That afternoon, Dema went out to help the shop next door move some things, while Lu Ming was giving a hedgehog a scrub—a nerve-racking undertaking.
Only Wen Ning and Fang Qingqin remained in the shop.
After mopping the floor, Fang Qingqin hung the mop up to dry, then walked over to the counter and looked at Wen Ning without saying anything.
Wen Ning was checking the accounts. Sensing someone standing in front of him, he looked up.
Fang Qingqin gazed at him, her expression calm, but her fingers unconsciously pinched her cuff, as though she was struggling to decide whether to speak.
"Mr. Wen, do you have a moment? I'd like to talk to you about something."
Wen Ning put down his pen, closed the ledger, and nodded.
Fang Qingqin sat in the chair across from the counter, her hands resting on her knees. She remained silent for a long while before finally speaking.
"I know you looked into me. I also know you had that white-haired man sniff me."
Wen Ning neither denied it nor explained why he had investigated her. He simply watched her, waiting for her to continue.
Fang Qingqin lowered her head, looked at her fingers, and began telling him about herself.
"I'm from a village in Yunxi County. It's very remote—so remote you can barely find it on a map. When I was little, my name wasn't Fang Qingqin. It was Fang Zhaodi."
She paused, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly, but there wasn't a trace of happiness in that smile.
"Zhaodi means 'bring a little brother.' They called me that for over a decade, but no little brother ever came. I had two younger sisters. One was given away, and the other didn't live to see three. My mother's health collapsed after she