Blood in the Drizzle

The room was filled with a faint medicinal smell. Though the furnishings were shabby and old, it was clean enough.

When Li Wei entered, a woman named Su Ya was eating with a boy.

Compared with the photo Li Ming had given Li Wei in Yaoguang, she looked much more haggard and pale. The boy sitting beside her looked only two or three years old. He had big, bright eyes and a sturdy little face.

When Li Wei walked in, Su Ya froze for a moment, but quickly came to her senses.

She put away the meal she had only half-finished. Coughing, she also tucked the only plate of pickled vegetables on the table into the cupboard.

"Go inside, Xiao Wei. Mommy has to work."

The boy obediently stood up and said, "Oh." Then he lifted the door curtain and went into the back room.

Su Ya had already sat down on the edge of the bed. She lowered her head and started coughing again, then began unbuttoning her blouse.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. We can start now, sir."

Li Wei didn't move. He simply took out the letter Li Ming had given him, the one he'd been told to decide whether or not to give to Su Ya.

With half her blouse unbuttoned and a large expanse of pale skin exposed across her chest, Su Ya looked at him in confusion and accepted the envelope he held out.

She opened it and read the letter. Her body suddenly began to tremble.

Her eyes, clouded with exhaustion and numbness, instantly reddened. Tears streamed down her face. She buried her head in the blanket, washed so many times it had faded, trying to muffle her repressed sobs.

But the noise still reached the back room. The boy named Xiao Wei wobbled over and peeked out, his big eyes fixed on Su Ya, who had collapsed on the bed crying. He called out, "Mommy."

"Go back! I've told you so many times! Stuff cotton in your ears! No matter what you hear outside, don't come out! Why won't you listen?"

"I-I understand, Mommy." The boy lowered his head and answered. Then he wobbled back and let the curtain fall.

Su Ya wiped the tears from her face and looked at Li Wei again. This time, in addition to numbness, her gaze held gratitude and pleading.

"Thank you for coming to see me on behalf of my uncle. But please, please don't tell him I'm like this now, okay?"

She fell to her knees and made her humble plea to Li Wei.

"Why?" Li Wei asked with a frown.

"I can't bring trouble down on him. Please, sir! Take the letter back and tell him I'm living very well at the councilor's home and he doesn't need to worry about me, okay? I'll do anything you ask! I don't have any money, but I can serve you. Any way you want!"

Hearing her speak with no dignity left, Li Wei glanced toward the back room and guessed why.

"Whose child is he?"

Su Ya's face turned deathly pale. She sank helplessly to the floor but didn't answer Li Wei's question. She seemed to have become a wooden doll. She only coughed more violently, even coughing up blood, but showed no intention of speaking again.

Seeing her like this, Li Wei shook his head. He didn't press her any further and instead turned and left the shack.

He glanced at the player information and the Visit quest, which offered no reward at all, and realized the trouble it involved.

Even so, he had no intention of giving up.

Although he and Li Ming were in a transactional relationship, he had already agreed to do this. He would do as much as he could.

Of course, if Su Ya ultimately refused to leave no matter what, he wouldn't force her. He would relay the truth to Li Ming, which would at least mean he'd done his part.

After leaving Hongle Street, he took a cab to a general store in Yaoguang North District.

The store owner was the contact Li Ming had given him, the one who would help him get in touch and take Su Ya away.

Once they had made contact, Li Wei stated what he needed.

"Can you get them out if I bring along a child as well as the woman?"

The shopkeeper looked surprised but nodded all the same.

"Sure. One child won't draw attention. Just bring the two of them here, one big and one small."

"There's a problem with the child's identity. He might be a councilor's illegitimate son."

"A councilor's illegitimate son!"

The shopkeeper was clearly startled. He stared straight at Li Wei.

"Do you know what you're saying? A councilor's illegitimate son! Putting aside whether we can even pull this off, if we do and get caught, we're all dead!"

Li Wei met his gaze.

"I don't know what your relationship with Li Ming is, but that woman is his niece, and the child is her son."

"Li Ming clearly cares a lot about this. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked me to help. If you think we can do it, I'll bring them over tonight. If you don't, then forget it. Just pass the news on to Li Ming."

His words left the shopkeeper silent.

The silence lasted for quite a while before he finally looked up again.

"The chairman has treated me well. Thanks to him, I've been able to live so well in Yaoguang. You can't forget where you came from! Since she's his niece, I'll do it, no matter how great the risk!"

His words made Li Wei see him in a new light.

After getting a definite answer, Li Wei didn't waste any more time. He returned to Hongle Street.

By afternoon, the sky had darkened again, and a light rain kept falling in a steady drizzle.

The first half of the street was lined with dance halls and entertainment clubs. Most were legal brothels. Further along, signs for labor agencies advertised a lower-grade sort of pimping.

The shacks at the end of the street were home to the lowest and dirtiest prostitutes in the slums. Only gangsters and broke, lazy drifters came to places like this.

And since this was one of Yaoguang's famous red-light districts, it was quiet during the day. It only came alive at night.

When Li Wei returned, there were hardly any pedestrians on the street.

He quickly opened his umbrella and headed for the shacks at the end of the street. From a distance, he spotted a battered little red umbrella in front of Su Ya's home. Half its ribs were missing, and its canopy drooped as someone held it low by the doorway.

Li Wei frowned slightly, a bad feeling rising in his chest.

He hurried over and saw the boy named Xiao Wei crouched under the little red umbrella, tilting it toward Su Ya while the rain soaked the lower half of his own body.

Seeing Li Wei, he lifted his young face.

"Sir, could you help me wake Mommy up? She fell asleep outside the door."

Li Wei said nothing. He stood rigidly in place, silently staring at Su Ya, her eyes closed, half her body jutting out of the doorway.

Beneath her pale face, a horrifying pool of red liquid had gathered!

"You've played the woman to death, sir! You sure do like it rough. But she was just a lowly slum whore. As long as we can agree on compensation, everything will be fine!"

A grating voice rang out. Li Wei turned and saw the pimp surnamed Yan approaching with a delighted smile.

"Tsk."

Li Wei clicked his tongue. Anyone who knew him could tell from that sound just how displeased he was.

But he still smiled and said softly, "Right. We should have a good talk about the compensation."