Chapter 2 Mother's Lover
Qi could not recall how he had left the hospital, nor how he had arrived at his father's workplace. He did not even remember ignoring the greeting of the armed police officer standing guard at the entrance of the compound.
The guard recognized him. Although he thought Qi was being impolite, the boy's pale, haunted face suggested he was troubled. Naturally, the officer did not pursue the matter with a middle schooler.
Qi's father worked at the Municipal Party Committee. Efficient and precise, he wrote formal documents with balance and clarity, which had earned him the esteem of superiors.
Now he served as secretary to the city's top leader. In the subtle politics of China's bureaucracy, it was said that "a secretary is half the leader," meaning his father held a position of real influence and power.
To outsiders, his father appeared upright and restrained, cautious to the point of stinginess when it came to money. Many envied his rank, but none had yet found a weakness to exploit.
Qi found his father's office door on the third floor partially ajar. Peeking through the crack, he saw his father seated on a sofa, talking with two women, both relatives.
One was his second aunt, Zhang Shuyuan. The other, a woman in her forties, was less familiar, but Qi recognized her as Aunt Chen Lan, his mother's cousin-in-law who he usually addressed as "Aunt Chen."
"The matter of the demolition compensation I've already spoken with the Urban Construction Committee, but the Demolition Office is harder to handle. The municipal government documents have already been issued, so changing things further will be difficult..." his father said.
Hearing this, Qi remembered overhearing his parents speaking about a relative's house demolition dispute.
Qi was burning to tell his father everything he had witnessed earlier, but upon seeing him in discussion with two older relatives, he bit his tongue, knowing when to hold back.
Instead, he backed away quietly and climbed to the fourth floor. There, on a protruding platform, he sat lost in his own disturbed thoughts.
Before long, he realized that the platform faced his father's office window. From there, he could see everything inside, while the angle made it nearly impossible for those in the office to notice him.
The sounds from within drifted faintly. Though muffled, he could make them out.
"So, Brother Li, are you saying this can't be done?" Aunt Chen's voice held disappointment.
"Brother-in-law, don't say that. Everyone knows the influence you hold as Secretary Li. All you need to do is whisper to Secretary Zhou in private. What can't be accomplished then?" Aunt Zhang's voice, coyly flirtatious, caused an uneasy shiver to ripple through Qi.
From his vantage point, Qi suddenly saw Aunt Zhang move closer, sliding from her seat to sit beside his father. She leaned against him, her hand wandering onto his thigh.
His father tilted back comfortably, clearly enjoying the attention, answering with lazy formality:
"We have to consider appearances. Demolition issues belong to the municipal government. The Party Committee shouldn't intervene too openly..."
As though inspired by Zhang, Aunt Chen also leaned in from the other side. Her hand pressed onto his opposite thigh, going further, sliding toward his groin.
Qi watched, aghast, as Aunt Zhang stood to lock the office door before returning.
Now both women pressed into him on either side. His father closed his eyes, visibly aroused under their fondling. He began to protest but Aunt Chen stifled his words with her mouth, tongue sliding across his lips, pushing inside.
His father's hands, wandering, burrowed into her blouse to knead her breasts. Aunt Zhang laughed softly, then leaned forward as well, and soon his father's lips and tongue were shared between the two women, all three entangled, strings of saliva glistening when they briefly parted.
At this sight, Qi froze in horror.
His aunt Chen's hand unzipped his father's trousers, and his erect manhood sprang out, twitching into her face. She stroked it, cooing.
"Brother-in-law, you're certainly... big." Then her lips closed over him, working greedily.
Not to be sidelined, Aunt Zhang hiked her skirt and planted herself straddling his father's face. His father buried himself between her thighs, licking while groaning with pleasure. Soon both women were gasping and writhing ecstatically, feeding off his body.
From the window platform, Qi sat frozen, resting his chin in his palms, staring blankly at the writhing scene.
For some reason, when he had glimpsed his mother kissing Xu Tiejun earlier, it had felt like the world collapsing. But here seeing his father with two of his own relatives he felt oddly numb.
"So this is the adult world? So be it," he muttered. What disturbed him most was that he felt no arousal, no excitement. To him, it was like watching three pale worms twisting around each other, nothing more.
Inside, the room was filled with groans and moans, names slipping from mouths, bodies colliding.
At the height of their frenzy, his father suddenly pulled out, shuddering violently. Aunt Chen crouched quickly, bringing her breasts together and trapping his length between them, stroking until streams of thick white seed spattered across her chest. She licked hungrily, while Aunt Zhang bent down to share, tongues tangling as they lapped his release.
Exhausted, his father collapsed onto the carpet, eyes shut, as the two women continued greedily cleaning every trace of him with their mouths.
"Looks like Aunt Chen's case will definitely be resolved now..." Qi said to himself dully.
But whatever urge he had harbored to confide in his father was extinguished. With a bleak expression, he turned away, "escaping" once more.
As he rose to go, he thought he felt his father's eyes flick briefly, as if aware of him outside.
"So what if he saw me? It's irrelevant. Nothing to do with me."
Walking the streets again, Qi lifted his gaze to the sky, where heavy white clouds gathered but sunlight peeked through.
First he thought of heading to school. But nearing it, he remembered his mother had already requested leave for him.
If he returned, she might be searching anxiously. And school would be the very first place she looked.
He could not bear to see his parents now.
Turning his gaze, he saw in the distance the tiled roof of Xiangyun Monastery.
"When a person is lost, they often turn to faith."
That thought rang clear in his mind.
"Yesterday I met a Taoist priest. Today I've witnessed such unspeakable things. Could this Pingshan priest be heaven's way of sending me someone to guide me?"
The notion took root. His feet moved of their own accord toward the monastery.
But at the gates, a voice stopped him.
"Young man, you need a ticket to enter."
He looked up and saw a ticket booth. Behind the window sat a woman in her thirties, thick makeup garishly plastered. In the dim interior light, she looked almost frightening.
"There's an entry fee?" Qi asked, surprised.
"Of course. This is a cultural heritage site. You want to visit, you pay." She smirked, spitting sunflower seed shells carelessly.
Qi fumbled through his pockets. A few yuan notes not sure if it was enough.
Suddenly, the woman shrieked.
Qi looked up Daoist Pingshan was inside the booth, withdrawing his hand from the woman's backside. He grinned mischievously at Qi.
"You lecherous priest! Want to die?" the woman screamed, glaring fiercely.
But Pingshan just smiled shamelessly. "Sister Zhang, I know this boy. Spare him the entrance fee, will you?"
She scoffed, "You think you can just decide that? Who do you think you are?"
But his wandering hand slipped to her waist, making her gasp despite herself. Shooting him a quick sidelong glance, she fell silent, pretending not to notice.
Moments later, Pingshan emerged cheerfully, ushering Qi through the gate into the monastery.
Qi had known of Xiangyun Monastery it was written in the local history books, built in the Ming Jiajing era, once a royal Taoist site. Parts had been burned during wars at the dynasty's end. Later, the government restored it with funds.
But though he knew of its name, he had never visited, too absorbed always in books.
Inside, he found the walls decorated with endless carvings of auspicious clouds, rafters and beams adorned similarly, true to its name.
Pingshan guided him through twists and turns until they reached his quarters. Hanging outside was a board inscribed: "Branch of the Taoist Association of [Local City]."
Reading it, Qi's heavy mood lifted slightly. He teased:
"So the great Daoist holds an official position too living on the state's dime, eh? Not just selling a sheep's head while peddling dog meat?"
Pingshan straightened, suddenly serious. "Don't joke. I've performed rites at Dragon-Tiger Mountain I am a true Taoist!"
"Which sect? Quanzhen, Zhengyi, Lingbao, Shangqing, Shenxiao?" Qi asked.
Surprise crossed his face. "Boy, you know even that? Good, very good. Yes, Quanzhen that's me."
"So you're a descendant of Wang Chongyang," Qi smirked. Growing bolder: "But Dragon-Tiger Mountain belongs to Zhengyi. How did you perform there?"
The Daoist shrugged carelessly. "Because the imperial court always only recognized the Celestial Master lineage of the Zhang family."
Their eyes met, one old and one young ignoring ranks, both broke into raucous laughter.
Inside, Pingshan brewed tea, hosting Qi not as a child but respectfully, as a guest.
"Didn't expect you to come so soon," he remarked with genuine warmth. "I only invited you yesterday. Yet here you are. Truly beyond expectation."
His gaze probed curiously. Qi lowered his head, weighed down by secrets he could not voice not to an outsider, not when it involved shameful family scandal.
"It's nothing," Qi murmured. "Just wanted to chat with Master Daoist."
Veteran of worldly ways, Pingshan saw the boy's hesitation, but did not pry. Instead, he steered the conversation toward safer ground.
"You've read the Dao De Jing, haven't you?"
"Yes, once."
"Any insights from it?"
"Shouldn't it actually be called the De Dao Jing...?"
Pingshan chuckled. "This kid can be taught."
Night fell.
As Qi left, he turned back and waved to the priest in farewell, signaling that he need not escort him further. Then, striding ahead, he disappeared toward the street.