11 THE FINAL DECISION (1/2)

Xuan Tianyi stirred in his sleep when he heard Xuan Tianmei's footsteps at the front of the door. The sound of her keys turning in the lock finally woke him up.

He sat up and glanced at a small brown wall clock that was a couple of inches above the box television. The time was well past eleven. Xuan Tianmei had been out for almost two hours.

”You're back.” While rubbing his right eyes with the pointer finger of his right hand, he acknowledged her.

”En,” she said calmly and sat on the couch.

Xuan Tianyi suddenly had an ominous feeling that something was amiss. The calmness of her voice wasn't unusual to him. He just found it disturbing since she was a lot more chirpy before leaving the house. groggily he asked her, ”What's wrong with you?”

Xuan Tianmei sighed and with a look of dismay on her face, said, ”I've thought about it. I don't want you to accept that job,”

Xuan Tianyi glared at her. ”Are you kidding me right now?”

”I'm not. I don't think it's a good idea. As a model, you're just selling your body for money, and it's — degrading.”

Xuan Tianyi laughed lightly. ”I thought you wanted me to get a job.”

”You don't worry about it. It's okay if you don't work. I've never complained about taking care of you before, have I? I'll continue taking care of you.”

Xuan Tianyi frowned. The last thing he wanted was to have to depend on her. ”Xuan Tianmei, what are you saying? I'm the head of the family. We both know I should be the one taking care of you instead.”

”We don't have a family,” Xuan Tianmei said in a broken voice. ”It's just the both of us, and it doesn't matter who's male or female. The only thing that matters is that we take care of each other. And —”

”Then I want to take care of you too if I can.”

”Do whatever you want, but you can't accept this job.”

Xuan Tianyi stood up. His voice sounded angry as he spoke. ”I'm sorry. Who gave you the right to decide what I can and cannot do?”

Xuan Tianyi sighed then stood up. Calmly, she said, ”Fine. I'm sorry, I was out of line there.”

”You think?”

Xuan Tianmei stretched out her hand and grabbed his right hand. Caressing it between her palms, she continued, ”You know big sister knows best, don't you?”

If Xuan Tianyi wasn't pissed off before, now he was. He pulled his hand out of her grasp and headed straight for his room.

When he entered the room, he closed the door with a dramatic bang that unwittingly accurately conveyed the depth of his annoyance.

As his back touched the small bed where he usually crashed, he cursed. His sheet was now smelly from the water Xuan Tianmei had poured on him in the morning. He went to the wardrobe at the corner of the room and replaced the smelly bedsheet. Xuan Tianyi then dipped his hand in his pocket and emptied its contents on the floor. He turned off the dim rechargeable lantern by his bedside and closed his eyes.

Unwittingly, his mind drifted back to his fantasies from earlier. Deciding that he didn't want to fail because he didn't give it atry, he turned on the light and picked up his wallet. He opened it and pulled out the card Hua Zhendan had given him earlier that day.

***

Sleep-deprived, Hua Zhendan tossed and turned on his bed. Like it had been for most of the day, his head was filled with thoughts of Xuan Tianyi. Anger and hatred were two bitter pills to swallow and as Hua Zhendan couldn't seem to swallow either of them, he could only stay awake and brood.

In the middle of his brooding, his phone rang, and he picked it up absentmindedly.

”Wei?” he spoke into the phone.