For the first three days of the new year, Gu Jun and Wu Siyu enjoyed themselves thoroughly at Shen Hai City. They admired the blooming orchids in the day and visited the lantern festivals at night. Sometimes, they went alone while at other times, they were accompanied by Wu Siyu’s parents. But whenever Kedou was there, there would never be a boring moment. On the fourth day, Gu Jun and Wu Siyu’s family visited a nearby historical city.
This was a Jiang Nan historical town famed for its canals and decorative bridges. The classically-designed buildings and streets were beautifully decorated. Red lanterns dangled from roof beams and there were lion dances to help bring in the new year. Gu Jun and Siyu babysat Kedou. They visited all the points of interest. Each of them munched on new year candy, the situation could not have been any sweeter.
“Brother Dirty-minded Jun, I notice someone is following us.” Kedou suddenly announced mysteriously. Gu Jun’s heart tensed, the nerves that relaxed for days instantly pulled taut, “What?!” Wu Siyu surreptitiously looked around. They were standing before a small stone bridge. The crowd was heavy. Everyone was dressed in new year clothes. Some were taking pictures, others were laughing and chatting among themselves. There were couples toying with each other and families posing for the camera…
“Over there.” Kedou pointed behind them, “The group in the grey clothes. They’ve been following us. In fact, I even saw them yesterday.”‘Grey clothes?’ Gu Jun turned to look. After confirming once more with Kedou, Gu Jun broke out laughing, it was Captain Gao from their security group. Captain Gao’s team had been doing surveillance work while they enjoyed themselves. Theirs was a hard job.
“They are your Sister Siyu’s and my friends.” Gu Jun explained with a smile. “They’re here to play too but they don’t want to disturb us.” He stole a glance at Wu Siyu, his glowing eyes seemed to say, ‘your little cousin is extremely clever.’ For a 5 years old girl, her power of observation was off the charts. After these few days of interaction, Gu Jun confirmed she was not only not naughty, she was extremely loveable. Wu Siyu titled her head and fired back with a frown that said, ‘Just you wait and see.’
“But why can’t they join us?” Kedou asked with her big eyes blinking, “Can I go over to get to know them? I also want to be their friend.”
“You just want to get angpao from them.” Wu Siyu exposed her directly. Kedou giggled and retorted, “Well, who wouldn’t want a good new year cheer?!” Thus the two led Kedou towards the guards. Gu Jun called for Captain Gao’s team to stop and introduced Kedou to them. Captain Gao’s team was obviously not prepared for this. They did not carry any angpao packet on them but thankfully Gu Jun managed to stealthily sneak them some. And thus ended the meeting between Kedou and Captain Gao’s team.
After they walked away, Kedou posed another question, “Where are your other friends? They have been following us since yesterday too.” Hearing that, Gu Jun could not help getting a bit anxious. He led Kedou to meet up with the guards who cleared the way for them. Even though a child wouldn’t understand much, they often had high spirituality and possessed sensitivity that adults lacked. Would Kedou have noticed… things that they missed?
After meeting all the guards, Wu Siyu asked, “Kedou, is there anyone else following us that you have not met? Think clearly about it. If you answer it correctly, I’ll give you a big angpao.”
“Erm…” Kedou’s face scrunched up in thought, “Maybe, maybe not…”
“I need a confirmed answer. There’s no cheating.” Wu Siyu continued to patiently dig for information, “It can be more than people, if there’s other things like cats or dogs following us, you can tell us too.”
“Anything works?” Kedou’s eyes widened as she looked around. “Let me think. But if I get this answer correct, I want another candy.”
“Okay, if you get it correct, I’ll buy you a whole candy store.” Wu Siyu promised. Kedou cheered.
At the same time, Gu Jun assessed their surroundings. Far down the street, a middle-aged man looked over. His heart chilled but the man’s eyes soon moved away. Perhaps he was checking out Wu Siyu or he was looking over them. Someone at the stone bridge caught Gu Jun’s attention because the smile on his face was extremely unnatural. But Gu Jun soon realized that was because he was posing for a picture and the man apparently was uncomfortable before the camera. ‘Is this result of paranoia? I feel danger all around us…’
Wu Siyu popped a piece of candy into her mouth. “If you get this right, you’ll have so many sweets that your teeth will fall out.”
“I got it! There’s nothing else following us but…” Kedou raised her hand to answer, “The shadows.”
“What do you mean by the shadows.” Gu Jun asked for more details. Kedou thought they were playing a game of riddles, so she too did not know how to explain. ‘But… are the shadows just common shadows…’
“Bingo! Let us go candy shopping.” Wu Siyu led Kedou to a nearby stall selling new year candy.
‘Shadow? Shadow?’ Gu Jun frowned. When he pulled out of his thoughts, he realized both Wu Siyu and Kedou had gone missing. His heart squeezed in fear. “Dirty-minded Yu?” He turned around and finally saw the duo walking back towards him. He rushed over to join them. He sighed in relief when he was in their proximity. But he still would not let go. He asked Kedou more about the shadow, this time even Wu Siyu joined in. They wanted to get Kedou to give them more descriptions about the shadows. Kedou was made confused by them. What was so unique about shadows?
Eventually the two stopped and continued their itinerary at the historical town. As dusk arrived, they gradually put down their guard. However, they did report this to Captain Gao’s team. Before night came, they met up with Siyu’s family to find a nearby restaurant for dinner. They booked a riverside room. As they seated, the server came in with the drinks. Wu Siyu and Gu Jun were asked to make the order.
“He he, such a big harvest this year…” Kedou silently turned away from the adults and slipped over to the window beside the balcony. She took out the angpao from her pocket to count. The balcony had a glass window that offered the view of the canals. It was very safe so the adults did not interrupt her. They were used to the girl’s naughty ways. 1, 2, 3… Kedou’s hands were overloaded with angpao. She could buy so many toys. Her mom promised to help her save the money but honestly, she’d prefer to buy toys or new clothes with the money.
At that moment, something caught Kedou’s attention. There was someone standing across the river. Amidst the crowd, there was someone who stopped to look at her. It was a member of a lion dance troupe. He wore a smiling buddha mask. The frozen smile on the mask turned towards Kedou and the latter couldn’t help but smile back.