If the Deep Sea Forgets You

“And you are…?” Zhang Yang asked.

“I’m Mo Han, a lawyer and her brother.”

His name was incredibly familiar to Zhang Yang, as if he had heard the name somewhere before. His eyes lit up suddenly, “Are you Barrister Mo that Old Zhang is always talking about?”

“You know Old Zhang?”

Zhang Yang smiled and scratched his head, “Old Zhang is my mentor. He guides me with my work at the police station.”

Old Zhang had mentioned that Barrister Mo had helped him solve a pretty tricky fraud case a few years back. As a result, Old Zhang had always been very grateful to him. Remembering what his mentor had said, he smiled awkwardly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that you’re Barrister Mo. Actually, there’s not much more to be done here. You can both go home.”

Mo Han replied, “Thank you. If there’s anything that pops up, feel free to contact me anytime. Old Zhang has my phone number. We’ll definitely do our best to help the police to solve the case.”

Mo Han bid farewell to Zhang Yang, before driving Xia Qingyi back home. Just as they entered the living room and turned on the lights, Xia Qingyi started to ask impatiently, “Where’s my pastry?”

Mo Han noticed that Xia Qingyi’s hands still had dried blood on them as he turned to look at her. He knitted his brows. He took her hands in his and examined them carefully. He asked, “Why is there blood on your hands?”

Xia Qingyi pulled her hands back after glancing at them, “It’s nothing. I fell down at the crime scene. The blood belongs to the girl.”

Mo Han checked her body, only to find that there were some traces of blood on her ankle as well. “What about your leg?”

Only when Mo Han mentioned it did Xia Qingyi finally feel pain in her ankle. She had probably grazed her ankle when she had tripped over the rock earlier. She was nonchalant about it as it did not hurt as much anymore, “The blood on my leg was from the fall. I’ll be fine after cleaning it.”

Xia Qingyi’s attention was no longer on her ‘injuries’. She was incredibly hungry. She had wanted to came back for food after school, only to be delayed unexpectedly by what had happened earlier. She whined to Mo Han, “Where’s my food? I’m hungry!”

Mo Han glanced at her, “Clean yourself up first. I’ll give you the food once you’ve cleaned the wound on your leg.”

Xia Qingyi unwillingly returned to the bathroom to clean her wound and to remove the blood stains. She then moved to her bedroom to bring out the medicine bottle, before sitting on the sofa with her legs bent. She opened the bottle and started to pour the medicine on her wound carelessly. Watching, Mo Han interrupted, “Do you know how to clean a wound?”

Xia Qingyi looked at him innocently, “How do I do it then?”

“Where are the cotton buds?” Mo Han walked up to her resignedly and took the medicine bottle.

“I don’t know. I couldn’t find any in the bedroom.”

Mo Han could only find a cotton ball in one of the living-room drawers. He squatted by the sofa, holding Xia Qingyi’s feet wordlessly. He poured the medicine onto the cotton ball carefully, before rubbing the medicine on her wound. His actions were so gentle that Xia Qingyi felt a little afraid, as though it was the calm before the storm.

His palm was rough with callouses. The faint itchiness from Mo Han’s hold on Xia Qingyi’s feet made her slightly uncomfortable. She wanted to retract her feet nervously, only for Mo Han hold onto her leg tighter, “Stop moving around. I’m applying the medicine!”

Xia Qingyi could only stare at the sight of Mo Han applying medicine to her wound. She could not help but sigh once Mo Han had finally released her leg. Mo Han got up to put away the bottle of medicine. He then came back with a plate of red bean pastries, “The pastries were a little cold, so I’d put them in the microwave to heat them up.”

Xia Qingyi accepted the plate happily, and started to eat the pastries without a care for what she looked like.

Mo Han watched Xia Qingyi ate as if she was a little hamster. She kept stuffing food into her mouth even when her cheeks were full. He could not help but laugh. It was bliss to watch her eat, and it always made him feel like eating too.

It seemed like he would have to buy more red bean pastries in the future.