Little Fish – Chapter 7

The train they’d taken brought them to the edge of New Air City. From there, they found a bus, and after another week on the run, Wei Zangchen had gone to ground in the countryside. It wasn’t an easy task. Gun Wen held all the suppressants, documents, tablet, and working phone, while he and Xiao Li had only themselves. Ditching Xiao Li’s disguise, Wei Zangchen cleaned the toddler up, bought a few sets of cheap clothes from a vendor on the side of the road, and the two of them embarked on their own adventure. Keeping the toddler’s mood even was hard work. Xiao Li desperately missed Gun Wen. He’d never had so many tantrums from the little boy before, and nothing seemed to be working.

Still, they’d found a temporary home. His mind might be damaged, yet Wei Zangchen hadn’t wasted time in his research. Once he’d figured out where they were, he used his memory to find one of the towns that had been abandoned thanks to the gate explosion. Getting there had been a difficult task. A normal person wouldn’t have needed to walk for three days to make it. By the time they arrived, he found the first abandoned house and temporarily claimed it as theirs. That night he’d taken Xiao Li to bed, completely defenceless against his need to sleep, leaving the task of investigating the property until the following morning.

Despite what he’d read online, the following morning proved the town wasn’t as abandoned as had been claimed. The similarities between the town they’d found themselves in and the village on the hill where Perpex was located were scarily similar. The younger population who could still work had turned their backs on the town, leaving their elders behind. With Xiao Li in his arms, not even an hour passed before he met his first neighbour.

The man’s name was Ai Guo, and he had no filter. A spirited 83-year-old with a walking cane and thick dark skin, he’d worked in a factory for most of his life and enjoyed smacking people with his cane when he felt they weren’t listening. In less than five minutes, Wei Zangchen knew the old man’s history. In the face of this new overwhelming adversary, Wei Zangchen lied. He lied clearly and concisely.

His name was Ming Shen. He was a poor cripple who’d been duped by a real estate agent into renting the property he and Xiao Li had spent the night in, after losing his partner. His ex had felt he wasn’t capable of raising their child well. Xiao Li hadn’t spoken a word since, and now that he was there, he didn’t know what he was going to do. He was told he’d be able to find work rebuilding the town, but when there wasn’t even a bus that ran into it, he’d known something was wrong. Still, he was determined to bring Xiao Li up well.

After all, the longer the explanation, the greater the lie.

Laughing at his tale of woe, Ai Guo took him by the arm, used his cane to point, and then Wei Zangchen found himself being led off.

***

The town might not be thriving, but the local community centre was. Ai Guo seemed happy to have someone new to talk to, and Wei Zangchen was secretly impressed by the old man’s stamina. Years of rehabilitation seemed for nothing when his legs ached so badly he wanted to cut them off. Holding the door open, he was ushered inside by Ai Guo, who happily announced their new arrival.

Set up as a mahjong parlour, the community centre felt like a low-key gambling den. The place was clearly loved by the community, who were making the most of what they had. Wei Zangchen could feel the presence of a very low-level esper but couldn’t pinpoint who it was. And though he’d met dozens of older espers, he was still surprised to find one hidden among the group of uncles and aunties.

Their arrival had injected chicken blood into the older generation. Xiao Li was promptly the centre of attention, lured away with juice, while Wei Zangchen found himself taken to the end of the hall to sit down with the men of the town. Across from them, he felt as if he were in a job interview. The position being the town’s latest gossip topic.

Ai Guo took up position as ringleader.

“This young man said he was swindled out of his money and told to come here for work. What do you think? Do we keep him?”

He wasn’t a dog! And he wasn’t there to be the single dog of the town! Wei Zangchen felt himself being judged. He knew someone there was a low-level esper, and it’d be better to admit it than seem like he was hiding something.

“I’m an esper. I was helping try out a new piece of equipment… My skills are element-aligned and the experiment didn’t go well. I can’t do much, but what I can do, I will. I truly want to live a good life and bring my little boy up well, away from drama. Coming here was supposed to be our fresh start. Xiao Li’s been through a lot since his birth and now his stability has been uprooted again. My past might come looking for us… Until then, I can do my best to help around here. I’m not asking for handouts, just a hand up.”

Bowing his head, Wei Zangchen felt he deserved an award for his acting since he’d first met Ai Guo. A poor, pitiful father in bad health who only wants to take care of his son. His explanation was painfully close to the truth, but what could these old people do to him that the military wouldn’t? He’d landed on their doorstep—being prideful would only lead to conflict.

Ai Guo grinned.

“See, we’ve got ourselves a lively one. I say we let him stay. It’s good to be good to the young ones.”

The uncle closest to Ai Guo scowled, then turned that scowl toward Wei Zangchen.

“Where is it then? This accident you had? How do we know you’re not planning on robbing us and taking our women?”

Although the aunties were kindly looking after Xiao Li, none of them sparked any desires within Wei Zangchen. The old man could keep his harem to himself.

“My legs. Both legs and across my abdomen. I’m a little slower than I was, but I can still work.”

Ai Guo smacked his right leg with his cane, Wei Zangchen immediately hissing in pain. That cane was too dangerous!

“Looks genuine.”

The same scowling uncle leaned back and crossed his arms.

“What good is a cripple to us?”

Two other uncles looked at each other, not bothering to whisper.

“He already said he was an esper. They’re meant to be useful.”

“So useful he’s crippled.”

“Aye, but he’s got that boy with him. He can’t be that bad if he’s got that kid.”

“How do we know he’s his and that he didn’t steal him?”

All eyes turned to Wei Zangchen. Sometimes, scars of the past came in fortunate.

“If you check my stomach you’ll find a scar. Xiao Li is my little prince. I will do everything I can for him.”

The uncles devolved into conversation again, Ai Guo having the final say.

“Let him and the boy stay. It’ll be good to have some fresh blood. We’ll put him to work when we figure out what he can do.”

Another uncle clicked his tongue.

“If he plays up then you pay up.”

“Buncombe. This is a good lad here. I can tell these things.”

For a moment, Wei Zangchen felt bad for his lies—yet only for a single moment. Providing Xiao Li with love and a stable home was more important than a few words.

“I’ll help in any way that I can. I can still use some of my power, and I have some experience in fixing things… As long as Xiao Li is safe, I’ll do anything I can for all of you.”

And thus, Wei Zangchen found himself a new temporary home.

***

Banding together and helping each other was the top priority for the aunties and uncles of the town. The aunties loved dressing Xiao Li up, the little boy now sporting clothes from a time before Wei Zangchen was even born. The little boy didn’t know fashion had moved on four decades—happy simply to dress in whatever he was given, as long as the aunties kept spoiling him.

Wei Zangchen became the village handyman. He wasn’t afraid of heights, so while going up a ladder was extremely challenging, he didn’t mind so much. In payment for his work, he was usually sent home with something good to eat, or small presents for Xiao Li. Other than being sent up to clear gutters, adjust aerials, or patch roofs, he could be found doing the menial work of helping fix cars or broken taps. His family would have died on the spot from embarrassment at him “lowering” himself so far. Luckily for him, he didn’t follow their rules and wouldn’t be seeing them any time soon.

Around him, the townspeople quickly learned he wasn’t one to take “charity.” If they wanted to invite him to dinner, then it turned into a whole town event at the community centre. Xiao Li loved all his new aunties and uncles, and they loved him too. With how many sweets he’d been slipped, it wasn’t surprising that Xiao Li cried so much. He’d get high on sugar, use too much energy, then fall into distress from being overtired… though not all his tears came from that. The little prince still missed Gun Wen very much.

When Wei Zangchen had left Xiao Li with the aunties in order to clean through their new place, he’d picked Xiao Li up with a well-meant lecture. Xiao Li had been drawing pictures of him with Wei Zangchen and with Gun Wen. With his best interests at heart, the aunties had asked him repeatedly if there was any chance that he might get back with Xiao Li’s father.

That would have been one hell of a trick, as the man was dead—as was Xiao Li’s biological mother. Gun Wen only placed him with him because he was an “unstable omega.” Still, seeing as he had no idea if Gun Wen had sold them out, been kidnapped, or gotten into some form of accident, he could only tell the kind aunties no. That they’d separated and he had no idea where he’d gone—provided he was still alive. Which sort of clashed with what he’d first told Ai Guo. There, he had to rely on old age and the mutation of gossip to cover his past. The aunties would cast him sympathetic glances, and after a couple of weeks, they finally seemed to accept that his partner wasn’t going to show up to take the pair of them back home.

All too quickly, it’d been a month since they’d arrived. And all too quickly, it was decided that a new house member would be joining them. Aunty Bai Ying was a chubby, round-cheeked, tiny old lady who played a mean game of go. She also had the habit of feeding all the stray animals that came to her property. Aunty Bai Ying had the ability to secretly lay guilt on so thick that her victim found themselves agreeing without even knowing. Wei Zangchen appreciated the bullheaded ways of Ai Guo over the aunty’s stealthiness, yet thanks to her ways, he found himself with the first pet of his life—and Xiao Li now had his first best friend.

Clam Soup was one of the stray kittens from a cat Aunty Bai Ying had been feeding. According to her, he was about four months old. She was quite proud of how her strays would bring their kittens to show her. Clam Soup was a kitten who eyed the good life. He’d brought himself to Bai Ying, then made a nuisance of himself by refusing to leave. When Xiao Li came into the cow cat’s life, he’d found something in the toddler he liked even more than Bai Ying’s kindness. If they happened to be walking past the old aunty’s house, Xiao Li would always crane his neck as if he could see over the fence and catch sight of the kitten.

Wei Zangchen hadn’t been oblivious. He knew Xiao Li loved all the animals he came into contact with… yet adopting a cat wasn’t in his plans. They needed as few ties as possible in case they had to leave quickly. Then Aunty Bai Ying caught Xiao Li trying to stuff Clam Soup up his jacket—and the next thing the esper knew, he’d been talked into allowing the cat to come home with them.

Xiao Li was fascinated by Clam Soup. Clam Soup was very casual for a feral kitten. He was willingly carted around in Xiao Li’s arms, showing as much patience as the almighty Buddha. When Wei Zangchen made dinner at night, Xiao Li would try bringing the cat to the table. Clam Soup loved this idea. What he didn’t love was being picked up and put back down. He’d first lick every part of himself that Wei Zangchen had touched, throw in occasional cat glares, then dart under the table and come up on the spare chair.

Despite it being a constantly losing battle, it was still a battle Wei Zangchen fought every day. He didn’t mind Clam Soup sleeping on the beds, but he firmly drew the line at the cat being on the counters or the dining table.

Still, Clam Soup was a funny little thing who attacked thin air for no reason. Xiao Li’s mood had become much more stable, and the toddler seemed much happier with his new best friend. When Xiao Li was happy, Wei Zangchen was happy… and it didn’t hurt to have Clam Soup do all the distracting when Wei Zangchen’s body disobeyed his wishes. Maybe he and Gun Wen should have thought more when they had children to care for? Maybe they should have put more effort into having a pet or two for the children to share, rather than chicken stock for their practicality? Now that he was a single parent, he realized so many things he wished he could go back and give the children.

Little did he know that this life too was about to be cut short.