Chapter 31

8:30 p.m. and the bar was starting to throb.

With only a handful of booths, the place was always packed; you had to reserve days ahead and still queue for a seat.

Right now the restroom was almost empty.

Ai Qing ducked into the last stall, locked the door, and finally got Xiao Yu’s call through.

The screen blinked to life, showing the living-room back home.

She’d actually started a video call?

He remembered the kids watch had the feature, but he hadn’t expected her to figure it out.

Maybe she’d just butt-dialled it.

“Hey?” he said.

“Mrrph?!”

Xiao Yu jumped like a startled cat.

The image spun wildly—floor, ceiling, floor—she was crawling in circles.

“Hand, hand—look at your left hand!” Ai Qing pleaded, dizzy from the roller-coaster view.

Xiao Yu didn’t get it; she just crawled faster.

She scooted into the living-room, parked herself by the front door, and went still, ears pricked.

No footsteps. Puzzled, she tilted her head.

“O-open... door?” she stammered.

Maybe Ai Qing was waiting outside?

“No-no-no, don’t open it!” he yelped. “Look at the watch—I’m right here!”

This time she heard him; the voice was coming from her own wrist.

She peered down and finally saw the tiny screen.

Her eyes went dinner-plate wide, pupils pin-prick small, breath frozen.

Ai Qing had shrunk to the size of a pea and been imprisoned inside her watchband!

“Mrrph?!”

A dozen thoughts crashed through her head at once.

She wanted to scream, to explain, but words jammed in her throat.

They say you lose if you can’t express yourself—right now she had no clue how, so she just circled the watch, frantic.

“How did you even learn video calling?” Ai Qing asked, half laughing. “Did you eat dinner? The auto-feeder still working?”

He didn’t expect answers; talking helped him breathe.

With no lights on, the flat was pitch-black; he couldn’t see her panicked face.

Xiao Yu, meanwhile, thought his babbling was a plea for rescue.

She poked the screen, prodded the bezel—nothing.

Desperate, she opened her mouth and chomped.

If she could just crack the thing open, maybe she could free him.

Ai Qing watched the giant jaw rush the camera and flinched—what had he done to deserve this?

“Hey! No biting—gentle, gentle! You’ll break it—let go!”

Human teeth weren’t as sharp as kitten fangs; the watch survived, barely.

Xiao Yu let go, deflated.

In the faint glow of the dial Ai Qing finally caught her expression—pure worry.

He angled the phone away. “Relax, I’m still outside. Think of it like one of our photos, except I can move, okay?”

He popped back on-screen.

Xiao Yu’s brain blue-screened.

He could hop in and out of her watch at will?

Amazing!

She poked the tiny Ai Qing once more, still sceptical, and tried another experimental nibble.

“Told you—no biting. At least you’re softer this time.”

“See? I go in, I come out—easy.”

The screen went black mid-sentence.

Ai Qing blinked.

Must have hit the End-Call button with her teeth.

He shrugged; he’d call back later.

Xiao Yu’s world imploded.

The watch was dead.

Had she swallowed him?

She clawed at her own mouth, near tears.

She had no idea which button she’d pressed in the first place, and the last thread of “warm flow” guttered out.

Fur rippled over her skin; she shrank back into Little Kitty and squatted by the door, mewing helplessly at the dark hallway.

......

Ai Qing strolled out of the restroom, none the wiser.

He washed his hands—and caught a blue-haired guy giving him a sleazy grin.

“Nice moves, bro. Where’s the girl—still locked in the stall?”

Ai Qing: “...?”

He flicked the water off his fingers and walked away.

Downstairs, the band was tuning up and the aisles were jammed with bodies.

Men howled at the moon; women glittered under the strobes.

Ai Qing hated the noise the moment it slammed into his eardrums.

Wu Yong felt the same.

They linked up with Kong Fugui, braved the front of the stage for thirty seconds, then retreated to their second-floor booth.

It was still loud, but survivable.

Xiao Youqian wasn’t at the table.

She was next door, laughing with two guys, glasses raised.

When she spotted them, she clinked, drained her drink, and slid back beside Ai Qing.

“Why the field trip?” he asked.

“You abandoned me. I had to entertain myself.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, they’re not my type—zero chemistry.”

“Drink up,” Kong Fugui said, already dealing cards. “What are we playing?”

The two neighbours appeared at their elbow, glasses in hand, smirks ready.

“Room for two more, gentlemen?”

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