Charity - Chapter 5

Huo Qishuo came home with me.

He probably had never been anywhere so shabby. He looked around constantly on the way.

I unlocked the door and went into the bedroom for my luggage. When I came out, he was holding a framed photograph of Jiang Yi and me.

“You said you didn’t know him? Looks like you knew him very well indeed.” He shook the frame.

“I lied to you. Are you angry?”

“Hardly. I told you I’m not that petty. Besides, one of my better qualities is that I never hold a woman’s past against her.”

He looked at me again. “That’s all your luggage?”

“Yes.”

After thinking for a moment, I found a bag and collected all the photos on the cabinet, planning to throw them in the bin downstairs.

“Leaving already?”

“Yes. The longer we wait, the more chance there is of something going wrong.”

It would be awkward if Jiang Yi rushed back and we ran into him. I didn’t want to hear his explanations or face his questioning. From now on, I only wanted to stay far away from him.

As far as possible.

“By the way, did Lili tell you?”

“What?”

“Most of my work isn’t here. It’s in Gang City.” Huo Qishuo stood well away from the bin, watching me throw out the photographs.

“Are you asking me to go with you?”

“I wasn’t planning to. My interest in you mostly came from feeling a bit nostalgic lately.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a pitiful woman, after all.”

“But tonight you’ve managed to make me a little more interested. So, do you want to come with me?”

“But I don’t have a Hong Kong and Macao travel permit.” Perhaps because he was so casual, I found the courage to say a little more. “And would we have to leave immediately? I’d like to go home and see Grandma.”

“Where’s home?”

I told him the name, then added, “But I’m not from the town itself. It’s about an hour by bus from our village to the county town.”

“Wow. You’re really cementing that poor, innocent little flower persona.” He rubbed his chin. “All right. I’ll go with you.”

I stared at him in astonishment.

“I’m a city bumpkin. Never seen the real countryside. Show me around.”

He grinned at me, showing a neat row of white teeth.

Vaguely, I felt a sudden intuition.

Perhaps heaven was fair after all. The world held people like Jiang Yi, who trampled on other people’s hearts. It also held people like Huo Qishuo, who did good almost without thinking.

I took Huo Qishuo back to my hometown.

At first, I’d imagined a rich young man like him might travel with an enormous entourage, perhaps even bring out a helicopter. He told me to watch fewer short dramas. He wasn’t that unhinged.

The high-speed train went straight to the county town. Thanks to him, I finally got to sit in a premium-class seat.

It was an entirely new experience. I didn’t know what any of the buttons did. Huo Qishuo taught me, all the while saying, “You’re so clueless.”

I also ordered a boxed meal on the train.

He was unimpressed as ever. “You think that tastes good?”

“Not very. I cook better than this.” I shook my head honestly. “But you can’t waste food.”

“Is that a hint? You want to cook for me? The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?”

“No. I cooked for Jiang Yi for three years. I didn’t win his heart or his stomach.”

“You all have professional chefs cooking for you, don’t you? I certainly can’t compete with that.”

Huo Qishuo said he liked stories. But my barren little life held no thrilling adventures, so I told him my entire family history, right back through eighteen generations.

Including what had happened between Jiang Yi and me.

Lili had warned me not to be too honest with men. I ought to keep a little mystery. But Huo Qishuo had seen so much of the world. Any act I put on in front of him would have been painfully clumsy.

He’d given me the money so readily, and I had no other way to repay that kindness. The least I could do was satisfy his curiosity.