A good kid

"Oh, right,"

Sun Xiangxiang crouched beside Bai Congming and reached out to catch the flower stems he trimmed off.

"Did you give those flowers away last time? Did you win your wife back?"

"Wife?" Bai Congming tilted his head at her.

"Your spouse, that Brother Ding of yours. Did you win him back?"

Clearly, Bai Congming was interested in this topic too. His lips curved into a small smile, and he nodded gently.

"Brother Ding and me, living together."

"I knew it!" Sun Xiangxiang punched her palm. "It's a little strange for a sweet-smelling, soft little cutie to be the top, but there's absolutely no way anyone could turn you down!"

-A conclusion from a thoroughly filthy-minded girl who had "read widely"!

Sun Xiangxiang went on at length, while Bai Congming was utterly lost.

Something seemed to occur to her, and Sun Xiangxiang suddenly paused. "I saw someone at the clinic today, about this tall," she said, holding out a hand to indicate his height. "His leg was in a cast. My uncle said he had a... at home."

She simply couldn't bring herself to say "fool," so she skipped over it.

"Was that your Brother Ding?"

Bai Congming blinked. "Brother Ding, leg's broken."

"Hiss..." Sun Xiangxiang sucked in a sharp breath.

A burly bottom, too!? Fine, I can get behind that...

Just as she was about to ask something else, the phone in Sun Xiangxiang's pocket started ringing like mad.

Baring her teeth in an apologetic grimace at Bai Congming, Sun Xiangxiang stepped aside to answer. When she came back, she said with a miserable expression that she had to go.

Bai Congming didn't offer to see her off. He waved and said goodbye.

"Come chat with me when you have time." Sun Xiangxiang held out her thumb and pinky and shook her hand. "I'll really miss you."

Bai Congming smiled at her and answered with a bright, clear "Okay."

After putting away the last tool and placing a check beside his name on the attendance sheet, Bai Congming was done with his day's work.

A long line stretched along the main gate, where workers finishing their shifts were collecting their wages.

This day of every month was Bai Congming's happiest, and this time was no exception. Especially when he saw Ding Ding astride an electric scooter across the road from Flower Nursery, his happiness reached its peak.

"What are you standing there for? Come over!" Ding Ding called to him.

Bai Congming jogged over and circled Ding Ding and the scooter excitedly.

"Brother Ding! Scooter!"

"Look at you," Ding Ding teased. "I'll buy you something with four wheels someday."

A little green frog was clipped to the handlebars, wobbling back and forth as Ding Ding flicked it with his fingers.

"Let's go home," Ding Ding said.

Only then did Bai Congming look away from the scooter and shake his head.

"Payday!"

"Oh?" Ding Ding raised his eyebrows. "You're a little rich man today."

The name sounded a little funny, but nice too. Bai Congming nodded with narrowed, smiling eyes, then squeezed into the line once it had thinned out a little.

Flower Nursery paid in cash. Granny Sun was getting on in years and couldn't manage those things young people used.

Red banknotes fluttered through hands, and everyone wore a smile. Resentment and exhaustion all vanished the moment they received their money.

Money really did nourish people...

Ding Ding sat with his legs spread wide. Even his leg in a cast wouldn't stay put; he insisted on propping it across the front of the scooter. With a blade of grass between his lips, he peered over, looking like a young hoodlum.

The line moved quickly. Ding Ding watched Bai Congming accept several banknotes with a beaming smile, then carefully count out a few and hand them back.

His already meager wages were immediately reduced to almost nothing, yet the fool was still all smiles. Taking the money, he broke into a run toward Ding Ding.

Ding Ding frowned and held out his palm. "Hand it over."

Even without being told, Bai Congming would have given it to him.

"Five hundred yuan altogether."

"..."

His open manner almost made Ding Ding think everyone earned about the same, but he had watched the whole thing clearly. Although the stacks in the others' hands weren't exactly thick, they were noticeably thicker than Bai Congming's.

At least theirs wouldn't look so paltry when they took them out.

Ding Ding was furious. Weren't they just bullying him because he had no one to back him up?

"Why did you give some of it back? Paying to work here?"

"Rent..." Having been snapped at, Bai Congming pouted. "Rent's three hundred..."

"..."

I thought, with that little courtyard... at least it would be his own place, so burying things in the yard... Turns out it belongs to someone else...

It looked like he would have to find a way to buy that house, Ding Ding thought.

"That still only makes eight hundred." Ding Ding softened his tone. "Your monthly pay is only eight hundred?"

Bai Congming blinked, as though asking Ding Ding whether that wasn't how it was supposed to be.

Many people at Flower Nursery knew Auntie Zhou was saving money for the fool on his mother's behalf, while the person at the center of it all knew nothing.

Eight hundred was actually a large sum. Even after paying rent and covering necessary expenses, he still had plenty left each month to feed his Little Piggy Bank.

Ding Ding got off the scooter and pointed at Granny Sun, who was handing out money at the Flower Nursery gate. "That's your boss?"

"Granny Sun." Bai Congming nodded. "Boss Sun."

Ding Ding snorted and told Bai Congming to wait right there and not move. He had to go ask what was going on.

But he had barely taken a few steps when Auntie Zhou suddenly appeared and blocked his path.

Ding Ding remembered her. The last time he had brought Bai Congming and the two police officers home, Auntie Zhou had been there too. She had even made herself quite comfortable on Bai Congming's bed, as though she had sat there countless times.

Under the circumstances, Ding Ding went no farther. Bai Congming came up from behind to greet her.

"Auntie Zhou! Look, Brother Ding's better! Just his leg's a little broken..."

There was affection and reliance in his voice. Ding Ding thought this might be the "old one" who had left the note.

So Ding Ding followed his lead. "Auntie."

"..."

The ripples time had left on Auntie Zhou's face made her look all the more kindly, especially when she smiled, her face glowing softly.

"How are you feeling, Little Ding? You look so lively now that you're awake."

That settled it. She was that "old one."

When the occasion called for it, Ding Ding could be a well-mannered junior too.

"Thank you for looking after me," Ding Ding said. "I'm much better now."

After a couple of pleasantries, Auntie Zhou got straight to the point.

"Do you want to know why Little Bai's wages are so low?"

Once money was involved, that really became a difficult question to answer.

If he said yes, he would inevitably seem to have ulterior motives; if he said no, he feared she would think he didn't care enough and couldn't be entrusted with him.

Ding Ding paused, pressing the middle finger at his side against the joint of his thumb, a gesture he only made when thinking.

After a long while, Ding Ding spoke.

"He gets up early every day and can't come home until evening. Sometimes he comes back hurt, and he's so tired he falls asleep the moment his head touches the pillow. I don't think this is all he should get for the work he puts in. I was worried he wasn't good with words and didn't know how to get on people's good side, so I just wanted to try to get him a fairer deal."

"I see..."

Auntie Zhou blinked a little faster, looking somewhat unnatural. The knuckles of her hands, clasped in front of her, had gone white. She let out a soft breath.

"You're a good kid."

"..."