Futile Devices Scans

“So, you see, he was very cute when he was young,” Cui Dong Dong said. “He was honest and foolish, completely unlike the awkward, explosive bastard he became later. In my opinion, he bottled everything up for so many years that he gave himself a head full of problems. The only thing that never changed was how he valued his lover over his friends. Hmph.”

The two of them were seated in a quiet café facing the street. It was the summer of 1996, and the scorching heat baked the asphalt road outside the window, while cool air drifted through the air-conditioned room on the other side of the glass. With the handover approaching, a tiny national flag had been placed beside the service bell on their table.

He Chu San held his coffee cup in both hands and smiled. “That really isn’t true, Sister Dong Dong. When he heard that I had caused your death, he nearly strangled me alive. He even told me that if anything happened to you, he would never forgive me.”

“You deserved it,” Cui Dong Dong said without the slightest courtesy.

He Chu San smiled bitterly. “Yes, I deserved it. Did he already like Azure Dragon very much when he was a teenager?”

“Yes. Are you jealous?”

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t. But as you said, he would rather have bottled himself up until something went wrong with him than confess to Azure Dragon.” He Chu San lowered his head and stroked his coffee cup, smiling. “He told me he loved me. He said it so many times. At first, I treasured every one and kept count, but later, there were simply too many to count.”

He was clearly smiling with great satisfaction, yet his eyes revealed nothing but pain and struggle. Unable to bear the sight, Cui Dong Dong added a spoonful of sugar to his bitter coffee. “Drink, silly boy.”

He Chu San took a sip and gradually calmed down. He was not an impulsive person to begin with, and during the three years Xia Liu Yi had been imprisoned, he had become even steadier and more self-controlled—and also more repressed and withdrawn.

“He still refuses to see you?” Cui Dong Dong asked.

He Chu San nodded. “Sister Dong Dong, could you help persuade him again?”

Cui Dong Dong lit a cigarette and took a drag with a frown. “To tell you the truth, I argued with him about you last time. Now he won’t even see me. That bastard—if we hadn’t been in the prison visiting room, I would’ve picked up a stool and smashed it over his head.”

She smiled bitterly as well. “He inherited a ‘virtue’ from Azure Dragon and Xiao Man—it’s called ‘I’m doing this for your own good.’ Ever since they were young, Xiao Man gave him every good thing she had, no matter how much she liked it herself. Azure Dragon doted on him and was willing to give him anything too, without ever counting his own sacrifices. Liu Yi had no way to repay them, so he could only give the person he loved most to Xiao Man and help them be together. He also believed that marrying a woman, having children, and spending his life with a complete family would be Azure Dragon’s greatest happiness—just like how he is now forcing you to find happiness elsewhere. I cursed him for this rotten habit back then, and I still curse him now. Do you see it doing any good?”

She exhaled smoke with a headache and rubbed her temple with the hand holding the cigarette. “Something needs to hit him over the head and knock some sense into him.”

He Chu San lowered his eyes and gently stirred his coffee. “Forget it. Let’s not talk about him. He has never been as carefree as you, Sister Dong Dong. I heard that you sold your company recently, donated all your family property, and now work as a social worker with Sister Luo?”

“I didn’t donate everything. I had to keep some money to buy your Sister Luo a few beautiful outfits. I sold several properties as well and partnered with a few social-work organizations in the New Territories to establish a foundation. We help women in the community who use drugs or engage in prostitution, providing rehabilitation, medical treatment, and employment guidance. You could say I’m atoning for the terrible things I did before. Would Mr. He care to donate something?”

Without a word, He Chu San took out his checkbook, swiftly wrote several strokes, and handed her the check. Cui Dong Dong clicked her tongue as she stared at the long string of numbers. “Mr. He is rich now. How generous.”

“I don’t need to save money for a wife. That foolish wife of mine refuses to acknowledge me now,” He Chu San said. “Sister Dong Dong, tell me more about the past. How did you meet Sister Luo?”

“Well…” Cui Dong Dong lowered her head and stirred her coffee, then sighed. “That story has to begin with Xiao Man.”

Her first meeting with Xiao Man was also relatively peaceful. At the time, Cui Dong Dong was walking through the Walled City with an arm around a pretty girl and several delinquent girls following behind her. As they passed a thriving brothel, her gaze stopped at its entrance.

“What is it? Do you want to go inside and play?” The pretty girl tugged at her jealously.

“Stop fussing. Don’t move.” Cui Dong Dong stared intently and casually pushed the girl’s face aside. Apart from several coquettishly posing women, a large album poster was displayed at the brothel entrance. Obscene words had been scrawled over the singer’s stage name, leaving only the album title faintly visible: Baby’s Breath. The young female singer wore her hair in two long braids and sat amid a sea of baby’s-breath flowers, smiling gently and serenely.

“Fuck, a fairy has descended to the mortal world,” Cui Dong Dong exclaimed. “Sisters, I hereby announce that I’ve fallen in love at first sight.”

“Tch—!” Her sisters were thoroughly disdainful.

When Big Sister Cui said she had fallen in love at first sight, she truly began behaving like someone in love. From that day onward, she stopped hugging and flirting with pretty girls, declaring that she intended to sincerely support her idol and keep herself pure. One day at the racetrack, she rode her motorcycle with a massive cassette player hanging boldly from a shoulder strap. Pressing the play button, she began playing the album Baby’s Breath by the female vocal artist Ms. “Little Starfish.”

The gentle, melodious singing covered the roar of the motorcycle engine. Amid the beautiful melody, Cui Dong Dong sliced through the wind, unstoppable. The night breeze billowed through her leather jacket and sent her hair dancing wildly. The rising and falling slopes resembled her youth—filled with hardship, yet free and unrestrained. The beautiful singing scattered into the wind. Accompanied by roaring engines, collisions, and screams, several motorcycles behind her crashed into one another. Their riders abandoned their bikes and rolled to safety, while flames erupted and were sublimated by the music. Only a single motorcycle burst through the smoke and fire, racing out of the slope and following closely behind her.

Cui Dong Dong glanced back, then faced forward, bent until her body was nearly parallel with the motorcycle, and accelerated. The roar of the engines finally drowned out the singing. Neither bike yielded to the other as they competed fiercely along the track, ultimately crossing the finish line at precisely the same moment.

Cui Dong Dong stopped her motorcycle, switched off the music, and removed her helmet with a grin. “You’ve improved pretty quickly!”

The other rider removed his helmet as well. It was Liu Yi. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and asked, “How do you know this song?”

“This?” Cui Dong Dong opened the cassette player and pulled out a copy of Baby’s Breath. “I just bought the album. It’s good, isn’t it? The singer is beautiful. A brothel in the Walled City is even using her poster to attract customers.”

Liu Yi’s expression darkened. “What?! Which brothel?!”

“The one belonging to Ding Sheng Society… Hey, hey, what are you doing? Where are you going?”

“I’m going to smash up their place!”

“Huh? Why?”

“She’s my older sister!”

“Fuck! Then it absolutely deserves to be smashed!” Cui Dong Dong hurriedly turned around and followed him. “Sisters! Follow me! Let’s help Brother Liu Yi smash the place!”

The group formed a motorcycle squad and charged aggressively toward the brothel where Cui Dong Dong had seen the poster several days earlier—only to arrive too late. Someone had already smashed the place into a complete wreck. The sign above the entrance had been torn down and burned into blackened charcoal, while every poster outside had been ripped away. Several injured gangsters lay groaning on the ground. The previously glamorous women had been dragged about until their clothes and hair were disheveled, and they now hid trembling in nearby alleys.

At the other end of the street, Ding Sheng Society’s Red Pole was charging toward them with dozens of gangsters wielding machetes. As they ran, they shouted furiously, “Who?! Who the fuck smashed up our place?! Was it you little brats?!”

Liu Yi leapt off his motorcycle and pulled two long blades from either side of the seat, preparing to charge forward. Cui Dong Dong chased after him, grabbed the back of his collar, and forcibly dragged the blunt, straightforward idiot back. “You weren’t the one who smashed it! Why are you trying to steal the spotlight? Go, go, go! Retreat!”

The group hurriedly mounted their motorcycles and sped away like the wind while dozens of gangsters chased after them, shouting curses and swinging machetes.

When Liu Yi returned home that night, he learned that A’Ying had led the men who smashed the establishment. A’Ying had confiscated every poster of Xiao Man, but Xiao Man remained deeply traumatized. She locked herself in her room and cried, never sang again, and refused to leave the house for several days.

On this particular day, Liu Yi coaxed and pleaded with her in every possible way until he finally persuaded her to go outside. Concealing Xiao Man’s face beneath his jacket, he planned to take her to the racetrack to have some fun. They would not race. He would simply let her sit behind him while he took her for a ride and allowed her to enjoy the liveliness with his friends.

That evening, Cui Dong Dong was at the racetrack playing “kissy-kissy” with a beautiful woman she had recently met. Her brief career as a devoted fan had ended with her idol’s rapid retirement, so she was preparing to return to her carefree and promiscuous love life. Liu Yi arrived with his older sister seated behind him, his motorcycle roaring loudly. Cui Dong Dong abruptly turned her head—and saw the gentle breeze lifting strands of soft black hair. Half of that delicate, beautiful face was hidden beneath the coat’s hood, revealing only the gracefully curved line of an alluring chin and a pair of soft pink lips.

Dear heavens, I’ve truly fallen in love at first sight! she thought in shock.

Xiao Man climbed down from the back of Liu Yi’s motorcycle. Facing her, Cui Dong Dong began stammering for the first time in her life. “Hello. I-I’m Dong. They call me Cui—they call me Dong Dong.”

Confused, Liu Yi came over and touched her forehead, looking genuinely concerned. “Dong Dong, do you have a fever?”

“Little virgin, shut up and go away.” Cui Dong Dong casually pushed his face aside.

Xiao Man lowered her head and laughed, her voice very soft. “Hello. My name is Xiao Man. Liu Yi said you’re his best friend. The two of you really are very close.”

“Oh. Oh, are we?” Cui Dong Dong replied blankly.

“He usually doesn’t let anyone touch him,” Xiao Man said. “And he would never take the initiative to touch anyone else.” Yet Dong Dong had just slapped her entire palm against Liu Yi’s face, and he had not even jumped up to bite her.

Cui Dong Dong had no desire whatsoever to discuss Xiao Man’s frigid younger brother. “Would-would you mind moving the coat away? It isn’t—it isn’t very convenient to talk like this.”

Xiao Man looked around cautiously and uneasily. Seeing that everyone beside Cui Dong Dong was a straightforward-looking girl, she carefully lifted the coat away. Her hair had been tousled beneath it, and she embarrassedly smoothed it before wiping her face. “I haven’t gone outside in a long time. I must look like a mess.”

“No. No, you’re beautiful.” Cui Dong Dong stared at her foolishly. “I like you.”

Before she could finish speaking, Liu Yi smacked the back of her head. “Pervert! You’re not allowed to make a move on my sister!”

“Who’s being a p-p-pervert?!” Cui Dong Dong said indignantly. “I’m very gentlemanly—no, I’m very ladylike. Sister Xiao Man, don’t misunderstand. I’m a woman. But I still like you. You’re truly beautiful.”

Xiao Man lowered her eyes and smiled shyly. “Thank you. You’re very kind.”

They rode their motorcycles onto the mountain road. Cui Dong Dong wanted Xiao Man to sit behind her, but naturally Liu Yi refused, shielding his older sister like a mother hen protecting her chick. The two rode side by side while bickering with each other.

“Pervert! Stop staring at her!”

“Why? I like her, so of course I want to look at her!”

“How can you be so shameless? Don’t you know how to feel embarrassed?”

“Why should I be embarrassed? You refuse to admit who you like, but you won’t let me say it either?”

“Who do you like, Xiao Liu?” Xiao Man asked.

“I don’t! There’s no one! Don’t listen to her nonsense! Dong Dong, say another word and I’ll ram you!”

“He likes—whoa! Help! You really rammed me! Whoa!… Fine, fine, he likes me! Let’s say he likes me, all right?”

“Like you, my ass!” Liu Yi said.

While they were playing and arguing, several motorcycles approached from the opposite direction. As they passed, the leading rider saw Xiao Man, and a mocking voice drifted through the wind. “Hahaha! Isn’t that the whore from the poster?”

Liu Yi slammed on the brakes, and Xiao Man crashed against the young man’s solid back. The motorcycle tires released a piercing screech.

“What did you say?” Liu Yi asked, his voice carrying an icy chill.

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