Chapter 5

I left the internet café thoroughly satisfied, but a few steps later, a dull ache began in my belly.

“Let’s hurry home,” I told Lai Xue.

She glanced at the hand pressed to my lower stomach. “Started?”

“Soon.”

“Perfect.”

I had no idea what she meant. She whispered something to Duan Fei, then led me toward home, so I didn’t ask.

But they stopped at the entrance to the neighboring residential complex.

Duan Fei pointed to an old-fashioned bakery nearby. “See those date cakes on the rack by the door? Brown sugar, red dates. Just what you need right now.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“What for? Go get some.”

I’d thought he meant to buy me some. Apparently, I was buying my own.

Fine. I’d just fished my pocket money out when he snatched it away, his tone turning stern. “Sneak a couple.”

I froze. Sneak a couple? That meant stealing.

Lai Xue chimed in. “Never too early to learn a skill.”

“You call that a skill?” I was appalled. “No! I’m not being a thief!”

She tried to reason with me. “You don’t have to steal. But you do have to know how.”

“That makes no sense!” Tears sprang to my eyes.

Duan Fei looked into the distance. “We were about your age. Didn’t want to do it either. Nearly starved. One day she had stomach cramps too, hungry and hurting, white as a sheet. So I stole from this place. The date cakes were always there by the door, and the owner had a bad leg. That’s how I managed it on my first try. Later I stole from other places too. Got caught. Got beaten. But what could I do? When I was too hungry, I came back here.”

“So,” Lai Xue said, looking straight at me, “this is survival. If things get desperate, you won’t starve to death. Starving is horrible.”

Their double act frightened me into following them. Reluctantly, I dragged my feet to the shop.

They pushed me forward. I peered inside. An old man was minding the shop, though just then he was dozing behind the counter.

A good moment.

But as soon as I raised my hand, it felt impossibly heavy.

I drew it back. “I can’t.”

Duan Fei clapped a hand over my mouth, leaned forward to check on the owner, and said, “Watch. I’m only showing you once.”

He walked up to the rack of date cakes, pretended to examine the price list on the opposite wall, and deftly grabbed two. Turning to hide them with his body, he strolled aside as though nothing had happened and slipped them to Lai Xue.

I watched the whole thing from the doorway.

Leaning against the wall, they each tore off a piece and ate with relish, then jerked their chins at me to steal one more.

I took a deep breath and called into the shop. “Sir!”

They stopped chewing and stared at me, eyes wide with panic.

I continued, “Sir, how can you run a business like this? People will steal the whole shop!”

“What? Who’s stealing my things?”

He rubbed his eyes and stood, limping a couple of steps before stopping to pound his leg. He leaned forward to look outside. “There’s nobody here but you.”

“Those two!” I pointed beside me—only to discover they’d vanished.

Duan Fei and Lai Xue waited around the corner for ages. They finished their cakes, but I still hadn’t appeared. Sensing something wrong, they came back for me.

Sure enough, the old man had me behind the counter. Duan Fei charged inside, furious. “What are you giving a kid a hard time for, old man?”

I wiped my face, my voice thick with tears. “Please pay him. Get me out of here. I want to go home.”

“What rotten luck.” Duan Fei tossed down a few small notes and hauled me out from behind the counter. “Can’t you even run?”

“Not enough.” I tugged his sleeve. “Another fifty. I ordered a birthday cake too.”