Xinyi closed the bedroom door behind her and leaned against it for a second while Ruifen stood in the middle of the room looking like a flower that had been stepped on by accident and didn't know if it was allowed to still be alive.
The room was beautiful with soft pink curtains and a white bed and fresh flowers on the nightstand and Ruifen kept looking at everything like she was afraid to touch anything because her hands might leave marks on something so pretty.
Xinyi walked over and sat on the bed and patted the spot next to her. "Come here. Sit down. You look like you're about to fall over."
Ruifen walked slowly and sat down on the edge of the bed like she was ready to run away at any second. "He really hates me. I saw it in his eyes."
Xinyi took Ruifen's hand and held it between both of her own hands. "He doesn't hate you. Wenhao gets angry fast but he also calms down fast. He's like a firework. Big and loud and then it's over. Give him a day or two and he'll be curious about you. I promise."
Ruifen looked down at their hands and her lip trembled a little. "I never had siblings before. I don't know how any of this works. I don't know if I'm supposed to talk to him or leave him alone or pretend I don't exist."
"You exist," Xinyi said firmly. "You exist and you're not going anywhere and Wenhao will figure that out eventually. He's dramatic but he's not cruel. There's a difference."
Ruifen nodded but she didn't look convinced so Xinyi squeezed her hand tighter and decided to change the subject before Ruifen started crying again.
"So tell me more about yourself," Xinyi said with a soft smile. "What do you like? What do you hate? What's your favorite color? What music do you listen to? I want to know everything about my new sister?"
Ruifen looked up and her eyes were still wet but a small smile appeared on her face. "I like blue. Light blue. Like the sky in the morning before it gets too hot."
Xinyi nodded. "Good choice. Blue is a peaceful color. What else?"
Ruifen thought for a moment. "I like to draw. I'm not very good but I like it. When I was little my mother would save old newspapers for me and I would draw on the blank parts with a pencil I found somewhere."
Xinyi's heart hurt again but she kept her smile bright. "Then we will buy you proper paper and proper pencils and you can draw whatever you want. I'll even hang your drawings on my wall."
Ruifen laughed a little. "You don't even know if they're good."
"I don't care if they're good. I care that you made them."
Ruifen looked at Xinyi like she was trying to understand something very complicated. "Why are you being so nice to me. You just met me. You don't owe me anything."
Xinyi let go of Ruifen's hand and tucked a piece of hair behind Ruifen's ear very gently. "Just like I said before I have always wanted a sister"
Ruifen's eyes got wet again. "I always wanted a sister too. Or a brother. Or anyone. It was just me and my mother for so long and then it was just me and now I'm here and I keep waiting for someone to tell me that it's a mistake and I have to leave."
Xinyi grabbed both of Ruifen's hands again and looked straight into her eyes. "Listen to me very carefully Ruifen. This is not a mistake. You are not leaving. This is your home now and I am your sister and I am not going anywhere and neither are you. Do you understand."
Ruifen nodded and a tear fell down her cheek and she wiped it away quickly like she was embarrassed.
Xinyi smiled and decided to lighten the mood because Ruifen had cried enough for one night. "You know what's funny. I'm way older than you. I'm practically ancient compared to you."
Ruifen looked confused. "How old are you."
Xinyi sat up straighter and put her hand on her chest like she was announcing something important. "I am twenty three years old. That's right. Twenty three. I have been alive for two whole decades and three extra years."
Ruifen's eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. "Twenty three. But you look so young. I thought you were maybe nineteen or twenty. Twenty three is so grown up."
Xinyi laughed and threw her head back. "Thank you for saying I look young. I will treasure that compliment forever."
"But twenty three?" Ruifen said again like she was still trying to process the number. "That means you were already four years old when I was born. You were in school when I was a baby"
Xinyi nodded. "I was probably learning how to read while you were learning how to crawl. That's so strange to think about."
Ruifen looked at Xinyi with new eyes like she was seeing her for the first time. "Do you remember when your mother was still alive. I heard she died at 37.
The room got quiet for a second and Xinyi's smile softened into something more gentle. "Yes. I remember her. She was beautiful and kind and she always smelled like flowers. She used to brush my hair every night before bed and tell me stories about when she was a little girl."
Ruifen's voice was very small. "What was her name."
"Lin Hui. Her name was Lin Hui."
Ruifen said the name quietly to herself like she was memorizing it. "Lin Hui. I wish I could have met her."
Xinyi reached out and touched Ruifen's cheek. "She would have loved you. I know it. She loved everyone. She was the kind of person who made you feel safe just by being in the same room."
Ruifen leaned into Xinyi's hand and closed her eyes for a second. "I never had that. Someone who made me feel safe just by being there."
Xinyi moved closer and wrapped her arm around Ruifen's shoulders and pulled her in so Ruifen's head rested on her shoulder. "You have it now. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."
Ruifen breathed out slowly and her body relaxed for the first time since she walked through the front door. "Xinyi."
"Yes."
"Thank you. For being nice to me. For not treating me like a secret or a mistake."
Xinyi rested her cheek on top of Ruifen's head and closed her eyes. "You are not a secret and you are not a mistake. You are my sister and I am going to spoil you so much you'll get sick of me."
Ruifen laughed softly. "I don't think that's possible."
"Good," Xinyi said. "Because I have twenty three years of sister energy saved up and I'm about to use all of it on you."
They sat like that for a long time with the pink curtains swaying gently from the open window and the flowers on the nightstand filling the room with a soft sweet smell and for the first time in a very long time Ruifen felt like maybe everything was going to be okay.
Wenhao and Shen Wei were sitting on the floor playing a card game that Shen Wei was clearly winning when a knock came at the door.
It was not a normal knock. It was a loud knock. A serious knock. A knock that meant someone important was standing on the other side and they were not going away.
Shen Wei looked at the door and then at Wenhao. "Are you expecting someone."
Wenhao put his cards down and his face went cold. "No."
The knock came again. Louder this time.
Shen Wei stood up slowly and walked to the door and looked through the tiny hole and his whole body went stiff because there were three big men in black suits standing outside and they looked like they could break the door down with one punch.
He opened the door very carefully and the men walked in without asking and they didn't even look at Shen Wei like he was a person.
One of them stepped forward and looked at Wenhao. "Young master. Your father sent us. You need to come home."
Wenhao didn't move from the floor. "No."
The man's face stayed calm but his jaw tightened. "Young master please. Don't make this difficult."
"I said no," Wenhao said and his voice was quiet but sharp like a knife. "I'm not going home. I'm staying here tonight. Tell my father I'll come back tomorrow after school."
The man pulled out his phone and called someone and Shen Wei could hear Mr Liang's voice on the other end even though he couldn't make out the words.
The man nodded a few times and then hung up and looked at the other two men. "He said drag him."
Shen Wei's heart stopped. "Wait wait wait you can't just—"
But the men were already moving toward Wenhao and Wenhao's eyes went wide and he grabbed onto the leg of the bed with both hands like his life depended on it.
"Let go of me," Wenhao shouted as one of the men grabbed his arm. "I said I'm not going. Let go."
The man tried to pull him up but Wenhao held onto the bed leg so tight his knuckles turned white and the bed started moving across the floor because Wenhao was strong when he is angry and right now he was very very angry.
Another man grabbed his other arm and Wenhao kicked his legs out and almost hit the first man in the shin.
Shen Wei stood by the door with his hands covering his mouth because he didn't know if he should help or run or cry or all three at the same time.
"Let go young master," the second man said and his voice was getting tired. "You're just making it harder for everyone."
"Good," Wenhao said through his teeth. "I want it to be hard. I want you to remember this tomorrow when your arms hurt."
The third man came around and tried to pry Wenhao's fingers off the bed leg but Wenhao's fingers were locked like a cage and every time the man pulled one finger off Wenhao put two more back on.
The bed was now three feet from where it started and there was a loud scratching sound on the floor like something was breaking.
Shen Wei finally found his voice. "Maybe you should just let him stay. He's really stubborn. He won't let go. He could do this all night."
The men looked at each other and then at Wenhao who was still holding onto the bed with the face of someone who would rather die than let go.
The first man sighed and pulled out his phone again and called Mr Liang back.
"He's holding onto the bed sir," the man said into the phone. "Yes the bed. He won't let go. We tried to pull him off but he's very strong and the bed is moving across the floor. Yes across the floor. No sir I'm not joking."
There was a long pause while Mr Liang spoke on the other end.
The man listened and his face changed from tired to surprised to something that looked almost like relief.
"Yes sir. I understand sir. Yes sir. We'll wait outside."
He hung up and looked at the other two men. "Let him go. His father said he can stay."
The men let go of Wenhao's arms and stepped back and Wenhao fell backward onto the floor because he had been pulling so hard against them that his body didn't know what to do when they suddenly stopped.
He sat up and rubbed his arms and glared at the men. "Told you."
The first man looked at Shen Wei for the first time. "You. Boy. If anything happens to the young master you will answer to us. Do you understand."
Shen Wei nodded so fast his glasses almost fell off. "Yes. I understand. Nothing will happen. I promise. I'll protect him with my life."
Wenhao looked up at Shen Wei with a strange expression on his face but he didn't say anything.
The three men walked out of the apartment and closed the door behind them and Shen Wei ran to the window and looked down and saw few more outside the building near the entrance like black statues.
Wenhao got up from the floor and brushed off his clothes and sat back down on the bed like nothing had happened. "See. I told you I was staying."
Shen Wei turned around and stared at him. "You almost broke my bed. You almost broke my floor. You almost gave me a heart attack."
"But I didn't," Wenhao said with a small smile. "So we're fine."
Shen Wei walked over and sat down on the floor next to the bed because his legs felt weak and he didn't trust them to hold him anymore. "Your father is scary."
Wenhao laid back on the bed and looked at the ceiling. "He's not scary. He's just used to getting what he wants. But tonight I wanted something more than he did."
"What did you want."
Wenhao turned his head and looked at Shen Wei who was sitting on the floor with his messy hair and his broken glasses and his worried eyes. "I wanted to be here. With you. Where no one lies to me."
Shen Wei looked away because his face felt hot and he didn't know why. "You can stay..... I already said that."
"I know," Wenhao said and he closed his eyes. "That's why I fought so hard."
They stayed like that for a while with Wenhao on the bed and Shen Wei on the floor and the room was quiet except for the sound of the men's footsteps outside on the street and the distant noise of the city that never really slept.
Shen Wei looked up at Wenhao's face and Wenhao's eyes were closed and his breathing was slow and he looked peaceful for the first time all night.
And Shen Wei thought about how far he would go to keep that peace safe and the answer scared him a little because he realized he would go very far.
Very very far.