Chapter 18: In This Day and Age, Asking for a Talisman of Safety?

Bolting down the noodles in his bowl and draining the broth in one gulp, A-Biao slammed the bowl onto the ground, wiped his mouth, and dashed toward the street corner without a moment's hesitation.

From a distance, he could see Kong Aiqin, her eyes red and streaming with tears. Standing before her, Kong Aichun had her hands on her hips, hurling insults at a man.

The man’s jacket was torn, and he looked thoroughly disheveled. Upon closer inspection, A-Biao recognized him: Zhao Jingpeng, Kong Aiqin’s husband.

"I spit on you, you shameless wretch! Having a woman on the side is one thing, but you got her pregnant? What? You expect my sister to raise your bastard for you?"

"Divorce. Don't say another word. If you have a shred of conscience left, leave the house to my sister. If not..." Kong Aichun paused, waving her hand dismissively. "Forget it. I must have been blinded by greed to think you had a conscience. If you had one, the sun would rise in the west."

"Get lost! If you ever dare to harass my sister again, I’ll have someone break your legs!"

With these words, the tall and burly A-Biao stepped forward. "Auntie Chun, what’s going on?"

Seeing the crowd of onlookers growing, Zhao Jingpeng felt his face flush. He didn't really want to keep tangling with Kong Aiqin, but he truly couldn't afford a divorce. The meatpacking plant wasn't paying wages, and he relied entirely on Kong Aiqin taking money from her family to get by. If they divorced, how would he survive?

Yet, seeing A-Biao rolling up his sleeves, his eyes darted nervously. He didn't dare push his luck and could only stammer, "A-Qin, we’ve had over twenty years together. Are you really going to throw everything away just because I made a mistake?"

A-Biao stood with his hands on his hips, glaring. "Still yapping?"

Zhao Jingpeng shivered and waved his hands with a forced laugh. "No, no, I was just..."

He retreated a few steps, then stiffened his neck and shouted, "A-Qin, think this over carefully. Don't be impulsive. Even if you don't care about our relationship, think of our daughter! She just got married—do you want her in-laws to look down on her because of our divorce?"

Kong Aiqin’s hand, which was wiping away tears, faltered.

"To hell with that! If Shanshan finds out, she’ll be cheering, won't she? Are you going or not? If you don't leave... A-Biao, beat him!"

As A-Biao stepped forward, Zhao Jingpeng spun around and fled. After running a good distance, he shouted back, "A-Qin, I’ll come find you in a couple of days!"

Once he was out of sight, Kong Aichun rolled her eyes in annoyance. Turning to see her sister weeping miserably, she chided her, frustrated by her weakness: "Crying, crying, all you know how to do is cry! It’s because you’re so spineless that you get bullied by that Zhao fellow."

A-Biao spoke up, "Auntie Chun, stop scolding her. There are so many people watching."

Hearing this, Kong Aichun shot a fierce glare at the onlookers. "What are you looking at? Never seen a divorce before? Keep staring and I’ll dig your eyeballs out!"

The crowd instinctively scattered, and Kong Aichun took Kong Aiqin by the arm to lead her inside. A-Biao followed behind, asking in a low voice, "Auntie Chun, did you really see that Zhao fellow taking a woman to the OB-GYN? And she’s pregnant?"

Kong Aichun stopped in her tracks. "How did you..."

Glancing over at Su Chen, who was still reading his newspaper, she realized how he knew, then snapped, "A-Biao, don't go spreading this around. It’s not something to be proud of."

A-Biao smiled. "Auntie Chun, you love to joke. That ridiculous mess was Zhao’s doing. If it’s not something to be proud of, that’s on him. Why should my sister A-Qin be the one hiding in the shadows when she’s the victim?"

"You don't understand," Auntie Chun said, her tone heavy with experience.

"How don't I? It's clearly just you old-timers who are stuck in your ways," A-Biao protested. "You’re the one who said you wanted a divorce. Don't you know that decades ago, divorce wasn't considered honorable either? But look at things now. Auntie Chun, the times have changed."

Kong Aichun was stunned into silence. She supported Kong Aiqin and walked into the yarn shop in silence.

A-Biao didn't follow. He turned to return the empty bowl and sat back down beside Su Chen. "Brother, you’re truly something else."

Before Su Chen could reply, A-Biao sighed. "Auntie Chun wasn't always like this. Her husband died young. To make ends meet, she even spent time ten years ago dumping chamber pots for the neighbors just to put food on the table. It was hard enough raising two kids, and later, when the reforms started, she gritted her teeth and borrowed money from A-Yu to open this shop. It wasn't easy back then; local thugs would constantly show up when we weren't around. She kept a kitchen knife on hand—whenever they showed up, she’d brandish the knife and scream at them. Screaming so much made her voice louder and her temper fiercer."

"It’s been much better the last few years. Brother A-Chun works at the police station and often stops by to check on things. All the local punks know this place is under his protection, so they don't dare come around anymore."

Su Chen set down the daily newspaper. "Why are you telling me all this?"

A-Biao blinked, scratching his head. "Fair point. Why am I blabbering on about this for no reason? By the way, where is A-Yu?"

***

Lin Jingyu was at the Chunjiang Police Station.

His family had divided up the five protective talismans, and he had saved one, eager to bring it to his cousin, Lin Jingchun. But as soon as he arrived, he was told they were in a morning meeting.

"Beautiful Fangfang, why are you holding a meeting so early in the morning? My brother didn't even come home last night. Your boss is really unreasonable."

Officer Chen Fang, busy eating the fruit Lin Jingyu had brought along, rolled her eyes. "Watch your mouth. What’s wrong with our Chief Zhou?"

Lin Jingyu quickly begged for mercy. "Yes, yes, my mouth—it deserves a slap!"

He made a gesture as if to strike his own cheek, but before he could speak again, the office door opened, and he hurried forward.

Lin Jingchun saw him and raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

A-Mao, standing nearby, asked, "Is there trouble on the street? Are those people trying to cause problems again?"

"No, no, I just came to bring my brother something."

Curious, Lin Jingchun was pulled aside by Lin Jingyu, who stealthily shoved a yellow talisman into his hand.

"Brother, I got protective talismans for the whole family this morning. This one is for you. Keep it on you at all times, and don't let it get wet."

He looked left and right, and seeing only A-Mao staring at them, he lowered his voice. "It was drawn by that guy who calculated exactly where Yingying’s body was. It’s guaranteed to be effective. You really need to keep it safe."

Lin Jingchun rubbed the paper and quickly tucked it into his pocket. "Got it."

He asked briefly about his grandmother's condition, then added, "I’m short on cash right now, and I’ve been busy these last two days, so I don't think I’ll have time to send the funeral offerings. You take care of it for me, and I’ll pay you back when I’m free."

"Hey, my mom already paid it. Just pay her back later. I'm off, brother."

Once Lin Jingyu had left, A-Mao trotted over, his expression sour. "Captain Lin, A-Yu is really superstitious. What year is this, and he’s still handing out 'protective talismans'?"

He had sharp hearing and had caught nearly every word, feeling a sense of disdain. "Before, he was swearing up and down that the fortune-teller was amazing. If you ask me, that guy just happened to see it happen with his own eyes—how else could it be such a coincidence?"

"And this time? He must have seen Miss Sun and the others dressed up and guessed they were heading to the pool hall. The pool hall is the only place to hang out on Chunming Street. The people there would have seen them, been tempted, and made a move—that’s how we caught them red-handed..."

He was about to continue his lecture when Lin Jingchun cut him off.

"A-Mao, go get to work."

"Oh, oh, right."

Watching A-Mao jog away to gather files, Lin Jingchun shook his head helplessly.

A-Mao was a decent investigator and quite dedicated, but he had one small flaw: he was stubborn as a mule. He was the type who would never turn back until he hit a brick wall. Over the past few years, in several cases with plenty of ambiguity, he would jump to a conclusion, latch onto one piece of evidence, decide he was right, and then start his investigation, only to end up in a dead end. Even after they solved the cases, A-Mao would still refuse to give up, convinced they were wrong and wanting to reopen the investigations.

Just thinking about it gave Lin Jingchun a headache.

The Sun Feiyan case was the same. From Lin Jingchun's perspective, regardless of how Sun Feiyan ended up in the pool hall, the fact remained that she had nearly been victimized. There was no conspiracy, and that was enough. But A-Mao remained hung up on it.

Sighing, he thought: Superstition isn't right, but... one must adapt to local customs. Cuicheng had many traditions passed down for thousands of years; you couldn't just dismiss them all with one sweep.

Take this talisman, for example. Superstition or not, it represented the concern of his family, didn't it? It was a gesture of love.

Regardless, he would keep it with him.

Checking his watch, Lin Jingchun turned. "A-Ming, let's go."