Chapter 14: The Mo Family

24TH JAN 2022~ VERALUCTL

Even though he was here for the Mo children and even rented the unit opposite them in preparation to covertly keep an eye on them, An Jie was used to being alone and had no plans to interfere with their lives. He couldn’t promise much, but as a mature adult, he could at least make sure that nothing major would happen to these three children.

It was the only thing he could do for Mo Yannan. 

The eldest son of the Mo family, Mo Cong, was a student of a distinguished university. He didn’t look like his father; tall with slightly wide shoulders, even though he was more on the thin side; and if one looked closely though, they could in fact find smooth muscle outlines under his thin clothing. His face was handsome to say the least and when he smiled, it even showed his two canines, an aura of youthful sunshine pouring out of his face. The only lacking part was his chin which looked exactly like his mother’s, possibly a little too sharp for a boy; this along with a pair of thin lips that appeared to be somewhat heartless. Fortunately, the friendly and enthusiastic smile which was always on his face more or less covered it up.

This child was very thoughtful. When he returned that night and saw that a new neighbor had moved in, he immediately came over and asked if there was anything he could help with. An Jie chatted with him as he observed the boy.

Mo Cong: at first glance, he was the typical good child of a parent’s eye, and a typical good youth of the country.

Bright, enthusiastic, always knowing what to say, thoughtful, knowing how to treat people well… The day after An Jie moved over, just in time for the weekends, it was Mo Cong who had opened his doors for him and pointed directions at the movers as they brought his new bookshelf upstairs.

But for some reason, An Jie felt that there was something wrong with this child. It wasn’t something he could explain, but rather, a hunch. After all his years of observing people, he wouldn’t say he could immediately see through someone, but some experiences had helped him to develop an almost subconscious instinct.

There was a hidden sense of dissonance in this young man, Mo Cong.

After an entire day of busy work, An Jie’s room was finally somewhat presentable, the furniture and common appliances all assembled. He let out a long breath, his back soaked in sweat.

“That wasn’t easy,” An Jie smiled ruefully as he patted Mo Cong’s shoulder. “I finally understand why they called moving houses ‘big work’ in the olden days. I have to thank you for today, I wouldn’t know how long it would have taken me otherwise.”

Mo Cong waved his hand in a familiar manner. “We’re neighbors, no need to be so polite. Who knows how many things I’ll have to trouble you for in the future? I didn’t have anything to do this weekend anyways; my sister just entered high school, so if I stay at home and play games, I’ll only disturb her. I might as well help you out, as exercise.” He accepted the cup An Jie passed him and drank it all in one go. It had been a long day of hard work and there were still beads of sweat on the corners of his forehead. “It tastes good. You moved the fridge over yesterday, right? Genius.”

An Jie took his mug and poured him another cup. “Drink as much as you want. Get your sister and I’ll treat you two for dinner, as thanks.”

“Don’t.” Mo Cong smiled strangely and pointed at his door. “My Xiao Yu: if it were the olden days, she’d most definitely be a virtuous young lady. She spends every day at home; I worry she’ll grow mold sometimes. Once, we asked her to buy some soy sauce when we were young, heh, and she spent two hours being stubborn and refusing to move. I see you’re living by yourself as well, so your parents are in another city? Don’t spend your money on us then, think of it as a favor.”

“If I’ve eaten well, my whole house has as well1,” An Jie smiled. There had been so much noise from his move, and yet that little girl Mo Yu hadn’t even bothered taking a look. Perhaps it had something to do with her father going missing. Suddenly, he remembered those uninvited guests from last night, and realized that there was something wrong. It was only logical that Mo Cong should have already known that Professor Mo was missing and had little chance of being alive, but he was acting as if nothing had happened, normal to the point of abnormality. So An Jie asked tentatively, “You two siblings live here for school right? Rented as well?”

“No, there’s three of us; the two girls are twins and the other one is called Xiao Jin. She’s a bit wild and rarely comes home, I have no control over her. We didn’t rent this unit. My parents divorced when we were young; my mom went overseas with a big-nose2, and my dad… Who knows where he is.” Mo Cong shrugged. “Yesterday, Xiao Yu told me two people came over to tell us that the old man had gone missing, so who knows if he’s still alive.”

As he said that, Mo Cong looked away, staring nonchalantly at the floor, his expression cold and aloof as if indifferent.

An Jie was stunned. “Your father… I’m really sorry.”

His apology was sincere, but Mo Cong didn’t understand. “What does it matter? You’ll know eventually since you live opposite us, but it makes no real difference if my old man’s home or not. Who knows what he’s doing, but he rarely comes home, and even if he does, it’s not much to note. Xiao Jin doesn’t get along with him and runs away from home constantly.”

“Then financially…”

“I say, brother, don’t look at me like you’re a volunteer seeing a refugee camp,” Mo Cong laughed carelessly. “Don’t worry, the old woman may have ran off with that big-nose, but she still remembers to send us money. The old man has saved some money over the years as well. Besides, a few part-time jobs on my end is enough to cover the costs of these two girls. It’s no big deal.”

An Jie frowned. Even though he knew that Lao Mo’s wooden personality and his tendency to focus only on his studies meant that his relationships with his children might not be so harmonious, he didn’t expect it to be this distant. No wonder why every time he brought up his son, the old professor’s expression was always so dull.

As if fearing that An Jie would dwell on this problem, Mo Cong hurriedly changed the topic. “You’re still in school right? High school? University?”

“A senior; that X High across the road. I just transferred,” An Jie said smoothly.

Mo Cong widened his eyes. “Really? My sisters, both of them, are first years in your school. This must be fate! Ahem, but senior year must be really stressful. Even though I, your brother3, managed to get into university…” He scratched his head and made a face. “After not studying those topics for a year, I’ve probably returned all my knowledge back to my teachers. If you don’t mind though, you can still come ask me if you have any questions; I won’t be able to do much, but I can still give you some tips…”

“Ge! Mo Cong, Mo Yu! Open the door!”

The door to his unit was still open since An Jie had only just finished his work. A howl sounded in the corridor and the door opposite them was slammed on loudly, interrupting Mo Cong’s attempt to advertise himself. 

Mo Cong frowned. “Those who know know that she’s coming home, and those who don’t will think she’s here for vengeance- our little sister Xiao Jin is back. I’ll go take a look.”

As he spoke, Mo Yu had already opened the door for her twin sister. The two girls whispered to each other. Mo Yu pointed to the opposite door and Mo Jin turned around. When she saw An Jie behind her older brother, her eyes lit up.

The moment An Jie saw this girl, he understood why the old professor hadn’t gotten along with her. The girl’s physique was quite similar to Mo Yu, and if one looked carefully, she did look exactly the same as Mo Yu… but it had to be carefully. This girl has a head of chicken hair dyed into countless colours, a long tuft there, a short strand here. Two globs were smudged onto her eyes: smoky makeup if he was being kind, but really just two panda eyes. Her ears were even more lively: piercings lined her entire left ear as if rushing for the morning market, and a giant metal ring hung off her right ear, almost reaching her shoulder. An Jie had a suspicion that if she wore it for long enough, her neck would become crooked from that earring. Her clothes were even more impressive, showing everywhere that could be shown and so colorful like a turkey that it was a headache to look at.

If this girl was his sister, he would have killed her already to save her the embarrassment of going out… An Jie felt his heart shake, thinking that if he put her in a haunted house in an amusement park, she would be able to scare quite a few tourists to death without any additional makeup.

The turkey sister straight up ignored her brother as if he was a stranger on the road and blinked her large eyes at An Jie. They had a strange sense of heaviness from the mascara and eyeshadow. Her original door-slamming attitude disappeared immediately as she spoke in a bad Cantonese accent, her voice sickly sweet, “Wow, you’re that pretty senior gége4 who just transferred over! I’m your junior from the same school, hehe! What a coincidence, you’ve actually moved directly across from me; don’t you think this is fate? Let’s get to know each other, yeah?”

An Jie felt goosebumps leap up his skin. Before he had time to answer, the turkey sister continued, “Actually, you don’t need to introduce yourself. Such a good looking gége transferred; even someone as behind on the news as me would know, hehe. Gége, you’re called An Jie right? I’m Mo Jin, gége, but you can call me Xiao Jin, it’s okay…”

Mo Cong finally had enough and dragged Mo Jin to his unit by her arm, nodding to An Jie with difficulty. “An Jie, you’ve had a long day, I won’t disturb you anymore, rest soon. Get over here! If you keep embarrassing yourself, I’ll throw you over to Chechen! They might think that you’re a terrorist and get rid of you.”

Mo Jin acted as if she had just seen her brother. “Jeez, gége, you’re also here… You’re so mean! Gége, you’re so sneaky, you came here to meet An Jie-gége and you didn’t even tell me! Aww… An Jie-gége, don’t forget to come play with us, okay…”

With a bang, Mo Cong slammed the door opposite him shut. The world was quiet once more. An Jie suddenly lost all hope in his future ‘youthful years’’ school life.

He shook his head, not even able to force out a smile. No wonder the old bookworm said that he was a failure of a father. There was a sudden vibration in his pocket. He closed the door and pressed the answer button. “Zui She?”

The number was new, and as of now, the only one in his contact list.

“How are you? Settled down?”

“Yeah, basically.” An Jie flung himself down onto the sofa and let out a breath. “I feel like my bones are breaking. This is good enough, I’ll make do for now.”

A light laugh seemed to come from the other side. “You saw your savior’s kids?”

An Jie paused. “I saw them.”

“How was it?”

“…Terrifying.”

Zui She laughed out loud. “A generational gap! Do you know what a generational gap is, An Yin Hu? Even if you coat yourself in a layer of fresh paint, it won’t hide the fact that your insides are all musty.”

“…Why did you call? Just to laugh at me?”

Zui She’s laughter suddenly lowered. After a long while, a hesitant sentence emerged from the other side. “Yin Hu, Shui Shi5 is in Beijing…”

An Jie’s fingers tightened as he gave a light ‘hmm’. “I heard. What about it? Should I give him an offering?”

“That’s not what I meant…” Zui She hesitated. “You didn’t tell Shui Shi when you left. He was the most desperate when looking for you; his eyes even turned red. I know he wronged you back then, but…”

“You know and you’re still here dancing on my sore spots? Are you asking to be beaten?” An Jie interrupted.

“You…”

“I know what to do.” An Jie’s expression darkened. “Zui She, if we’re true brothers, don’t betray me. Let me say it again. These people: I, don’t, want, to, see, any, of, them.”

“Yin Hu…”

“Alright, stop contributing to China mobile. See you next time.” An Jie hung up the phone without waiting for a reply. The young man’s slim body sank into the sofa, hair falling in front of his forehead, casting a pool of shadow around his eyes.

An Yin Hu had now completely become An Jie. So for those things of the past… let them all screw off.

Author’s Notes: The male lead is finally here, but his personality has yet to be determined. 

1Basically saying that he lives by himself.

2A westerner. Because caucasian people ‘have tall noses’ maybe?

3Friendly, not familial. A quirk of the Chinese language: referring to close friends as family.

4Gege, meaning big brother, but even cutesier from being under a Cantonese accent. ‘UwU Speak’ if you will, according to Luci. The é is there to differentiate- it has a slightly different intonation, but the exact same spelling as the normal gege.

5Sleeping Lion, similar to the other code names.