It was already dark. Luo Ren steered onto the exit ramp. The navigation system announced that he needed to leave the highway here, cross provincial and county roads, pass through a small county town, and then rejoin another highway.
The road leading to the county town gradually became brightly lit.
Mu Dai made several phone calls. First, she called her senior brother Zheng Mingshan to ask about their master’s condition. To her surprise, Zheng handed the phone directly to Meihua Jiu Niang.
Meihua Jiu Niang said, “How could I die that quickly? Before I explain everything clearly to you, even if the Black and White Impermanence come knocking, I’ll kick them twice and make them wait outside.”
Mu Dai laughed, then lowered her voice. “Master, do you want to eat or drink anything? I can bring it back.”
Meihua Jiu Niang said, “I want to drink the Shaodaozi liquor from the distillery at the old crossroads in Baoding. The owner was from Liaodong and could brew truly strong liquor. One sip felt like a line of fire, burning from the throat all the way down to the stomach.”
She gave a soft laugh and hung up.
Mu Dai stared at her phone in a daze. This was really making things difficult for her.
Then unease crept in. Her master was thinking about liquor from decades ago. It seemed this time, the end really was near.
She called Cao Yanhua next.
On the other end, it sounded like a chaotic market. Mu Dai heard someone droning in a flat voice: “Boxed meals, fruit, mineral water, make way, make way, boxed meals, fruit, mineral water…”
Cao Yanhua spoke vaguely, “Little Master, I’m eating a boxed meal. We’ll reach Chuxiong tomorrow. Is Brother Luo driving over to pick us up?”
…
Finally, she called Yan Hongshe. Yan and Yi Wan San were taking a long-distance sleeper bus back to Lijiang. Over the phone, she explained that Yi Wan San wanted to return early to recuperate, that the fifth sinister slip needed to be sealed as soon as possible, and that Luo Ren had entrusted them with some things.
During the call, the receiver was filled with the constant cries of mountain chickens: “He… duo… luo, he… duo… luo…”
Yi Wan San cursed nearby, “Damn it, dead like a ghost during the day and wide awake at night—sleep all day, party all night. You a vampire or what?”
…
After hanging up, Mu Dai turned to look at Luo Ren. They had already entered the county town. Traffic was a little congested, and the car noticeably slowed. Luo Ren stared straight ahead. The streetlights outside cast shadows across his face, hiding every expression.
Luo Ren had been silent for a long time.
He had said so much, and then suddenly fell quiet. Some stories stirred up blood-colored dregs in the heart and needed a long time to settle.
Mu Dai asked him gently, “Do you want to rest?”
“No.”
“Do you want to eat?”
“No.”
Mu Dai persisted, “But I’m hungry. Let’s stop and eat, okay?”
Luo Ren glanced at her. He didn’t speak, but the car pulled over and slowly came to a stop.
This place was a bit like that decadent street in Nantian, where food and entertainment mixed—but larger, and livelier.
The street was lined with open-air food stalls, full of noisy toasts and laughter. Mu Dai and Luo Ren chose a small home-style restaurant and sat down under an outdoor umbrella.
The darker the night became, the brighter the lights were. And other people who made a living off this street gradually clocked in for work.
Some were singers dragging speakers and microphones, holding song lists, eyes shining, specifically targeting couples.
One came up to their table. “Handsome guy, want to order a song? Ten yuan for one, twenty yuan for three.”
“No,” Luo Ren said.
“Your girlfriend’s so pretty, order one. We have lots of classic old songs, like ‘Nine Hundred Ninety-Nine Roses’…”
“No.”
The man got annoyed and walked away, cursing, “Cheapskate!”
Mu Dai lowered her head and kept eating.
Then a little girl selling roses came running over. She was only five or six years old, carrying a small basket and speaking in a soft, childish voice. “Big brother, buy a rose for big sister. Five yuan.”
Mu Dai kept her head down, shoveling rice, but her eyes quietly drifted toward the basket. The roses inside were fresh, petals beaded with dew, stems bright green, thorns sticking out awkwardly—as if saying that even the best love came with sharp pains.
She had never received a rose from Luo Ren. Five yuan—it really wasn’t expensive.
She heard Luo Ren say, “No.”
The little girl refused to give up. She stood on tiptoe. “Big brother, buy one. It’s only five yuan. I haven’t made any sales today…”
Someone had probably taught her that line. At such a young age, she probably didn’t even understand what “made any sales” meant.
Out of the corner of her eye, Mu Dai saw Luo Ren pause, then take out his wallet and pull out money.
So he was going to take the rose after all.
But the first rose coming in such a forced way still felt a little bittersweet.
She saw the little girl take a flower from the basket—a half-opened bud, delicate and vivid, beautiful and slightly wicked.
Even if it felt bittersweet, the corners of her lips still lifted slightly.
Then she heard Luo Ren say:
“Take the money. I don’t want the flower.”
Maria Lian On CFRFGC Chapter 110