"If there’s even a drop of water injected into this, you can smash my stall! Eleven-eighty, that’s the lowest I can go. It’s not like this is your first time buying from me."
"Eleven flat. I’ll take three jin. If not, I’ll just go buy from the stall up ahead."
Liu Xiuying made a show of turning to leave.
The vendor gritted his teeth and waved his hand.
"Fine, fine, come back! Eleven it is. It’s the New Year, and I’m just trying to make my first sale of the day!"
A satisfied look appeared on Liu Xiuying’s face as she directed the vendor on how to cut the meat.
During this triumphant round of haggling, Chen Zhuo stood just half a step behind Liu Xiuying.
He was wearing a thick, dark blue cotton-padded jacket, a wool scarf knitted by Liu Xiuying wrapped around his neck.
He had cotton gloves on both hands. In his left, he carried a mesh bag holding two heads of napa cabbage and a few green onions. In his right was a red plastic bag containing two live crucian carp.
Crucian carp are resilient. Every so often, the fish would thrash about in the bag, flinging out a few drops of ice-cold water.
Chen Zhuo took half a step back, avoiding a dark red puddle on the ground.
He stood there quietly, watching the bustling crowds and listening to the deafening New Year’s songs blasting from the loudspeakers.
’Right now, he was just a pitiful ten-year-old kid, dragged along by his mom to be a pack mule.’
’His only jobs were to hold the groceries tight and not get his clothes dirty.’
The vendor put the cut pork into a bag and tossed it onto the electronic scale.
"Thirty-four and ten cents," the vendor announced crisply.
Liu Xiuying pulled out a well-worn wallet, counted out thirty-four, and handed it over, naturally rounding down and ignoring the ten cents.
The vendor didn’t argue, just stuffed the cash into his waist pouch.
"Here, hold this."
Liu Xiuying handed the bag with the three jin of pork to Chen Zhuo.
Chen Zhuo took it, gathering the bag of pork and the napa cabbage into one hand. He felt his arm sag sharply under the weight.
"Mom, the fish bag is leaking."
Chen Zhuo glanced down. A few drops of water had already dripped onto the top of his shoes.
"It’s fine, we’re heading home soon."
Having secured a good deal on the pork, Liu Xiuying was in high spirits. She turned her head to look at an old man selling roasted sweet potatoes nearby.
The enticing aroma of roasted sweet potatoes wafted from a metal barrel.
Liu Xiuying walked over and picked out a medium-sized one.
"How much?"
"One fifty."
Liu Xiuying paid, took the sweet potato wrapped in old newspaper, and pushed it directly into Chen Zhuo’s hands.
"It’s fresh from the oven. Eat it while it’s hot. Take your gloves off, don’t get sweet potato on them—it won’t wash out."
Chen Zhuo shifted all the groceries to his left hand, pulled off his right glove, and took the piping hot sweet potato.
He peeled back the charred, blackened skin, revealing the golden-yellow flesh inside, which steamed in the cold air.
He took a bite.
It was very sweet, with a hint of smoky flavor from the firewood.
"Xiuying! Out buying things for the New Year?"
A middle-aged woman carrying a vegetable basket walked toward them.
"Oh, Sister Zhang! We just got some pork. Looks like you’ve bought quite a lot," Liu Xiuying said with a smile.
Granny Zhang’s gaze fell on Chen Zhuo, seeing his hands completely full as he stood with his head down, nibbling on the sweet potato.
"Oh my, Xiaozhuo is so well-behaved now, already helping his mom carry the groceries! The great prodigy of our City No.1 Middle School, getting into that special class for geniuses... I thought you’d have to worship him like a little prince at home."
Chen Zhuo swallowed the sweet potato in his mouth, looked up, and gave Granny Zhang a gentle smile.
"Hello, Granny Zhang."
Chen Zhuo shifted the heavy bags in his left hand.
"Can’t afford to worship him. He’s the family’s cheap labor. Might as well put him to use."
Granny Zhang roared with laughter.
Liu Xiuying shot Chen Zhuo a glare and slapped him lightly on the shoulder.
"Eat your sweet potato and stop being a smart-aleck."
Unbothered, Chen Zhuo turned away and went back to eating his sweet potato.
The crowd bustled around them, the cries of vendors rising and falling.
「At that very moment.」
「Zeyang, First Mechanical Factory’s Sunshine Family Courtyard.」
「Building 3, Unit 2, Apartment 301.」
The apartment was empty.
Chen Jianguo had gone to the factory for some business, and Liu Xiuying and Chen Zhuo were at the market.
On a cabinet against the living room wall lay a floral tablecloth, faded from countless washings.
Beside it sat a landline telephone.
RING, RING, RING—
The shrill ring of the telephone suddenly shattered the silence of the empty living room.
The sound was so loud it pierced the security door, its echo audible in the quiet hallway.
RING, RING, RING—
The phone rang on, insistent.
「Far away in Huizhou, in the office of the Associate Dean of the Keda School of Physics.」
The Alchemist gripped the receiver, his palm slick with sweat.
Listening to the monotonous ringing tone from the earpiece, he felt his heart begin to race.
Xiaochu stood beside him, not daring to breathe.
"Pick up the phone..."
The Alchemist muttered under his breath.
「Back in the living room of the Sunshine Family Courtyard.」
The second hand on the wall clock moved with a steady TICK-TOCK.
A cold wind gusted outside, rattling the window that hadn’t been fully closed.
RING, RING, RING—
The phone rang for the tenth time.
Then, there was a soft CLICK.
From the Alchemist’s receiver came a cold, female voice.
"We’re sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later..."
The Alchemist slowly lowered the receiver.
He stared at the photo of the boy on his computer screen, and the entire situation suddenly felt as absurd as a dream.
「Zeyang Market.」
Chen Zhuo finished the last bite of his sweet potato and tossed the skin into a trash can on the side of the road.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and put his cotton glove back on.
"Mom, did we buy enough green onions? It might not be enough for the dumplings tonight."
"It’s enough. We have a couple more on the balcony at home. Come on, let’s go buy some peanuts and sunflower seeds up ahead, then we’ll go home."
Liu Xiuying forged a path ahead, pushing through the crowd.
Chen Zhuo followed leisurely behind, carrying the still-dripping live fish and the heavy napa cabbage.

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