AZG 19

Chapter 19

Uncle Dali bellowed with grief and indignation: “Xiao Long, you don’t even know how to speak foreign languages! Qiu Yixin, you son of a bitch! If you don’t know how to speak foreign languages, how are you going to survive when you get to the West?! Qiu Yixin never even thought about you!”

I said, “Zhao Long, I love you.”

Zhao Gongzi whipped his hand around to grab mine, running even faster than me.

Raising a child is truly a risky business. You raise them to this size with the best food and drink, only for them to be tricked away by some man from the outside the moment you take your eyes off them.

○

Bang!

The sound of a gunshot rang out. The crowded throng fell silent for a fraction of a second, before bursting into frantic screams.

Bang! Another shot went off.

The crowd quieted down as policemen arrived one after another, yet none of them dared to do anything to Fourth Master Zhao, who had fired the shots. Instead, they explained with placating smiles that guns go off easily by accident, so it would be best to put it away.

Zhao Gongzi pulled me back as we retreated.

“Zhao Long, damn it! Get the fuck back here!” Fourth Master Zhao roared at the two of us, “Qiu Yixin, you get the fuck back here too!”

Zhao Gongzi yelled back, “Dad, we’ll call you when we get to the other side!”

“Call my fucking foot! Get the fuck back here! Qiu Yixin!”

“I told you not to scold him! If you want to scold someone, scold me! He can’t decide a damn thing!”

“Zhao Long, you ungrateful, backstabbing little brat! I’ll shoot you dead today!”

“You guys really don’t want me anymore now that you’re having a new one!”

“What the fuck did you just say?!”

“Once you give birth to a little one, I won’t be the youngest anymore!”

“Damn it, you’re in your twenties, what kind of a little one are you?! When I was your age, I already had several brats!”

I had won. Zhao Gongzi detested Fourth Master Zhao’s other brats the most.

Zhao Gongzi’s heart was entirely disheartened, his resolve as iron. Clutching my hand, he continued to sprint toward the ship.

Fourth Master Zhao shrieked that he was going to beat him to death, while Uncle Dali hurriedly teamed up with the other men to pin him down: “Fourth Master, calm down, ahhhh! What if your aim is off and you miss Qiu Yixin but hit Xiao Long instead—”

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhao Gongzi and I successfully boarded the vessel. The cruise ship let out its departure whistle, and the boarding plank was slowly drawn up. Fourth Master Zhao and his entourage could only look up helplessly, watching us drift far away.

Both Zhao Gongzi and I felt immensely guilty. I asked him, “Did you bring the home address book with the phone numbers?”

Zhao Gongzi barked at me, “Damn it, what the hell use are you?”

I said, “If you scold me again, I’ll sell you off when we run out of money. We don’t have much money on us.”

He asked, “What about the check?”

I said, “It was left inside the clothes I wore yesterday.”

“Where are the clothes?”

“No idea where you threw them.”

“Damn it!”

“I told you, if you scold me again, I’ll sell you off.”

“I want to get off the ship!”

“Then you’ll just have to jump off and swim back—though you’ll die if you actually jump. I won’t sell you off, Zhao Long, I love you.”

Zhao Gongzi stared at me for a good long while, then pulled me into an embrace.

I said, “You won’t be able to make those expensive clothes for the time being.”

Zhao Gongzi said, “Nobody ever said they looked good anyway. People only say I look good when I wear your clothes.”

I said, “When the time comes, we can ask someone to help us look up the home phone number. I’ll teach you to speak foreign languages, I’ll work three jobs, and I’ll support the household. I’ve wanted to support a household for a long time.”

Zhao Gongzi said, “Once my dad stays angry for half a year, he’ll have Uncle Dali wire money to me.”

The two of us embraced once more.

Raising a child really is a risky business. You raise them to this size with the best food and drink, only for them to help a man from the outside swindle money out of their own family the moment you take your eyes off them.

○

But no matter what, it was coming—our new life, our new world, our freedom, our independence, our—

The cruise ship suddenly ground to a halt right in the middle of the river, floating there silently for a very long time.

But the passengers could not remain quiet, and everyone began clamoring to demand an explanation.

A quarter of an hour later, the captain announced that in the country we were heading to, a war had broken out just a short while ago. He had received orders prohibiting further travel, and all overseas students were to be repatriated on the spot.

My heart turned ice-cold—for that country, and also for Zhao Gongzi’s and my lives.

Eloping truly is a risky business. The moment you take your eyes off things, you end up getting buried alive.

Why must there be wars, and slaughter?

Zhao Gongzi said, “We should still jump down. Maybe there’s a slim chance of survival. When my dad gets furious, he beats people to death.”

I said, “Shut up.”

Zhao Gongzi said, “Damn it, this is all your fault. You’re the one who always has so much fucking trouble day in and day out.”

I said, “I didn’t force you to follow me.”

Zhao Gongzi said, “You even gave my dog away to someone else.”

I said, “You and I are both about to die, stop worrying about the dog.”

Zhao Gongzi snapped, “Damn it, every single time you don’t care about anything and leave everything for me to deal with! You were the one who wanted to raise a dog, but after raising it for two days you dumped it on me. You were the one who wanted to sleep together, but after sleeping you start talking about the ‘new society, new ideology, new ethical views’—new your fucking foot!”

I said, “I was drunk back then and mistook you for someone else.”

Zhao Gongzi demanded, “Damn it, within a hundred-mile radius, do you know a second person who dares to be called Zhao Long? You were calling out ‘Zhao Long’ for half the night.”

I said, “Shut up. I see the Master.”

Fourth Master Zhao and his men had never left the dock. Now that they saw the cruise ship returning, they were even less likely to leave.

Zhao Gongzi said, “You’re going to be beaten to death by my dad.”

I said, “Zhao Long, protect me.”

Zhao Gongzi asked, “Can we make a phone call from the ship?”

I said, “I don’t remember Thirteenth Concubine’s number.”

Zhao Gongzi said, “Damn it, I’ve been driven to my death by you this time. I’m going to be beaten to death by my dad too. Every single time my dad beats me, it’s because you ruined things, damn it.”

I said, “At a time like this, we must stand united.”

Zhao Gongzi said, “Fine.”

I said, “Actually, I remember Jin Xian’er’s number.”