Chapter 11 - Shopping Threesome
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Shen Dong wasn’t a good tempered person by nature so if this had been before he’d set foot on the island, and if it was a group of guys, not girls, he would have already raised his fists. It wouldn’t have mattered if they didn’t have bad intentions. They had already made him feel uncomfortable. But after living like a hermit on the island all these years, the temper of his had already been worn down. He didn’t want to cause a fuss. He just wanted to quickly and quietly get his business down in the town then go, and besides, these were people that Hong Jie knew.
But he knew that even Hong Jie couldn’t have anticipated such hot words from Cao Mu.
There was a silence in the tractor and the girl that Cao Mu was pointing at quickly turned red, her mouth agape.
“Be quiet,” Shen Dong said quietly, his head still down.
Cao Mu seemed to not understand, but he didn’t say anymore and instead copied him and looked down, turning the pair of them into a portrait of two wrongdoers serving time starting at fishing nets.
Before Shen Dong hadn’t noticed, but after looking down for so long, he realised that Cao Mu wasn’t wearing any shoes.
Actually, Cao Mu never wore shoes and that had seemed normal on the island, but now on the mainland, it was eye-catching to say the least. Shen Dong frowned and chided himself for being so careless. He should have given Cao Mu a pair of shoes to wear…
“My friend lives in the sea. He normally doesn’t see people,” Hong Jie said with a laugh. “Don’t mind him. He’s always like this.”
“Ah…” The girl laughed with embarrassment. “I see…”
“We’re both sons of the sea,” Hong Jie supplemented.
On hearing those words spoken so casually, Shen Dong sighed. Given how Hong Jie was, even if he knew Cao Mu was a fish, and even if he told people, at most people would think that he’d finally found some fellow crazies to be friends with.
“If your dad heard you say that, he’d cuff you,” said Uncle Yang from the front with a laugh.
“Nah,” Hong Jie waved a dismissing hand. “He doesn’t care about me.”
Shen Dong rested his head on his hands and closed his eyes. The rumbling of the tractor was making him feel dizzy.
After a few moments he felt someone touch his face, then he heard Cao Mu’s quiet voice by his ear, “Feeling unwell?”
On opening his eyes, Shen Dong’s vision was filled with Cao Mu’s sweaty nose. He jumped. Cao Mu didn’t seem to find anything strange about all this but in the eyes of other people…
The girls sitting opposite stared blankly at them.
“No,” Shen Dong nudged Cao Mu. “S-sit properly.”
“If you don’t feel well then we’ll get off.” Cao Mu, still unaware, persevered in carefully observing Shen Dong’s face.
“I’ll nap a bit.” Shen Dong really felt like ripping off his shirt and covering his face.
“Okay,” Cao Mu turned away to ask Hong Jie, “Captain, how much longer?”
“Ten minutes or so. Real quick. When my outer layer is dry, you’ll know we’ve arrived.” Hong Jie tugged at the corner of his clothes.
“Why do you wear so much clothes? Aren’t you hot?” Cao Mu looked at Hong Jie’s collar and used a finger to count the layers. “Three layers.”
“Not not. I don’t like folding clothes, so I just wear everything,” Hong Jie said patting his top. He looked a little unhappy. “You’ve already asked me this seven times.”
“Really? I don’t remember.” Cao Mu screwed up his eyebrows to think for a bit. “Isn’t it smelly?”
“Smell me. I’m not.”
“I’m not smelling you.”
The girls no longer chatted with one another and instead stared in wonder at them. Hong Jie’s crazed ramblings, they all knew, but now there were two more…
After about twenty minutes the tractor finally reached the town and Uncle Yang pulled up by the side of the market. “We’re here. Where you all off to?”
“The bank!” Hong Jie jumped down.
Uncle Yang gawked at him then looked at the other two. “What are you going to do at the bank?”
Shen Dong knew that if he saw a group of people looking like this, saying they were going to the bank, he’d immediately think they were going to go there to rob it then get caught because they were lacking in the brains department.
“I’m…” Shen Dong forced his mouth open. “G-going to buy, buy something.”
“Oh,” Uncle Yang laughed. “We’re going to the market then heading back. Should take about two hours. If you want, you can wait here for me and I’ll take you back too.”
“Thank you Uncle Yang.”
Guanhua Town was a really small town with a single main street. The market only opened once every three days so was thronging with people as though everyone from every village nearby had come.
After Uncle Yang and the girls had gone into the market, Shen Dong stood by the tractor for a good five minutes to calm himself down. It had been so long since he’d seen so many people, heard so much sound, it really threw him for a loop.
“To the bank? Over there’s got one, can’t remember what branch. Probably doesn’t matter for withdrawing money right?” Hong Jie asked, standing in front of him.
“Oh,” Shen Dong nodded. Being submerged in the cacophony made him feel like he was floating.
Cao Mu was the complete opposite. The hubbub of the town made him excited and he kept turning and staring. “So many people! So many!”
“There’s a gathering today, so there’s lots of people. Fun, huh?” Hong Jie looked pleased as though he’d found something fun to play with.
“Oh, let’s go get the money.” Cao Mu was estatic.
Before inserting his bank card into the machine, all that had been on Shen Dong’s mind was first buying some water for Cao Mu, then some shoes for him from a shop he thought he’d seen further down the road, then, if he could stand it, go find a place to buy a computer…
But… what was his pin number?
Shen Dong stared at the input field on the ATM screen.
Pin number?
Pin number!
Yes! Bank cards have pin numbers!
But what the hell was it?!
“Enter pin,” Hong Jie reminded after seeing Shen Dong stare for a while at the screen.
“I… I know,” Shen Dong furrowed his brow. “L-let me… th-think…”
“You don’t remember?” Hong Jie was shocked for a few seconds, then suddenly burst out laughing. “You don’t remember! Hahaha! You’re just like Fishy Cao!”
“If I think for a while, then I can remember things,” Cao Mu said, pouting, as he leaned against the side of the ATM.
Shen Dong didn’t say anything and ejected his card. It wasn’t that he couldn’t remember the pin, the problem was that he’d never even used the card before. When he went to the island, he’d brought less than a thousand with him. It had been so long since he’d touched it, they were probably ready to push up daisies, let alone the money in the bank.
He held the card in his hand and thought about this card whose life had suddenly taken a large turn from being lost in a corner of his house. He’d never used it before, so, what would its initial pin number be?
He slotted the card into the machine again. What was the original pin?
Incorrect.
He grimaced then took out his ID card and turned it over. This card he’d almost forgotten it existed.
The last six digits.
Correct.
“Wah!” Hong Jie stared at the balance displayed on the screen. “Shen Dong, you’re real rich!”
“…Yeah…” Shen Dong knew just about how much his monthly wages were and that there should have been about thirty-five or so payments in the last seven years. The pay wasn’t high though and Chen-shu always was saying it wasn’t enough to even feed the chickens.
But after taking into account the fact that he hadn’t touched a cent of it for seven years, in the eyes of a person like Hong Jie who likely had next to zero on him, it was a glorious sight.
“How much money is that?” Cao Mu asked as he pointed at the screen.
“A lot.” Hong Jie replied.
“Enough to buy a computer?” Cao Mu asked.
“Enough to buy many, many computers.”
Shen Dong tapped on the keypad and withdrew five thousand. After taking the notes, he wasn’t sure where to put them.
“Wait,” Hong Jie pulled apart his outer coat and from inside pulled out a piece of cloth. “Wrap it in this.”
Shen Dong looked at the scrap of cloth in his hands and nearly wanted to cry. “Th-that’s not…”
“Once you wrap it up, it’ll look just like a bit of rubbish. No one would think of stealing it.” Hong Jie took the money, wrapped it up, then gave the whole thing back to Shen Dong.
“Ugly,” Cao Mu evaluated with distain, pointing at the blob. “So ugly.”
“Let’s go! To shop!” Hong Jie turned and marched off.
Shen Dong followed, holding the cloth that looked no different from a beggar’s life’s possessions. “F-first buy… water.”
Cao Mu took the bottle of iced mineral water and took a gulp of it, then spat it out. “What’s that taste?!”
“Oh?” Shen Dong took the bottle and took a gulp but found nothing wrong with it.
“It’s so weird! Ice tastes so bad!” Cao Mu refused to take another sip.
Shen Dong went and bought another bottle, this time not iced. He handed it to Cao Mu who took a careful sip. Seemingly finding nothing wrong, he upended it and gulped the rest of it down.
After the third bottle Cao Mu burped and rubbed his stomach with a little embarrassment. “So full.”
Next was buying shoes.
After entering the shoe shop, Shen Dong felt a wave of awkwardness rush over him. The shop assistant, probably due to the eyecatching costume of the three of them, stared at them for a while before finally springing into action to explain the different types of shoes available.
While Cao Mu was trying on a pair, Shen Dong glanced down at Hong Jie’s feet. He had shoes, yes, but they looked ancient and about ready to fall into their grave in a month or two.
“Captain,” Shen Dong pointed at his shoes. “You also…”
“Thank you!” Hong Jie didn’t wait for him to finish before happily beginning his search for shoes for himself.
Right when Shen Dong was holding a pair and about to ask Cao Mu if he liked them, he saw the pair that Hong Jie had picked out for himself and nearly turned around and shot out of the store.
“Those are fucking women’s shoes!” He looked at Hong Jie. He felt like finding something to crack open his head and see if his skull was filled with chili bean sauce!
“You swear quite smoothly,” Hong Jie tutted. He looked down at the sloped, red, sandals in his hand. “Men’s shoes, women’s shoes, I care not! I think they look nice. You gonna buy them for me or what?”
Shen Dong looked at the shop assistant’s warped facial expression, at a loss for words.
“Try the black version. Your clothes are all grey so it would work,” said Cao Mu from where he sat on a chair. “Captain, you’re actually a girl huh?”
“W-whatever…” Shen Dong didn’t want to bother saying more and instead indicated for the shop assistant to go find a pair of them in Hong Jie’s size.
Cao Mu picked a pair of sandals as well and announced that they were very convenient, even though they flew off at a simple shake. Shen Dong bought him two pairs.
As long as he didn’t ask for women’s shoes, Shen Dong was willing to buy him any type.
After the shop assistant waved them good bye with a conflicted expression, Cao Mu leaned into Shen Dong’s ear and whispered, “Thank you.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve never worn shoes,” Cao Mu said, scratching at his head. “They’re real comfy. Walking along’s like bouncing.”
“I’ll buy you another when they break,” Shen Dong said as he patted his shoulder.
“No need! These’ll last a long time!” Cao Mu swung his shopping bag back and forth. “I haven’t bought you anything.”
“I d-don’t need you to, to buy me… anything.” Shen Dong suddenly felt like hugging Cao Mu. This little three year old fish could really make his heart go soft sometimes.
“You know, I suggest the two of you buy some clothes,” said Hong Jie, turning his head back as he walked with his shoe box. “Right now you two look like… a sky and a walking tree.”
Trying out clothes took a while so Shen Dong decided to let Hong Jie pick something for himself too. Thankfully, Hong Jie, surprisingly, didn’t elect for any female clothes. If he had, Shen Dong thought he’d probably throttle him.
“You’ve got a nice figure.” The shop assistant was an older woman and she touched Shen Dong’s back as she spoke. “See, you’ve got muscle up here so wearing something tighter would look better.”
Shen Dong swatted away her hand. “No.”
The woman gave an embarrassed laugh. “You don’t like it?”
Shen Dong didn’t reply and instead took the mess of clothes on the rack and put them all on the counter. Words were worth their weight in gold.
“Shen Dong’s really got a temper.” Hong Jie said to Cao Mu as he carried his bag. “Is he like that with you too?”
“Nope.” Cao Mu tugged at his new shirt. It was a black t-shirt with a white skull printed on it. Hong Jie had picked it, though Cao Mu thought it was like he was wearing the flag off of Hong Jie’s boat.
“And doesn’t he hit you too?!”
“So what? You jealous?” Cao Mu side eyed him.
“Why’d I be jealous of that?” Hong Jie side eyed him back.
“He doesn’t care to hit you.”
“You care to have him hit you.”
“What?”
“Don’t get it right? Like I said, your brain’s slow.”
“Anyway, he likes to hit me and I’m happy to have him hit me. If you want to hit me, I’ll smash up your boat.”
Shen Dong walked in front of the pair yabbering fools. After walking most of the road, he couldn’t stand it anymore and stopped. He turned to Hong Jie. “Computer shop.”
“Ah,” Hong Jie suddenly remembered that they had proper things to be doing. “Follow me.”
It was the sketchiest computer shop Shen Dong had ever seen.
In its five square metre space was packed all kinds of cards and cords, up on the shelves were a dozen half new, half old computers and a highly suspicious looking monitor. To the side of all this sat the owner of the shop on a broken old chair, arms bare, taking up the last bit of space in the place.
Shen Dong and the others had to stand outside.
“Are the computers you sell here new?” Even Hong Jie could tell there was something not quite so reputable about the shop.
“I guarantee they work. And they’re cheap.” The shop owner looked at them. “What d’you use it for?”
“Sweep mines,” Cao Mu instantly replied.
“Ah?” The owner stared at them.
Shen Dong was at a loss for words.
“Just playing some solo games, alright?” Hong Jie leaned on the counter. Shen Dong was saying nothing and Cao Mu was saying the weirdest things, so it fell to him to do the talking. “All your stuff here’s second hand. Price aside, how do I know it’s not going to fall apart after three days?”
“It won’t! Don’t worry.”
“If it breaks, I’ll drag my fishing boat out here and crush your shop.”
Shen Dong turned and squatted down by the shop entrance and looked out at all the legs walking by. The previous terror was gone but he still felt a kind of anxiety to be back on the island and be blown by the sea breeze, listen to the waves, look at the coral… True, it sounded more like the life of a pensioner, but to him, it made him feel stable.
“Shen Dong.” Cao Mu crouched down beside him then said nothing.
Shen Dong waited then finally asked, “What?”
“Just… you… going with me… to… to…” Cao Mu spoke with difficulty, like each word was like squeezing shoe polish out.
“Speak properly.” Shen Dong couldn’t help taking a look at him to see if he was trying to imitate him.
Cao Mu took a deep breath. “Don’t come with me to find my sister,” he said in a rush.
“Why?” Shen Dong was stunned. He never guessed that that’s what he wanted to say.
“You don’t seem to like places with lots of people. Since we got here, you haven’t been unhappy.” Cao Mu shuffled closer to him. “Captain said the city has even more people.”
“Oh, a-and then?” Shen Dong felt he understood what Cao Mu was getting at and it surprised him even more.
“So, you don’t need to go. I don’t want you to be unhappy.” Cao Mu thought a moment then smiled at him. “Actually, I might not even be able to find her, right?”
Cao Mu was no good at hiding his emotions. Happiness, sadness, they all showed clearly on his face.
After saying those words, he looked down at his own shoes. Shen Dong shut his eyes. He could feel Cao Mu’s disappointment.
Shen Dong had never in his life met someone who made him like this.
“Cao Mu,” said Shen Dong, putting an arm over Cao Mu’s shoulders. In all these years, this was the first time he’d initiated this kind of skin-to-skin contact with anyone. “The things I promise, I’ll definitely do.”
“Really?” Cao Mu quickly turned to look at him, a smile like the beginning of spring blooming on his face.
“Oh.” Shen Dong sighed. “Y-you’ve been, been waiting for m-me to say that… right?”
Cao Mu used his face to rub against Shen Dong’s arm. “I just wanted to make sure whether you’ll really go or not.”
“I’ll go.” Shen Dong’s arm felt suddenly numb and he quickly pulled it away.
“Shen Dong. You’re so good to me.” Cao Mu’s mood had improved considerably and he got up. “Later, anything you tell me to do, I’ll do it.”
“Oh?” Shen Dong chuckled. Anything?