Reluctantly Willing

When she got to the apartment, she found the door closed shut. There were layers of dust on the steps. It felt like no one had lived here in a long while. Ye Qing called down at the landlord and the old man climbed the steps heavily.

"Sir, where's the guy that lives here?" Ye Qing asked loudly.

"He moved a few days ago. Who are you?"

"I'm his sister."

The landlord studied this energetic little girl. He couldn't imagine how someone as sullen as An Xiaoyan could have such a lively sister.

"Are you Ye Qing?"

"Yes."

The landlord pulled a wrinkled piece of paper from his pocket. "Someone gave me this and said I should give it to a girl called Ye Qing."

Ye Qing took the paper. There was an address scribbled on it. "Thank you, sir. I'll go there now."

Ye Qing took her stuff and hurried downstairs. She berated An Xiaoyan in her mind while she was on the bus. He didn't even tell her that he was moving. She was going to yell at him when she got there.

The bus stopped before a dilapidated building. Ye Qing felt a bit scared after getting off the bus. How come Brother moved somewhere like this? Thank god it's daytime. It must be so scary at night.

Ye Qing followed the address and came to a warehouse. The door was closed tightly. She stood outside the door and couldn't figure out if someone was inside. Just as she pressed her ears to the door to listen, the door suddenly rose up. Ye Qing almost fell to the ground.

A girl threw herself at Dong Zi as soon as he came out, scaring him. He took a few steps back. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

"Who are you?" they asked in unison.

"The paper told me to come here. Where's my brother?"

Dong Zi realized that this person was Ye Qing, the one that An Xiaoyan had told him to take care of.

"I don't know where Brother Yan went, but before he left, he told me to take care of you. I went to his place and gave the landlord the paper."

Hearing that An Xiaoyan wasn't here, Ye Qing deflated. What was this? She'd bought groceries to come cook, but her brother wasn't here. She was so sad.

Dong Zi hadn't interacted with girls before and now there was a living and breathing girl before him. His senses bubbled and tingled; he couldn't stop staring at Ye Qing.

"Uh, I see you brought groceries. How about we eat together? I have a pot."

"Fine, you got lucky today." Ye Qing brought her groceries in and followed Dong Zi to the sink to wash the vegetables.

"I'm Ye Qing. What about you?" She washed the vegetables while asking about this guy. She'd never heard An Xiaoyan mention that he had friends here.

"You can call me Dong Zi."

Ye Qing snorted at this, which confused Dong Zi. What was wrong with his name? What was funny about it?

"What's your real name? Dong Zi sounds so uncultured."

Dong Zi thought for a moment. He was an orphan and had no parents. He didn't even know his surname. "So what? I'm an uncultured guy."

Ye Qing stopped teasing him. She washed the vegetables diligently while mulling over where her brother went. How could someone just disappear like this?

Dong Zi was wondering where An Xiaoyan had gone too. He hadn't asked back then and now, he didn't know anything.

The two ate soundlessly. Seeing that night had fallen, Dong Zi felt that it wasn't good to let Ye Qing leave alone. He suggested that she stay here.

Ye Qing refused, of course. However, when she left the warehouse, she saw the mass of darkness outside and shrunk back. She studied Dong Zi from the corner of her eye. He didn't seem like a bad guy. An Xiaoyan wouldn't find a bad guy.

"Fine, but don't get any ideas about me."

Dong Zi nodded enthusiastically to show that he wouldn't.

There was only one bed in the warehouse. Dong Zi changed the bedsheet and let Ye Qing sleep in the bed. He put some blankets on the ground for himself to sleep in. They'd eaten dinner too early and neither of them felt like sleeping. Ye Qing looked in Dong Zi's direction and couldn't help but ask him questions.

"What's your relationship with my brother?"

"He's my brother."

"Oh, so if An Xiaoyan is a brother to both of us, so we're siblings too, right?"

The conversation went from An Xiaoyan's background back to An Xiaoyan. "So we're both orphans. Brother Xiaoyan is taking care of two orphans at once. How did you two meet?"

Dong Zi was honest, so he told Ye Qing everything about jail. Ye Qing was completely shocked after hearing everything. An Xiaoyan had never mentioned what he'd gone through before.

Wen Dong Zi didn't hear a reply after he finished, he thought that Ye Qing had fallen asleep and stopped talking. In reality, Ye Qing had wrapped the blanket around her tightly so her sobs wouldn't escape. An Xiaoyan was such a great person. How could he be treated like this?

As she cried, she gradually fell asleep. Dong Zi also fell asleep. The autumn night returned to peace.

In the morning, Ye Qing prepared to leave. Before leaving, she and Dong Zi discussed searching for An Xiaoyan. There must be a reason why he left, but no matter what, they had to find him.

After Ye Qing left, Dong Zi realized that he had An Xiaoyan's number. How could he forget about this?

Finding the slip with the number, Dong Zi brought some coins to a phone booth. He called three times, but no one answered. Did he change his number? How come no one's picking up?

The sudden spark of hope was extinguished. Putting the paper in his pocket, he went back. When he got to the warehouse, he saw Boss waiting outside.

"Boss, what's wrong? How come you're here?"

Dong Zi had gone to jail in place of this guy. Now, he was the big boss of this area, but he treated Dong Zi well. They respected the code of brotherhood on the streets. He wouldn't forget that Dong Zi had gone to jail for him.

"Brother Dragon wants to review all the guys. Everyone has to meet him personally, so I'm just letting you know. Go meet Brother Dragon at the headquarters noon the day after tomorrow."

"You didn't have to tell me this personally. You could have just sent someone."

The boss pulled Dong Zi to the side and quietly told him that if Brother Dragon asked about that case, Dong Zi should take responsibility for it. If he messed up, they'd both get punished.

The boss had already said this so many times before. Dong Zi obviously replied that he'd done the thing and it had nothing to do with the boss.

Hearing this, the boss was relieved. His kindness toward Dong Zi hadn't gone to waste. He was getting better at things.

"Then I'll get going. Rest up. If you don't have enough money, I'll give you more. Do well before Brother Dragon. If he likes you, you might rise up in the ranks."