[Translation] Stray Dog Bones (野狗骨头) by Xiu Tu Cheng (休屠城): Chapter 10: Going Against a Lawless Little Rogue Like Him

 

During his years at the vocational high school, Chen Yi rarely attended classes. He just paid the tuition, showed up for a few days each month to take exams, and waited to get his diploma after three years.

He knew a friend who repaired motorcycles. Behind the auto repair shop was an empty warehouse where he could throw down a makeshift bed and sleep. There were also plenty of places to go and things to do—internet cafes, pool halls, taekwondo studios, arcades. The call about Chen Libin's accident didn't reach the school and then get passed along through friends to Chen Yi until several days later. By the time he got to the ICU and saw the man in the hospital bed, Chen Yi's feeling was probably like swallowing a dud shell.

He had thought that father and son would be bitter enemies for life. He never expected Chen Libin to suddenly be laid low. His mother had committed suicide when he was just starting elementary school. Chen Libin seemed refined and kind, but in private, he spoke sharply and viciously. After his wife died, his mouth became completely clean. After that, father and son lived alone together. There were plenty of difficult times. It was hard to say if they were even truly father and son. Chen Libin never took him for a paternity test. Some said he looked like his mother, but there were also traits like his father—especially his eyes. Others said he didn't resemble him at all, that the boy was full of vibrant, restless energy, unlike his quiet, refined father. By now, it didn't really matter anyway. The man was about to die. Soon everything would be settled, and their grievances resolved.

Chen Libin remained unconscious. After being transferred to the respiratory care unit, he was on a nasal feeding tube and a ventilator, in a private room requiring 24-hour bedside care. Chen Yi was the primary caretaker. Wei Mingzhen also came by when she could. Miao Jing was on summer break and was responsible for running errands and delivering meals.

Chen Yi didn't eat the boxed meals Miao Jing brought, nor did he let her deliver them. He had plenty of friends who would occasionally bring him a change of clothes, buy him a razor and soap, or bring a late-night snack. The one time he asked Miao Jing for help was to buy cigarettes from the convenience store. Watching over a lifeless person day and night, regardless of their relationship, was certainly dejected and depressing. He reeked of a harsh, bitter tobacco smell.

"Hongta Mountain. Seventy a carton."

Miao Jing clutched the money, looking at the red veins crowding his eyes and the faint stubble sprouting on his chin.

"Such cheap cigarettes... can you even smoke them?" she ventured weakly.

"Cheap?" Chen Yi raised an eyebrow and glanced at her, a strange smile on his face, his voice hoarse. "Are you rich?"

Miao Jing pressed her lips together, lowered her head, and turned to leave. Twenty minutes later, she returned with the cigarettes. He tore open the pack, told her to watch the room for a while, then cracked his neck, and sauntered out lazily. When he came back, he had splashed water on his face in the bathroom. Looking more alert, his gaze swept over Miao Jing.

A year apart, and this girl had grown ten centimeters. She stood in front of him like a slender bamboo pole. He didn't need to bend down; just lifting his eyes a bit, he could see her tense, wary little face.

"Where's your mother? At home preparing the funeral arrangements? Tell her to come watch him for a couple of days," he sneered coldly. "Or is she planning to wait until he stops breathing to show up?"

Miao Jing didn't dare speak. These past few days, Wei Mingzhen had been telling Miao Jing to spend more time at the hospital. She herself hadn't gone to the tea house, but she was far from idle. Either she was out running errands, or she was home ransacking drawers and cabinets. Miao Jing knew she had been to the bank several times and looked very upset. One night, she had snuck out and didn't return home until after four in the morning.

Miao Jing had been doing a lot of anxious thinking on her own.

When she got home, Wei Mingzhen listened to Miao Jing say that Chen Yi wanted her to come to the hospital to help. She frowned, didn't say anything, packed a couple of changes of clothes, and went to the hospital, telling Miao Jing to stay home and deliver meals on time every day.

Chen Yi and Wei Mingzhen crossed paths at the hospital bedside. Chen Libin still lay motionless. Wei Mingzhen touched the withered hand on the hospital bed and cried. Chen Yi's gloomy, fierce gaze rested on her for a moment, then he lazily looked away, yawned, gave her his phone number, and left, not saying when he'd be back.

Wei Mingzhen had never liked Chen Yi and would have been happy if he never came back. But that wouldn't do either. Chen Libin lay in bed, lingering, with no sign of improvement. No one knew how it would end. She was agitated and, deep down, furious. What if Chen Libin finally woke up, or became a vegetable? What then? Who would take care of him?

Only Miao Jing was left at home.

Burdened with worries, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Just as dawn was breaking, she drifted past the living room in her camisole nightgown. She vaguely noticed someone lying on the sofa. Looking closer, she saw two long legs hanging off the edge. She jolted, her scalp tingling, and screamed as she retreated back into her room.

Chen Yi had climbed through the window in the middle of the night. He hadn't even been lying down for a few hours when her thin shrieking annoyed him. He lifted his head impatiently and roared, "What are you screaming for?"

Recognizing his voice, Miao Jing calmed down. Her heart pounded as she lay on her bed, dazed. It was over an hour later when she changed clothes and came out of her room. Chen Yi was curled up on the sofa looking at his phone. Seeing her numb expression, he sneered sarcastically, "See a ghost?"

He hadn't been home in a year. What else would she have seen if not a ghost?

"No." She pressed against the wall, keeping as far from him as possible. "Why are you back?"

Chen Yi gave her a cool glance without answering. He reached up and ran his hand through his hair. The smoke-gray strands stuck up defiantly. He got up, went into the bathroom, and the sound of rushing water started. Then he banged his way out, bringing a wave of cool air, and dumped all his dirty clothes from the past few days into the washing machine. Miao Jing was cooking noodles in the kitchen. Through the kitchen window, she saw him sitting on the balcony smoking, half his body leaning out over the window. She hesitated, then asked if he wanted breakfast. Chen Yi threw his cigarette butt out the window, jumped down from the balcony, and answered with two words: "Don't want it."

The old washing machine rumbled. Miao Jing sat at the table eating breakfast. She glanced stealthily as Chen Yi surveyed the room twice, then strode straight into Wei Mingzhen and Chen Libin's bedroom. She heard the sound of drawers opening and knew Chen Yi was looking for something. Her heart pounded like a drum. Maybe the things he was looking for had already been put away by Wei Mingzhen... Then Chen Yi turned on the desktop computer on the desk, sat down, and started tapping at the keyboard.

At noon, Miao Jing was about to leave to deliver lunch to Wei Mingzhen. Chen Yi was still sitting at the computer. As she stepped out the door, he called her back. He slowly sauntered over, a cigarette dangling from his lips, wearing a floral shirt and jeans, leaning bonelessly against the wall. He bent down, flicked his lighter, and lit the cigarette. As the smoke flared, he blew out the flame. A wave of scorching heat brushed her face. He lifted his eyes and stared directly at her.

"Don't tell your mother, understand?" Smoke drifted across her face. "You know the consequences, right?"

"I understand..." Miao Jing lowered her eyes meekly, clutching her lunchbox tightly.

He smiled at her, a flicker of light moving in his eyes like floating shards of ice. He pushed her out the door with a large hand on her shoulder.

When Miao Jing returned from the hospital, the house was empty. The clothes from the washing machine were gone too. Only a cigarette butt remained in the trash can. -

Because the waiver of further treatment had been signed in the ICU, and the regular ward lacked adequate medical resources, the hospital room couldn't be left unattended. Wei Mingzhen had to constantly watch the bedside, chatting on her phone while keeping an eye on Chen Libin and the IV bags on the wall, changing the urine bag and cleaning his body regularly. Chen Yi hadn't shirked this duty. The doctor had said to monitor the patient closely and ring the bell promptly if there were any respiratory abnormalities or other signs of movement.

On the second night, Wei Mingzhen vaguely heard an extremely soft groan from the hospital room. She leaned closer to listen, but it didn't continue. Looking closely at Chen Libin, his face was sallow and dim; he had withered into a gaunt, bony shell. Wei Mingzhen couldn't bear to look but there was also a glimmer of resentment in her eyes. Around three or four in the morning, she seemed to hear movement from the bed again. Trembling with fear, she went over and bent close to Chen Libin's face to listen. There was a faint, rasping sound, like struggling and unwillingness. The man's eyes rolled back and forth under his eyelids, as if desperately trying to open them and wake up. His legs were also twitching unconsciously, thumping against the bed.

This happened two or three times during the night. Wei Mingzhen stood frozen by the bed, helpless. She wanted to ring the bell to call a doctor but hesitated, her heart in chaos. She stood in a cold sweat, staring wide-eyed at Chen Libin in the bed. Only when sunlight streamed into the room and the man on the bed returned to deathly stillness, the IV bag empty, did she think to go to the nurses' station to ask for a new bag.

As she turned around, Wei Mingzhen nearly fainted from fright. She cried out and collapsed into a chair. Chen Yi was leaning lazily against the doorframe, arms crossed, his bright black eyes carrying a prickly, mocking smile. "Auntie. Been standing here for a while... Is my father still alive?"

Wei Mingzhen's face turned pale. "W-when did you get here?"

"Just arrived." Chen Yi shrugged, his gleaming eyes seeming to hold a deeper meaning. "I was afraid my father wouldn't make it through these next few days. Came early to fulfill my filial duties."

In the morning, the doctors and nurses came for rounds and to change dressings. They checked Chen Libin's condition and asked how the patient was doing. Wei Mingzhen said there was no movement at all. The doctor shook his head and sighed. Later, Miao Jing arrived at the hospital. She saw Chen Yi and Wei Mingzhen sitting far apart in the room, both expressionless. She was holding a box of cut fruit and wearing a white dress with a light green pattern. Her cheeks were flushed from the sun, her features softened by the heat. She distributed the fruit to the two of them.

"Mom."

"Brother."

The cool, sweet fruit was refreshing. Miao Jing sat next to Wei Mingzhen. Wei Mingzhen nervously grabbed one of her hands, seemingly trying to avoid Chen Yi's gaze.

Chen Libin didn't last many more days.

His condition worsened day by day. Respiratory failure, dilated pupils, cardiac arrest. The hospital officially pronounced him dead.

From the hospital to the funeral parlor to the cemetery, the process moved quickly. Wei Mingzhen busied herself with arrangements—settling the hospital bills, handling the aftermath, notifying Chen Libin's work unit and relatives. Chen Yi and Miao Jing watched over Chen Libin's body, accompanying it from the hospital to the funeral parlor to the burial, receiving the people who came to pay their respects.

Chen Yi wore mourning clothes and held the funeral portrait. His head bowed, he looked gloomy and gaunt. His brows were deeply etched, his features stark. With his unconventional hair color, he exuded a cold, rebellious resilience. Both parents were now dead. Only a sixteen-year-old son remained of the Chen family, along with a mother and daughter unrelated to him. Many people whispered among themselves. How would this household manage in the future? What would become of Chen Yi?

After the funeral arrangements were completed, Chen Yi returned home with Wei Mingzhen and Miao Jing. Wei Mingzhen became the head of the household. Her attitude toward guests was exceptionally gentle and soft. She had to deal with Chen Libin's belongings left at home and at his work unit. She cautiously sounded out Chen Yi's opinion. Chen Yi had no attachments. Things were either thrown away or given away. Even the computer was given to someone else.

Before Wei Mingzhen could figure out how the family would live from then on, Chen Yi seemed to have changed his playful, unrestrained nature. He stayed home smoking every day, filling the house with choking fumes. Occasionally he went out, but he always climbed back in through the window at night and slept on the sofa.

Chen Yi hadn't properly come home for years. Suddenly having a young thug in the house wasn't a comfortable feeling. Wei Mingzhen couldn't kick him out, but every morning when she got up and saw someone sprawled lazily on the sofa—Wei Mingzhen felt guilty. She didn't dare offer Chen Yi a room, afraid he might settle in permanently. His dark, cold eyes would suddenly land on her back, sending chills down her spine.

On the surface, the three of them were harmonious, but beneath the calm water, undercurrents surged. No one knew what schemes were hidden.

Miao Jing had a vague feeling that the atmosphere at home was the calm before a storm. An eerie stillness.

One day at noon, Chen Yi came back. Seeing mother and daughter sitting at the dining table having lunch, he slowly pulled out a chair and sat down. He lit a cigarette in a frivolous, dissolute manner, tilted his chin, and asked Wei Mingzhen, "Has the money arrived yet?"

Miao Jing paused with her chopsticks. She looked at her mother, then at Chen Yi. Wei Mingzhen's expression stiffened. "What money?"

"My father's insurance payout. The pension benefits." Chen Yi counted on his fingers, his tone not at all polite. "It's been so long. You haven't mentioned a single word?"

Lately, Wei Mingzhen had been busy with exactly these matters. The power supply bureau was such a good unit. The pension and insurance benefits were a large sum of money.

Wei Mingzhen's face paled. She hesitated for a long time before squeezing out through clenched teeth, "This money, this money hasn't arrived yet... It's meant to be used for your education and living expenses..."

Chen Yi's smile was cold. "How long have you been married to my father? Not long, right? Before, because you couldn't have children, he kept putting off getting the marriage certificate. Wasn't it just in the last year or two that you finally registered? Why did you get the certificate? Did you want to take your share of the property and leave? Now that he's dead, you want to keep the house too? And swallow the money as well?"

He tapped his long fingers on the table. His gaze was sinister, his tone fierce. "I want his pension benefits."

"You can have the other money," he added with a grin. "No one gets the short end of the stick."

"What other money is there in the house?" Stung to the quick, Wei Mingzhen's voice suddenly became sharp and high-pitched, her eyes full of resentment. "Chen Libin said the family savings were seven or eight hundred thousand, that he'd made over a million from stocks. All bullshit! All lies! That mongrel showed me fake bank balances. He lost it all! The rest of the money he gave away to those women on the internet—thousands and thousands in transfers. When I asked him for a bit of money, he pinched every penny. No, it wasn't even pinching pennies—he simply had no money!"

Wei Mingzhen was truly insane with hatred. She had checked Chen Libin's various accounts, turned everything upside down, and still didn't see that one to two million fortune. She didn't believe it. She checked again and again. In the end, the balance in the cards added up to only a few tens of thousands. After deducting hospital and funeral expenses, there was almost nothing left. Now her only hope was the compensation after death—several hundred thousand! Six years wasted on Chen Libin—washing, cooking, being obedient—and he turned out to be a penniless liar who fooled her for six years. He deserved to fall down those stairs.

If she could have this house plus that money, Wei Mingzhen might just barely swallow her anger. And if Chen Yi tried to compete with her for it, could she just accept it? What right did he have to compete with her? Father and son had become enemies like this. A bastard, not biologically related. What right did he have to take this money?!

Wei Mingzhen's complexion was atrocious. The muscles in her cheeks twitched with suppressed rage. Miao Jing shrank in her chair, her head bowed low, pretending to be invisible. Chen Yi looked at the mother and daughter, couldn't help but snort, then burst out laughing, holding his stomach, laughing until tears came.

He laughed at their stupidity, or maybe at their pitifulness.

"So this is all the money that's left?" His smile on his young face was roguish and savage. "The house is yours. The money is mine."

"The money hasn't arrived. There's not even a shadow of it." Wei Mingzhen shot up from her chair, her face flushed crimson, her whole body trembling. "This money... this money is for education, for living... We have to go on living..."

"Then we'll wait until the money arrives. But if you dare take it all for yourself, or run off with the money..." He stared at Wei Mingzhen, his eyes like deep wells, fierce enough to devour someone. "I'll dig up everything you've done... and make your life very difficult."

Going against a lawless little rogue like him, what good could come of it?

Wei Mingzhen, dizzy, slumped back into her chair. "Why would I run away? This is my home... Miao Jing still needs to go to school, to take her high school entrance exam. She needs to go to a key high school..."

Chen Yi's gaze swept over Miao Jing. Indeed, Miao Jing still needed to study. As long as he kept an eye on Miao Jing, where could the mother and daughter run?

Miao Jing's face was pale and calm. Silently, she bore the weight of both their stares. What could she do? There was nothing she could do. -

Time drifted by until Miao Jing's third year of middle school began. Wei Mingzhen told Miao Jing to register for school and to board there.

Chen Yi, curled up on the sofa playing games, heard the mother-daughter conversation. He didn't move a muscle, didn't even lift an eyelid.

Mother and daughter spoke privately. Wei Mingzhen told Miao Jing to have as little contact with Chen Yi as possible, to be careful at school, and to talk to her homeroom teacher if anything happened. Miao Jing asked about the pension and insurance money. Wei Mingzhen didn't reveal a thing. She only said she didn't want the house, that she'd leave it to Chen Yi. She wanted the money—a very large sum, totaling seven or eight hundred thousand. Wei Mingzhen didn't want Chen Yi to know. She was afraid he'd be greedy and take it all, afraid he'd do something extreme for the money.

"Mom, that's Chen Yi's father's money..." Miao Jing swallowed, frowning. "Don't fight with Chen Yi."

"Chen Libin lied to me. He told me he had several million. Even if we divorced, I could get over a million." Wei Mingzhen gritted her teeth. "Chen Yi isn't Chen Libin's son. If he gets that money and gambles it away, Chen Libin would jump out of his grave with anger."

"Mom..."

"Don't take Chen Yi's side. I'm your mother. Who is he to you?"

Wei Mingzhen had her own plans. When registering for school, she gave Miao Jing several thousand extra yuan, telling her to hide it in her school dormitory. It might come in handy someday. -

That day, Wei Mingzhen left the house early, saying she was going to the power supply bureau to ask for news. She left empty-handed, wandered around the city several times, and finally took a taxi to the train station. Halfway there, she called Miao Jing's homeroom teacher.

Miao Jing answered the phone. She heard her mother say in a low voice that a man would be waiting for her at the school gate in half an hour. She was to go with him to the train station. The tickets were already bought.

The call ended. Miao Jing's mind went completely blank. Her heart leaped into her throat. Her steps felt like walking on clouds.

Wei Mingzhen was taking her... running away?

In a daze, she walked outside and stood at the school gate for a while. Sure enough, a man appeared—the man she had seen, the one involved with Wei Mingzhen. He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward a taxi. Trembling with fear, Miao Jing stepped back. The man anxiously said that her mother had already left Tengcheng by train and was waiting for them to meet up at the next station.

"Where are we going?" Her face was pale, cold sweat on her forehead. "Did you plan this beforehand?"

"Get in the car first. Hurry, hurry. The train station isn't close."

The man tugged Miao Jing's arm, trying to pull her into the taxi. Helpless, Miao Jing stumbled forward a couple of steps. Bo Zai rushed over from the side. With a fierce lunge, he grabbed Miao Jing. She jumped back in shock, frozen by the sudden turn of events. Pulled left and right by the two men, she heard Bo Zai shout loudly, "Someone! Help!! Someone's kidnapping her! Someone's kidnapping a student!!"

Bo Zai's voice was especially piercing. "Help!! Someone call the police! 110! Call the police, quick!"

The security guard at the school gate heard the commotion and rushed out. The man, hearing the words "call the police," saw that the situation had turned bad. He cried out, jumped into the taxi, and fled, abandoning Miao Jing.

Security guards surrounded them. Bo Zai let go of Miao Jing and grinned, saying he was just joking. After being questioned for a bit, a voice called out from nearby, laughing, "Little sister."

Chen Yi strode over.

Miao Jing's entire body stiffened like stone. She turned her head mechanically, her terrified eyes meeting his handsome, smiling face and his pitch-black, extraordinarily sinister gaze.