A Very Bad Person

Getting from the flower shop to the office park meant taking a new route. By the time Bai Congming arrived, it was already past three in the afternoon.

Counting from the bottom, the ninth window framed the place where his longed-for Brother Ding was.

Looking at that window, Bai Congming suddenly felt something like nervousness.

His head swam, his palms began to sweat, and his legs felt so weak that simply standing took every ounce of strength he had.

Lacking common knowledge, he did not know that going without food could cause low blood sugar. He took it for longing and the flutter of his heart over Ding Ding, and accepted it without concern.

After leaning against a roadside tree trunk to rest for a moment, Bai Congming recovered a little and walked into the office building with the flowers in his hands.

A month was not a long time, but it was certainly not short, either.

At least, it was enough time for the landlord to rent the place out again and for the new company's renovation crew to move in.

Dust filled the air. When Bai Congming stepped into the company being renovated, several workers were hammering away at a wall.

"What a coincidence, huh? The last company hired us to renovate this place, and so did this one!"

"There are only a few renovation crews around here. Who else would they hire?"

"True enough."

Ash fell to the floor from the cigarette in the speaker's mouth. He took another deep drag before removing it.

"Let's take a break. We're not on a tight schedule for this job."

Bai Congming stood there blankly, seeming to catch something in their words, but it was too vague for him to be sure.

A man coming over for a drink of water spotted him standing in the doorway with the flowers and froze as well.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Ding... Ding Ding. Looking for Ding Ding."

"Who's Ding Ding?" The man turned to ask, "Do we have anyone called Ding Ding here?"

"Boss Ding, from Ding Sheng Textiles!" someone inside answered.

Realizing who he meant, the man leaned out and told Bai Congming, "He's not here. Their company went bankrupt. Who knows where he went? He's been gone ages!"

"Don't know where he went..."

Bai Congming murmured, intense unease rising in his heart, as though something had faded away without his noticing.

Something he had never truly possessed.

"Looking for Ding Ding!" Bai Congming shouted.

His shout brought everyone resting inside out. A group of dust-covered laborers surrounded him, strange expressions on their faces.

"Whoa, this guy's dressed so... flashy..."

"He's not here. What are you yelling for? Looking for trouble?"

"Could he be that Boss Ding's bit on the side? Look at that soft skin..."

"What are you talking about? He's a man!"

"So what if he's a man? That's what I mean, rich people really know how to have fun. Once I've got money..."

They all talked at once, but Bai Congming could not take in a single word.

All he knew was that the person he had walked so far to find was no longer where he had been.

"Ding Ding! Looking for Ding Ding!"

When the man before them suddenly grew agitated, the workers realized something was wrong. "This guy... could he be an idiot?"

"..."

Bai Congming simply stood there facing them. Normally, he would have run away in a situation like this, but now he did not know where to go.

He wanted to go home, but his head was empty, and he could not remember where home was.

"He really is an idiot." Someone waved him away with a look of disgust. "Get going! Whoever you're looking for isn't here!"

With a bang, the newly installed solid wood door shut, leaving Bai Congming with a faceful of dust in the most literal sense.

Brother Ding was gone.

Would he be gone like Mom, and then go live in the bougainvillea?

Bai Congming did not know.

Immense sorrow wrapped him in a thick cocoon. He made no attempt to struggle, letting those invisible things wind tighter and tighter around him.

He did not know how long he had stood there. When his head began to feel numb, the door opened again.

"Why are you still here?"

A man coming out to use the bathroom nearly bumped into him. "We told you, the person you're looking for isn't here!"

The flowers in his hands had wilted a little from being gripped too tightly, looking just as dejected as Bai Congming.

Some idiots were frightening.

They would become agitated, angry, and violent for no reason, and were not subject to the law's control.

That was why most people kept their distance from idiots.

But this one seemed a little different. He was clean all over, there was no strange smell even up close, and he carried a heavy bag on his back.

Apart from the way he spoke and dressed, he seemed no different from an ordinary person.

Perhaps he had a home.

The worker gave the bag a surreptitious tug, and Bai Congming startled and clutched it to his chest.

"What's in that bag?"

Bai Congming said nothing. The worker's eyes shifted, and he leaned close to his ear to ask quietly, "Anything valuable?"

The man's breath smelled foul from smoking. Bai Congming wrinkled his nose and took half a step back.

"Looking for Brother Ding..."

"If you've got money, I'll take you to find your Brother Ding."

Those words got through to Bai Congming, and a little light returned to his eyes.

"Money! I have money! Find Brother Ding!"

The worker smiled, thinking heaven had finally taken pity on him. He had lost quite a bit playing mahjong a few days ago, and now an idiot had delivered himself right to his door.

"How much money do you have?"

Thinking pink lilies of the valley were expensive, Bai Congming had brought plenty of money with him this time, emptying half his piggy bank.

He pulled the bulging wallet out of his bag. "I have money."

"All right, then." The worker smiled with ill intent. "Come on, I'll take you to find your Brother Ding."

Only after leaving the office building did Bai Congming notice that it was nearly dark outside, and he grew agitated again.

Mom had said there were bad people after dark, and he had to hurry home.

But to Bai Congming, who had never truly encountered a bad person, the term was nothing more than a term.

A bad person was right beside him, and he knew nothing of it.

"Find Brother Ding!"

"Right, I'll take you to find your Brother Ding."

After turn upon turn, the worker led him into an alley without surveillance cameras. By then, it was completely dark.

"Look, isn't that your Brother Ding?"

Bai Congming could not see him and hurried a few steps forward. "Brother Ding?"

"Yes, yes, right there. Go a little farther!"

"Brother Ding..."

A powerful shove came from behind, slamming Bai Congming's head hard into the wall. The wallet in his hand was emptied, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps.

The worker ran off with the money, leaving Bai Congming alone, dazed and disoriented.

"Ah!!!"

A scream rang out from the alley. Some curious passersby came in and saw a thin figure screaming, rushing forward one moment and backing away the next.

"Don't go over there, don't! Looks like a lunatic!"

"Let's go, hurry. That's pretty scary!"

"..."

It was too dark around him, and Bai Congming was terrified, yet he still refused to give up, wanting to go forward and check whether Brother Ding was really there.

But his belongings had been stolen, so he turned back, wanting to give chase and get them back.

He wavered, panicked and unable to decide.

Bai Congming ran out of that long alley with a large bump on his head, without ever catching sight of Ding Ding.

"Brother Ding... is gone."

The unfamiliar surroundings, the looks cast his way, the ever-darkening sky.

In the end, it all vanished like a bubble.