11 Ch. 11: Hands

Meifeng's body jerked backwards from the force of the rapidly moving person, but the thief's stature must not have been far from hers for her tight grip managed to remain around the wrist.

"Thief! Dirty thief!" System chanted on the side when it noticed what was happening.

The person tried desperately to free themselves from her grasp, but Meifeng did not relinquish them, instead dragging the person to a quiet alley away from the daily mayhem of the main street.

"Hey! Let me go! I'm sorry I tried to take your bag, let's just let bygones be bygones, ok?" a sharp voice said with exasperation. It was rather familiar and when the girl took a deep breath, it smelled faintly similar to a scent she had smelled not long before.

"It's that daughter! Aiya, the most innocent faces have the most to hide beneath them." System spat in disdain as the familiar face of Wan Xiaomei.

Meifeng found herself faintly amused by System's complete reversal of tone regarding the sold daughter. Man's heart was truly fickle. For an unmarried girl to run around Jiangnan without a home or family, what did System think that the daughter was going to do to survive? Her only mistake, was trying to take the wrong person's bag.

Wan Xiaomei squirmed under the terrifyingly still gaze of the beggar who had more strength in his small body than she would've thought. She indeed felt bad, but back when she and her mother had moved into the distant ancestral village with her uncle, she had often stolen little things from her neighbors to help her and her mother pull through. But it was what she was good at and it kept her from falling into more unsavory lines of work, the necessity of survival lessening her overall guilt.

Meifeng watched the daughter rangle with her emotions before her, the guilt visibly fading as she straightened to her full height and glared back.

"You are such a shameless boy grabbing a girl like this. If I were to scream right now, you would be dragged to the yamen and beaten!" Wan Xiaomei threatened.

Meifeng's lip hooked up into a grin, unnerving Wan Xiaomei's false bluster. The girl before her didn't look to be in much better condition than herself. Her eyes were hollow and tired from days of staying awake and fending off creepers during the long nights. Her clothes were soaked and torn, revealing patches of red, wind-chapped skin underneath. At most, they would both be dragged off for causing a disturbance on the bustling streets that fed and clothed half the city.

Wan Xiaomei's mouth kept blathering various reasons, her tongue sharp and words so colorful that if she were anyone else, Meifeng would've blushed. Meifeng coked her head to the side with curiosity, as if inspecting something interesting. She noted the faint tremors running through the daughter's arm, proof that she was simply a paper tiger that would tear at the first provocation. So Meifeng did just that.

"You know," the young girl started slowly, her voice coming out in a slow, sing-song manner that System was slowly becoming accustomed to, "It was actually your mother who wanted to get rid of you."

The daughter's face was first confused. It took a while for the words to connect, her eyes narrowing as the meaning sank it.

"Presumptuous! My mother was trying to- wait a minute, why do you know about my mother? How do you know what happened to me?" Wan Xiaomei yelled, her eyes growing red in an instant. Her constant attempts to escape from Meifeng's iron grip waned as she waited for an answer.

Meifeng looked utterly unbothered by the daughter's understandably extreme reaction.

"You already know it too, don't you?" she almost whispered, like a voice in someone's ear.

"Master, what are you talking about? That mother was weeping and crying as this poor girl was dragged away!" System argued righteously.

"You-! My mother loves me! She hated what my uncle did with all her heart. Unlike yours who probably dumped you on the streets for being such an unlucky thing!" Wan Xiaomei cried, an angry poking Meifeng in the chest, once, twice.

Her eyes widened. "You're a girl. Ha, I couldn't tell under that filth," she snapped rudely.

The reactions of System and Wan Xiaomei had been expected. Humans are the first to forget the lengths humanity is willing to go for their own benefits. Selfishness and greed lay in the core of every human heart, although they were quite good at chanting sutras and making pretenses of repenting.

Watching the first sign of tears start to well up in the abandoned daughter's eyes, Meifeng weighed her options. Wan Xiaomei carried a bit of a temper, but she seemed much more useful than System. The daughter had quick hands and a quick mouth, although she did not seem to be the strongest judge of character. But this alone was something Meifeng was willing to work with.

Abruptly, the semi mocking, half-smiling expression of Meifeng melted away to reveal a gentle, pitying expression. She truly seemed to be speaking from her heart when she began her soft ploy to bring this abandoned girl to her side.

"I'm an orphan girl too, why would I lie to you? I nearly got caught by that slaver before you and before I ran away he told me that he was going to go pick his last catch, a daughter that had been sold by a husband and wife that could no longer provide for her," she remarked sadly.

System could only gape at the sudden change, but Wan Xiaomei, who's emotions were running through her like a wild stampede, did not notice the switch.

"What? Husband and wife? How is that possible?" she almost whispered, her eyes lost and wide. Wan Xiaomei's struggling arm fell limp in Meifeng's grasp and she began to comfortingly pat the daughter's shoulder.

"He truly said husband and wife. Why, is he not your father?" Meifeng asked, playing dumb as she poked at the meat of the problem.

"No, he's my uncle from my deceased father's side. He was just giving us a place to stay after Jiangnan became too expensive a few months ago. But my mother is not married to him! I was sold by him because he was too poor to support us both." she said frantically almost to herself. It seemed she was starting to put the pieces together. Meifeng continued to pat her shoulder in an even, comforting tempo.

"But isn't it strange? What mother would allow their only child to be sold? My dead mother, bless her heart, would've walked over burning hot coals for me, let alone selling herself instead of selling me," Meifeng slowly came closer and Wan Xiaomei's bowed head ended up in Meifeng's shoulder as she moved to hug her and pat her back. Meifeng's mouth was close to Wan Xiaomei's ear, very much like the little voice in her head that was getting louder and louder.

"I'm not... not an only child. I have an older brother, he's studying to take the provincial exams and hopefully become an official someday. If I went to him, he would surely help me get to the bottom of this!" Wan Xiaomei remarked hopefully. A teardrop fell onto Meifeng's shoulder as the daughter's words revealed that she was starting to realize the truth in Meifeng's words.

And Meifeng hadn't really been lying anyways. She had seen how sharp the mother's clothes were for an ordinary villager, the handkerchief she had been using to wipe away fake tears made of silk and reflecting in the weak winter sunlight. It was not the look of someone living hand to mouth in dire straits. Only the circumstances she had created were fictional.

"A brother, hmm?" Meifeng said, running into another obstacle. She pretended to actually want to help find this older brother. "What's his name then? Where does he go to school?"

"I... I..." Wan Xiaomei stuttered, her sobs making it difficult for her to talk.

She straightened to look at Meifeng, the previous arrogance and anger gone. "His name is Wan Mingyu. I don't know actually know where he goes to school, he's so much older than me and left when I was little. I have no way to find him. What should I do?" she wailed.

Meifeng was quite thrilled that this girl was without a companion, for it meant that it should not present too much difficulty in convincing Wan Xiaomei to come along with her.

"There, there. I can see you have had a hard time since you came to Jiangnan. Be glad that you've escaped, for it would've been a shame if you were sold somewhere and had your reputation irreversibly damaged." Meifeng consoled quietly, once again poking the dying embers of her mother's betrayal.

"She is my mother! H-How could she do this to me!" Wan Xiaomei stuttered, wiping her eyes and face messily.

Meifeng sighed helplessly. "Perhaps I was actually wrong? I'll accompany you back to the village where we can get an explanation," Meifeng said, pretending to doubt her own words.

Wan Xiaomei firmly shook her head. "No, you're right," snarled under her breath, her eyes murderous. "Now that I think about it, if I hadn't been so worried consoling my mother I would've noticed earlier! That secret letter she sent in the middle of the night, the way she would 'console' my uncle about my father's untimely death in the middle of the night... I should've seen this! I can't believe she would do that to me!"

"But she's your mother-," Meifeng started, playing the role of the devil's advocate to the fullest.

"No! She is no mother of mine. As far as I am concerned, I am an orphan just like you!" Wan Xiaomei announced stubbornly. She was the kind of person who said what she meant. If she said she didn't like peaches, even if you paid her 100 taels she wouldn't try a single piece.

Meifeng was satisfied with the development. If she had invested this much effort and the daughter still didn't realize that her mother had been the one to sell her, she would've abandoned her altogether. Watching the girl nod to herself in determination, Meifeng made her final move.

Picking up her forgotten knapsack from the floor, Meifeng moved to disappear down the alley.

"Hey! W-Where are you going?" Wan Xiaomei asked with a childish pout, her eyes almost looking betrayed.

Meifeng lifted up her knapsack in indication. "I have retrieved my belongings so I am leaving, of course," she said matter of factly. After Wan Xiaomei had just shared a heartfelt, tear-jerking moment with the strange beggar girl, the sudden alienation left her alone and scrambling.

"Wait!" she cried suddenly, her loud voice echoing on the narrow, dilapidated walls of the alley. "Take me with you. Erm, I mean let me come with you."

Meifeng cocked her head to the side once more. "Why? You have your older brother don't you?"

"My brother? Looking for him is like a needle in a haystack. I need to stay alive and get more information if I ever want to find him. And in my current state, I would never be able to. Let me stay with you. Please!," the abandoned daughter pleaded.

Wan Xiaomei couldn't place her finger on it, but while there was something off about the beggar girl, she could also sense that this girl was a survivor. After all, anyone who ventured from the village to a large city unharmed and in a decent state was someone she was better off sticking beside while looking for her brother. Wan Xiaomei rushed forward, grabbing Meifeng's hand in the middle of her emotional plea.

"I'm more accustomed to traveling alone," Meifeng sighed apologetically as she gently freed her hand. Wan Xiaomei grabbed it again.

"Look, I can be very helpful to you. I can pick locks and I've lived in Jiangnan all my life, I can navigate you around the city. I'm also strong. Er... maybe not as strong as you but two hands are better than one! I am willing to be a servant if it means I can accompany you," Wan Xiaomei begged with round, pitiful eyes.

The reveal of her mother's deceit was making her feel like a weak tree being blown by fierce winds, besieged on all sides without any protection or safe harbor. Now she desperately wished to grab onto the first safe harbor she found. Meifeng made a pretense of being worn down, her hand no longer struggling in the daughter's grip. It was like a parody of what had happened just minutes earlier when Wan Xiaomei had been trying to run away from Meifeng. System could only shake its invisible head in disbelief at what was happening right before its eyes.

"Fine." Meifeng said.

"And I'm also willing to- what? Y-You agree?" Wan Xiaomei said, hope shining in her eyes as her face flushed red under the tears and snot.

"Yes. What can I say, ah, you're too pitiful." Meifeng joked.

Wan Xiaomei's face bloomed into a smile, one that made her simple face become a little more stunning, even after days of roughing it in the wild.

"Thank you! I promise I won't disappoint. If you tell me to go east, I won't even look west. If you wanted me to pluck the stars from the sky, I would climb the tallest tree and get them for you," Wan Xiaomei swore.

Meifeng nodded approvingly, as the words were pretty to the ear. But as for whether or not the words had any substance, she would find out shortly.

"What is your name?" Wan Xiaomei asked as she dried her face and followed Meifeng with a hopeful expression.

"Call me Meifeng."

"...Meifeng. What comes before it?"

"Nothing. I buried my family name when I buried my family."

"Oh, I am sorry about your parents. I'm Wan Xiaomei."

Meifeng's response was delayed. "I know."

They had once more reached the mouth of the alley and Meifeng was staring around vigilantly as if looking for something.

Wan Xiaomei felt anxious as she saw the sharpness Meifeng was peering at the busy street with. As a thief, she usually avoided such parties with good vigilance. She had been careless with her target.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked tentatively.

A thought struck Meifeng, her head visibly perking up.

"There is one?" she said with a slight smile.

Wan Xiaomei beamed. "Alright. What is it?"

Meifeng looked down at her new subordinate's hands.

"The hand that touched my knapsack. Break it."