Incandescent lights overhead illuminated every street of the Underground City Base.
A walk past the commercial district led to the residential area of the Sixth District.
At both ends of the residential streets, four-story, interconnected public housing buildings were crowded into the low-ceilinged space, brightly lit by the lamps.
Every outer district had many such crowded public residential areas. Chai Yuening led Chu Ci through several small alleys before arriving back at her familiar home.
Swiping the key card opened the door, and Chai Yuening stepped into the apartment first.
The radio, which she had forgotten to turn off before leaving, was still playing a looping broadcast about the Base’s development. It was mostly uplifting good news, expectations of an ever-brightening future for the Base, and promises that existing problems would be resolved as soon as possible.
Chai Yuening had grown up in the Base and had heard similar words countless times. She let the broadcast play, listening with half an ear; it never really registered with her anyway.
She walked leisurely over to the radio and shut off the long-winded broadcast.
When she turned around, she saw the girl who had silently followed her the whole way, still clutching the water bottle with both hands, now standing timidly by the door, half her body hidden behind it, looking as if she didn’t dare to come closer.
“Come on in, no need to change your shoes,” Chai Yuening called out to her.
Chu Ci nodded, walked into the room, and gently pulled the door shut behind her.
“This place… is a little messy, and a little cramped,” Chai Yuening said, walking over to a small single-seater sofa. She hastily gathered the two or three pieces of worn clothing from it, freeing up the only other place to sit and rest besides the rocking chair.
Chu Ci didn’t respond, her gaze simply falling blankly on the clothes in Chai Yuening’s arms.
A hint of embarrassment flickered in Chai Yuening’s eyes, and she gave Chu Ci an awkward smile. “Um, water in the Base is pretty expensive. Washing one piece at a time is a waste, so I like to wash several pieces at once.”
“Mm,” Chu Ci nodded.
“Don’t just stand by the door. Have a seat!”
As Chai Yuening said this, she was debating whether to take the clothes in her arms to be washed. When she turned and saw Chu Ci still rooted to the spot by the door, she was plunged into a fresh wave of awkwardness.
She suddenly started to worry about how she would get along with this new roommate in the future.
The housing allocated to outer district residents by the Base was usually quite small—so small that you were always in each other’s way.
It was clearly not a suitable size for two people to share, but she had already brought the person back. She couldn’t suddenly go back on her word and say to the young girl who had hastily followed her, “You should go back, I think it’s too crowded for two people,” or something similar.
Just as her awkwardness was bordering on helplessness, she finally saw the “human pillar” by the door begin to move.
Chu Ci took a few steps into the room but didn’t find a place to sit down. She just slowly looked around before her gaze landed on the inner bedroom, which contained nothing more than a wardrobe and a small bed.
Chai Yuening quickly stuffed the clothes in her hands into the bathroom sink, took a few steps forward, and said, “This bed is a bit small, it’ll be too crowded for two. I’ll move it against the wall later, and I can sleep on a floor mat for a few days. I’ll get a bigger bed in a few days and it’ll be fine.”
Chu Ci replied, “I can sleep on the floor. I’m the one imposing on you…”
Chai Yuening quickly cut her off. “No way. Your injuries haven’t fully healed yet. The floor is cold and damp, that’s bad for your wounds.”
“But…”
“One more ‘but,’ and I’m sending you back to the Ninth District,” Chai Yuening said, hands on her hips, feigning anger.
Chu Ci fell silent. She lowered her head and her eyes, and after a half-second of silence, she said in a tiny voice, “Thank you.”
“Then you sit for a bit. You can turn on the radio if you want to listen. There are a few books under the coffee table you can flip through if you’re bored.” Chai Yuening then pointed to the bathroom. “I’m going to wash some clothes?”
“Mm.”
Her mute-like new roommate had finally spoken, and Chai Yuening let out a long sigh of relief.
She went into the bathroom and started washing her clothes.
A second before she was about to turn on the faucet, she heard footsteps as light as a cat’s from outside.
Chai Yuening subconsciously peeked outside and saw Chu Ci tiptoeing to the small coffee table. She placed the mineral water, which she hadn’t taken a single sip of, on the table, then stared at the radio for a long time, looking like she wanted to touch it but didn’t dare.
Soon, Chu Ci crouched down and pulled out a few old, worn books from under the coffee table, their pages falling out.
A page falling from her hands clearly startled her.
She quickly picked it up and tucked it back inside, her cautious manner making it seem as if she were the one who had damaged the book.
In reality, those were things Ren Dong had brought over earlier for her to “cultivate her sensibilities.” Chai Yuening hadn’t touched them once; they were even a little dusty.
Before long, Chu Ci selected a relatively new one, returned the others to their original spot, and sat crouched by the coffee table, reading quietly.
The corners of Chai Yuening’s mouth turned up unconsciously. She turned on the faucet and began scrubbing her clothes.
After the clothes were washed, Chai Yuening walked over to the drying rack in the corner. As she hung them up, she asked, “By the way, why were you in the detention center?”
The girl crouching by the coffee table looked up at the sound of her voice, a flicker of unease in her eyes.
“Is it inconvenient to talk about?” Chai Yuening waved her hand dismissively. “You don’t have to.”
“I can,” Chu Ci said, pursing her lips. “I wanted to earn some money, but I didn’t know where to go. Someone told me that Southwater Street in the Seventh District has good jobs that pay quickly… When I got to Southwater Street, I wanted to ask what I could do. Someone told me to go to the ‘Never Drunk Bar’ and find a You Jie.”
Hearing this, Chai Yuening could already guess why You Lan had sent Chu Ci to the detention center.
Chu Ci continued, “I asked for directions and went there. That ‘You Jie’ let me stay. She said if I served the customers well, the pay wouldn’t be low…”
Chai Yuening interrupted, a headache coming on. “You hit someone later?”
“The customer hit me first,” Chu Ci said, a stubbornness in her eyes that Chai Yuening had never seen before.
“The customer hit you first?”
“He grabbed me first. I was just delivering a drink, I didn’t do anything,” Chu Ci said earnestly. “I hit him, and he cried. You Jie scolded me for being insensible. To stop me from arguing with the customer, she sent me to that little dark room.”
“…”
Seeing Chu Ci explain so seriously, Chai Yuening didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
So this little girl, who’d clearly had a screw loose since her amnesia, had been tricked into becoming a “bar hostess” at You Lan’s place.
She had no idea what kind of job it was, and not only had she hit You Lan’s customer, she’d actually made the man cry…
Even now, the girl still hadn’t realized what kind of mess she had gotten herself into.
But thankfully, though Chu Ci looked to have thin arms and legs, she could actually fight back against someone with wandering hands. Otherwise, who knows what might have happened.
Seeing Chai Yuening remain silent for a long time, a trace of unease surfaced in Chu Ci’s eyes.
She asked tentatively, “Was that a prison? Did I… did I break the law?”
“Uh… no,” Chai Yuening snapped back to reality and quickly explained. “That place is just for temporarily holding people. The ones who go in haven’t committed any major crimes. Usually, it’s for fighting, stealing money, or damaging someone else’s property… If you show a good attitude and admit your mistake, they let you out after a few days. The ones who break the law are locked up in prison.”
“But I wasn’t wrong,” Chu Ci’s tone was a little aggrieved.
“This is probably… a less-than-beautiful misunderstanding,” Chai Yuening said awkwardly.
The black market had its own rules. You Lan’s bar was in that line of business, and the people who drank there came from all walks of life. The security officers couldn’t control it; in fact, they would even cover for it to some extent.
In a situation like this, where someone specifically came looking for work but completely disregarded the rules, whether they were right or wrong wasn’t something one person could decide.
Chai Yuening thought it over and finally sighed, once again handing the bottle of mineral water on the coffee table to Chu Ci.
“Have a drink.”
Chu Ci took the bottle and had a small sip, then lowered her eyelashes and asked softly, “Do you think I was wrong too?”
Chai Yuening couldn’t stand up to such a pitiful little tone in the slightest.
“You weren’t wrong!” She scooted forward, her elbow gently bumping the dejected Chu Ci’s arm, and coaxed, “He hit you first. Of course you have to hit back when you’re being bullied! If I were there, I’d help you hit him!”
Receiving affirmation, the corners of Chu Ci’s mouth visibly lifted a little.
Chai Yuening stood up and changed the subject. “Do you want to go get your things?”
“Huh?” Chu Ci looked up, her eyes filled with confusion.
Chai Yuening said patiently, “I mean, you’ve been living there for ten-odd days. Don’t you have anything you need to bring back from the Ninth District?”
Chu Ci shook her head.
Only then did Chai Yuening realize that the clothes the girl was wearing were still the same set she had bought for her more than ten days ago when she took her to get a temporary ID.
The clothes were a bit torn, marks left from the fight, but they were very clean, clearly having been washed just a day or two ago.
Chai Yuening asked, “Not even one or two pieces of clothing?”
Chu Ci shook her head.
“Then what do you use for a change of clothes?”
“I can wear them while they’re still damp. It’s fine as long as I don’t go out,” Chu Ci said faintly, without a hint of grievance in her tone.
It was a simple answer, delivered so casually, yet it left Chai Yuening speechless. A sense of guilt inexplicably welled up from the bottom of her heart.
How could she have had the heart to leave a young girl—injured, with amnesia, and seemingly so unworldly—all alone in an unfamiliar place?
She couldn’t help but think that if she had chosen to bring Chu Ci back with her more than ten days ago, this young girl, already injured, wouldn’t have had to huddle at home wearing damp clothes, much less go looking for work in an unfamiliar place to earn money, where she ran into someone like You Lan, who had no conscience when it came to money.
Chai Yuening took a deep breath, stood up, and asked, “Are you hungry? I’ll cook something for you.”
“Thank you,” Chu Ci said, standing up.
Chai Yuening turned and walked toward the kitchen.
Beside her, Chu Ci also followed, clutching the water bottle, and walked into the kitchen with her.
The tiny kitchen was fine for one person, but with two, it felt somewhat crowded.
“You can rest outside,” Chai Yuening said, turning around.
“Is there anything I can help with?” Chu Ci asked uneasily, as if she might be kicked out of this small, shabby apartment at any moment if she didn’t do something.
Faced with such a look, Chai Yuening couldn’t even bring herself to ask her to go sit outside.
She scratched behind her ear and said, “Then you can help me wash the vegetables. They’re in the fridge, just grab whatever you want to eat.”
Some people speak generously, their grand words giving the impression that the refrigerator is stocked with all sorts of delicacies.
However, the moment Chu Ci opened the fridge, both of them fell silent.
In the empty refrigerator, there were only three potatoes and a handful of wilted greens.
Chu Ci froze by the fridge, her bewilderment written all over her face, as if she were struggling to decide whether a handful of greens or three potatoes would be more likely to feed two people.
Fortunately, this wasn’t a multiple-choice question.
“Wash them all!” Chai Yuening said quickly. “I forgot to buy fresh ones…”
“Mm,” Chu Ci replied, carrying the potatoes and greens to the bathroom, the only place with running water.
A slightly thick potato and vegetable soup was the first meal they shared after meeting again.
They crouched by the small coffee table, using the only two sets of bowls and chopsticks in the house, and ate the hot dinner.
Chai Yuening was thankful that even after living alone for so long, she still had the habit of keeping an extra set of everything just in case. Otherwise, she would have had to go out and buy new bowls and chopsticks on the spot.
Chu Ci didn’t have a large appetite and put down her bowl and chopsticks after eating for only a short while.
The not-so-large pot of soup was just enough to fill their two not-so-hungry stomachs.
Chai Yuening thought that after a short rest, it would be best to go out and buy some things; otherwise, she wouldn’t know what to eat for breakfast tomorrow.
She just didn’t expect that even if she was just going out to buy some food, Chu Ci would follow her every step of the way, as if she was afraid Chai Yuening would abandon her again.
Before leaving, Chai Yuening suggested that Chu Ci rest at home for a while, but Chu Ci just shook her head without a word. This left Chai Yuening with no choice but to take the young girl with her to the market.
Although she wasn’t a rich person, since she had brought the girl out, she was willing to spend a little extra on whatever Chu Ci liked, as long as it was within a range she could afford.
But it was getting late, and the market was about to close. The vegetables left over at the end of the day were somewhat cheaper than in the morning.
“Just grab whatever you like.”
As she said this, Chai Yuening subconsciously calculated how much money she had left on her.
It wasn’t that she was heartbroken over the cost of the vegetables, but mainly because her communicator couldn’t be used normally outside the Base. Except for that one time she went out with Luo Kun to court death, she had been resting for quite a while. She wasn’t sure if her remaining money would be enough to cover food, clothing, and water for two people until the signal tower was recovered and work started up again.
Maybe she should start working sooner?
Missions in medium-to-high risk zones were hard to get. She could lead her team to low-risk areas and casually collect some low-level mutated beast carapaces, bones, and skins. Having You Lan help sell them would work too.
As Chai Yuening thought this, she subconsciously sized up Chu Ci, who was picking out vegetables beside her.
She still remembered the scene when she first saw this girl.
A young girl who looked to be seventeen or eighteen, treating the wounds on her own body with the practiced ease of a seasoned veteran.
That’s right, Chu Ci said she had beaten the customer in You Lan’s bar until he cried.
To be able to make a grown man who dared to hang around the black market cry, she must have some skills, right?
Maybe she could talk to the others later about letting her join the mercenary team. With a job, she could at least get a share of the money in the future.
Chai Yuening thought it over and felt it was a solid plan.
She walked over to Chu Ci’s side in two steps. Just as she was about to bring it up after paying, she noticed that Chu Ci had been standing there for a long time, holding a small plastic bag, but hadn’t picked up a single thing.
“Is there nothing you like?”
“I don’t know…”
Those three short words left Chai Yuening completely baffled.
Fortunately, in the next second, Chu Ci added in a small voice, “I can’t recognize them…”
Chai Yuening froze for half a second, then roughly understood what she meant.
She had amnesia. Not just memories of past people and events, but also some cognitive ability regarding objects.
Speaking of which, aside from standard wound treatment, Chai Yuening knew nothing about healing or medicine.
She had seen plenty of people with head injuries before.
There were those with amnesia, those who went mad, and those who became slow or foolish. With the medical standards in the outer districts, they were basically untreatable.
It wasn’t easy for residents of the outer districts to enter the main city, and even if they did, they wouldn’t have the money to go to the main city’s medical center.
What was relatively fortunate was that no matter which crucial nerve in her brain Chu Ci had injured in the Fog Zone half a month ago, at this moment, she still seemed like a normal person.
“It’s okay, I’ll pick what I like then.”
“Okay,” Chu Ci nodded.
“You can try them all later. Whether they taste good or not, you’ll recognize them next time.”
“Mm.” The girl’s face was full of obedience.
Chai Yuening casually picked up a few tomatoes and potatoes, weighed some greens and mushrooms, and gritted her teeth to buy four eggs, something only the “rich” could afford to eat.
The items weren’t heavy, but the two of them insisted on carrying half each, slowly strolling back in the direction of home.
On the way back, Chai Yuening once again remembered the question she had wanted to ask but hadn’t.
Just as she was about to speak, her peripheral vision caught the still-gruesome scars on Chu Ci’s arm, and her heart, already laden with guilt, softened once more.
She thought, I’ll wait a while. In a little while, I’ll find a way to pull some strings and find this young girl a safer job in the city district.
If her brain wasn’t damaged and she could still read, a clerical job would be for the best.
With this thought in mind, Chai Yuening led Chu Ci back home and put the newly bought groceries in the refrigerator.
The underground base had no day or night like the surface, only a city-wide broadcast at six in the morning, twelve at noon, and eleven at night.
Chai Yuening’s home had no clock, so she pulled out her pocket watch to check the time.
It was just past seven in the evening, still relatively early, a good time to foster a connection with her not-so-talkative new roommate.
Chai Yuening took a deep breath and walked toward Chu Ci, who was sitting on the sofa by the coffee table, flipping through a book.
“What are you reading?” Chai Yuening asked, feigning curiosity as she leaned over to look at the book in Chu Ci’s hands.
It was a standard conversation starter, at least in the opinion of Chai Yuening, who had never had many friends.
“This is a collection of essays,” Chu Ci answered seriously.
“Do you like reading essays?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember what I like,” Chu Ci said.
Chai Yuening was momentarily stuck. She asked, “Well, you were reading it before dinner. Did you read anything interesting?”
“This one.” Chu Ci flipped back a few pages in the essay collection, pointed to the black characters on the yellowed page, and said earnestly, “The author’s name is Yi Ming.”
“Ah,” Chai Yuening gently corrected her. “Yi Ming isn’t a name. It means the identity is unknown.” [TN: 佚名 (yìmíng) means Anonymous.]
The moment the words left her mouth, she felt a pang of regret.
Explaining it so bluntly was a bit tactless.
Just as she was thinking of how to tactfully change the subject, she heard Chu Ci reply faintly, “I see. It didn’t feel like it was written by one person.”
Chai Yuening: “…”
It seemed she had been overthinking things. Someone who had hit their head wasn’t nearly so sensitive.
Author’s Notes:
First day of adopting a strange species
