Chapter 87: An Old Acquaintance

“Everyone in the neighborhood, gather here now!” Accompanied by the clang of a battered gong, the loud voice of a middle-aged woman reached Liu Chang’s ears. He leaned out the window and looked down, vaguely making out the dark, shifting silhouettes of people being drawn together by her summons.

“Brother, what’s happening?” The little girl also pressed up beside Liu Chang, peering down at the scene below. But with her eyesight, she could see nothing beyond the swirling fog.

“It’s probably some sort of assembly,” Liu Chang replied. “There are small self-governing groups everywhere now; I suppose they’re making announcements.” He opened the window wider, straining to catch the muddled sounds drifting up.

As expected, once the woman had finished gathering everyone, a man’s voice began to speak to the crowd. Liu Chang couldn’t make out the words clearly, but from the faint syllables he caught, he realized they were assigning tasks. Everyone in the neighborhood seemed to have their own role within this small community—some were responsible for planting, others for gathering supplies. No one appeared to exist outside the group.

Liu Chang listened for a while, but hearing nothing of interest, and mindful that he was currently lying low to avoid the institute, he decided not to involve himself further and closed the window.

After shutting the window, he and the little girl rested on the sofa for a while. Just as Liu Chang was picking up the small wooden box, preparing to go out and gather some weeds for the insects, he heard clear footsteps echoing through the stairwell.

“Someone’s coming.” He quickly hid the little girl behind the sofa, set the small wooden box aside, crouched in a corner, and unstrapped the military crossbow from his back. After cocking it, he aimed it steadily at the door.

He had just finished these preparations when a man holding an iron rod opened the door.

“Anyone here? I thought I heard something just now?” The newcomer called out cautiously from the doorway but did not step inside.

Hiding behind the sofa, Liu Chang focused his exceptional eyesight on the nervous man, noting the armband at his cuff—Shunhe Garden Community Guard.

Seeing those words, Liu Chang let his guard down. “Shunhe Garden” was the name of his neighborhood; he’d seen it that very morning. As for this guard, he was likely a member of a self-formed security group for the community.

Setting the crossbow behind the sofa, Liu Chang stood up from his hiding place.

“There’s someone here. I’m just passing through and staying temporarily.”

The guard tensed his grip on the iron rod when he saw someone appear, then rested it across his chest, entering the room in a stance ready for action.

“Relax, I mean no harm,” Liu Chang said, raising his hands slightly. “I’m just passing through.”

“Oh.” The man relaxed a bit at Liu Chang’s gesture and asked, “Where are you from? I hope you’ll answer honestly. These days, things are chaotic—there are gangs raiding everywhere. Our community is relatively safe and self-sufficient. We’d prefer not to be disrupted by outsiders.”

“I understand.” Liu Chang nodded, pulling the little girl out from behind the sofa. “We’re from the Jinshui District, here looking for relatives. This is my sister.”

“Oh.” The guard, seeing the little girl, let down most of his guard. After all, if someone came with ill intent, they wouldn’t bring a girl who looked barely ten years old—it would only slow them down and weaken their fighting strength.

“So you’re just passing through. Are you planning to leave today, or stay for a while?”

“We’d like to stay for a while and search for our relatives,” Liu Chang replied after a moment’s thought. “Nothing more—we just want to settle in this area. Our family lives nearby, and we’d like to look for them.”

“Well, if you’re planning to stay, you’ll need to come register with me and have your identity checked.” The man gripped his iron rod. “We don’t reject outsiders—more people mean more strength. But you need to come with me to the community office, and I’ll introduce you to a few people.”

“Of course.” Liu Chang took the little girl by the hand and walked over to the man.

“Come with me, but keep a little distance.” Satisfied that Liu Chang had no hostile intent, the guard led him out of the building and into the neighborhood.

They walked to the former property management office. The man pointed at the management building with his iron rod. “This is the place.”

“Alright,” Liu Chang nodded.

The three of them entered the management office. Inside, they saw a sturdy middle-aged woman and, beside her, a thin woman who handled the records.

When Liu Chang saw the thin woman, he started in surprise and blurted out, “Doctor Huang!”

The woman looked up in astonishment at the familiar voice and gazed at the old acquaintance she hadn’t seen in so long.

“It’s you!” Doctor Huang’s eyes were full of confusion. “How did you end up here?”

“I stumbled here by accident,” Liu Chang replied, his emotions rising at the sight of someone who had traveled all the way from Kaifeng with him. “I can’t believe you’re still alive! We all thought you were dead!”

She laughed softly. “No, I was lucky. That day I ran for my life with a soldier, chased by a millipede. We split up, and the creature seemed more interested in the bigger guy, so it chased him instead. I just kept running and ended up here.” As Doctor Huang recalled that day, fear flickered in her eyes.

While they spoke, the guard and the sturdy woman glanced at Doctor Huang.

“Huang Yin, do you know this man?”

“I do,” Doctor Huang nodded.

“Who is he?”

“He’s a sort of relative of mine,” Doctor Huang answered, looking at Liu Chang.

“Ah, then that’s fine. He said he was looking for family, but I wasn’t sure if it was true.” The guard, reassured by Doctor Huang’s words, finally lowered his weapon. “Since you all know each other, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll go patrol the neighborhood.”

The sturdy woman nodded as well, greeted Doctor Huang, and stood up from behind the desk. “Since you’re old friends reuniting, I’ll give you some privacy. Have a good chat.”

With that, she pulled the guard out of the office, leaving the room to Liu Chang, the little girl, and Doctor Huang.

“Sit down,” Doctor Huang said, pointing to a bench. “I’ll get you some water.”

“Thank you.” Liu Chang sat down with the little girl and asked, “How did you get here? We waited for you at the forest’s edge for a long time that day, but never saw you come out.”

“I took a wrong turn—and to be honest, I didn’t want to go with you. So once I got out of the forest, I headed straight for the main road.” Doctor Huang set the water in front of him. “But I never expected, hiding here, that Li Qingshui would still be after me. Are you here to take me back?”

“No, no, it was just a coincidence that I came here.” Seeing Doctor Huang’s misunderstanding, Liu Chang quickly waved his hands. “I’m not with Teacher Li anymore. I came here simply to find a place to stay.”

“Really? That’s odd. I’ve never been to Jinshui District, but even here I’ve learned just how much power the institute holds. With Li Qingshui’s intelligence, I doubt he’d be doing badly—why aren’t you enjoying the good life over there, and instead ended up in a place like this?”

Liu Chang gave a wry smile. “It’s hard to explain. There’s a political upheaval going on, so I fled. Just don’t turn me in, alright?”

“There’s no need for that. Back in Kaifeng, I didn’t really know you, and that day I was terrified—so I made that choice. Later I regretted it.” Doctor Huang smiled as well. “I thought Li Qingshui wanted to kill me in the forest, but he actually treated me well—never showed any malice. Apparently, he brought me along just to protect that girl, Zhu Lin.”

“Yes, Teacher Li isn’t a bad person—just a bit cold sometimes.” Liu Chang nodded. “And you? Looks like you’re doing alright here—sitting in an office and all.”

“It’s just that everyone takes care of me.” Doctor Huang seemed much more cheerful than she had been in Kaifeng, and was more talkative. Liu Chang guessed she really was doing well. “When I escaped from the forest, I didn’t want to go far. I took an alias and settled nearby. A few days after I arrived, I happened to save someone’s life, and they took me in.”

“Because I’m a doctor—and doctors are still valued these days. Even without advanced equipment, I can treat common ailments. Here, people get poisoned or hurt every day—they need me, so they look after me. When no one’s hurt, I keep records and manage finances. When someone’s injured, I go back to my real job. It suits me perfectly.”

“That’s great. Do you think Xiao Jing and I could stay here for a while? I could help with security—you know what I can do,” Liu Chang offered.

“No problem. I’ll inform the others, just need you to register.” Doctor Huang said, “It’s lucky you ran into me—otherwise, you’d have faced a strict check.”

“Is it chaotic here now?” Liu Chang asked, hearing the tone in her voice.

“Chaotic—extremely chaotic. Without police or law, you can imagine how bad it is. There are fights every day—murders, rapes, people fighting over the military’s distribution of grain and beans. Everything happens here. The military is different—either it’s completely peaceful, or chaos erupts on a huge scale. But here, there’s chaos every single day. Everyone’s fighting for scraps, and nature itself is pressing down on us. If you don’t believe me, just stay here a while and you’ll see for yourse—” (To be continued)