"Sis, you have to be proactive. Make the first move—only then will there be a story!"
Ch'en Hui-chieh: …???
Was that just a florist's sales pitch, or are kids these days really this mature already?
Being proactive doesn't necessarily create a story—but if you put force into it, something will definitely echo back!
That was how Su Yi—an unwavering materialist—saw it.
He squatted down so he was eye-level with the Feline girl and asked, "Why are you telling her to buy the flowers instead of me? Normally it's the guy who buys flowers for the woman. Why are you doing the opposite?"
The Feline girl glanced at the handsome, white-haired big brother in front of her, then at the gallant dragon policewoman beside him, and asked timidly, "If I tell you, will you buy my flowers?"
"If your answer is good, I'll buy every last flower you're holding."
As he spoke, Su Yi pulled out the twenty thousand Lungmen dollars he'd just received—still not even warmed by his pocket yet—to demonstrate his financial strength.
Seeing how rich he was, the Feline girl stopped hesitating. "Because that sister was staring at your face the whole time and talking really proactively, but you looked like you couldn't be bothered. So I figured she'd be more likely to buy."
"Oho, not bad." Su Yi nodded approvingly. "Too bad your read was wrong—she's a cheapskate. She won't buy flowers for big brother."
He reached out and patted the girl's head, then asked, "So how much are the rest of these?"
Beside him, Ch'en rolled a flirtatious eye. Cheapskate? We're not like that—why would I buy you flowers?!
"In total… ninety-five," the girl said.
"Here's a hundred. Keep the change."
Su Yi handed her a hundred-dollar bill, thoroughly satisfied with himself.
He never thought he'd live to say those words—keep the change.
It felt incredible.
"Thank you, big brother! You're really a goo—achoo!"
As the Feline girl lifted the roses toward him, she couldn't help but sneeze.
Su Yi's brow tightened. He reached out and touched her hand.
Cold.
Ice-cold.
It felt less like a little girl's hand and more like a metal bar just pulled from a freezer.
"Why are you so cold?!" Su Yi blurted, startled.
He'd seen how lightly she was dressed and assumed she was some kind of Terra superhuman.
Hearing him, Ch'en bent down and took the girl's other hand.
Just as bad—terrifyingly cold.
Ch'en was about to take off her own uniform, but Su Yi shoved her aside, pulled off his padded jacket, and draped it over the Feline girl. "Move. That thin uniform of yours is going to do what, exactly?"
In Su Yi's mental stereotype, Ch'en was precisely the kind of Terra superhuman who could wear a white shirt and an LGD uniform coat in deep winter and be totally fine.
One padded jacket clearly wasn't enough.
Ch'en scanned around, spotted a fast-food place nearby, and told Su Yi to bring the girl inside where there was heating.
Once they stepped into the restaurant—warm air, padded jacket—the Feline girl immediately looked better. Her hands stopped hurting so much.
Su Yi had Ch'en sit with her while he went to get fries and burgers.
…
Outside the fast-food restaurant, the four Penguin Logistics girls stared at each other.
"What's going on? Weren't they just buying flowers? Why did they suddenly go inside?"
"I don't know!"
"We already missed the best time to make our entrance. Let's ask Su Yi after we get back."
"Fine."
…
Inside the restaurant, watching the Feline girl devour the food, Su Yi couldn't stop himself. "What the hell—why are you wearing so little? Where are your parents?"
It was already winter. Dressing their daughter like this—what kind of parents were they?
The girl took a sip of hot tumor-milk, swallowed, and then said, "My dad got infected with Oripathy and left Lungmen. Mom was afraid she'd get infected too, so she burned everything in the house… but she still wasn't reassured, so she… she left Lungmen too."
Ch'en asked, "And she took the money?"
"…Mm." The girl nodded.
So she ran off with the cash.
"Animals," Su Yi spat.
"Trash," Ch'en cursed too, then asked, "Then why didn't you ask me for help earlier? I was wearing a police uniform."
"I… I thought you were doing cosplay. If I misunderstood, I wouldn't be able to sell my flowers," the girl said awkwardly, suddenly too embarrassed to keep eating her burger.
Su Yi: …
Ch'en: …
No—what exactly did we look like in this kid's eyes just now?!
"Do you have other relatives in Lungmen?" Ch'en asked.
"I live with my grandma."
"Do you remember your grandma's number?"
"I do. 350xxxx234…"
Ch'en stepped outside for air—and called the grandmother.
A little while later, an elderly woman arrived, dressed just as thinly, her hair gray-white, with a basket of roses hooked over her arm.
No need to ask: the grandmother's winter clothes had been burned by that lunatic too.
"Thank you… thank you… I'm sorry to trouble you," the old woman said again and again.
"Helping Lungmen citizens is my duty," Ch'en replied. "Next time something like this happens, you can go straight to the LGD for help. We can at least provide a few winter coats and a couple bowls of dumplings."
Su Yi pulled out the envelope, slid a stack of bills halfway out—then reconsidered, pushed it back, and handed the entire envelope over.
"Ma'am, take this money and buy winter clothes for yourself and the child."
"T-that's too much. I can't accept it," the old woman said, waving her hands in refusal.
"Just take it," Ch'en insisted. "You only have this one granddaughter—what if she gets sick from the cold?"
Ch'en then pulled every bit of cash from her own wallet and stuffed it into the old woman's hands. "Consider it payment for the flowers."
The grandmother couldn't out-stubborn them. And she truly did need the money. In the end, she accepted it.
"Thank you… thank you… Sweetie, say thank you."
The girl bowed with her grandmother. "Thank you, big brother and big sister!"
"Alright, alright, get up." Su Yi waved it off. "When you go back, read more books and watch less of that weird stuff."
When he was her age, he was still playing with mud in the fields.
He didn't know anything about "making the first move," or "uniform play"…
"I want to ask," Ch'en said. "How did the girl's father get infected with Oripathy?"
"I don't know the details," the grandmother said. "That day my son told me he found a job in the Lower District that would earn big money. But he ran into an Infected person collapsing and… caught Oripathy!"
As she spoke, her emotions surged. She cursed loudly, "The Infected should all die! If it weren't for the Infected, how would our family have ended up like this?!"
Ch'en froze where she stood.
And then—inside the fast-food restaurant—voices of agreement rose all around them.
"Yeah. The Infected should die!"
"Infected—get out of Lungmen!"
"If you ask me, we should copy Ursus. If you find an Infected, hang them on the spot!"
People got so worked up that some even threw money at the grandmother to "help her through hard times."
"Hui-chieh, what's wrong?" Su Yi asked, seeing her stand there blankly. He nudged her with his elbow.
Ch'en snapped back to herself and shook her head.
"It's nothing. I'm fine…"
-------
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