Chapter 17 - Who Are You?
When they reached the temporary crew lounge, Yuan Ge turned on the lights and then immediately noticed the boy's eyes turning towards the light source. There was finally life in those previously blank eyes, as if his eyesight had returned, so Yuan Ge hurriedly settled him on the sofa and said soothingly, "You look so pale... You must be freezing, or maybe your blood sugar is too low? Let me get you a cup of hot coffee."
The boy looked at Yuan Ge with tearful eyes, but it seemed that the warmth of the room had helped him regain his hearing and other senses. His body was no longer as stiff as before and he slowly released his grip on Yuan Ge's hand, wrapped his coat tightly around himself and hugged his legs shyly, huddling in the corner of the sofa, not daring to move an inch.
Yuan Ge saw his frightened look and didn't have the heart to press him too hard. He stood up, walked to the makeshift kitchenette, made two cups of coffee, and after some thought added a whole sachet of brown sugar to one of them.
Still looking timid, the boy took the cup of hot coffee carefully and held it closely to his chest, sniffing uneasily at the aroma, as if unsure whether he should drink it.
"Don't worry, it won't hurt you, a sugar overloaded macchiato should do you good.. It's too cold outside. Let's warm up first." Yuan Ge said as he took a sip of his own coffee.
This time, the boy seemed to understand what he meant and took a small sip, following Yuan Ge's example, then immediately he choked and began to cough, staring in horror at the frothy brown liquid in his hand. When he saw Yuan Ge smiling and raising his cup to him, he was too embarrassed to push back and plucked up the courage to finish his coffee in one gulp, after which he frowned and coughed a few times, but his body gradually stopped shaking.
"After being in the icy water for so long, you may have temporarily lost your five senses. Once your blood sugar level returns, you should be fine. By the way, what's your name?"
The boy looked around the room, his face looked confused, as if he recognised something that was familiar to him, but he wasn't quite sure. When he stared at the ceiling light, he actually looked frightened.
Seeing this, Yuan Ge couldn't help but feel amused, "You've never had coffee, but haven't you ever seen an electric light?"
"I... " The boy cleared his throat, as if trying to get rid of the sugar residue that had stuck to his throat from his coffee earlier. When he spoke again, his voice sounded remarkably clean and crisp like wind chimes, "I hath used to beest an act'r in Jinyu Troupe, Qiuchen, and anon i worketh in the House of Rong, so I tooketh Rong as mine own surname and hath called myself Rong Qiuchen."[1]
He spoke with a pure Beijing accent and the tone of his voice sounded musical like an opera singer.
Now it was Yuan Ge's turn to be amazed, "How is it possible… "
"Whither am i? Who is't art thee?"[2]
"Whither? Thee? I want to ask you, why are you talking so weirdly in the middle of the night? I am Yuan Ge of the House of Yuan, and this is Rong Mansion of Shoubi Hutong in the Imperial Capital!" Yuan Ge was amused by his half-literate, half-vernacular question and answered him in the same way.
The boy who called himself Rong Qiuchen seemed oblivious to Yuan Ge's mockery. His eyes glistened with undried tears, and when he looked around again, the light in his eyes dimmed and he muttered, "It's not Shoubi Hutong, it's Choupi… " Then, suddenly becoming more agitated, he said, "Whither is the Third Lord?"[3] Standing up, he seemed to want to walk out of the room to look for someone, but the overcoat slipped off his shoulders. When his eyes met Yuan Ge's gaze, he hastily crouched down again, his face blushed, and he wrapped the coat tightly around him, not daring to move again.
Yuan Ge was even more surprised to hear him call out the old name of Shoubi Hutong.
This kid is pretending to be crazy and foolish, but he has done his homework well. Go on, keep acting and let's see when you'll reveal your true self!
So, he went along with the boy's game and answered, "Third Lord? You mean the previous owner of this mansion, right? This was once the residence of the First Grade Minister Ronglu, and his brother the Third Lord's name was Huilu, is that right?" Yuan Ge counted his fingers exaggeratedly, "Qiuchen of the House of Rong, your master has been buried underground for almost 150 years!"
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[1]Translate into today's English, it means: I used to be an actor in Jinyu Troupe, Qiuchen, and now I work in the House of Rong, so I took Rong as my surname and called myself Rong Qiuchen.
[2] Where am I? Who are you?
[3] Where is the Third Lord?