Hu Yang topped up the water and set the kettle back on the stove.
"Something happened near the end of that summer."
His tone was so level that he might have been telling someone else's story.
"One day, I went to the bank to get a card. My leg hadn't fully healed. I was on crutches and walked slowly."
Hu Yang lifted his chin. "Nono used to say afterward that stories happened wherever I went. And she was right. Thinking back, it all started that day. I encountered a bank robbery-a major one. They used explosives and guns, and it was very successful."
The cup in Wang Xiaoliang's hand stopped again.
"Three men, masked and armed. They went from entering the bank to taking control of the whole place very fast." Hu Yang held up four fingers. "Well trained, a clear route, the same lines-far better than those three losers today."
Wang Xiaoliang instinctively glanced at Jiang Siya. She was sitting upright beside them, holding her cup in both hands, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on Hu Yang, still gentle, still admiring.
"I was on crutches and couldn't even squat, so I sat down not far from the counter. I watched them work the whole time. They didn't want to hurt customers or waste time, either. I couldn't lie down, so I just watched."
"I remembered all three pairs of eyes."
As he said this, he tapped just below the space between his eyebrows with his index finger.
"Their faces were covered. Only their eyes showed. But I remembered those three pairs of eyes."
Wang Xiaoliang's Adam's apple bobbed. "Then what?"
"Some time passed." Hu Yang picked up his cup without drinking, turning it in his hand. "Shangguan Rui's father bought her a car. She would drive over, so she came