my mom can make that. I'll get her to make it for you sometime. It's really good. I'm this tall and strong, and can eat so much, all thanks to her cooking."
After a few polite words, Bu Liuxing started competing with Bailu for the food.
His little sister wasn't shy at all. She hadn't been to any fancy restaurants with her big brother in Hong Kong, and now she was competing with Brother A Xing over the dishes.
As Jiang Xueming sorted out his own food, he also refilled Teacher Li's cup, served him rice, and put food in his bowl.
Teacher Li was wondering why this student had suddenly become so considerate. Looking flustered, he accepted Xue Ming's kindness. "Thank you. Thank you."
Jiang Xueming smiled and used the serving chopsticks to put a few more strips of wild ginseng into Teacher Li's bowl. "You're welcome. I hope you recover soon, Teacher. There'll still be plenty I need to ask you about."
Li Zongzhu's expression changed. His eyes filled with terror.
Jiang Xueming continued, "I also want to improve my bone density. In hand-to-hand combat, being able to take a hit is important. Pain makes my muscles spasm. Once, I had such severe pain that my abdomen cramped and I threw up. That's dangerous.
"To train, I'd need to develop tiny cracks in my bones through repeated impacts. New bone would grow around the cracks, making them stronger. It's a long process. The nerve endings in the muscles would also slowly deteriorate, eventually reducing the pain I feel. That's how it works, right, Teacher? So I'll be coming to you often from now on."
"No, no, no, no. Don't talk shop at the dinner table." Teacher Li sloshed soup as he spoke. "Just eat your food."
Jiang Xueming only sighed. "What a pity. The fitness coach left early. Otherwise, I could've spent some more time working out at the gym."
When the guests at the table heard Jiang Xueming and Teacher Li whispering, an eerie atmosphere filled the entire restaurant.
Bu Liuxing had figured it out too. It seemed Big Brother Xue Ming had worked the two teachers until they were barely recognizable. The fitness coach had heard what was going on and gone home to give birth.
After everyone had eaten their fill, they spread out around the living room, some resting and others chatting.
Jiang Xueming helped Teacher Li back to his room by himself. With Teacher Li trembling in terror, he wished him a solemn good night.
As he left the room and entered the hallway,
he thought that Teacher Li was very professional and conscientious. If he hired him according to the going rate for combat training, even the seven million in his account probably wouldn't last long.
He had already worked out a long-term training plan and gained a fairly accurate understanding of his own abilities. What he needed to strengthen was this body of his: weak, with fragile bones, prone to injury, and afraid of pain.
With the housekeeper showing him the way,
he returned to the room Bu Liuxing had arranged for him.
It was a private suite with two bedrooms and a living room, as well as a small study.
There was a computer and drawing tablet in the study, as if A Xing had prepared them especially for Xue Ming. A Xing knew Xue Ming could draw.
The full-length mirror in the study could be opened, revealing an accessible passageway that led straight to his younger sister Bailu's room. It would take him only a few seconds to reach her.
The garden was on the left side of the passage. On the right was a path leading to the main exit. He could jump down if there was an emergency, but it was over five meters high. A jump would probably injure him, and an ordinary person wouldn't be able to climb back up.
After checking out the room, Xue Ming looked at the time.
It was 11:15. He decided to shower, change, and get ready for bed.
Before long, the sound of running water came from the bathroom.
Just then—
—Xiao Qi sneaked over from Bailu's room.
Bailu whispered a reminder. "My brother's in the shower. Now's your chance."
"Thanks!" Xiao Qi took some milk candies out of her bag and stuffed them into her sister-in-law's hands.
As Brother Qi tiptoed toward the full-length mirror and pushed it open, the alarm Xue Ming had set went off.
A thread attached to the mirror's corner tugged at his phone, pulling it to the floor. It hit with a clatter, setting off the alarm.
Xiao Qi froze. She hadn't expected Mr. Xue Ming to do something like that. She looked back at little sister Bailu.
Bailu shrugged, looking helpless and innocent.
Xiao Qi had no choice but to steel herself and look ahead.
She immediately saw—
—Jiang Xueming push open the bathroom door at the sound. He left it open only a crack and stared at Xiao Qi from across the room.
Through that narrow gap, Xiao Qi saw bloodshot eyes, weary and terrifying, as if he were ready to devour someone at any moment.
"Heh-heh, sorry!" Brother Qi laughed awkwardly as she backed away. "I'll leave right now, I'll—"
Jiang Xueming asked slowly, "Which way are you leaving?"
Brother Qi immediately turned around. "Oh! I'll never go into Bailu's room again. I-I'll go this way, through the main door."
As Brother Qi fiddled with the lock on the room's main door,
Xue Ming called out to Xiao Qi. He had something important to ask her.
"Wait a moment. There's something I'd like to discuss with you."
Brother Qi sat beside the small desk in the study, playing with her fingers.
She couldn't sit still, weighed down by worry, like a student who'd done something wrong and was waiting for the homeroom teacher to scold her.
Back when Xue Ming had seen through her identity, she'd been terribly uneasy.
As for her past, she'd only been a low-level informer at the station, passing notes and serving tea to the bigwigs above her.
For instance, she'd report who had arrived at the station, whether they looked like an easy target, where they were going, where they were staying, and so on. That was how Brother Qi had made her living.
It was also called being a [newsboy]—
—she'd worked as a newsboy for quite a few Armadillo Hunters. Later, she'd become a witness for the prosecution, and the station had arrested a lot of moles. She'd left her old name behind, served several years in the Reclamation Team's lockup, and done years of hard labor. After her sentence was over, she'd changed her appearance and become a waiter, turning into 9527.
Thinking of this, Brother Qi grew anxious.
She covered her forehead, thinking that if Xue Ming learned about her dark past, things probably wouldn't end well.
"Even if he goes back to the station, the first thing he'll do is ask the boss to give him a waiter with no criminal record." Brother Qi murmured to herself, anxiously clasping her hands until her fingernails left marks in her palms.
"Is A Xing's waiter here?" Jiang Xueming was still in the shower as he asked casually. "If she is, invite her over too. Be polite. I have some things to ask you both."
"Oh, oh, oh." Brother Qi didn't know what Xue Ming wanted to ask, but at least she'd have company as the delinquent student. That made her feel a little better. "The other girl's called 3301. Just call her San San."
The two waitresses whispered outside Xue Ming's room.
Brother Qi asked nervously, "San San, do you think he figured out the bad things I used to do? I feel like he was fishing for information from me. He's so sharp."
San San: "Take things as they come."
Brother Qi was still uneasy. "I feel like a delinquent who didn't study at all, but whose final exams are already over and who's waiting for the teacher to deliver the death sentence."
San San pushed up her glasses, utterly unconcerned. "That's not called a death sentence. It's called a report card. Or a letter of parental love."
Brother Qi went on, "Look at me. Really look at me. Am I pretty?"
"Extremely pretty. You're practically as beautiful as Wang Zuxian." San San showered Brother Qi with compliments. "When we were eating dirt and hauling bricks together in the Reclamation Team, I always thought you looked your prettiest while you were eating dirt."
Brother Qi was confused. "Why when I was eating dirt?"
San San answered frankly, "Because you were too busy eating dirt to open your mouth."
"Mm-hm!" Brother Qi pursed her lips. She didn't take her good friend's teasing to heart and seemed to make up her mind. "I'm going to come clean to him. I..."
San San waved a hand, telling Brother Qi to hold on.
"Don't rush. Look at you, all flustered. You're as nervous around him as you were around your math teacher.
"You can still change your own report card, right? If Teacher Xue Ming gave you a failing grade in his head, you can just talk circles around him and make up some wild story. Adding a zero to your test paper is easy enough, isn't it?"
Brother Qi finally calmed down. She took out a compact and touched up her powder and eyebrows.
"Okay."
Right after that, they heard the running water in Xue Ming's room stop. The faint rustling of clothes and fastening buttons followed.
Jiang Xueming's voice came from inside the room.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Come on in. I'm sorry—I overdid it with the exercise today, so I wanted to clean up and look presentable before seeing you."
"Hey, Xiao Qi." Before opening the door, San San gave her one last reminder. "When you meet the teacher, don't get too worked up and confess everything right away. We served time together, and as your good friend, I'll help cover for you."
"Mm-hm, mm-hm." Brother Qi was back to being the group's frenzied nodding captain. "Definitely, definitely."
The two of them opened the door and went in.
The room was full of steam—
—and smelled of shampoo and body wash.
Moonlight spilled across the area in front of the study, filtering through the metal railings on the balcony.
Xiao Qi saw Jiang Xueming sitting beside the study desk, dressed in proper clothes. His slim-fit pants clung to his hips and legs, and he was barefoot on the floor.
His shirt was still damp in places, and his hair wasn't completely dry. His skin was fair, flushed, and clean. He no longer looked like a tripe vendor working frantically in a greasy kitchen.
The man wore a serious expression, staring intently at the drawing tablet.
Cold air blew from the air conditioner. His lips parted slightly as he breathed out warm, misty air. He held a pen between his teeth. The bruises on his right hand hadn't faded completely. He looked as if he'd run into a difficult problem.
Xiao Qi's eyes rolled back and her legs gave way. She collapsed into her good friend's arms.
San San quickly caught her. "Come on, it's not that bad, is it?"
"It really is kind of ridiculous." Xiao Qi still felt dizzy. She straightened up and whispered, "But this teacher is way too hot!"
Jiang Xueming turned to the two waitresses at the door and got down to business.
"I promised A Xing that I'd help him open a café at the station. I've decided to go back to the station around the middle of this month and talk to the boss about an armed employee ID. I don't mind having to keep riding the train. I want to get that ID, so the Armadillo Hunters won't go looking for trouble with me as an armed employee.
"As for the café, I don't know much about interior design. I've only drawn a rough sketch. If I'm going to open a shop at the station, I'll need your advice about food safety, choosing a location, rent, and things like that."
Xue Ming had just finished exercising, eaten, and taken a hot shower.
The air conditioner still couldn't dissipate the heat clinging to him. The other things on his mind were making him feel restless too.
He undid the button at his collar, baring a glimpse of his chest, and fanned himself by his ear, hoping to cool down.
"I'd like you not to tell A Xing about this. He told me he was a Leo, and August is almost here. I want to surprise him for his birthday after the renovations are finished. Did you two understand? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Xiao Qi covered her nose and didn't say a word.
San San offered her a handkerchief. "Is your nose bleeding?"
Xiao Qi looked perfectly composed. "No, those are tears."
San San rolled her eyes. "The features on your face are arranged in a pretty unusual way."
"They're tears of emotion and nostalgia." Xiao Qi wiped away her nosebleed and lost herself in memories of middle school when she was sixteen. "Is this what it feels like to fall in love with a teacher?"
Jiang Xueming picked up the drawing tablet and turned to look at her, completely baffled.
Xiao Qi murmured to herself, "He's so gentle. He's so considerate. He's so cute."
San San lowered her head and wrote in the staff log.
"She's so embarrassing."
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