Your home

Shopkeeper Liu and Wang Dali worked together to carry over two square tables that had survived the wreckage and barricade the inn's broken entrance.

Yang Ge dragged a bench beneath the stairs, leaned against the wall, and slowly sat down...

"Where exactly are you hurt?"

Shopkeeper Liu approached Yang Ge with an oil lamp, studying him carefully with worry written all over his face. "We really ought to fetch a doctor. We've already paid off the night patrol officers, so they won't give us any more trouble!"

Wang Dali followed behind him, shrinking like a frightened quail. Not a trace remained of the excitement and indifference he had shown at closing time...

Yang Ge shook his head and said slowly, with some effort, "I just took a few punches and kicks. It's nothing. Let me rest... I'll be fine after a little rest."

After a pause, he lowered his voice in embarrassment. "I've caused you more trouble. Please add up the damage to the inn tonight and what you spent paying off those officers. I'll find a way to pay you back."

"What kind of talk is that!"

Shopkeeper Liu rebuked him softly, a little annoyed. "If you hadn't taken the thunderbolt for our inn, how would you have landed in this deadly mess? If you still acknowledge me as your employer, don't mention another penny!"

Yang Ge smiled and did not argue further, but he surveyed the damaged furnishings in the front hall, roughly estimating Shopkeeper Liu's losses that night...

As for that money...

He could justify paying it.

He could justify not paying it, too.

If Shopkeeper Liu asked for it, he would certainly resent paying, even if he handed it over.

But the more Shopkeeper Liu refused it, the more he wanted to pay. He would feel uneasy if he did not.

Preoccupied with worry, Shopkeeper Liu failed to notice the change in Yang Ge's expression and continued, "After all that fuss tonight, is this business finally over?"

Yang Ge pondered for a few moments before answering slowly, "Under normal circumstances... yes!"

Joy had barely begun to surface on Shopkeeper Liu's weathered face when Yang Ge added, "But judging by how impatient these people were-they wouldn't even wait one more night-I'm afraid it won't blow over that easily."

Even though Shopkeeper Liu had to admit that Yang Ge had a point, his face still darkened at those words. "You and your crow's mouth!" he snapped.

Yang Ge rubbed his nose with a sheepish smile.

Shopkeeper Liu paced two circles with his hands behind his back and a woeful expression, then could not help asking, "What should we do next, then?"

Yang Ge thought for a moment and replied, "I should have redirected most of their fire onto that villain just now. Whatever attention is left should be on me."

"That means the inn has a perfectly legitimate reason to close for renovations and improvements. You and Dali can go home without worrying. No one should be so stuffed with food and idle energy that they go looking for trouble with you!"

"And I won't have to keep holding the fort here. I can find somewhere else to lie low!"

"Perhaps this will all blow over after a while."

His words of comfort to Shopkeeper Liu were optimistic.

In his heart, however, he was pessimistic about how this affair would develop.

Otherwise, he would not have suddenly suggested lying low somewhere else... If trouble came knocking again, at least he would no longer drag the Welcome Inn into it, would he?

Shopkeeper Liu nodded repeatedly, finding Yang Ge's reasoning sound.

Then he suddenly turned and slapped Wang Dali's head sideways. "Look at the brains on this young fellow, then look at yourself! Is that head of yours only there to make you taller?"

Wang Dali's face flushed red, but he held his head without daring to make a sound.

After scolding Wang Dali, Shopkeeper Liu finally felt a little better. He turned back to Yang Ge. "You said you want somewhere else to stay. Where? You've given all your wages to your poor relatives, haven't you?"

Yang Ge shook his head. "Don't you worry about that. I certainly won't go hungry!"

Shopkeeper Liu said, "Don't worry? If I don't worry, are you going to stay in some flea-bitten flophouse? Wouldn't that be deliberately smashing the good name of my family?"

Yang Ge hastily protested, "I still have money. I saved some of the wages you paid me..."

Shopkeeper Liu waved away his objections and said in a tone that brooked no argument, "You've done right by us. I can't be black-hearted!"

"I have a little vacant courtyard house with its own entrance over on Firewood Gate Street. I haven't had time to tidy it up in years. If you move in, you can put the place in order for me, so it doesn't collapse one day without me even hearing about it..."

"I won't charge you rent for the first two months. Consider that your wages for fixing up the place."

"After that, if you keep working here, I'll deduct forty copper coins from your wages each month as rent."

"If you stop working here one day, you'll owe me seventy copper coins a month. One coin short, and I'll take the house back!"

"You're young. Don't learn to dither and dawdle like some old woman. Be decisive! At daybreak, I'll take you over to see the place, and we'll find a witness to draw up the contract!"

The old man did not possess Yang Ge's subtle, quick-witted mind, capable of untangling all the twists and turns involved.

But the scales in his heart weighed things true.

Who had his interests at heart.

Who thought only of himself.

The old man's heart was as clear as a mirror!

Of course, Yang Ge could hear the little calculations behind Shopkeeper Liu's words, but he was genuinely grateful that Shopkeeper Liu would lend him a hand at a time like this.

He only wanted to repay the kindness he owed.

But that debt of kindness...

Why did it seem to grow the more he repaid it?

The little courtyard house was indeed tiny.

Apart from the sole advantage of having its own entrance and courtyard, everything else about it could be called a drawback!

The wooden house was low, crude, and old, and that was not even the worst of it. The courtyard was piled with all kinds of discarded odds and ends. At first glance, it looked like a rubbish-filled slum.

The lighting was poor, too. Only at sunset did a little sunlight slant into the house. To live here normally without inconvenience, he would have to light a lamp even during the day.

Worse still, the place did not even have a privy. He would have to rely on a chamber pot and a waste bucket to relieve himself. Even taking a bath would be difficult!

Yet even so, when Yang Ge signed his name on the rental agreement, he still slipped into a momentary daze.

After bidding Shopkeeper Liu farewell, he returned to the courtyard alone, shut the gate, and sat among the mountains of clutter, staring into space for a long, long time... His unbridled emotions tugged his thoughts back and forth through time and space.

One moment, he was in his warm three-bedroom apartment.

The next, he was in the dilapidated little courtyard before him.

It was as though only now had he finally come to his senses and questioned himself: Yang Ge, oh, Yang Ge, how did you manage to land yourself here?

Only when the sun began sinking westward and a shaft of sunlight spilled over the courtyard wall, lighting his eyes, did he rise, push open the gate, and leave.

When he returned to the little courtyard, he was carrying a round-headed, yellow-furred puppy in his arms.

He carefully shut the courtyard gate and slid the bolt into place.

Then he bent down and gently set the puppy on the ground.

The puppy surveyed this unfamiliar place with its shiny black eyes, then timidly retreated to Yang Ge's feet.

Yang Ge gently stroked its plump little head, patiently encouraging it to move forward as he murmured, "Don't be scared, Little Yellow. From now on, this is your home..."