42

"Be good now. Don't talk, and smile at everyone you meet. Understand?"

Xu Ze walked through this completely unfamiliar residential compound, his hand held in Grandma's. He glanced back — getting in here had taken two pat-downs, and the stern faces of the guards were still fresh in his memory.

"Did you hear me?" Seeing no answer, Ye Yunhua asked him again.

Xu Ze nodded, not even managing a single "mm."

Because Ye Yunhua had told him not to speak, from this moment on he was not allowed to make a sound.

They arrived outside the garden of a villa. A nanny came and opened the gate; Ye Yunhua led Xu Ze inside, through the garden and into the living room. An Alpha of about seven or eight sat on the sofa watching a cartoon. Xu Ze thought he looked a bit like Xiao Pan from downstairs at Grandma's building.

Remembering Grandma's words, Xu Ze gave Xiao Pan a smile. Xiao Pan pulled a face at him in return.

Xu Ze followed Ye Yunhua into the kitchen, which was larger than the living room of his own home. He stood quietly to one side, watching Grandma work, until the Hostess came downstairs to the kitchen, where Ye Yunhua brought Xu Ze over to greet her.

"So this is your grandson — what a pretty child." The Hostess handed Xu Ze a piece of candied fruit from her own hand. "A little boy must be so bored standing around in a kitchen. Go play out in the back garden."

Xu Ze looked at Ye Yunhua. After receiving Grandma's nod of approval, he took the candied fruit and gave the Hostess an obedient smile.

Ye Yunhua pushed open the kitchen's back door, told Xu Ze not to wander off, and went back to her work. The living room's floor-to-ceiling window faced the back garden; Xiao Pan stood behind the glass with a Toy gun in his hand, miming a shot at Xu Ze. Xu Ze watched him for a moment, then walked off in the other direction. The garden's gate was ajar; beyond it lay a quiet, clean avenue, and Xu Ze drifted into a daze.

A sudden sting at the back of his head — Xu Ze turned around. Xiao Pan had, at some point, crept up behind him and shot a rubber Toy pellet at his skull.

"Hand over what you've got!"

Xu Ze looked at the candied fruit in his hand and held it out. Xiao Pan snatched it at once and stuffed it into his mouth, opening wide to reveal a mouthful of decaying teeth — he'd been banned from snacks for a long time because of his dental problems.

The moment he'd eaten it, he turned on Xu Ze without a shred of recognition, raised the gun again, and, parroting a line from TV, demanded: "Who are you!"

Xu Ze said nothing.

"Are you a mute?!"

Xu Ze still said nothing.

"Mute! Down on the ground, hands up! I'm placing you under arrest!"

He probably didn't even know what "arrest" meant. Xu Ze stood perfectly still; when the thoroughly absorbed Xiao Pan took another furious step toward him, Xu Ze pulled open the gate and walked out of the yard.

Xiao Pan glanced back at the living room, hesitating over whether to chase after him. He didn't dare run off on his own.

While Xiao Pan wavered, Xu Ze walked away with great decisiveness.

Xu Ze kept walking straight, because turning this way and that would make it easy to lose his way back. As he passed the third house, the overcast sky brightened a little — the sun came out. Xu Ze saw that the back garden of the fourth house had a swing set, and a small Alpha sat on it, staring straight ahead, expressionlessly lost in thought.

Xu Ze walked over slowly. He thought the Alpha looked like a doll in a shop window — in any case, not like a living thing. Perhaps it really was a doll, set out here to sun.

When their eyes met, the Alpha's gaze shifted.

From inside the house came a girl's clear voice: "Lu Heyang, do you want some milk?"

"No." The Alpha turned his head to answer.

Seven-year-old Xu Ze's store of knowledge was limited; he automatically broke the Alpha's name apart into the animal-name catalogue he'd just learned: the deer of the sika, the crane of the red-crowned, the sheep of the woolly.

Lu Heyang looked at Xu Ze again. Xu Ze remembered Grandma's reminder — smile at everyone you meet — so he gave Lu Heyang a smile.

After the smile, Xu Ze felt himself being observed by Lu Heyang. It didn't displease him, because he was observing Lu Heyang in turn.

The observation over, Lu Heyang climbed down from the swing, walked to the fence, drew a candy from his pocket, and reached his hand through the black bars to offer it to Xu Ze.

It was the kind of candy Xu Ze loved, but he hadn't had any in a long time. Ever since Dad was gone, everything at home had changed; in his bewildered and confused state, Xu Ze had lost many of his old joys and been forced to accept an entirely different life.

"Aren't you going to eat it?" Seeing Xu Ze holding the candy without moving, Lu Heyang asked him.

Xu Ze shook his head, unwrapped the candy, and put it in his mouth.

"Is it good?"

Xu Ze nodded.

"Really? But this candy is bad."

Xu Ze's eyes widened slightly, though he couldn't taste anything wrong with it.

Lu Heyang laughed then — a mischievous, delighted sort of laugh — and said, "I'm teasing. It's not bad."

Whether the candy was bad or not, he couldn't say, but this deer-crane-sheep seemed quite the little rascal — so Xu Ze thought to himself.

The candy rolled around in his mouth, puffing out Xu Ze's cheeks. Lu Heyang watched him; he watched Lu Heyang. Clouds drifted overhead, and the wind stirred the leaves into a soft rustling.

When Xu Ze had finished the candy, someone called Lu Heyang inside. He answered, and the same sullen expression from the swing came back to his face. Then he asked Xu Ze, "Do you live here?"

Xu Ze shook his head. Lu Heyang asked, "Will you come again tomorrow?"

Another shake of the head. Lu Heyang asked, "The day after?"

Still a shake. Lu Heyang then asked, "Any day at all — will you come?"

This time Xu Ze nodded.

"Goodbye." Lu Heyang waved, in the tone of a promise, and said, "We have to see each other again."

After Lu Heyang left, Xu Ze stood outside the railing a little longer, then made his way back the way he'd come. Xiao Pan had already returned to the living room; Grandma was still busy. Xu Ze squatted by the little flower bed and drifted off again.

A few days later, Grandma took Xu Ze to the lady's house again. Xu Ze went to the back garden of his own accord. Within a few minutes, Xiao Pan came running out with a water gun, planted his legs in front of Xu Ze, and pointed the barrel at him: "Mute! Don't move!"

Xu Ze glanced at him and walked toward the gate.

Xiao Pan ran a few steps to block him and shouted, "Mute! Why won't you play with me!"

The angrier he got, the more he raised the water gun at Xu Ze and pulled the trigger. Xu Ze didn't dodge; he stood there and got a faceful of water, his hair soaked through. It was winter, and a fine shiver ran through him as he watched Xiao Pan in silence.

Xiao Pan froze for a few seconds, a little conscience-stricken, then blustered out a "You deserve it!" and bolted back into the living room. Xu Ze wiped the water from his face, opened the gate, and walked out.

One, two, three… four.

Counting to the fourth house, Xu Ze stopped at the spot where he'd stood before. The swing was empty; no one in the yard. He lowered his head, about to leave, when a sudden "Hey!" reached him. He looked up and saw Lu Heyang standing on the little second-floor balcony, smiling brightly.

Lu Heyang came downstairs to the back garden. Only when he drew close did he notice Xu Ze's hair was wet, and he asked, "Are you cold?"

"…" Xu Ze shook his head.

Lu Heyang thought for a moment, ran back inside for tissues, and reached out to dry Xu Ze's hair.

Xu Ze stood obediently while Lu Heyang tousled his hair into a mess — tufts sticking up here and there, curling into a fuzzy little puff in the sun. Lu Heyang then gently wiped his face, and gave Xu Ze's cheek a few playful pokes along the way.

"It's okay. I'll stay here with you and we'll dry off together." Lu Heyang said.

He slipped both hands into the pockets of his coat, drew them out as fists, and held them out to Xu Ze: "Guess which hand has the candy."

Xu Ze knew this game well — his father used to love teasing him the same way, deliberately wiggling the hand that held the candy to give him a hint, and when Xu Ze guessed right, he'd lift him up and hold him high.

No one would lift him up high anymore, but meeting someone willing to play this game with him stirred something strange and lovely in Xu Ze.

Seeing Xu Ze slow to respond, Lu Heyang wiggled his right hand. Xu Ze watched him, then pointed at it.

"You got it." Lu Heyang opened his hand; two candies lay in his palm. "Here — for you."

Xu Ze reached for them, but Lu Heyang pulled his hand back, leaving Xu Ze grasping at air. Xu Ze thought Lu Heyang had changed his mind and wouldn't give them after all; he raised his head in a daze and found Lu Heyang tilting his head, those very dark eyes fixed on him, asking, "Why are you crying?"

He wasn't, Xu Ze shook his head to say so.

"Then smile for me." Lu Heyang said.

Xu Ze rubbed his eyes and gave Lu Heyang a smile — still that proper, by-the-book sort of smile. Lu Heyang smiled back, then pulled every last candy from his pockets and pressed them all into Xu Ze's hands.

"I have to go out." Seeing that Xu Ze's hair seemed a little drier, Lu Heyang said, "Goodbye."

He waved: "We have to see each other again."

Xu Ze nodded, the candies clutched to his chest. After Lu Heyang left, he tucked them into his pocket and went back to the garden. The moment he stepped inside, Xiao Pan sprang out and blocked his path: "Don't move!"

He spotted the candy wrappers peeking from Xu Ze's bulging pocket, and his eyes lit up at once: "Hand over the candy!"

Xu Ze clamped a hand over his pocket and tried to sidestep. Xiao Pan grabbed him urgently, reaching for the candy, but Xu Ze suddenly ducked his head and bit the back of Xiao Pan's hand. Xiao Pan let go at once and shrank back in fright — he hadn't expected this little mute to turn so fierce all at once; the boy had looked as though he wouldn't fight back, small and thin and easy to bully.

"Just you wait!" Xiao Pan shouted, all bluster and no bite.

The threat had no effect, though. Xu Ze simply watched him in silence.