Buying that kid a jianbing had really paid off.
From what he told us, we now knew that Xiao Xuan's older brother was Rat.
And no one knew Rat was dead. From what the kid said, they all thought Rat had left the city, because he had wandered into this place a year ago.
Vagrants usually had no fixed home and drifted from place to place, though sometimes they might stay somewhere for a long time.
Xiao Xuan didn't know Rat was dead either. He could even still see Rat every night.
This kid thought Xiao Xuan was lying, because he couldn't see Rat. Only Xiao Xuan could.
I asked the kid again, "Rat came to this urban village a year ago, so did Xiao Xuan come with him? Are they biological brothers?"
The kid nodded, then shook his head. "Xiao Xuan came with Rat, but they aren't biological brothers."
Song Xiaotian and I were immediately confused.
If Xiao Xuan and Rat weren't biological brothers, how had he come here with Rat?
And if Xiao Xuan had wandered into this urban village with Rat, who was the old man who had come to pick him up last night?
Wasn't that Xiao Xuan's grandfather?
When we asked more questions, the kid shook his head too and said he didn't know.
He wasn't actually that close to Xiao Xuan. They just collected bottles together to sell.
This kid had a hard life too. His parents were divorced and both worked away from home, only returning once every two or three years. He lived with his grandmother, whose health wasn't good either.
I saw that he had finished his jianbing and seemed to want more, so I went and bought him another.
But when I brought it back, he didn't eat it. He