Pei Yubai nodded.
Qiguan Yuan's words still echoed in his ears: he had special privileges.
Special privileges?
Then if he made a request... would he agree?
Qiguan Yuan slipped his phone into his pocket.
The phone was black, with a large screen. One corner stuck out of Qiguan Yuan's trouser pocket, its black frame barely visible against his black shirt.
The living room fell quiet.
Shen Yuzhou, Cheng Yanqiu, and Lin Yanru had gone out on tasks and had yet to return. Ji Shiyu was busy in the kitchen.
Jiang Wantang had returned at some point and stood in a corner of the living room without sitting down. When she saw Qiguan Yuan look over, she greeted him. "Mr. Qiguan."
Qiguan Yuan nodded.
Then Jiang Wantang greeted Pei Yubai as well.
Pei Yubai replied, "Miss Jiang."
After greeting them, Jiang Wantang walked to a corner with a round fan in hand, gave it a twirl, and began stretching her legs.
She wore loose cotton-linen trousers. When she raised her leg, the trouser leg slid down, exposing her ankle and a short stretch of calf.
Her movements were slow: lifting her leg, pointing her toes, drawing it back. Every movement was precisely executed.
After finishing a set, she switched legs.
She was a dancer and had to practice every day. She had nothing to do now, and she had also successfully gotten Qiguan Yuan to answer her question.
With that reassurance, she turned her attention back to dancing.
Cheng Yanqiu and Lin Yanru came in through the door. Cheng Yanqiu held a bunch of greens, while Lin Yanru carried a basin of water.
Cheng Yanqiu set the greens by the kitchen door, turned, and stopped when she saw Jiang Wantang stretching.
"Wantang, are you practicing?" Cheng Yanqiu asked.
Jiang Wantang lowered her leg and nodded. "I have to practice every day. I haven't practiced very long these past two days, so I'm making up for it today."
Cheng Yanqiu put down the greens, walked over to Jiang Wantang, and copied her, lifting her leg too.
She could not lift her leg as high as Jiang Wantang, and her form was not quite right, but she took it very seriously.
"I can dance too," Cheng Yanqiu said. "But I do girl group dances. It's different from your classical dance."
Jiang Wantang glanced at her. "Your fundamentals are pretty good."
Cheng Yanqiu smiled, lowered her leg, and rolled her ankle. "What good are fundamentals? I haven't practiced in years. I'm rusty by now."
The two stood side by side by the window. Jiang Wantang continued stretching, and Cheng Yanqiu followed along.
When Jiang Wantang stretched to the left, she stretched to the left. When Jiang Wantang stretched to the right, she stretched to the right.
Her form was not correct, but she followed closely. Jiang Wantang corrected her occasionally, then continued through the movements one by one at her own pace.
As Cheng Yanqiu followed along, her breathing grew heavier. "This is exhausting."
Slightly out of breath, she pulled out a tissue and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She was starting to admire Jiang Wantang. No wonder Jiang Wantang was a dancer. With that perseverance, she could succeed at anything.
Jiang Wantang glanced at her. "It's been too long since you practiced."
Cheng Yanqiu straightened up and wiped her sweaty forehead. "Are you practicing tomorrow too? I'll join you."
Jiang Wantang nodded.
Lin Yanru came out of the kitchen carrying a basin of water, poured it out beside the flower bed in the courtyard, and set the basin down. She sat on a chair in the living room, took a notebook out of her bag, and opened it.
Today, she was in no hurry to write. She simply looked through her previous notes, occasionally looking up at the two by the window.
Actually, she had a hobby.
Writing novels.
And that pen name of hers was somewhat well-known, though no one else knew about it.
A few days earlier, the moment Qiguan Yuan appeared, she felt as though she had figured out what to write for her new novel.
The sound of chopping came from the kitchen, each stroke rhythmic.
Shen Yuzhou was pushed out of the kitchen by Ji Shiyu, still holding a half-peeled potato.
The kitchen door shut the moment he came out, nearly hitting his nose.
He turned around, held up the potato, and said to the camera following him, "Brother Ji turns into a completely different person whenever he cooks. He's so fierce."
He kept his voice very low as he spoke, as though afraid the person in the kitchen would hear.
After saying that, he put the potato on the table and went to get a deck of cards from his bedside. "Fight the Landlord. Who's in?"
He looked around at the people in the living room. Pei Yubai sat on the sofa, drinking water.
Qiguan Yuan sat beside Pei Yubai, looking down at his phone.
Huh? Looking at his phone?
Shen Yuzhou thought looking at a phone was perfectly normal, but somehow it looked out of place when Qiguan Yuan did it.
It was a new phone with no apps installed. Qiguan Yuan was examining the default icons one by one.
He tapped an icon that looked like a colorful pinwheel. A screen popped up, asking him to set up this and that.
He looked at it briefly, then backed out.
Shen Yuzhou walked over with the cards, pulled up a chair, and sat beside the coffee table.
"Brother Pei, are you in?" Pei Yubai set down his glass, pulled a chair over, and sat across the coffee table.
"Fight the Landlord?" Shen Yuzhou had already opened the deck and was shuffling.
He was not very good at it. Several cards slipped out of his hands and fell to the floor. He bent down to pick them up and continued shuffling.
Pei Yubai watched his terrible technique with considerable disdain.
He wanted to say something, but remembering that Qiguan Yuan was sitting beside him, he held it in.
Lin Yanru closed her notebook, came over, and sat beside Shen Yuzhou.
"I'll play too." Shen Yuzhou finished shuffling and began dealing.
Unlike his shuffling, his dealing was fast, but it was still terrible.
He dealt three cards at a time. Afterward, he counted his own cards, found he was short, and added two more. Then he had one too many, so he pulled one out and put it back.
Pei Yubai glanced at him without a word.
Shen Yuzhou sorted his cards and chuckled. "I'm an amateur, an amateur."
Qiguan Yuan sat beside Pei Yubai, leaning against the sofa with his long legs stretched out.
His phone rested on his knee, its screen still lit. He had tapped an icon labeled "Settings" and was looking through the options.
He examined them one by one, opening every submenu, backing out after reading it, then tapping the next.
His expression was serious, as though he were studying something important.
Pei Yubai played a pair of threes.
Shen Yuzhou played a pair of fives.
Lin Yanru passed.
Pei Yubai played a pair of twos. Shen Yuzhou passed. Lin Yanru passed.
Pei Yubai played a straight, from five to ten.
Shen Yuzhou chuckled and tossed out a higher straight, from eight to queen.
Pei Yubai glanced at his cards and passed.
Lin Yanru passed too.
"Hahaha! I'm going to win!" Shen Yuzhou raised the last few cards in his hand and moved to put them on the table.
Qiguan Yuan had been looking down at his phone. Hearing Shen Yuzhou's laughter, he looked up at the table.
He did not look at Shen Yuzhou. He looked at the cards in Pei Yubai's hand. Pei Yubai had four cards left, a complete set.
Qiguan Yuan set his phone on his knee and leaned forward a little. "Is that so, kid?" His voice was quiet, with a hint of amusement and a slight upward lilt at the end.
Shen Yuzhou's laughter paused.
Qiguan Yuan bent forward slightly, moving close to Pei Yubai.
His shoulder pressed against Pei Yubai's arm. His silver hair fell forward, its ends brushing Pei Yubai's cuff.
Pei Yubai's back tensed, but he did not move.
Qiguan Yuan's lips almost touched Pei Yubai's ear. "Pei Yubai, you're red again."
His voice was so low that only Pei Yubai could hear.
The redness began at Pei Yubai's earlobes and spread upward, all the way to the tips of his ears.
Qiguan Yuan straightened, drew several cards from Pei Yubai's hand, and tossed them onto the table. "A straight."
Five cards landed: six, seven, eight, nine, ten, just enough to follow Shen Yuzhou's straight.
Shen Yuzhou's smile froze on his face. He looked at his remaining cards, then at the straight Qiguan Yuan had tossed onto the table.
"Brother Yuan... you can't do that. How can you help Brother Pei bully me?" Shen Yuzhou sounded aggrieved.
Qiguan Yuan leaned back against the sofa. "Oh, did I bully you, kid?"
Shen Yuzhou turned to Lin Yanru. "Sister Lin, they're ganging up on me."
Lin Yanru put down her cards and smiled. "You forgot. I'm a farmer, and so is Yubai. We're on the same side."
Shen Yuzhou completely fell apart. He threw his cards onto the table, scattering them everywhere. "I'm done, I'm done. You're such bullies."
The kitchen door opened, and Ji Shiyu came out carrying two dishes. "Time to eat."
Shen Yuzhou immediately sprang out of his chair. "I'm done playing! I'm going to help bring out the food!"
He ran into the kitchen and came back out in under three seconds, carrying a bowl of soup. The soup sloshed inside, nearly spilling.
He carefully set the soup bowl on the table and shook his scalded fingers.
Watching him shake his fingers, the corner of Qiguan Yuan's mouth moved slightly.
Pei Yubai gathered the cards from the table, put them back in their box, and returned them to Shen Yuzhou's bedside.
By the time he returned to the living room, the table was covered with dishes. Ji Shiyu had made five dishes today: fish in sour broth, stir-fried cured pork, cucumber salad, stir-fried green beans, and egg drop soup.
Shen Yuzhou was already seated, chopsticks in hand and eyes fixed on the fish in sour broth.
Cheng Yanqiu and Lin Yanru had sat down too.
Jiang Wantang came over from the window and sat across from Ji Shiyu. A table separated them.
Qiguan Yuan sat down beside Pei Yubai and put his phone on the table.
His phone screen was still lit, displaying the default wallpaper.
Pei Yubai glanced at it, reached over, and turned the phone facedown.
Qiguan Yuan glanced at him but did not turn it back over.
He picked up his bowl and chopsticks, put a piece of cured pork into his mouth, and chewed slowly.
The pork had been smoked by the locals themselves. It had a smoky flavor and tasted rich and fragrant as he chewed.
The taste was new to him. He finished chewing, swallowed, and picked up another piece.
Halfway through the meal, Jiang Wantang set down her chopsticks and lifted her soup bowl for a sip. As she put it down, her eyes met Qiguan Yuan's.
Qiguan Yuan was watching her. His gaze made Jiang Wantang a little uncomfortable. She picked up her soup bowl and took another sip. When she put it down, Qiguan Yuan was still looking at her.
She pressed her lips together, wanting to say something, but did not speak.
Qiguan Yuan looked away first. Oh, a timid little one.
He lowered his head, finished the porridge left in his bowl, set it down, and leaned back in his chair.