08 | Ghost From The Past - Part 1

Unbeknownst to the woman named Tsai Meiying, this wasn’t the first time Huijing saw her. She was wearing a ruffled sleeve light blue shirt with matching khaki pants, her short hair loosely framed her fawn skin, dressing her face like a night sky to the moon.

Her beauty wasn’t the type that awe the masses but her facial features were delicate and somewhat gave others the tranquillity of a petal that slowly fell on top of the lake, the kind of aura that would assure people that everything was going to be fine, the kind of aura that would be loved by her patients—but not at that moment.

Her luscious pink lips slightly parted as she glowered at him like a wolf that bared its fangs to intimidate its enemy. She was completely unaware that being a detective, Huijing had nothing that would scare him off. It was rare to see a person who did a normal job and wasn’t intimidated by his presence.

Huijing went inside and closed the door behind him, taking off his shoes casually before heading towards Tsai Guohan. At least that was what he was presently known as.

‘Ma Guoyu . . . It’s been a long time,’ he said. The said man suddenly lost his balance, quickly supported by his daughter.

‘Pa, are you okay?’ Meiying glared at him then shouted, ‘That’s not my father’s name! You’re looking for the wrong person! Now, get out before I make you!’

‘Well, that’s not what I see from his reaction,’ Huijing calmly said. He squatted right in front of Guoyu in purpose to give the man a good look at his appearance. ‘Isn’t that right, old man?’ Guoyu refused to look at him at first, but eventually tilted his head into Huijing’s direction, widened his eyes when he had a full look at Huijing.

‘Y-you are a spitting image of your brother, Xiao Jing . . .’ Guoyu muttered. What Huijing didn’t understand was that aside from a sense of remorse, pain, and anger, there was a vain sense of pride. It was even more visible in Guoyu’s tired eyes. ‘As if he is returned alive.’

‘It is his anniversary today,’ Huijing stated as he rose, still eyeing the figure that looked even smaller as the temperature in the room started to chill.‘And since it coincides with the Qingming, I want to reminisce him with you… How you used to be so close to him…’ Huijing circled him, then glanced at Meiying. She kept glancing at her father and him simultaneously.‘How you betray him . . .’ he continued, ‘And how you ki—’

‘It’s my fault!’ Guoyu suddenly screamed. ‘I know that no matter what I say, I wouldn’t be able to convince you. Huijun’s death is my fault! There’s nothing I can do to change that!’ Guoyu walked with his knees and kowtowed before him with tears streaming on his face. ‘I’m very sorry, Son . . .I’m fully responsible for everything. If you want to take out your wrath on me, feel free to do so. I’ll do everything in my power to fix it. Just . . .’ Guoyu glanced at Meiying then back to him. ‘Don’t do it here! Not in front of her . . .’

‘Pa, w-what are you talking about?!’ Huijing could see her hands were trembling like crazy. Her eyes started to glisten but she clenched her fists before rising to her feet, pushed him with all her power, and shouted, ‘You! I don’t know who you are but you can’t just waltz in and threaten my father! Get out or I’ll call the police!’

How on earth a woman her size could push him until he had to take three steps back? Her height only fell slightly below his chin and though he wouldn’t call her small, she shouldn’t be able to push him.

‘Police?’ Huijing took out his badge. ‘He’s already here.’ The woman stood rooted to her ground at the sight of his badge.

‘W-what? N-no, no! Never mind that!’ She shook her head before lurching at him and grabbed the collar of his suit. ‘That’s still doesn’t give you the right to threaten us! I pay my taxes every year! I literally pay your salary!’

‘Hands-off-my-clothes.’ Huijing took a deep breath but trying his best not to show his annoyance to her unstoppable blabber.

‘I won’t —’

‘Niuniu, please let me speak to him,’ Guoyu interjected her by holding her arm.

‘But, pa!’

‘I’ve always taught you to bravely face your problem so this is what I’m going to do.’ Guoyu rose from his position and gestured Huijing to follow him. ‘Prepare some tea for us, Niuniu.’

‘No need to. I won’t take long.’

‘Afraid of being poisoned? You should!’ Meiying screeched with an awful sarcasm lacing her tone as she followed behind him.

‘If you’re ever to murder someone, stating your plan is the last thing you should do.’Huijing could hear her cursing at him under her breath. Despite being highly educated, this woman had a very bad temper and reminded him so much of a mad cat that didn’t stop meowing until it got what it wanted.

Guoyu let out a desperate sigh as he sat while his daughter kept her eyes on him and standing near the living room door. There was a table with a flower pot just beside her and he knew why she chose the very spot.

Smart. No wonder she managed to be an oncologist at just twenty-seven. Although she was still budding in her career, from his investigation, she managed to submit several remarkable theses at the international level and even received research prizes. Her awards were everywhere around the living room, shining and dust-free. The walker that sat on the corner of the room was probably the thing that helped Guoyu cleaning all the awards due to his leg problem.

‘How did you manage to find me?’ Guoyu’s eyes were on his fiddling thumbs. He could sense Meiying’s questioning eyes on his back. He slightly rolled his eyes to see her frowning at her father.

‘It wasn’t easy at all and I must commend you but I have my way.’ Huijing put down the bag he brought along and took out a baijiu, placing it on the table. Guoyu eyes the bottle, then him, then back to the bottle. Huijing tapped his index finger twice on the bottle.

‘Baijiu, huh? Where did it come from?’ Guoyu tapped his knee with his trembling fingers.

‘Local made. But they said they used the best ingredients from China. Better drink it soon while it’s still Qingming. You won’t have that long to enjoy it.’

‘What do you mean?!’ Meiying shouted but Guoyu raised his palm to stop her.

‘May I?’ Huijing nodded, allowing Guoyu to take the bottle and examine it. ‘Sixty percent alcohol? How many glasses I can handle, I wonder?’ Guoyu let out a small nervous laugh.

Huijing simply shook his head.‘Not even I can handle.’

‘I see . . .’ Guoyu furrowed his brows and massaged the center between his eyes.

Taking the baijiu from Guoyu’s trembling hand, Huijing placed it down on the table and said, ‘Now, that’s enough with the chit chat. Let’s talk about our business.’

‘Meiying, can you please leave us? I don’t want you to hear this,’ Guoyu said to his daughter.

‘She’s to remain here. This is about her,’ Huijing stated.

‘W-what do you mean by that?’ Guoyu asked.

‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, old man . . .’ Huijing walked to the back of Guoyu’s chair and facing the furious looking woman. She seemed to have many things on her head but she couldn’t let it out.

‘Stop acting cool and just say what you need to say!’ Meiying shouted with both hands clenched into fists.

‘I’m going to take your daughter and marry her.’

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author's note

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Baijiu [白酒] literally means ‘white liquor’, also known as shaojiu [燒酒] is a Chinese clear, colourless liquor, typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume. It’s usually distilled from fermented sorghum, although other grains may be used. Some Southeastern Chinese styles may employ rice or glutinous rice, while other Chinese varieties may use wheat, barley, or millet.

Because of its clarity, baijiu can appear similar to Japanese shouchu (25%) or Korean soju (20-45%) but baijiu often has a significantly higher alcohol content (35-60%). Baijiu is comparable to whisky in terms of variation, complexity of flavour, and sensation.

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