The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 60: No, No, No

Gao Yang’s sleep-addled brain kicked into overdrive, making him feel a pain in the back of his head like he was free-falling, and his heart thumped faster and faster because of the rush of his blood.

Both his mother and sister were in the hospital. This late at night, the one knocking on his door could only be his grandmother.

Wait, no! Mom sent Granny to Uncle’s house in the rural area because no one can stay at home to take care of her. She won’t be back until half a month later.

Gao Yang got off the bed and focused his energy on his hands, readying himself to activate Fire at any moment. He called out to the door, “Who is it?”

“It’s me.” It was Gao Xinxin.

Gao Yang sighed in relief, but the relief was immediately replaced by alertness. His sister shouldn’t be home now, and she never knocked. She always kicked the door open and barged in.

“You’re really my sister?” asked Gao Yang.

“Who else can it be?” Her prideful tone was familiar to him.

“I don’t buy it,” said Gao Yang. “Tell me a secret only the two of us know.”

His sister raised her voice and shouted, “You peed in two streams until ten! There are three moles on the soles of your feet! You’re a moron! Is that enough for you?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Gao Yang opened his locked door.

Dressed in white pajamas made of light and airy silk, Gao Xinxin stood outside barefooted, her hair messy and her mouth pouty. She looked unhappy.

“Aren’t you at the hospital?” asked Gao Yang.

“You returned home, and mom told me to come back too.” His sister walked in and plopped herself on his bed. “I can’t sleep at the hospital. Mom was just worried that I wouldn’t be safe staying in the house on my own.”

“Ah.” Gao Yang sat down beside her. “How’s dad?”

His sister lowered her head, her shoulders drooping. “The doctor said that he’s recovering better than expected, but that’s not good enough for me at all!”

“Why?”

“Dad will be bound to a wheelchair the rest of his life.” His sister tucked her legs in and hugged her knees close, resting her chin on them as she looked out of the window. “Uncle Qing visited today and talked about the factory. He said the revenue isn’t looking good, and there’s a great debt he wasn’t able to collect. One of their clients, the owner of a supermarket chain, declared bankruptcy and fled. There’s a lack of liquidity, and the workers haven’t been paid for two months...”

Gao Yang sighed as well. Their father’s food processing factory hadn’t been doing well the past two years. That was why he had been rushing around with more and more social functions to attend. And then he got into a car accident.

Uncle Qing was his business partner. The man must be burning on both ends too.

“Dad said that worst comes to worst, we’ll sell the house and move back to the countryside.” His sister’s voice broke a little. “I don’t wanna go back.”

Gao Yang was conflicted. His sister was at an age when kids were most vain. After enjoying the convenience of the city, it was only natural that she couldn’t go back to the rural lifestyle. Even if they disregarded everything else, the pit toilet alone was a nightmare to her. Whenever they visited their maternal grandmother’s home, she always tried her best to avoid using the toilet.

Gao Yang was wondering how he should comfort his sister when she said, “I want to stay here. Once I graduate from middle school, I’ll start doing part-time jobs. Jobs in the city pay better.”

Gao Yang paused, feeling both moved and ashamed. He had thought his sister was reluctant to go back to the countryside because of material reasons, but she simply wanted to start working earlier to help shoulder the financial burden on the family.

“No!” Gao Yang said vehemently. “You should be studying, not doing part-time!”

“I can do photoshoots.”

Gao Yang jumped. “What photoshoots?![1]”

“Fashion bloggers, basically! You know I like lolita dresses, and I often upload pictures of my looks to my social media. I already have more than 6000 followers. A few sellers have contacted me and sent me their dresses, paying me to advertise their products. That’s the job I’m talking about!”

His sister sounded proud. “I made the calculations. If I get three offers every month, and each seller pays me 300 yuan, I’ll get 900 yuan. Then I can sell the dresses the sellers give me for free and earn another 1000 or so yuan. That’s about 2000 yuan in total every month. Once I get even more followers, more sellers will seek me out, and I’ll get even more money. However, it’ll be difficult to continue this job if we return to the countryside...”

Gao Yang stroked her hair and said gently, “You have my full support if you love lolita dresses and want to be an online model, but that can only be a hobby of yours. You must not give up on your study. Understand?”

“But...”

“No but! Dad won’t have to sell the house. Don’t worry about money. Your brother will find a way.”

“What can you do?” Gao Xinxin didn’t sound convinced.

What else could he do? Wang Zikai was rich, and Wu Dahai even more so. He would have to borrow some money from them, or perhaps they would be willing to invest in his father’s factory as shareholders. Gao Yang would just have to pay them back through labor.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Gao Yang said with a smile.

“Yeah.” Relieved, his sister shifted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. “Can I sleep here tonight, Brother?”

“No!” Gao Yang rejected her without hesitation.

His sister pouted. “Why? We used to sleep on the same bed when we were little.”

“Like you said, we were little. But not now.”

“But I’m scared.” His sister grew quiet. “I have been getting a strange feeling lately. I even had a nightmare last night that you were dead...”

“Why would I die for no reason?” Gao Yang chuckled.

“Dad got into an accident for no reason.”

“That’s not something that happens every day. Misfortune has found our family once already. We’ll be fine going forward.” Gao Yang assured her. “Come on, go back to your room and sleep.”

“Okay, I’ll leave after a bit.” His sister was still a little reluctant.

Gao Yang didn’t kick her out. Instead, he stayed with his sister for a little longer. He had thought it was strange for his sister to actually knock before coming in, but perhaps she had simply grown more mature.

With what had happened to the family, it made sense that she found it necessary to grow up.

Kids did that. Growing up overnight.

Gao Yang was suddenly hit with a feeling of dissonance. Two hours ago, he was in a barbecue place in the Walled City of Ten Dragons, talking about Rune Circuits, the Mist World, the Gates of Closure, and the Crimson Tides, yet he was just talking to his sister about ordinary issues like his father’s accident, their potential move back to the countryside, and dropping out of school to work part-time jobs.

Sometimes, Gao Yang found himself wondering which was the real world.

The brother and sister stayed together for a few minutes, steeping in their own thoughts. Then Gao Xinxin let out a sigh like she had made up her mind and got to her feet. “Alright, I’ll go to bed.”

“Go on.”

Then his sister suddenly stopped walking. Her gaze zeroed in on the A4 document on his computer desk. Although the light was off in the room, the moonlight streaming through the window hit the desk just so, illuminating a part of the paper.

—Shit! It’s the Talent list!

Gao Yang jumped to his feet and pushed his sister out of the room. “Come on. You should have been in bed yesterday.”

“Yeah.” His sister slowly walked out of his room.

Before Gao Yang could close the door, however, his sister suddenly turned around like she had just realized something.

“Anything else?” Gao Yang tightened his grip around the door knob and tried his best to play nonchalant.

“Brother.” His sister stared right at him with her big, clear eyes. There was a strange fleeting glint in them, as if a hidden source of light was cut off and quickly reconnected. “When did you...awaken?”

Gao Yang’s heart contorted.

No!

Not her!

No, no, no!

Nononononononono!

...

[Beep—]

[Warning, you are in extremely great danger.]

[Luck acquisition rate increases to 3000 times]

1. In the original, Gao Xinxin said that she could be 种草姬 (jong cao ji), which literally means girls who make you want to buy something, usually for lolita, Japanese highschool uniform, or other less mainstream attires. The word 姬, however, is pronounced the same as 鸡, chicken, which is a euphemism for sex worker in China. That’s why Gao Yang was so shocked. ?

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