"True enough. You're only an apprentice. How could an apprentice like you know where my little brother is now?"
The young man's tone carried a hint of disappointment, but none showed on his face.
"Chen Bai, do you know why I came here?"
The young man looked at the two corpses on the floor.
"Ten years ago, I brought my little brother into town. He wanted buns and kept making a fuss."
"But I had no money. I couldn't buy him any."
"So I came to this bun shop and offered to do odd jobs for them in exchange for a meal of buns for me and my brother."
"They agreed. I worked from morning until noon without stopping for a moment."
"But when it was time to eat, they went back on their word."
The young man smiled and looked at Chen Miao.
"My brother was only seven or eight then. Four buns between us probably would have filled us up."
"But they wouldn't even give us those four buns."
"I wasn't going to let them bully me, of course, so I tried to snatch some buns. But I was only ten or so myself. How could I possibly have beaten them?" "They kicked me out of the shop, then threw the two buns I'd dirtied with my hands to their dog."
"Heh, heh. They'd throw them to a dog rather than give them to us."
"Tell me, didn't they deserve to die?"
By then, Chen Miao had recovered from the shock of discovering who "he" was.
Looking at the young man, Chen Miao considered his words before asking, "If you brothers were so close, why did you do that afterward?"
The young man's smile faded.
"Yes. Why did I do that?"
"I gave my brother a choice back