Translator’s Note: A reader notified me that CH2 and CH3 were the same (Thank you!), I already corrected CH3. Please go back and read that again to not miss a chapter ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ – ˵ ) ✧
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In the early morning, in the low-rise public housing of Mingde Estate in Sham Shui Po, the first to wake is always Yi Jiadong from Unit 2B on the second floor, as has been the case in recent years.
His sleep seems even shorter than that of the elderly, yet his greeting is the loudest on the street, as if a few hours of sleep could recharge him with the energy others accumulate over several days.
He dresses quickly and quietly, tiptoes out of the room without waking his younger brother sleeping on the upper bunk—this has become Yi Jiadong’s unique skill.
As he gently closes the door behind him, a white figure flashes by, startling him almost to the point of failure.
Fortunately, he quickly realizes that the figure is his sister Yi Jiayi heading to the bathroom, thus avoiding any noise from closing the door. Yi Jiadong pats his chest softly, afraid he might have startled his younger sister, and whispers a greeting:
“Want a drink of water?”
The girl turns her head, scratches her fluffy long hair, squints, and mumbles, “Brother,” then dashes into the bathroom as if she hadn’t understood him at all.
Unable to hold back a chuckle, Yi Jiadong goes to the small kitchen to pour a cup of water and hands it to her when she comes out of the bathroom.
Yi Jiayi, still not fully awake, obediently takes the cup and gulps down most of it, gets her hair ruffled by her brother, and then stumbles back to her room to continue sleeping.
Yi Jiadong smiles resignedly, grabs his money and keys, and heads out.
His older sister, though already working, still acts as cluelessly as she did in her school days, with none of the demeanor of an adult. It’s a wonder how she suddenly started earning money.
After buying lots of groceries at the market, he takes part of them to the shop at the intersection of Ai Hua Street to sort and store them in the fridge and freezer, then carries the rest home.
On the way back, the small newspaper stand is open as usual. Strangely, the old man selling newspapers isn’t sitting yawning on a small stool but is standing in front of the stall, eagerly looking out.
As Yi Jiadong turns the corner, the old man waves from afar, “Jiadong! Jiadong!”
“Uncle Ah Gan, what is it?” Yi Jiadong approaches and is immediately handed a newspaper, “Take a look, is this your older sister? Is it Jiayi?”
Confused, Yi Jiadong examines the headline under the still-burning streetlight and the faint white light sweeping across from the diagonal street. His gaze fixes incredulously on the front page.
There, a graduation photo of a young woman in a police uniform is printed. Her face is serious, but her eyes still sparkle with a smile, showing her youthful innocence yet imposing demeanor.
“Here’s another one.” Uncle Ah Gan bends down and rummages through the newspapers, pulling out seven or eight copies, “This one’s also on the front page, take a look, the column says Jiayi has always excelled in both character and learning, and we can all vouch for that. Watching you siblings grow up, all good kids. Jiayi has done well, catching criminals for the people, very impressive, your parents would be proud…”
Uncle Ah Gan’s voice was still murmuring, but Yi Jiadong could hardly hear it clearly anymore.
He numbly took the newspapers handed to him, flipping through them one by one. Some publications featured photos of his sister, Yi Jiayi, on duty at the Yau Ma Tei police station, others showed her ID photos.
Some photos showed her smiling, others were more serious, some slightly restrained in front of the camera.
Each photo was of his sister, the same girl who that morning had stumbled to the bathroom, disheveled and dazed, drinking whatever was given to her, a silly girl.
Clutching several newspapers, he hurried home only to be stopped by Uncle Ah Gan: “Jiadong, your vegetables!”
It was only then that Yi Jiadong realized he had left his groceries at the newsstand. He rushed back to pick them up, paid for the newspapers, stuffed a couple of pineapple buns into Uncle Ah Gan’s hands without waiting for a reply, and hurried off with his goods and newspapers.
For the first time, when Yi Jiadong arrived home, he wasn’t careful at all. He wasn’t afraid of waking up his siblings; in fact, he seemed determined to wake up the whole building!
With a bang, he closed the door, tossed the vegetables and meat into the kitchen, and started pacing around the sofa with the newspapers.
The small living room was too crowded; he bumped into a desk here and a trash can there as he moved, constantly making clinking and clanging noises.
“Has Ghidorah come to annihilate humanity?” his usually early-to-bed sister, Yi Jiaru, was the first to be woken by the noise. She opened her door with a resentful look at her older brother, but before she could say anything, she was smacked in the face with a newspaper.
A minute later, she joined Yi Jiadong’s “noise alliance,” unable to suppress her shrill screams, “Ah! It’s big sister! Big sister made the headlines! Pretty police officer achieves remarkable record-breaking case solving at Yau Ma Tei station!”
With a thud, the boys’ room door was flung open, and 12-year-old Yi Jiajun ran out in his boxer shorts, hastily ruffling his hair, and rushed to the table, eyes wide with urgency, shouting:
“Big sister made the papers? Where? Where? Let me see! Let me see!”
Yi Jiayi hurriedly dressed and ran to the table, staring incredulously at the messy newspapers spread out, barely recognizing her own name.
And those photos, large and small, she couldn’t believe it as she looked up to see her siblings all excitedly laughing, then slowly her own lips began to curl into a smile.
She felt like she was still dreaming.
At an age when one might disdain cats and dogs, her little brother suddenly went crazy, rushing to the window and pushing it open with a bang, shouting outside, “My sister made the papers! The lucky star policewoman, bringing good fortune with justice—”
Yi Jiadong and Yi Jiaru each grabbed him, one covering his mouth, the other holding his waist and dragging him back into the room.
After pinning down this little monkey, ensuring he wouldn’t go crazy again, Yi Jiadong whispered sternly, “Be careful or someone will call the police, and your sister will have another headline tomorrow morning—disturbing the peace, police called to mediate.”
Despite the siblings’ timely intervention to stop Yi Jiajun’s chuunibyou act1“Chuunibyou” is a Japanese term that translates to “middle school second-year syndrome.”, the sounds of windows opening and inquiring voices still followed outside:
“What’s going on?”
“Who’s yelling like that?”
In the closely-packed public housing, if someone farted in this building, the neighbors could smell it, let alone when someone opened their window in the morning and yelled—it was like broadcasting through the whole district’s loudspeakers.
Many people leaned out of their windows and asked what was happening, so Yi Jiadong had to open his window and explain:
“Aunt Ling, it was Jiayi who made a significant contribution to catching a criminal at the police station yesterday, and it made the morning paper.”
A lady who had just bought some pan-fried buns from downstairs looked up and laughed, “She made several front-page headlines. The photos are really beautiful, Dong, your sister is quite impressive.”
“They say it’s a case that the police expected would take a year to solve, but Jiayi’s sharp eyes spotted the murder weapon that everyone else had missed, and she played a major role.”
“Wow, it also mentioned how Jiayi bravely caught the criminal on the street, so powerful. We’ll need Jiayi to look after our Mingde Estate’s security in the future,” another early riser laughed and announced.
The neighbors eagerly gathered at their windows to listen to the excitement; the older ones actively joined in, each beaming with pride. Some even repeated with a laugh, “I held Jiayi when she was little, and even then, she was a head above the rest. I knew she was destined for greatness.”
“Uncle Lin, the time you’re talking about, Jiayi just bumped her head in the alley with your son, Er Dan, and got a big bump, of course, she was a head above the rest then. And for a long time after that, Yi Dashan wouldn’t let Jiayi play with your Er Dan.”
The late father Yi was nicknamed ‘Yi Dashan’ by the neighbors because he always carried his big shovel.
Yi Jiadong leaned by the window, listening to the old neighbors discuss Jiayi’s childhood, feeling warm inside.
“Brother, can you buy a few more newspapers? Let’s burn them for dad and mom so they can also be happy,” Jiaru suggested while planning to buy several copies to take to school.
The four siblings rarely had breakfast together. Yi Jiadong showed concern for Jiayi’s shoulder injury, telling her to come home early from work in the evening and he would make soybean pork trotter soup for her.
After breakfast, he helped her move her bicycle downstairs, beaming as he bid her farewell.
Her family was even happier and more excited than she was, making Yi Jiayi a bit embarrassed to laugh out loud.
Riding her bicycle through the alleys, she encountered even more neighbors who not only greeted her but also congratulated her on her achievements, creating an atmosphere of celebration and praise like during the New Year.
Thinking of her brother and siblings’ reactions, she felt a bit overwhelmed.
Experiencing something with so many people sharing in her joy was really unfamiliar to her.
Throughout her upbringing, as her parents were busy with their own affairs, Yi Jiayi often tearfully forced herself to write about her solitary growing pains in her diary.
In her childhood, which valued friendships the most, she didn’t know who stopped contacting whom first, and thus she sadly understood what separation meant.
After being envied and slandered, she learned to be restrained and not to show off.
At an age when loyalty mattered, when others failed to meet her expectations, she felt wronged and angry. After arguing and even breaking off friendships, she learned to introspect and understand the boundaries between people.
Continuously growing, stumbling through solitude, learning independence, she finally manages to grimace and endure celebrating her achievements alone, as well as licking her wounds in solitude.
Suddenly, three people connected by blood, who depend on each other for life, appeared by her side. They toppled the walls she had built around her heart, forcibly blowing warm air into her tiny space.
Today, it took Yi Jiayi longer than usual to cycle to work.
Because the hapless young policewoman secretly turned into an alley and cried her eyes out.
Wiping away tears and pushing her bike awkwardly onto the main road, Yi Jiayi wondered when the salary would finally come.
She also didn’t know whether helping the Major Crime Unit solve cases would earn her a bonus.
Her brother’s tennis racket is so worn out that she wants to buy him a new one, a good brand.
Her sister’s small leather shoes are a bit tight, the outline of her big toe visible as she walks; she wants to buy her sister a new pair of leather shoes.
Her brother always sings in the kitchen amidst the cooking fumes; she wants to buy him a better range hood and treat him to a good time at KTV.
Family… oh dear…
She is has to work hard for them!
Thanks for the translation. I really like the story so far.
So wholesome ♡˖꒰ᵕ༚ᵕ⑅꒱
Gosh🥺