Parting: Liang Xiaoqing Hugs Her Tightly

"Fuck you! Where's the money?! You dare steal my money! Where's my money!"

Jiang Lun's whole body cramped in pain as a disheveled woman was thrown to the ground before him. He smelled blood and felt something slick and slimy on his hands.

The woman lay motionless. A staggering figure walked toward her. "You ungrateful thing! I work my ass off for money, and you steal it and won't admit it! The money is for Jiang Lun. Hand it over! Did you give it to Jiang Xu? Did you?! You little bastard from who knows where! If I, Jiang Daguo, hadn't taken you in, who would want you?! Stealing my money! Stealing my money!..."

The man cursed between ragged breaths, grabbing the woman's hair and slamming her head against the wall over and over. Her limbs hung limp, her head drooped, and she struggled weakly.

"Speak! Speak!" Jiang Daguo vented his rage by smashing the woman's head against the wall again and again. "You've taken up with another man again, haven't you! Daring to steal my money! If you don't produce it, I'll beat you to death!"

"No... I didn't... Daguo... have mercy... help...!"

Jiang Lun staggered to his feet, wanting to stop it, but he had seen countless times how Jiang Daguo beat this weak woman. She never fought back, just endured in silence. Jiang Lun saw her reach a hand toward him. With each thud, that hand slowly dropped. He clung to the hope that she'd be fine, that she'd survive—she was tougher than any man, and Jiang Daguo had beaten her for years without killing her.

But the smell of blood grew stronger.

"Do you know where the money is now? Hand it over!" Jiang Daguo was tired from beating her, muttering about his money. "I won't give a single cent to Jiang Xu." Beating this woman who never resisted had become a habit, but now even her pleas had stopped. Jiang Daguo felt both frustrated and furious.

At first, he hadn't been so bad-tempered. Wang Cai carried herself with an uncommon grace, though she came with a daughter from some unknown man. He had happily married a beautiful woman. Men leered at her; women whispered behind her back, calling her a shameless whore. Jiang Daguo was proud of marrying her but also suffered the villagers' disdain. Over time, she grew uglier, no different from other village women.

The women stopped gossiping about her. The men no longer mentioned her. When people did bring her up, they'd laugh and say, "Jiang Daguo is an honest man! Married a woman like that..."

Jiang Daguo began beating her whenever he was angry. The bruised and battered woman still had to stay by his side.

He both loathed her and felt smug.

"Huff, huff..." His heavy breathing stopped as he let go, and the woman slid down the wall.

Jiang Daguo kicked her body.

"Dad!"

The room reeked of blood.

"Have you lost your mind!"

It was his son's voice.

Click.

The light flickered on. A dim yellow bulb, tangled with cobwebs, lit the room with a lifeless glow. Jiang Daguo's shadow fell on the bloodstained wall.

"Huff, huff..." His breath heaved.

"Mom!" The short, hoarse cry made Jiang Daguo's head ring.

"Dad! You can't beat her like this!" Jiang Lun was covered in blood—on his hands, his clothes—and so was Jiang Daguo's face. Pale, Jiang Lun said, "Did you kill her?!"

Jiang Daguo stumbled back two steps and fell. He glanced sideways and saw Wang Cai's wide-open eyes, eyes so much like Jiang Xu's, blazing with hatred.

Jiang Lun helped him up. "Dad!"

Blood trickled along the wall to Liang Xiaoqing's feet. She had descended and stood frozen, as if remembering something, her face turning ashen. While Jiang Daguo was still panicking, Liang Xiaoqing, clear-headed, grabbed Jiang Xu's arm and pulled her out, running so fast that Jiang Daguo and his son didn't react at all.

"Xu! Hurry! Faster!"

The night wind was bone-cold. Liang Xiaoqing's hair flew loose. She pulled Jiang Xu forward without stopping. The pain in her ankle made Jiang Xu stumble repeatedly, but Liang Xiaoqing gripped her arm tightly to keep her from falling. Jiang Xu hadn't had time to get dressed, wearing only a thin sweater. Her whole body was stiff, her hands still smeared with half-dried blood.

The sight of that blood made Jiang Xu tremble uncontrollably.

Cold—it was truly cold.

Jiang Xu had never felt the wind so biting. Her mind went blank as she recalled the way Wang Cai had looked in her arms at the end: face covered in blood, eyes straining wide open, clutching Jiang Xu's hand tightly, lips moving faintly.

"I'm sorry, Jiang Xu." Like a sigh.

She had never seen Wang Cai so weak. No matter how many times Jiang Daguo beat her, no matter how he cursed her, she always picked herself up, patted Jiang Xu's shoulder and said it was fine, then went back to work, as if the injuries were trivial.

But this time, Wang Cai couldn't get up again. She could only lie there, letting the blood flow.

"Hey!" The road was rough and uneven. Jiang Xu struggled against Liang Xiaoqing's grip. "I want to go back!" She couldn't break free, tripped, and fell—but not onto the ground. She fell onto Liang Xiaoqing's soft body. Liang Xiaoqing hugged her tightly, hit the ground, and let out a muffled groan.

Liang Xiaoqing's lips were at Jiang Xu's ear. She could hear her gasping for breath and feel her trembling slightly. Jiang Xu suddenly calmed down.

"It's okay, it's okay..." Liang Xiaoqing comforted her incoherently. "Don't be scared..."

Jiang Xu wasn't scared. Her heart was ice cold, a dead, still pool. She clutched Liang Xiaoqing's clothes, crumpling them in her fist, her clear black-and-white eyes unblinking, staring into the dark, foggy distance. At the far edge of the sky, a faint thread of white was beginning to show.

Her voice was muffled. "Xiaoqing, I want to go back." As she spoke, tears rolled down involuntarily—first one or two, then too many to count, until they soaked Liang Xiaoqing's clothes.

"No. Xu, come down the mountain with me first." Liang Xiaoqing's heart pounded at the memory of what she had just seen. This was the first time she'd encountered such a thing. She closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing. Once calm, she bore the pain and stood up, taking Jiang Xu's hand. "Quick! We can't stay here. We have to get down the mountain now."

Jiang Xu kept crying, hidden in the deep night. Liang Xiaoqing, stumbling, led her down the mountain.

Jiang Xu didn't know how she got to Liang Xiaoqing's house. Before she knew it, she was sitting on the sofa.

The tear tracks on her face had dried in the wind. In this familiar yet strange space, Jiang Xu remembered she had stayed here before—no biting wind, no eerie watchful eyes.

Her hands and feet were still shaking. The room was warm as spring. Liang Xiaoqing hurried to the bedroom, grabbed a blanket, and wrapped it around Jiang Xu. "Stay here," she said.

She crouched down to look at Jiang Xu, holding her hands firmly. "I brought you away because it's too dangerous. Jiang Daguo and Jiang Lun are not your blood relatives. I'm going to take people up the mountain now... to get your mother out."

Jiang Xu's tears burst forth again. She thought of the room full of blood, Wang Cai lying motionless, her face covered in blood.

"..." Liang Xiaoqing wiped her tears with her thumb. "Don't cry. It'll be fine."

Jiang Xu couldn't stop crying.

"If you're sleepy, go lie down on the bed for a while."

With that, Liang Xiaoqing opened the door and left again.

She was in a hurry.

The darkness slowly yielded to the light of dawn. Jiang Xu curled up on the sofa, trembling all over, restless. Whenever Liang Xiaoqing left her side, she didn't know how to cope.

She forced herself to calm down, pulled the blanket over her head, and closed her eyes, trying not to think of that bloody scene—thinking of Liang Xiaoqing instead. Of Xiaoqing.

Jiang Xu's forehead was sweaty from being smothered, but she didn't dare pull the blanket away. It smelled of Liang Xiaoqing, a scent she hadn't noticed in a long time. Her mind was filled with Liang Xiaoqing, so she had no room to think about Wang Cai's blood-filled open eyes, Jiang Daguo's ferocious face, or Jiang Lun, whose gaze always landed on her.

Everything pressed down like heavy stones on her back. Seeing Wang Cai like that, she felt her whole body give way. She understood what Liang Xiaoqing meant. She also understood the terrified looks Jiang Daguo and his son had given her.

The house wasn't soundproof. She heard the door next door being knocked loudly.

"Sister Yang! Sister Yang! Are you there?!" Liang Xiaoqing's urgent shouts made Jiang Xu's head spin. She leaned limply against the sofa, the soft touch, breathing in the dark air.

The sound of air currents passed by her ears.

"Xiaoqing, what's happened at this hour?! You scared me half to death!" The door creaked open. Yang Man had thrown on a long coat, still sleepy-eyed, her usually smooth curls a mess.

"Come on, Sister Yang! Come with me to find the principal! No one else can handle this!" Liang Xiaoqing grabbed her as soon as she appeared.

The night was deep, the wind cold.

"What's going on, Xiaoqing! Hey, wait, I haven't changed my shoes yet!" Yang Man clutched her coat, fumbling for her slippers.

"No time!"

"It's Jiang Xu! Jiang Xu's mother..."

"..."

Their voices trailed off as they moved away, and Jiang Xu curled up on the sofa, listening to the fading dialogue.

Then she heard nothing more.

Her eyes dried and wet again, wet and dried again. Jiang Xu thought of Wang Cai, then Liang Xiaoqing, then other things—her thoughts a tangled mess. She had been so tense all night that, leaning there, she gradually drifted off to sleep.

Outside the window, the thick darkness faintly outlined a winding line. That curve slowly turned gray.

Jiang Xu was unaware that dawn was approaching.

Tears glistened at the corners of her eyes.

She seemed to see Wang Cai as she had been in her youth, face full of laughter, eyes crinkled. She touched Jiang Xu's cheek with affection and said, "My good daughter..." and spun her around in circles.

She was flying, and she giggled at Wang Cai.

Jiang Xu thought she must have been dreaming just now.

...