Chapter 27
Chapter 27
"A-hem!"
Jiang Li nudged his mouse and swiped away the risqué, hip-swaying video.
How strange.
He never usually watched that sort of thing.
Why had the algorithm shoved it under his nose?
Good thing Kakayan didn't understand any of it...
After stuffing herself, Kakayan melted into the sofa once more, violet-brown eyes fixed on the laptop screen. Whatever Jiang Li watched, she watched. The new clip had just gone live; Jiang Li had nothing better to do. And so the two of them spent the entire afternoon scrolling through shorts.
Only when the shrill ring of a phone cut through the room did Jiang Li realise the world outside had turned honey-coloured. Short videos were terrifying—time vanished in the blink of an eye.
He glanced at the caller ID. Familiar.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this Jiang Li? It's Li something-or-other."
"I don't know any Mr Li."
"I'm the officer who opened the door for your sister yesterday—Officer Li, first name Mou."
"Oh, Officer Li... What's up?"
Jiang Li scratched his cheek. Getting a call from Uncle Policeman made him twitchy. Probably because he'd adopted an unidentified woman and was hiding a great sword in his flat.
"Just call me Li Mou. I mentioned treating you and your sister to dinner—are you free tonight?"
"...Huh?"
Jiang Li hesitated. He dimly recalled the offer. He'd figured Officer Li was only being polite; he hadn't expected the man to follow through. A free meal...
Jiang Li had no dinner plans. There was some meat Old Jiang had dropped off in the fridge, but not much, and Jiang Li wanted to ration it.
"Just the three of us?"
He didn't accept immediately.
"Only us. I clock off at five; I could swing by and give you a lift?"
"In a... police car?"
"No way, just my own car."
"All right. Deal."
Jiang Li hung up and turned to find Kakayan staring at him. She'd clearly caught the key word.
—Food.
"A-hem... I'm taking you out for dinner in a bit."
"What are we eating?"
"No idea. We'll find out when we get there."
Jiang Li hadn't asked what was on the menu. Free food was free food. As long as Kakayan kept her mouth shut and her jaws moving, nothing should go wrong. From Li Mou's tone, he sounded like he only wanted to make friends—probably wouldn't start prying into household registrations.
"Remember, someone else will be eating with us. Watch my cues, keep your head down, and speak as little as possible."
"Okay..."
Kakayan nodded; Jiang Li didn't need to spell it out. Outside the flat, whatever Jiang Li said, went. She wasn't stupid; she was a stranger in a strange land.
Ten minutes later Jiang Li's phone buzzed again—Li Mou was downstairs. Jiang Li grabbed Kakayan and headed out.
Li Mou was leaning against a little white sedan, out of uniform and looking absurdly young. A white T-shirt with a Gundam crossover print made him seem fresh out of university. He waved when he saw Jiang Li.
After a quick greeting, Jiang Li ushered Kakayan into the back seat. The engine turned over and they rolled out of the apartment complex.
All the way, Jiang Li kept the small talk flowing, fishing for information. Turned out Li Mou lived in the same complex. He'd graduated from the police academy recently and had only just started working nearby. He was actually a year younger than Jiang Li.
"So what made you decide to treat us?" Jiang Li finally asked, after circling the topic for ages.
"Just want to make friends," Li Mou said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm new, and I don't know many people around here."
"Don't you have colleagues?"
"Ugh, this area's basically a retirement zone. My co-workers are all middle-aged. When we go out after work, all they talk about is property prices and the stock market. I can't relate."
"Fair enough."
Jiang Li nodded, but a question lingered: why single out Jiang Li and Kakayan?
Glancing in the rear-view mirror, Li Mou seemed to read Jiang Li's expression.
"Besides, aren't you and your sister into the fandom too? I figured I'd say hi—I'm an anime fan myself."
"Fa... fandom?"
Jiang Li blinked. He'd watched plenty of anime back in school, but surely it didn't show that much?
"What gave us away?"
"Last time, your sister was wearing cosplay," Li Mou said, steering around a corner. "I didn't recognise the character, though."
Realisation dawned. Li Mou thought Kakayan was in costume... No wonder he'd jumped at the chance to buy them dinner and make friends—he'd found kindred spirits in a sea of retirees.
"Ah... just a niche character, a two-hundred-year-old granny."
Jiang Li's mouth twitched.
"Right..." Li Mou nodded sagely.
From the back seat, Kakayan suddenly pinched Jiang Li's thigh, hard. He barely swallowed a yelp.
...
Li Mou parked on Wan'an Road outside a barbecue restaurant. The three of them went in and grabbed a corner table. The place was packed.
"How about we order the three-person set and a couple extra plates of beef?" Li Mou suggested.
"Fine by me," Jiang Li said. Free meal—he and Kakayan weren't picky.
"Drinks?"
"None for us. Aren't cops not allowed to drink?"
"Better not," Li Mou agreed, filling their cups with water. "Our station's pretty relaxed—no alcohol Monday to Friday unless you file a report. Weekends are fine."
"Busy job?"
Jiang Li kept the conversation casual while they waited for food. Kakayan sat beside him like a silent doll, a faint smile on her lips.
"This entire neighborhood is a retirement zone," Li Mou said with a laugh and a shake of his head. "We almost never have any trouble around here."
"So, what do you do for a living?"
"I run a self-media channel," Jiang Li said evenly.
"And your sister—what should I call her?"
"Just call her Xiao Yan."
Li Mou nodded. "What does Xiao Yan do for work?"
Kakayan only blinked, saying nothing.
"She's been studying abroad the whole time," Jiang Li cut in smoothly. "Just got back to the country, so she's still getting used to the Chinese environment."
"A sea turtle, huh? That's great, that's great."
"Mm-hmm."
After some idle chatter, plates of sizzling barbecue arrived at the table. Jiang Li lifted his water glass and took a cautious sip.
Suddenly he saw Kakayan pick up a slice of raw meat and move it toward her mouth. Jiang Li swiftly tapped the toe of her foot under the table.
Kakayan winced, eyebrows knitting together, and shot him a wounded look.
Jiang Li tipped his chin toward the grill, then placed a piece of meat on the hot plate. The fat hissed and released a mouth-watering aroma.
Kakayan's eyes lit with understanding. She copied Jiang Li, pressing her slice onto the grill. After a moment she fished it out with her chopsticks and slipped it delicately between her lips.
"Your sister eats so gracefully," Li Mou couldn't help remarking.
Jiang Li thought: That's because she can't use chopsticks properly.
"Officer Li," Jiang Li said, straightening after his fourth plate of meat, "there's something I'm curious about—maybe you'd know."
"Mm? What's that?" Li Mou took a slow drink of water and waited.
"Just hypothetically—say a foreigner, no, more like a wild woman. She shows up here with no ID at all, but she can speak and understand. If she wants to stay and get a job, could she manage to get an ID card?"