deskmate in the painting

Epilogue

After graduating from elementary school, my family and I moved to Liaoyuan City, seeking better schools and environments. They believed it would give me a fresh start. From then on, we rarely returned to Guanxi Village, which slowly faded from my memory.

For the demolition project, I represented my parents and managed everything smoothly. The entire village quickly signed the demolition agreements. Perhaps they were all tired of rural life and longed for the conveniences of the city. After that, I planned to head to Liaoyuan City, possibly never to return to my hometown.

Before leaving, I decided to visit Li Fei's lamb restaurant, as I had lingering questions that needed answers.

I contacted Li Fei using the number on his business card and arrived at "Li's Full Lamb Restaurant."

Li Fei had not changed much, except for his trademark big eyes, which had earned him the nickname "Li Big Eyes." As far as I knew, he was the only one from our elementary school class who had never left Guanxi Village. His father's lamb restaurant was quite renowned locally, attracting many visitors and ensuring a thriving business. Consequently, Li Fei had naturally stayed behind. The small lamb restaurant had grown into a large hotel. Compared to my life in the big city, he seemed truly content.

Over a meal of stir-fried lamb face, scallion lamb tripe, tiger vegetables, and peanuts, washed down with a bottle of Erguotou, we began to talk more freely.

"Li Fei, do you remember Xiaojing?" I asked.

"Which Xiaojing?" He seemed to have forgotten. Given his nature, it's not surprising. Although he wasn’t great academically, he was never concerned with the everyday matters of our group. While we all remembered the missing items, he never seemed to lose anything. Perhaps his family’s wealth meant he didn’t care about trivial items like pencils and notebooks. Ironically, he might be the only classmate who never bullied Xiaojing.

"Yes, the one with the three…" I struggled to finish my sentence.

"Ah, the girl with the three hands? Xiaojing?" Li Fei finally remembered.

"Uh, she wasn't…" I blushed and raised my voice.

"You saw her father today, didn't you?" Li Fei took another sip of Erguotou.

"Yes, but what happened to him?" I gulped down some Erguotou.

"He was imprisoned for seven years. When he came out, his daughter was missing. How could things be any better for him?" Li Fei said with a grim expression.

"What? Seven years? Xiaojing is missing?" I was shocked.

"Yes, seven years for that slap. It was a minor incident, but he had a past—he was involved in some political movements… Tiananmen Square," Li Fei whispered.

"Oh, I see. And Xiaojing?"

"Well…," Li Fei hesitated, focusing on his drink.

"What?" I sensed something was wrong.

"She’s probably in a bad situation…" Li Fei finally said.

"What!" I was alarmed.

"Her mother had died early, and with her father imprisoned, she was taken in by some relative from the countryside. It turned out that person wasn’t a relative at all but a human trafficker," Li Fei said, his voice filled with anger as he downed another glass of liquor.

"How could this happen? How do you know?" I nearly stood up in shock.

"I heard it from others; I don’t know how true it is. If you don’t believe it, just think of it as a story," Li Fei said, his eyes blurry from the alcohol.

"You know, Xiaojing never stole anything. She never did…" I wanted to tell him everything I knew.

"I know," Li Fei surprised me with his response.

"How do you know?"

"Hmph, I know Zhang Jun was the real culprit all along. And Old Zhang isn’t a saint either. He’s Zhang Jun’s uncle," Li Fei said bitterly.

"Are you talking about Mr. Zhang?"

"Yes, who else could it be?"

As night fell, I left Li's Full Lamb Restaurant. The place was empty, and the surrounding noise had quieted. I looked up; the sky was still covered in a steadfast gray, with clouds blocking the moon completely. All the shadows and secrets were hidden well in the quiet darkness. As I stayed in the darkness, I felt like I was becoming a part of this dark world. With the faint light from the edges of the clouds guiding me, I quickened my pace.