I Ran Away With His Child novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: Term Four
On the last Sunday of the year, Dong Wei came into Mu's Plain Noodles.
He stood on the mat with his hat in his hands.
The lunch crowd stopped talking.
He had lost weight, and the camel coat had been replaced by a plain grey jacket.
"I'll sit at the back," he said. "If there's a stool."
"There's table four," said Mu Qing.
"I'd rather not."
"It's the only one free."
Dong sat at table four.
Fan Yue brought him tea without a word, and put it down with a small decided click.
"Plain," said Dong. "Scallion oil. Please."
Mu Qing made it himself.
He set it down, and Dong looked at it for a long moment, and picked up the chopsticks.
He ate in silence with his shoulders hunched.
The grandmother with the trolley watched him from table two with open interest.
When he had finished, he laid exactly eight yuan beside the bowl.
"The district fined me for the sign," he said, to the table. "Two of my houses have closed."
"The economic crimes people will want me again in March. I'll say what I know."
"Good," said Mu Qing.
"I'm told I'll keep one shop. A small one." He did not look up. "I'm going to boil the bones."
"All fourteen hours?"
"Eight," said Dong, with a terrible effort. "But real ones."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of I Ran Away With His Child are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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