Wei got to his location in twenty minutes, yet somehow it took me nearly an hour to get there.
By the time I even got near the area, Wei's tracker had moved elsewhere.
The place felt quite homey.
The houses were cramped, but warm.
Every house felt special, whether it was a small peach tree outside or a bike.
For the slums, it was... nice.
Like a community.
Finally, I reached the house Wei stopped at.
Two small pots decorated the entrance, with little, light pink flowers inside them.
For someone like Wei, I didn't expect his house to look like this, let alone him even living in this type of neighborhood.
Honestly, his and Churan's housing situation seems almost swapped.
I mean, isn't this house a little too adorable?
Unless Wei has some secret personality he's hiding...
... But the more likely answer was that whoever is inside the house has the cute personality.
Taking a breath, I knocked at the front door.
Silence.
Well, Wei was just here a couple of minutes ago; there's got to be someone in the house.
I knocked again, but this time, I decided to state my reason for being there.
"Hello? I'm Wei's friend, and I'm wondering if Wei is home."
... Still nothing?
"Wei just got you some macarons, right? If you're wondering how he afforded those, I'm the one who bought them. They're pink, aren't they?"
Whoever's in there must know about Grandma Guanhuai, right? She obviously set up a somewhat "friendly" deal between Wei and this mystery person... I mean, it's worth a shot.
I forced a smile towards the peephole, hoping that there was someone on the other side.
"...Hm, perhaps do you also know of an old lady who's been coming by recently? Guanhuai was her name? I'm also a good friend of hers."
Now, I could hear sounds on the other side of the door.
Like a chair being dragged across the floor?
Before I could say another word, a voice spoke out from the other side.
The voice sounded young, extremely young.
"A-are you? Really?"
"Um, am I what?"
"Wei and Guanhuai's friend!"
"Yes, of course I am; we're all really good friends."
Suddenly, another voice chirped in, seemingly even younger than the last one.
"Whoa, Wei Wei has really cool friends-"
"Shhh! Xi Xi, we don't know if he's telling the truth!"
"But he bought us the cookie thingies!"
"... I guess, but Brother Wei said to be careful with strangers..."
"All of Wei Wei's friends bring yummy food!"
What? Brother Wei? Wei Wei?
Are these Wei's siblings?
Only silence followed after that sentence.
Although I couldn't see them, I could tell they were lost in their own thoughts about me.
I should probably say something, right?
I wouldn't want to get kicked out before I even step into the house.
"Hey, uh, little girls, it's quite rude to keep a guest outside..."
Why do I sound like a creep?
Dammit! I don't know what to say! How do people talk to–
"Hnngg... I guess so. He doesn't look really dangerous either..."
With a small click, the front door slowly creaked open, just enough to see the child's eyes.
Inspecting me, they looked me up and down, just for the other child to forcefully swing the door open.
"Hey, Xi Xi!"
"What? You were just ogling over him! I was just ripping the... uh, tape off? What was it again?"
Ugh, this isn't getting anywhere... I need to break them up.
"Aren't you two going to invite me in?"
Their heads swung back before the older one stepped forward.
"Um, yeah, you're right! I guess... take your shoes off before you come in, though, or Brother Wei will totally beat you for making the floor dirty..."
I took my shoes off and placed them along the inside of the house with the rest of the shoes.
A small welcome rug greeted me as I stepped into their house.
It felt old but surprisingly clean.
The furniture felt like a mix of antique wooden stuff and more modern, cute stuff.
"So, how old are you girls?"
"I'm Xi Xi, and I'm five, and Ruo Ruo's seven!"
"I told you to stop calling me Ruo Ruo! It's Ruo Lan!"
"But Ruo Ruo's so much better sounding..."
"Mmm, interesting. Well, I'm eighteen, and uh, I'm Wei's good friend, Han."
"Han? I feel like I've heard of that name before..."
"Well, this is our first time meeting."
"I know, but..."
Xi Xi seemed lost in thought before Ruo Lan dragged me over to a small wooden dinner table.
At the very corner of the table sat one big empty box, the same box with those macarons I bought.
But Wei took two boxes. Is the other one in the fridge?
"Here, sit. Um, usually people ask what you want to drink, right?... Wait, did I say that out loud...?"
Her face flushed tomato red as she then started mumbling; whether she was mumbling to herself or me, I had no clue.
Maybe I should change the topic before she explodes?
"Ahem, I'm guessing you prefer going by Ruo Lan?"
"Ah? Uh, yes! Yeah, Ruo Lan... um..."
Her eyes flickered over to me before dashing away again.
Geez, she looks super uncomfortable right now...
"You were going to ask me what I wanted to drink, right? I guess tea would do."
For a second, her face lit up, seemingly because the conversation actually started moving forward, until her face went back down again. This time, she was even more afraid.
"Something wrong?"
"Um, I-"
"Ruo Ruo doesn't know how to make tea."
"Hey! Xi Xi...!"
Oh god, she looks like she's about to burst into tears.
"Hey, that's okay, water's fine too. Um, I don't think I knew how to brew tea when I was your age either...?"
"Yeah, Ruo Ruo, Wei Wei doesn't even let us touch the kettle."
Slowly but surely, Ruo Lan's sniffling ceased as she walked towards a lower cabinet, pulling out a small ceramic cup.
Tiptoeing, she reached for the faucet and filled the cup before gently setting the cup back on the table everyone sat at.
Ruo Lan stared intensely as I took my first few sips.
"Ha... this is, um, really water!... yeah."
"Really?!"
Although my comment was quite stupid, she didn't seem to mind at all.
Her eyes were basically sparkling.
"Right, but I swear I had bought you guys two boxes of macarons; where did the other box go?"
I pointed over to the empty box.
"Huh? I think Brother Wei took the other one somewhere else."
"Hm, I see. Somewhere else, huh?"
If he took them somewhere else, it's probably a gift to another person. Maybe Churan?
... But right now, I should focus on these girls.
From what I was getting, these seemed to be Wei's younger siblings, and he deliberately hasn't mentioned them to me at all despite them being pretty important in his life...
Honestly, if it wasn't for the concrete evidence and their hair color, I would've never guessed they were related to Wei in any way.
"You two are so different from Wei, haha."
Xi Xi's eyes perked up.
"Huh? I don't think Brother Wei is that different from us."
...?
"Oh, huh, well, he's a little more... different in front of me."
... Actually, now that I think of it, Wei probably does act different in front of these kids. He obviously treasures them deeply...
"Right, and um, don't tell Wei I was here today. It's a little secret between us, alright?"
Both sisters hesitated for a second and started whispering.
Listening closely, I could hear some words being tossed around like "he's nice" and "yummy snacks" before Xi Xi broke the silence.
"Are you gonna give us sweets next time then?"
"Um, yeah. Yeah, I will."
"Okay! Then it's a secret!"
Xi Xi smiled from ear to ear whilst Ruo Lan seemed to still be contemplating their decision.
"Um, Brother Han-"
"Eh? B-Brother Han? You don't have to call me that—! Just Han is okay!"
"Are you sure...? If you're a good friend of Brother Wei, shouldn't we call you Brother Han? And you're younger than Brother Wei too!"
You know what? I should accept this... if I don't, I'm afraid Ruo Lan will start crying again...
"Sure, Ruo Lan, you can call me Brother Han."
"And can I call you Han Han?"
"... Sure, yeah, you can."
"See?! Even Han Han lets me call him that, but you won't let me call you Ruo Ruo!"
"Xi Xi, I told you already!"
"Well, girls, I came here because I was checking up on Wei's family and such. Is Wei at home much?"
"Hm... Wei Wei isn't home that much, but when he does come, he gets us lots of stuff! You know, those macarons you gave us were super fancy-looking!"
"Oh, those were really nothing much, but where does Wei go if he's not home?"
"No, they were super duper fancy! You must have a lot of money, Han Han!"
"I really-"
"Ah! I finally remember who you remind me of!"
"Remind you of?"
"Yeah, you're a lot like Wen Hanzhi! That noble guy!"
... What?