Chapter 34: Whose Dream?

Li Zhuiyuan braced himself, fully expecting a scratch or bite in the next second.

But he had to take the gamble. Since Qin Li had looked up at him voluntarily from downstairs earlier, maybe—just maybe—she could still hold herself together.

They stood close enough that he could feel her hands trembling.

From the past two days of quietly observing her, Li Zhuiyuan knew that this girl recoiled from all outside contact. Only her grandmother could softly coax her into eating something, and even Granny Liu didn’t dare show her any physical affection.

What gave him hope was that Qin Li’s trembling began to subside. Her breathing evened out. She didn’t push him away. She didn’t even try to pull her hand back.

Once she calmed down, the shadow at their feet began to recede, then disappeared.

Everyone who had been staring in their direction turned back to what they were doing—including those two women.

Whew… Safe for now.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Qin Li and asked in a whisper, “Do you know what we should do next?”

Qin Li didn’t respond. She just looked at him.

Okay. So she probably didn’t know either.

If this had happened in broad daylight, being able to hold her hand and have her look at him, Li Zhuiyuan might’ve been kind of happy.

It was like a perfect work of art acknowledging your presence—responding to you.

But given the circumstances, he could hardly enjoy the moment.

“Time to take your seats! Come on, everyone, let’s sit!”

“Come now, let’s all sit down!”

Someone was organizing the seating.

Right now, the safest thing to do was blend in.

“Let’s find a place to sit,” Li Zhuiyuan said, taking Qin Li’s hand and leading her toward a table with only a little boy sitting at it.

But just as they were about to sit down, the boy bent over and threw himself across the bench, yelling:

“I saved these seats! These are my saved seats! My mom and dad and grandpa and grandma and my uncles are all coming— you can’t sit here!”

Seat-saving drama.

If the boy hadn’t been so caked with rouge and obviously made of paper, Li Zhuiyuan might’ve mistaken him for Huzi or Shitou.

Last time they’d eaten at Big Beard’s house, Huzi and Shitou had also rushed ahead to save spots for their older brothers. The tone and manner were exactly the same.

“Hey kids, there’s two empty spots over here—come sit here and fill up our table,” an old man in mourning clothes at the next table called out kindly.

“Okay, Grandpa.”

Li Zhuiyuan immediately led Qin Li over. He sat down first, then, seeing that Qin Li was still standing, whispered, “Sit.”

She didn’t move.

So he reached out and pressed on her waist to guide her down onto the bench.

The moment he touched her waist, she started trembling again.

But when he let go, she settled.

He looked down at their still-joined hands and realized: this was probably the limit of what she could tolerate.

“Kiddo, where are your parents?” the old man in the mourning garb asked.

He sounded kindly enough, but with that makeup… even the friendliest face looked eerie.

Li Zhuiyuan replied, “My grandparents are helping out in the kitchen. They told me to bring my little sister here to eat first.”

“Oh, I see. Heh heh.” Then the old man turned to Qin Li. “Such a sweet-looking girl. How old is she?”

Qin Li didn’t respond.

Li Zhuiyuan knew she couldn’t have, even if she wanted to—she likely didn’t understand the Nantong dialect.

Granny Liu’s family lived here with Great-Grandpa, and while Aunt Liu and Uncle Qin worked for him, they barely interacted with the other villagers. Even when speaking to him, they used Mandarin. Qin Li, who sat unmoving on the doorstep all day, was even less likely to understand the local speech.

That was for the best. If she had answered in Mandarin, it would’ve just attracted more attention. And right now, the less they said, the better.

“Grandpa, my little sister is ten. She had a high fever when she was little, but they didn’t get her to a clinic in time. Burned her brain. She can’t really hear or speak.”

He said it loud enough for the whole table to hear—plugging this potential leak before it could spring.

“Oh, that’s a shame. Poor thing, tsk tsk.”

“Yeah, we had one like that in our village. Caught a fever young, family didn’t treat it seriously, ended up brain-damaged.”

“That’s right. You’ve got to be careful raising little ones. If you’re not, the kid suffers—and later, so do the parents who have to care for them.”

The table broke into a chorus of agreement.

Then the old man turned back to Li Zhuiyuan. “How old are you?”

“Eleven.”

He added a year to his actual age. Even though Qin Li was only a month younger than him, there was no way he could claim they were both ten—they didn’t look anything like twins. “Mom” couldn’t possibly have given birth to two babies in one month.

Otherwise someone might suggest one was from a widowed father and the other from a widowed mother, forming a blended family.

That’d set the whole table gossiping. Maybe even the neighboring table would chime in.

“Do you go to school?”

“Yes, I’m in fourth grade.”

“What about your sister?”

“She doesn’t go. She just stays at home all day. We only brought her out today for the banquet.”

“Hmm.”

The old man stopped questioning him and turned to chat with the others.

Li Zhuiyuan finally got a moment to breathe. He glanced at Qin Li, then leaned closer and murmured, “Don’t be scared. I’m here.”

It wasn’t flattery—it was a warning: keep it together. Please don’t explode.

Qin Li turned and looked at him.

There was no emotion in her eyes.

Then she turned away and resumed staring into space.

Li Zhuiyuan figured she understood. After all, she could feed herself. It wasn’t that she lacked the ability to care for herself. In fact, she had a cleanliness obsession.

Granny Liu always wiped her down thoroughly after meals.

Now that things had calmed down, Li Zhuiyuan let himself focus on the dishes on the table.

Only cold starters had been served so far: chilled spinach molded into cylinders, century egg with tofu, stir-fried peanuts, sliced salted duck eggs arranged neatly…

There were only two meat dishes—salted pork slices and braised pork ribs. Both in small portions, but cut finely enough for everyone to get a few bites.