17 Who Are You?

When they reach the temporary crew lounge, Yuan Ge turns on the lights and then immediately notices the boy's eyes turning towards the light source. There is finally life in those previously blank stares, as if his eyesight has returned, so Yuan Ge hurriedly settles him on the sofa and says 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 looks at Yuan Ge with tearful eyes, but it seems that the warmth of the room has helped him regain his hearing and other senses. His body is no longer as stiff as before and he slowly releases his grip on Yuan Ge's hand, wraps his coat tightly around himself and hugs his legs shyly, huddling in the corner of the sofa, not daring to move an inch.

When Yuan Ge sees his frightened look, he doesn't have the heart to press him too hard. He stands up, walks to the makeshift kitchenette to make two cups of coffee. After some thought he adds a whole sachet of brown sugar to one of them.

Still looking timid, the boy takes the cup of hot coffee carefully and holds 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 seems to understand what he meant and takes a small sip, following Yuan Ge's example, then immediately he chokes and begin to cough, staring in horror at the frothy brown liquid in his hand. When he sees Yuan Ge smiling and raising his cup to him, he is too embarrassed to push back and plucked up the courage to finish his coffee in one gulp, after which he frowns and coughs a few times, but his body gradually stops 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 looks around the room, his face looks confused, as if he recognises something that is familiar to him, but he isn't quite sure. When he stares at the ceiling light, he actually looks 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 clears his throat, as if trying to get rid of the sugar residue that has stuck to his throat from his coffee earlier. When he speaks again, his voice sounds 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 speaks with a pure Beijing accent and the tone of his voice sounds musical like an opera singer.

Now it is 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 is amused by his half-literate, half-vernacular question and answers him in the same way.

The boy who calls himself Rong Qiuchen seems oblivious to Yuan Ge's mockery. His eyes glistens with undried tears, and when he looks around again, the light in his eyes dims and he mutters, "It's not Shoubi Hutong, it's Choupi… " Then, suddenly becoming more agitated, he says, "Whither is the Third Lord?"[3] Standing up, he seems to want to walk out of the room to look for someone, but the overcoat slips off his shoulders. When his eyes meets Yuan Ge's gaze, he hastily crouches down again, his face blushing, and he wraps the coat tightly around him, not daring to move again.

Yuan Ge is 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 goes along with the boy's game and answers, "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?