Ye Hui had merely been protecting himself, trading an inconsequential life for a little longer survival. In those muddy depths of society, the strong devouring the weak had always been the only rule.
Otherwise, the one dumped in the mass grave now would have been Ye Hui himself.
Aunt Chen selected her purchases and readily paid two copper coins. Before leaving, she stole another glance at Ye Hui and lowered her voice. "Shopkeeper Yun, that child seems awfully cold. Do keep an eye on him."
Yun Qing wore the same gentle, faint smile as he saw her to the door. "Thank you for the warning, Aunt Chen."
"Oh, we're neighbors. It's only right." Aunt Chen waved a hand, then glanced again at Yun Qing's decidedly appealing face and could not resist adding, "I'll have my girl bring you some freshly picked vegetables later."
Yun Qing: "..."
The battered wind chime outside rang, and Aunt Chen's figure gradually receded.
Creak-
The shop door closed again, and silence returned.
Yun Qing sat back down behind the counter, but did not pick up his abacus again. He turned, his deep gaze settling on the stiff figure farther inside.
Ye Hui still had his head lowered over the herbs he was sorting, but his fingertips had stopped moving. The leaf he had crushed lay quietly at the edge of the bamboo tray, like an old wound torn open.
Yun Qing's voice was calm and level, yet carried a force that permitted no evasion. "That day, when they were rounding up beggars on the street, you were there too, weren't you?"
It was not a question, but a statement of certainty.
Ye Hui abruptly went rigid, as though his blood had frozen solid in that instant.
He slowly raised his head. His eyes, with their