The street gradually grew busier. Neighbors greeted one another; some went out to work pushing wooden wheelbarrows, while others opened their doors for business. Anxi Street had finally come alive with the bustle of daily life.
The little black cat hid in the shadows, its gaze wary and cold, but it refused to leave.
"This bead must be very important to you," Chen Ji murmured. "Even after I teased you several times, and even after the bead bounced you away, you still couldn't bear to give up."
He beckoned to the little black cat, gesturing for it to follow him into the clinic, but it remained unmoved, merely watching from the shadows.
Just then, there was a stir at the eatery across the street. A young, sturdy worker took down the door panels and carried steamer basket after steamer basket of baozi and mantou to the entrance. White steam rose from the baskets in the morning sunlight.
When Chen Ji looked up again, he saw the little black cat staring fixedly at the steamer baskets...
The look in the cat's eyes reminded him of himself as a child, staring at someone else's instant noodles on the table aboard a green train.
Chen Ji hesitated, then walked over and asked, "How much for a baozi?"
The worker smiled. "Why, it's young Doctor Chen. Baozi are still two copper coins each, same as always."
Chen Ji took two copper coins from his sleeve... It was what he had earned mopping the floor yesterday, and the only two coins he had.
"I'll have one," he said, pressing the coins into the worker's hand.
The worker asked cheerfully, "Just one? Will that be enough?"
Chen Ji smiled. "I only have two coins. I couldn't afford any more."
The worker was taken aback. These days, who was willing to admit they were so hard up they couldn't bear to eat even one more two-coin baozi?
A baozi cost two coins, a jin of rice ten, and a jin of eggs twenty. Even the poorest households probably wouldn't be unable to scrape together two coins.
Yet Chen Ji was so matter-of-fact that he seemed not to think anything of it.
"All right, one baozi it is," the worker said warmly, recovering himself.
Chen Ji glanced at the little black cat on the eaves and suddenly asked, "Could I ask you something? Is there anywhere nearby that sells fish?"
"You want to buy fish?"
"I'm just asking for now. I don't have the money yet."
The worker smiled. "They only sell smoked salted fish around here. If you want live fish, you'll have to go to the East Market. It takes more than two hours to get there and back."
"Is fish expensive?"
"That depends on the fish," the worker said with a smile. "Crucian carp and grass carp are cheap, ten coins a jin. Perch costs a little more, about thirty coins a jin. I hear those wealthy merchants and scholars from north and south who pass through the East Market can even get fish from the sea. They say that when Luo City was flourishing, loads of sea fish were brought in every day."
Chen Ji asked casually, "So Luo City isn't what it used to be?"
"Times have changed. Back in the previous dynasty, this was the capital, a place of paper intoxication and gilded dreams. Now it's fallen on hard times. Only some of the old masters still boast about it having been the capital. But who doesn't know that the truly prosperous places now are Shengjing in the north and Jinling in the south?" The worker lifted the steamer lid and, amid the white mist rushing into his face, wrapped a baozi in hemp paper and handed it over. "Here you are, your baozi."
Chen Ji took the baozi but didn't eat it. Instead, he turned back and placed it on the clinic's threshold, then bent down to pick up the shoulder pole and water buckets and swayed his way inside.
The little black cat jumped down from the eaves and came to the clinic entrance. It sniffed the baozi, then walked away with its head held high, seemingly unwilling to accept Chen Ji's kindness.
But after only a few steps, it turned back and picked up the baozi in its mouth.
It stood at the clinic entrance, watching Chen Ji's back as he carried water to the rear courtyard. It wanted to follow him in and have a look, but in the end, it turned and left.
Ever since She Dengke and Liu Quxing had wrestled their way into the rear courtyard, neither had returned to the main hall. With their master away, both were slacking off and unwilling to come out and work.
Chen Ji was happy to enjoy the peace and quiet. When he was hungry, he went to the kitchen for a mixed-grain flatbread. When he was thirsty, he scooped up a dipper of water and boiled it to drink. If patients came with prescriptions, he weighed out their medicine; if they wanted a diagnosis, he politely declined.
He spent almost the entire day studying the general outline of medicine, though he studied only the section on external injuries.
After an unknown amount of time, Chen Ji fell asleep at the counter without realizing it. When he woke, he saw the black cat from Evening Star Court sitting quietly on the counter, watching him.
The black cat's fur was a mess, and there was a fresh wound on its neck, blood seeping from it.
Chen Ji smiled and raised a hand in greeting. "How do you walk without making a sound? Got beaten up again?"
The black cat lifted its head a little, stubbornly.
It looked much like the many men who stiffened their necks after a fight: He didn't get off easy either!
In truth, that was what losers always said...
"Wait a moment," Chen Ji said. He went to the kitchen and fetched a firelighter strip, coaxed a flame from it, and lit the oil-dreg lamp on the counter in the main hall.
The little flame flickered, not nearly enough to light the whole room, only the small space occupied by one person and one cat.
Chen Ji blew out the flame on the thin strip of wood and muttered, "You fight with Consort Yun's cat every day. Doesn't Consort Jing help treat your injuries? Why don't you hide from it for now? Otherwise, you'll end up beaten to death."
The black cat raised its head, looking a little unconvinced.
"You don't have to be stubborn about it," Chen Ji said, gesturing. "You're only this small. You probably aren't even a year old yet, are you? It's already so big. It's perfectly normal that you can't beat it. For a gentleman to take revenge, ten years is not too late. Once you're absolutely sure of yourself, you can go looking for it again."
At that, Chen Ji grew serious. "But remember, you have to kill it in a single blow that time. You can't give it a chance to turn the tables."
The black cat listened, a thoughtful look appearing in its eyes.
Chen Ji was a little puzzled. "Can you really understand what I'm saying?"
The black cat didn't react.
Chen Ji smiled. "I'll put some medicine on you."
The black cat watched Chen Ji suddenly begin flipping rapidly through a medical book, muttering, "Let me see what medicine can be applied to external wounds. I studied this specifically today... Right, cnidium seeds. There's a lot of this stuff. If I take one gram, Old Yao definitely won't notice."
The black cat's tense body relaxed a little.
Chen Ji took some dried cnidium seeds and carefully ground them into powder.
He looked at the black cat. "I'm going to put some medicine on to stop the bleeding. Don't scratch me."
To his surprise, when he applied the powder to the black cat's wound, it really didn't dodge or pull away, as though it knew he was doing it good.
The black cat was like a little sculpture. Its gaze followed Chen Ji as he moved back and forth, and at last, its body, which had been ready to bristle at any moment, gradually relaxed.
The little black cat's fur was thick, and he had to part it carefully to check, which took a great deal of time.
When Chen Ji finished treating every one of the black cat's wounds, he broke into a smile. "All done!"
As he spoke, he realized that the black cat had fallen asleep, its tiny head resting against his palm.
Chen Ji was silent for a long time, but he never moved his hand away.
The person and the cat remained in that little pool of light, quiet and gentle.
Chen Ji looked down at the little black cat. After a long silence, he said absentmindedly, "I suppose I have some company now."
Just then, the little black cat opened its eyes and gently placed a paw on Chen Ji's wrist, as if to comfort him.
Chen Ji stared at the little furry paw for a long time, then asked, "I'm guessing that because you lost to the white cat, Consort Jing and Chunrong were angry that you didn't live up to expectations, so they wouldn't treat your wounds or give you food. That's why a cat kept by a dignified royal consort would be thinking about a meat baozi, right?"
The little black cat looked at him silently.
Chen Ji asked seriously, "How about, when I'm able to leave the clinic someday, you come with me to wander the jianghu?"
The little black cat looked utterly confused.
"No, we need a bit of ceremony!" Chen Ji pulled a sheet of paper used for writing prescriptions from inside the counter and used a brush to write, in crooked strokes, the ancient ceremonial prayer for taking a cat into service: "A feline servant upon Luo City's road, dark clouds winding round its whole body. Today Chen Ji takes 'Dark Cloud' into his home. As there are no dried little fish, a crystal bead shall serve in their place as the gift of service. May the Kitchen God witness that we shall not abandon each other, and the City God witness our kindness and loyalty."
When he finished the last character, he fetched some vermilion seal paste and looked at the black cat. "If you really can understand me, and you're willing to follow me, then put your own handprint on it."
Under the young man's gaze, the black cat hesitated for a moment. At last, it actually raised a paw, dabbed it in the vermilion paste, and pressed its paw print onto the letter of service.
The next moment, the letter of service burst into flames without a fire and turned into points of starlight in the air.
Chen Ji gazed at the brilliant sight before him and murmured, "There really is something abnormal about this world..."
A voice asked, "What's abnormal about it?"
Chen Ji slowly turned his head toward the black cat...