Chapter 42: The Devil’s Probing
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
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The convenience store uncle’s gaze shifted downward.
He carefully scrutinized every feature on Little Shiyu’s face. The child’s expression… indeed showed no abnormalities. There was no panic of being caught, nor any excess tension. He just suddenly got caught and started yelling like a noisy little brat.
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing,” the convenience store uncle smiled kindly at Little Shiyu. “Uncle thought… you were up to no good.”
Little Shiyu gave him a side-eye, pretending to be naive as he humored the uncle. They exchanged a few words, and then the uncle reached out and petted the black-and-white little cat on the glass cabinet.
“Thank you for helping Uncle watch the store and for finding Little Qi,” the convenience store uncle said.
Keeping his promise, the convenience store uncle took out a brown 20 yuan note and handed it to Little Shiyu.
“Here, this is what we agreed on, 30 yuan for finding the cat.”
“Thank you, Uncle!”
Little Shiyu beamed with an innocent and happy smile as he took the money and skipped back home.
Once home, Little Shiyu quickly took out his notebook and pen, drawing out the English letters he had seen in the convenience store just like drawings.
***
“Do you know what this means?”
Ding ling, ding ling…
The bell for the end of class rang. Chu Feng put away his Chinese textbook and a small note was pushed onto his wooden desk:
Dr. Psy
Shiming Ji
Chu Feng looked at Little Shiyu curiously. “Where did you get this from?”
“Um…” Little Shiyu hesitated a bit. “I saw it at… the neighbor uncle’s house. It might be a certificate.”
“This should be an academic certificate,” Chu Feng leaned over, studying the little note.
Chu Feng felt a bit nervous. ‘Psy’ was a word he had come across in his English extracurricular class. He wasn’t quite sure how to pronounce it and silently tried several pronunciations in his mind. Even if he mispronounced it, Little Shiyu wouldn’t notice, but he didn’t want to mispronounce a word in front of Little Shiyu.
Chu Feng adjusted his pronunciation and maintained his calm demeanor as he said, “The first ‘Dr.’ should mean ‘Doctor,’ ‘Psy’… is ‘Psychology.’ The last one should be the phonetic spelling of his name, right? Ji… Shiming?”
As Little Shiyu listened, his gaze shifted from the little note to Chu Feng’s face.
The first class was over, and the sun outside was already high. Chu Feng was sitting next to him, looking at the letters he had written. The sunlight streamed in through the window, casting golden spots on Chu Feng’s raised eyelashes. When he blinked, the spots of light scattered like rain into the air…
“Hey! Are you even listening to me?”
Chu Feng suddenly looked up, staring at Little Shiyu.
“…mm.”
Little Shiyu averted his gaze, no longer looking at Chu Feng.
Chu Feng was a bit annoyed. He had expected Little Shiyu to be impressed, after all, remembering a difficult word like “Psychology” was quite impressive! He had even paid special attention to his pronunciation, only to receive a simple “mm” from Little Shiyu.
Chu Feng looked at Little Shiyu with a sulky expression.
“What are you guys talking about?” Sun Bing turned around from the front and wanted to join their conversation. “Wow! English letters? Who wrote them? And pinyin too?”
First-grade students had just started learning pinyin, and Little Shiyu hadn’t even recognized the initial consonants and final consonants yet. But Chu Feng and Sun Bing in the same class had already attended extracurricular classes, giving them an advantage. They almost immediately spelled out the name:
“Shiming Ji, Real Name Chicken (Ji)?” Sun Bing said, “Who’s that?”
Chu Feng rolled his eyes.
Sun Bing continued, “This Real Name Chicken seems quite impressive. He’s a doctor, you know.”
Chu Feng remembered Little Shiyu saying that he saw this at the neighbor’s house and asked, “Is this the neighbor who asked you to find the cat last time?”
Little Shiyu nodded.
The convenience store uncle was indeed suspicious.
A psychology doctor, possibly from abroad. The convenience store uncle might just be a decoy, or perhaps, the current convenience store uncle wasn’t really Li Dawei, but someone else named Ji Shiming.
***
“Did you guys listen to the radio yesterday? The English channel.”
On the way home from school, holding hands, Little Shiyu suddenly spoke up.
“No. I went home to do math homework yesterday,” Chu Feng said as Little Shiyu held his hand.
“I listened! I listened!”
Sun Bing perked up at the mention of English. Failing to show off once made him very uncomfortable, and he remembered it well. Sun Bing assumed a superior posture and said generously to Little Shiyu, “If you heard something you didn’t understand, you can ask me.”
Ignoring his attitude, Little Shiyu continued, “Yesterday afternoon, around 4 o’clock, they seemed to have aired news about the FBI.”
“Oh, that one. The language in that news was quite simple,” Sun Bing boasted, although he couldn’t understand it at all. But he had a tutor who helped him with his homework every day, and the tutor could understand it.
“What did the news say yesterday?” Little Shiyu asked.
“They said…” Sun Bing was about to say when he suddenly realized something. He chuckled and said to Little Shiyu, “You’re so eager to know?”
Little Shiyu nodded.
“Haha!” Sun Bing finally found Little Shiyu’s weakness and showed off, “Then you have to beg me, beg me and I’ll tell you.”
Sun Bing thought to himself, “Last time, that guy surnamed Xie climbed a tree to hug a cat and shook the tree full of caterpillars to scare me. I haven’t settled the score with him yet! This time, such a good opportunity can’t be missed! In his imagination, that guy surnamed Xie behind him will have to bow and scrape to him, begging for forgiveness, asking him to tell him the content of the English news, and then…”
Sun Bing fantasized about it. He would clear his throat, and in the astonished eyes of everyone, he would recount the news content translated by his tutor yesterday, earning admiration from all the kids, including Chu Feng from Class A!
***
Sun Bing was thinking…
Little Shiyu behind suddenly shrugged indifferently. “Oh, forget it then.”
Sun Bing was stunned.
The other children weren’t interested in the FBI news either, talking about dinosaurs, remote-control trucks… Soon, Little Shiyu and Chu Feng began chatting about other things, completely ignoring the English news about the FBI.
This time, Sun Bing was anxious. This was his only chance to show off, and he didn’t know when the next one would come. They wouldn’t officially start learning English until the second grade. Did he have to wait until then?
Little Shiyu and Chu Feng behind were laughing, discussing something amusing. After hesitating for a while, Sun Bing turned back and said to Little Shiyu, “Don’t you want to know about the FBI news?”
Little Shiyu held Chu Feng’s hand with one hand and casually put the other in his pocket, saying coolly, “Of course I do. I’m just afraid you don’t know.”
“How could I not know! I understand it all!”
Little Shiyu quietly squeezed Chu Feng’s palm. Chu Feng spoke at the right moment, “You’re in Class B, can you understand?”
The surrounding children laughed again.
Sun Bing exploded like a loaded gun, “So what if it’s Class B! You guys haven’t even taken an English class!”
Little Shiyu retorted, “But you still can’t tell us what the FBI news was about yesterday.”
Sun Bing retorted, “Who says I can’t!”
Little Shiyu challenged him, “Then say it.”
Sun Bing responded, “Why should I tell you for nothing! You have to beg me to say it.”
Little Shiyu made a hissing sound, and the boys behind him followed suit. Little Shiyu reached out and patted Sun Bing on the shoulder, “Just admit you don’t understand, don’t make excuses. It’s okay, it seems like the program might have a replay. I’ll have someone from Class A listen for me then.”
Little Shiyu held hands tightly with Chu Feng from English Class A.
“D*mn!” Sun Bing cursed, “Who says I don’t understand! The news was about the FBI investigating a case!”
The surrounding children also perked up their ears.
Little Shiyu asked, “I don’t speak English, but I can still tell they were investigating a case. What case?”
Sun Bing lowered his voice mysteriously, “It’s a serial murder case, scary, right?”
“Oh,” Little Shiyu responded.
“In the United States, California, to be exact. The killer has been indiscriminately targeting victims, already killing twelve people, and each victim has been dismembered. The first body was cut into twenty-four pieces, and for each subsequent victim, one more piece was added, so by the twelfth victim, it was thirty-six pieces!”
Some girls screamed, “Stop it!”
Sun Bing laughed triumphantly.
“Isn’t that in the recent news?” Chu Feng turned to Little Shiyu and said, “It said they found…”
“Body parts,” Little Shiyu interrupted.
“You know?” Chu Feng asked.
“Yeah,” Little Shiyu nodded, “It’s all dismemberment cases…”
“What do you mean ‘all dismemberment cases’? How can these two be the same?” Sun Bing sneered, “The news said it was just dismembered body parts, maybe someone panicked after killing and just cut them up and threw them in the river. It might not even be a serial killer. But the FBI case is a big one that shocked overseas, killing twelve people and the killer still hasn’t been caught!”
— Dismemberment.
Little Shiyu pondered.
The school’s dismissal lineup split at the intersection.
Chu Feng stopped in place for a moment, watching Little Shiyu walk into the left fork alone, getting farther and farther away. He hesitated for a moment, then turned back and walked home to the right.
On the left, Little Shiyu ran all the way home, with dark shadows of trees passing by him. In his mind, he was certain: the uncle from the convenience store was the murderer in the news, returning from abroad and unable to resist committing crimes again.
He must tell his mother about this quickly.
“Mom…”
Little Shiyu opened the door.
His mother was home today. It seemed she had ended her “hunt” early, as there were scattered wallets and stolen bags all over the living room.
His mother stood up in a panic, kicked everything under the sofa, turned around, and forced a smile, “Little Shiyu, you’re back.”
Little Shiyu was sensible. He pretended not to understand what his mother was up to, just nodded and went back to his room.
As soon as he closed the door, he heard rustling noises from the living room. His mother dragged out various bags she had stolen, counted the money, and sorted them out.
“Yuyu.”
After dinner, Little Shiyu stood on a small stool washing dishes. His mother handed him a black plastic bag, “Go deliver this to the uncle in Room 304 later.”
Obedient Little Shiyu, for once, stood still without moving.
“What’s wrong?” His mother asked.
“Mom,” Little Shiyu didn’t take the black plastic bag.
“The uncle in Room 304 is a bit strange.”
His mom set down the stolen branded bag loot and reached out to touch Little Shiyu. “What happened?”
“Is the uncle in Room 304 not called Li Dawei? He’s not just an uncle from the convenience store, I saw… I saw him listening to an English radio.”
His mother’s expression was slightly surprised, then she smiled, “You noticed that too? The uncle in Room 304 is named Ji Shiming. Li Dawei is just… a convenient name to call him.”
This time, Little Shiyu was surprised, “Mom… Do you know his name?”
His mother smiled, “Silly child, people like us… who sell things for a living, usually have several aliases.”
His mother thought for a moment, with a hint of guilt on her face, “But this is not a good thing, you can’t learn from it. You have to study hard, go to a good university in the future, and find a decent job, understand?”
Little Shiyu asked, “But… the uncle from the convenience store seems to have a high education. He understands English radio. Why doesn’t he find a decent job?”
“Because…” His mother lowered her head, “sometimes… regular jobs don’t make as much money… Alright! Kids shouldn’t ask so many questions! Go take the bag there.”
Little Shiyu persisted, “But! That day I saw Uncle tying a very strange knot on the milk crate! And he didn’t even move the milk crate into the convenience store…”
“Xie Shiyu.”
Little Shiyu lowered his head and stopped talking. He obediently picked up the black bag and said, “I’ll go then.”
Little Shiyu turned to leave with a gloomy expression.
“Yuyu.”
His mother called out to him. Little Shiyu turned back and suddenly saw his mother holding a red plastic rope with a very peculiar knot tied on it!
Exactly like the one on the convenience store uncle’s rope!
“This kind of knot can’t be undone,” his mother said, taking a pair of scissors and cutting it off. “This is the only way to undo it.”
— A knot that must be cut with scissors to undo.
Suddenly Little Shiyu understood. What the convenience store uncle kept in the milk crate wasn’t milk, but stolen goods to be sold to buyers. If this kind of knot was tied on the rope used to bind the boxes, suppose someone wanted to peek inside the box, they would have to untie the knot and tie it back up again.
But this knot was special. Only those involved in this series of transactions, like his mother and the convenience store uncle, would know how to tie it. Outsiders who hadn’t learned it wouldn’t be able to tie this kind of knot.
If a buyer received a box from the convenience store uncle with the seal intact and this special knot tied, it would indicate to some extent that the goods hadn’t been tampered with by outsiders.
Little Shiyu blinked.
“Alright! Stop overthinking,” his mother crouched down and patted Little Shiyu’s head, “You’re a very smart kid, but sometimes too smart, you’re prone to overthinking. Don’t think about it. The convenience store uncle is a good person.”
***
Third floor.
Seven-year-old Little Shiyu stood at the door of Room 304, holding the black bag in his left hand.
Through the gap in the bag, he saw some empty cans inside, with several brand-name bags and shiny cards hidden underneath.
“Uncle is a good person.”
His mother’s words echoed in his mind.
The red plastic rope, the strange way of tying knots, the convenience store uncle’s Ph.D., all the suspicious points had reasonable explanations.
He had been overthinking everything.
Little Shiyu reached out.
Just as he was about to knock on the door of Room 304 –
“Hey, isn’t this Little Shiyu! What are you doing here?”
Little Shiyu turned around and saw the aunt from Room 401 climbing up the stairs.
She wore a pink floral nightgown, wrapping around her fat body, sweat dripping from her neck, mixed with the cheap perfume on her body, coming to his nose.
Little Shiyu stepped back half a step. His mother never personally went to find the convenience store uncle, largely because of this gossiping aunt.
Even though the aunt lived in Room 401, in the building behind, she walked around their building every day as if on patrol.
His mother was a single woman, and his father only came home when he ran out of money from drug use. If his mother went into the convenience store uncle’s room alone and was coincidentally seen by the aunt, who knows what she would say. If that kind of talk reached his father’s ears…
Little Shiyu thought for a moment, his mother would probably be beaten to death.
The aunt approached him kindly, smiling, “Little Shiyu, what are you doing alone here? Why don’t you go home?”
Little Shiyu stepped back half a step, and the aunt’s scrutinizing gaze shifted to the black bag in his hand. A smile with creases appeared on her face, “What’s this? Let auntie see!”
Little Shiyu slightly opened the bag, revealing the empty cans inside.
“Oh! Are you still collecting cans to sell to this uncle? Such a good boy!” The aunt said, leaning her face towards Little Shiyu’s as if he wanted to kiss him.
Little Shiyu stepped back half a step in fright.
Creak –
The door of Room 304 opened.
The convenience store uncle grabbed Little Shiyu.
He dragged Little Shiyu into the room, avoiding the aunt. He turned around and smiled, “Oh, big sister, taking a walk? “
The aunt replied awkwardly, “Yeah.”
The convenience store uncle continued with a smile, “Go for a walk in the courtyard, why walk in the corridor?”
The aunt turned around, “I was just about to go downstairs.”
The convenience store uncle hit the nail on the head, “Sister, you live in Room 401 in the building behind, right? It seems like you’ve been coming to our building a lot lately. Do you have someone you know who’s moving in? Or is there… treasure in our building?”
The aunt replied hastily, “No, no! Haha, I’m just strolling around. Our families both live on the fourth floor, so it’s nice to visit each other from time to time! Right, Little Shiyu?”
Little Shiyu remained silent.
The convenience store uncle smiled and quickly got rid of the aunt with a few words, then brought Little Shiyu into the room.
“Here.”
Little Shiyu handed over the black bag.
He carefully observed the uncle’s reaction.
The convenience store uncle was calm and very kind. He opened the black bag, looked at the bags and cards inside, then pulled out another black bag from under the bed and handed it to Little Shiyu:
“Here, take it, your little snacks~!”
Little Shiyu lifted the heavy black bag. He knew there was money inside, but on top of the money were packets of instant noodles, spicy strips, and small biscuits, just to deceive people.
—Who knows who they were trying to deceive.
He, the uncle, and his mother. All knew exactly what was going on.
Little Shiyu glanced at the black bag, calling out in a childish voice, “Wow! So many snacks!”
The uncle squinted at Little Shiyu, “Are you happy?”
Little Shiyu replied, “Yes! I’m happy!”
He carried the black bag and, like any seven-year-old child, turned around, wanting to open the door. Little Shiyu wanted to leave the uncle’s house quickly…
Click.
Little Shiyu slid open the door latch.
But the door didn’t open as usual with a creak.
— The door was locked from the inside.
Little Shiyu’s heart sank.
Behind him, came the uncle’s chilling voice:
“Don’t pretend.”
***
“What is the uncle saying?”
“You saw my diploma today, didn’t you?”
Ji Shiming stepped forward, holding the door lock to prevent Little Shiyu from opening the door.
Little Shiyu steadied himself, turned his head, and faced the uncle.
More talk, more mistakes. Little Shiyu chose silence.
“Today’s drawer… was excellent,” Ji Shiming squatted down to talk to Little Shiyu, “You found the location of that key, opened it, and then turned back. You also found my hand cream.”
Ji Shiming chuckled softly, extending his hand and raising it in front of Little Shiyu.
“You must be curious why, despite your flawless performance, I still found out?” Ji Shiming stared at the child in front of him, hoping to see him trembling in fear. This child could never guess that there were surveillance cameras installed in the convenience store by him long ago. No matter what Little Shiyu did inside, no matter how seamless, he would always find out.
Little Shiyu looked straight at the middle-aged man in front of him, the man who often carried boxes, whose hands were exceptionally well-maintained, even fairer and smoother than a woman’s, emitting a faint floral fragrance. His age and lifestyle were extremely mismatched.
“Surveillance footage.”
Little Shiyu calmed down, thinking.
In that era, installing surveillance cameras was expensive. But… the convenience store uncle didn’t care. He didn’t rely on the convenience store to make money in the first place.
There was a hint of surprise on Ji Shiming’s face, which quickly turned into a strange admiration.
“You’re a very smart kid,” Ji Shiming reached into Little Shiyu’s black bag, took out a few packets of snacks, and threw them away casually.
“You’re even smarter than your mother imagined. You don’t need these boring disguises at all.”
Snap – clink.
The packets of instant noodles were thrown away, revealing the naked red hundred-yuan bills underneath.
Little Shiyu still didn’t speak. He silently watched the uncle’s every move.
Every time he came to the uncle’s house, he carried the bag with his left hand because… his right hand… had a utility knife in his pocket. Once needed…
“The uncle doesn’t like dishonest children,” Ji Shiming took out a box of gold foil glass from the nearby cabinet and handed it to Little Shiyu.
“So let’s be honest with each other. Hm? I’m not called Li Dawei, and you’re not a naive seven-year-old kid. We both have secrets, so let’s help each other keep them, okay?”
Oh, it was a hush fee.
Little Shiyu lowered his head, looking at the expensive imported chocolates in front of him.
“Ferrero.”
Ji Shiming placed the box of chocolates into Little Shiyu’s black bag.
“Imported from Italy, hazelnut chocolate. Try it when you get home, you’ll like it.”
Little Shiyu looked down at the snacks and chocolates he had never seen before, transparent glass boxes, incomprehensible English, chocolates wrapped in gold foil, delicate and beautiful.
Click.
Ji Shiming unlocked the door for Little Shiyu. Creak – the door opened.
“Go…”
Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a black shadow dart past him.
Little Shiyu didn’t immediately run out. Instead, he rushed back into the living room, picked up the cheap snacks like instant noodles and spicy strips that had just been thrown away by the uncle, and put them back into his black bag one by one.
Ji Shiming: “…”
Little Shiyu held the Ferrero chocolates and various snacks, regardless of their value, making sure each pack of snacks was in his bag before he bounced back to the door, waving with a smile, “Goodbye, Uncle! Thank you for the chocolates!”
Ji Shiming: “…”
He watched Little Shiyu climb up the stairs and disappear from sight.
Ji Shiming shook his head, closed the door. Sometimes he felt this child’s intelligence was terrifying. Sometimes he also felt, perhaps, he was overthinking. How high could the IQ of a seven-year-old child be? Little Shiyu was just more sensitive than other children due to family factors.
Creak – bang.
The door of Room 304 closed.
On the quiet staircase, in the gap of the handrail, a pair of eyes watched silently.
Little Shiyu had been crouching on the stairs of the fourth floor, observing the uncle. He saw the uncle close the door of Room 304. Unable to follow him up, Little Shiyu stood up and opened the door of Room 404.
“Mom, I’m back.”
***
At night, Little Shiyu laid on his small desk, doodling in his diary.
The shabby convenience store, the uncle who had business dealings with his mother, had another identity. Although all the suspicious points on the uncle’s body had explanations, it was still strange.
Little Shiyu circled the uncle next to the convenience store, drew a circle with a slash, a symbol of prohibition, just in case, inviting Little Chu Feng to come home also required avoiding the uncle in Room 304.
Little Shiyu looked at the snacks and chocolates he had received, felt the thirty yuan in his pocket, planned to buy some imported snacks tomorrow, and then… he could invite Little Chu Feng to come to his house!
Excitedly, Little Shiyu thought to himself. He took a pen and drew several slender stick figures on the paper, practicing, so that when Little Chu Feng came to his house, he could draw the stick figure representing Little Chu Feng into his doodle diary!
On the old desk, under a warm desk lamp, illuminated the dark night.
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