Tattooed Whales

Unsurprisingly, Li Jiu Lu was restricted of her ‘personal freedom’.

This always happens after every parents teacher meeting and Jiu Lu was long used to it.

After school, there was an hour of self-study before she headed to a small shop in Bai Hua Road to grab something to eat. She then rushed to her maths teacher’s home for additional tuition.

The session was charged by the hour, and Jiu Lu was tutored for 2 hours daily, and the total came to two hundred dollars. This was by no means, a small sum for that time.

Li Jiu Lu held some guilt towards Jiang Man and tried to go along with her plans. However, the tiny sense of resistance in her heart made her unable to focus; she just wasn’t cut for studying.

A one-to-one session was however, very different from a normal lesson, the teacher was able to focus solely on her and this made it hard for her to leave to the toilet to slack off.

Jiu Lu finally made it through the two hours. She fell asleep a few times in between, and when she came out of the teacher’s house, her arm was green with bruises from her own pinching.

Standing outdoors, Jiu Lu took a deep breath and a gush of cold air went into her lungs. She felt alive.

Jiu Lu took a glance at her watch. Ten minutes past nine. The streets were empty and there was no sight of anyone.

She straightened her clothes and walked in the direction of the elderly home.

A series of honks sounded behind Jiu Lu and along it came the sounds of tires travelling through small stones. The car stopped by Jiu Lu’s side.

The window by the driver’s seat winded down and Zhou Ke was holding onto the steering wheel. “Get in, Lu Lu.”

Jiu Lu stepped back and leaned down. “I told my Mom not to trouble Uncle Zhou, I can go home on my own.”

“How can a girl go home alone?” He urged, “Get in, I was on the way.”

Li Jiu Lu hesitated for a moment and couldn’t find any reasonable excuse. She pulled the handle of the rear door and got on, before realising that there was another person on the seat next to the driver.

Zhou Ke turned his head and introduced, “This is Uncle Chen.”

Jiu Lu sat formally and greeted, “Uncle Chen.”

“Hello.” Chen Rui Chen turned his head and studied her for a moment. “You’re in high school?”

“I’m in my third year.”

Chen Rui Chen nodded his head and teased Zhou Ke. “This child looks quiet, she must be very well-behaved.”

“Lu Lu is.”

Chen Rui Chen didn’t reply and car rode out of the road at a relatively slow speed.

Chen Rui Chen suddenly hit his thigh. “That’s right, Old Zhou, there might be another batch of “Five Guaranteed Households1‘ transferring over. Hong Hua’s elderly home closed down and there’s no where else to home them.”

Zhou Ke froze for a while before speaking out, troubled. “We only have a total of two hundred beds and they are all filled, I’m afraid…”

“Old Zhou. Try to work around it. This was planned by the people above, I have no choice too.” His tone was rather firm as he hit Zhou Ke’s shoulder and sighed. “If not, why don’t you try adding more beds? I see that the activity room is quite spacious, why don’t you try to change it to accommodate more rooms?”

“More beds…”

Li Jiu Lu turned her head and stared outside the window, her ears automatically filtering out the conversation which had nothing to do with her.

The streets in winter seemed much more feeble, even the two street lights were barely hanging on.

A few minutes after, Chen Rui Chen reached his house and was dropped off, leaving only her and Zhou Ke.

Zhou Ke looked at her from the rear view mirror. “Lu Lu, have you eaten dinner?” He frowned and glanced at his wrist watch. “It’s still early, why don’t we grab something to eat before returning home?”

“It’s okay. I ate quite a lot.” Jiu Lu added quickly, “I still have a lot of mock papers to finish that my teacher will be checking tomorrow.”

Zhou Ke returned his attention back front and laughed lightly. “You’ve been too stressed by your mum. I don’t really agree with her methods, you must be tired after a day of school, that few hours of tuition after school won’t help much.”

Li Jiu Lu recalled the number of times she fell asleep earlier on, and surprisingly agreed with him on this point.

The car then turned away from the junction.

Jiu Lu looked at the roads. “Uncle Zhou…?”

Zhou Ke answered her: “You mom likes the crab porridge from Fu Lin Road. It’s cold today, so I’ll get her some. Do you want some?”

“Oh, it’s okay.”

After parking, Zhou Ke grabbed his wallet and got off, leaving Jiu Lu in the car to wait.

He wore a coat, but the coat wasn’t long enough to cover his wrist, leaving his wrist watch exposed. As Zhou Ke walked, his leather shoes shined discreetly in the dim lights.

He took very large steps, and the coat flew along with every step he took, making him seem rather high-spirited.

Jiu Lu dropped her shoulders and fixed her sight outside of the window and watched as the glass turn translucent in the cold, leaving his silhouette blurry.

She then picked at the skin on the side of her fingernails and moved her legs about, which were rather stiff.

After what seemed like a century, Zhou Ke came back with a bag.

The trip took a while and Zhou Ke was a cautious driver, which made the journey home rather long. They ended up reaching home around ten.

The gates to the elderly home were opened widely and in front of it was a police vehicle. The flashing blue and red lights made quite an impression on its surroundings.

The gate was sealed off with a police tape. The home has always been rather quiet with a heavy air around it, but it was packed with a curious crowd today.

Li Jiu Lu sat up immediately as her heart beat increased. “What… What happened?”

Zhou Ke’s expressions were solemn and braked suddenly. He got out of the car immediately.

Jiu Lu had initially thought that something had happened to Jiang Man and was so terrified that she felt her body losing her energy until she saw Jiang Man. Jiu Lu then heaved a deep breath, almost as it she was dragged to Hell’s gates and back.

Jiang Man pulled Zhou Ke. “Where’s Lu Lu?”

‘In the car.” He patted Jiang Man’s shoulder. “What happened?”

“I tried calling you but couldn’t reach you. Wang Yong Fa from the first floor killed himself. Someone called the police and they’re investigating inside right now.” Jiang Man replied hurriedly.

Zhou Ke took out his phone from his pocket, looked at the black screen and kept it. “Don’t worry. I’ll look at it.”

Jiang Man nodded her head and quickly rushed to Jiu Lu before entering the home together. The body was still in the room, and a forensic scientist was examining the body.

The home was filled with different groups of people and the police were taking statements from the staff in the home.

Once they walked in, a police officer walked up to them immediately. He introduced himself as Officer Wu before gesturing and leading Zhou Ke to a corner.

“You’re in charge here?”

“Yes. I am the director.”

“I am asking as per procedures, where were you from seven to ten?”

“I was eating outside, and fetched my child home from school.”

Officer Wu recorded Zhou Ke’s words. “Where did you eat? Who were you with? Where did you fetch your child?”

“I ate at Yong Fu Road’s Bao Cai Restaurant with Chen Rui Chen, and he went along with me to Yu Tan Road to fetch my child. After which, I sent him home and then went to Fu Lin Road to buy porridge.”

Officer Wu stopped his pen for a second, raised his head to look at him and replied nonchalantly. “That’s quite a clear memory you have there, you must have an alibi.”

He then asked, “Did you feel that something was wrong with Wang Yong Fa recently?”

“I am not very familiar with the elderly, the staff here might have a better idea.”

“Then, according to what you know, how did he get along with the other elderly? Did others hold any grudges against him?”

“I wouldn’t say grudges, but they might have fought a few times over chess.” Zhou Ke frowned and thought for a while. “I’m sorry. I really don’t know these elderly’s daily activities well enough. It might be better for you to ask the staff. But the elderly here do get along quite well… I haven’t really heard of…”

Officer Wu asked a few more questions before releasing Zhou Ke, whom quickly entered the home.

Li Jiu Lu was also asked a few questions. When she turned to return to her room, her peripheral vision caught sight of a person. Both his hands rested on his knee with his head bowed low, wearing only a thin black shirt, sitting quietly on the stairs.

Jiu Lu paused for a moment and walked towards him.

When her vision got clearer, her sight gravitated down and her footsteps stopped.

Chi Jian could sense that someone was approaching him. He raised his head and sat up a little straighter.

Jiu Lu stared at his hands. “Why are you here?”

Chi Jian shrugged.

“Your…. hands… blood.”

Chi Jian’s voice was a little hoarse. “It’s from that grandfather. I got some on me when I kicked the door.”

“You discovered the body?” Li Jiu Lu walked in front of him.

Chi Jian swallowed down a lump in his throat and raised his head to look at her.

“The blood was leaking out from the door….. I happened to see it.”

Jiu Lu squatted down. “The police talked to you yet?”

“Yeah.”

“What did they say?”

Chi Jian glanced to the side. “They said to wait for them to finish their investigations.”

Li Jiu Lu pursed her lips and accompanied him silently. Somehow it had felt weird for something like to this to happen at her house.

After Jiang Man’s statement was taken, she saw the two kids squatting down and quickly walked up to them. “Lu Lu.”

Li Jiu Lu stood up.

Jiang Man touched her cheeks. “Scared?”

She shook her head.

Before she could say anything, Zhou Ke stood on the stairs and called Jiang Man in. Jiang Man gave Chi Jian a glance before saying to Jiu Lu: “Bring your classmate home and find him a shirt from your Uncle Zhou’s closet in the second drawer. Bring him to the restroom on the first floor for a shower and then get him something to eat. After we’re finished, we’ll call you, okay?”

“… … Okay.”

After Jiang Man finished instructing Jiu Lu, Officer Wu walked over. “Because you were the last person to come into contact with the deceased, we will still need to trouble you to make a trip to the station for further investigation.”

Jiang Man tightened her fists. “But I have already told you everything I know.”

“… … Right.”

“It’s part of the procedures.”

He then turned to look at Chi Jian. Being the one who took his statement earlier, he was worried after seeing him motionless. “Are you alright?”

Chi Jian’s eyes turned and replied casually, “Yeah, what else could I be?”

Officer Wu noticed the little girl standing in front of them and immediately understood the situation. He smiled, but didn’t probe further. “That’s good. Everything will be better after a shower and a night of sleep.”

“Thanks. Got it.”

“If you remember anything else, you can find me directly.” He then patted him on the shoulder. “I’m Officer Wu, Wu Bo.”

Chi Jian didn’t reply and waved him away.

The duo saw Officer Wu and Jiang Man off. Jiu Lu’s eyes shifted to the gates, where the curious onlookers seemed to have not only have increased, but they were now pointing at the crime scene and discussing excitedly.

The entire home was live with lights, and the previous sobriety in the home was nowhere to be found.

She turned her body. “My mom told us to go first.”

Chi Jian raised an eye. “En.”

Jiu Lu waited for a moment, but he seemed to have no intentions of getting up.

“Chi Jian?”

Chi Jian raised his hands slowly and extended them towards her. “My legs are numb.”

“… …”

Li Jiu Lu took a look at his blood-spotted hands and without hesitation, helped him up.

Jiu Lu wasn’t really thinking of anything in that moment, it was purely instinct. When their fingertips touched, the chill from his hands transferred over and Jiu Lu felt something whirring in her heart; she wanted to warm him up.

She held his hand and pulled him up from the floor.

The odour of blood rushed immediately to her nose, as his hands held tightly onto hers. The two gradually made their way to the old wing, with Jiu Lu a step in front leading him.

The two eventually distanced themselves away from that world and for some reason, Jiu Lu felt herself empathising with him, almost as though they went through the same things.

In that moment, their footsteps were as synchronised as it could be.

Throughout the way, Chi Jian never let go of her hand.

Till, they entered the room and the heat in it woke Jiu Lu up. She struggled free of his hold and pointed to a direction. “The restroom is over there. I’ll get you some clothes.”

Jiu Lu switched on the lights in the living room and found some clothes for him. “Turn the handle to the left for hot water and there are new towels in the drawer.”

“Thanks.” Chi Jian lowered his head and crossed his arms behind to pull off his shirt in one motion.

Jiu Lu turned to look the other way.

After he went in, Jiu Lu went into the kitchen to wash her hands and then boiled some water.

Her head was a little muddled. All she could see was the sight of Chi Jian sitting on the platform with his head hung low. She didn’t understand exactly why that scene was so unforgettable.

Only when the kettle sounded hissingly, did she then came to her senses.

She switched off the gas and found a clean glass. She poured water into the glass and then realised she didn’t know what to do.

She slowly recalled Jiang Man’s words. She searched in the fridge but found only vegetables and a whole fish; these were all raw ingredients, and she didn’t know how to cook.

The water in the shower stopped and sounded again.

Jiu Lu bit down on her lip and suddenly remembered that there was still crab porridge in the car. She took her coat and went to get it.

Not long after, she returned with a bag of packaged porridge.

She closed the door behind her gently. There wasn’t any more water sounds and it was disturbingly quiet.

Jiu Lu turned her body before suddenly stopping.

Chi Jian was leaning against sofa, looking at her while lazily drying his hair. He was still wearing that pair of black trousers, but had nothing on for his torso.

[1] – 五保户 (Five Guaranteed Households) is a term mentioned in Chapter 3. It refers to rural villagers who are old, weak, crippled, widowed and can no longer work and have no source of income to support themselves. They are assured five things: food, clothes, a place to stay, access to medicine and medical facilities, and burial arrangements, which the term (Five Guarantees) comes from.