Wang Xiaoliang had no idea when he had developed this habit.
Every day, he made a set number of calls, without fail. One to Huang Xueli, one to Nuomi, one to Xiao Mo, and at least three or four to Wei Zijin. No WeChat messages, no voice messages. It had to be a phone call. He had to hear the other person's voice.
Texting wouldn't do. If he sent a message and there was no response for ten or twenty minutes, he would start getting anxious. His mind would drift uncontrollably in that direction-had they fallen asleep?
Calls were different. A couple of rings, an answer, a few words. What they said didn't matter. If they spoke, it meant they were all right.
Once he hung up, he could relax.
A day later, he added Kong Xiuyun to the list. She sounded momentarily surprised when she answered. "Xiaoliang?"
"Nothing much, sis. Just checking how you, Brother Qiang, and Yuanyuan are doing."
"Good, good, we're all good." Kong Xiuyun sounded pleased, probably because she hadn't expected him to call her of his own accord.
Wang Xiaoliang took the opportunity to ask for Zhou Qiang's new number. Neither he nor Huang Xueli had asked for it during their last visit.
Huang Xueli always answered quickly.
"Hello."
"Bro, have you eaten?"
"Yes."
"Still living alone?"
"Yeah."
Wang Xiaoliang leaned against the arm of the sofa. Beside him, Luo Bisheng scrolled through his phone, his ears pricked up.
"Bro, let me give you a piece of advice worth its weight in gold."
"Go on."
"Couldn't you and your ex-wife be roommates for now? You don't have to remarry. Just live together so you can look out for each other. Look at what the news is saying. You can't be alone. If something happens, no