The Morning After
Qiū Huà Bǐ woke up with one question already waiting for him.
What exactly had happened last night?
He sat on the edge of the guest bed for a while, staring at the wooden floor.
He remembered the ancestral hall. The candles. The liquor. Violet and Yè Yī kneeling before the tablets. The oath.
He rubbed his face.
'Two people kneel, say a few words, drink liquor, bow to the ancestors...
And now they're siblings?'
He looked at the ceiling.
"...That's it?"
The house gave him no answer. He got dressed and went downstairs. The smell of tea reached him before he reached the kitchen.
Yè Yī was already there, standing by the stove.
Qiū Huà Bǐ leaned against the counter.
"So..."
Yè Yī glanced at him.
"So?"
"You two did the oath last night.."
"Yeah."
"And now..?"
"Now what?"
Qiū Huà Bǐ stared at him.
"That's it?"
Yè Yī poured tea into two cups.
"What else were you expecting?"
"I don't know..."
Qiū Huà Bǐ took the cup Yè Yī pushed toward him.
"Something..."
"Like?"
"A sign."
Yè Yī looked at him.
"A sign?"
"Thunder. Lightning. Ancestral spirits appearing from the ceiling. Maybe the tablets glow a little."
Yè Yī took a sip.
"You watch too many dramas."
"I'm just saying, if I went through all that, I'd want something to happen."
"Nothing needs to happen."
Qiū Huà Bǐ frowned.
"Then what's the point?"
Yè Yī was quiet for a moment.
"It's not supposed to change us."
He set the cup down.
"It only makes something that was already there official."
Qiū Huà Bǐ considered that.
"...So you're still you."
"Obviously."
"And she's still Violet."
"Obviously."
"And you're just... siblings now."
Yè Yī gave him a look.
"That's usually how it works."
Qiū Huà Bǐ took another sip.
"...Feels like a design flaw."
Yè Yī almost smiled.
"You'll survive."
Footsteps sounded from the hallway. Violet entered the kitchen. She had changed into dark jeans and a light jacket, her hair tied back simply. She checked the time on her phone.
Qiū Huà Bǐ watched her for a moment.
"You going somewhere?"
"Church."
He blinked.
"...Church?"
Violet poured some tea.
"Yes."
Qiū Huà Bǐ turned slowly toward Yè Yī.
"We're taking her," Yè Yī said.
Qiū Huà Bǐ looked between them.
"You two performed a sworn-sibling ritual in an ancestral hall last night..."
He pointed toward Violet.
"...and now we're taking her to church?"
Violet raised the teacup to Qiū Huà Bǐ.
"I didn't ask you to come."
"I know."
He sighed.
"I'm coming anyway."
She looked at him over the rim of the cup.
"Why?"
"Because if I go back to the guest room, I'll spend the whole morning trying to understand you."
"That won't help."
"I know."
Yè Yī quietly turned away so neither of them could see the smile that almost appeared.
The church was a short drive from the university district, tucked between an old stationery shop and a small clinic.
Violet got out first. She didn't wait for the others before walking toward the entrance.
An elderly woman standing near the doorway noticed her.
"Jiǔ."
Violet turned, a smile on her face.
"Morning, Sister Zhàn."
The woman smiled.
"You came early today."
"Traffic wasn't bad."
"That's good."
Their conversation lasted less than a minute before the woman returned to arranging the hymn books.
Qiū Huà Bǐ had stopped beside Yè Yī.
He lowered his voice.
"Jiǔ?"
Yè Yī looked at him.
"Her nickname."
"I figured that out."
"Then why are you asking?"
"Because I didn't know she had one."
Yè Yī glanced toward Violet.
"Neither did I."
Qiū Huà Bǐ watched her greet another person near the entrance. She looked different here but not in a dramatic way.
She wasn't smiling more or speaking louder. She simply didn't seem to be measuring every person in the room. That caught his attention.
"She comes here often?"
"Sometimes."
"And you?"
"No."
Qiū Huà Bǐ nodded.
"Good."
Yè Yī looked at him.
"Good?"
"I was starting to think I'd missed several chapters."
They took seats near the back. Qiū Huà Bǐ sat beside Yè Yī, while Violet moved farther forward.
The service began soon after. The pastor greeted the congregation, made a brief announcement about a community meal later in the week, then opened his Bible.
"No long introduction today," he said with a small smile. "Let's read first."
He turned the pages.
"John, Chapter8."
The church became still.
"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Qiū Huà Bǐ's eyes moved toward Yè Yī. Yè Yī was looking straight ahead.
Truth.
That word had been following him everywhere lately.
The pastor continued.
"People sometimes think truth is supposed to make life easier."
A few people smiled.
"It doesn't always do that."
He turned another page.
"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Qiū Huà Bǐ leaned back.
He didn't know much about church. But that, at least, sounded honest. There was no promise that knowing the truth would make everything comfortable.
The pastor continued into another passage.
"Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body."
Yè Yī's fingers tightened slightly around his sleeve. Violet's voice came back to him.
'Closure... or truth.'
He had spent four years avoiding that choice... or pretending he had already made it.
The pastor turned another page.
"Romans12."
"Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves."
Qiū Huà Bǐ glanced at Yè Yī again. This time he leaned closer.
"...Are they seriously talking about family loyalty now?"
Yè Yī didn't answer. Qiū Huà Bǐ waited.
Nothing.
He whispered,
"Fine."
He faced forward again.
"Very subtle."
A few minutes later, the pastor read from Proverbs.
"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity."
Qiū Huà Bǐ went still. He didn't look at Yè Yī this time.
"...Okay."
His voice was barely audible.
"That one got me."
Yè Yī heard him. He didn't say anything, neither did Qiū Huà Bǐ.
After the service, the room gradually returned to its usual noise. People spoke near the entrance. Someone laughed in the aisle. A child tried to pull his mother's hand toward the refreshments before she had finished saying goodbye.
Violet remained seated for another moment.When she finally stood, Qiū Huà Bǐ was waiting near the door. He watched her approach.
"You know, I still don't understand you."
Violet adjusted her sleeve.
"That's normal."
"Last night, ancestral tablets."
She nodded.
"This morning, church."
Another nod.
"You don't think that's strange?"
"No."
"Not even a little?"
She considered the question.
"No."
Qiū Huà Bǐ looked genuinely puzzled.
"How?"
Violet glanced back toward the cross.
"I don't worship the tablets."
Yè Yī looked at her.
She continued,
"I respect where I came from. That's different."
Qiū Huà Bǐ thought about that.
"So you don't see a contradiction?"
"No."
She looked at him.
"You can respect your family without contradicting your faith."
That answer settled the question more cleanly than he expected. Qiū Huà Bǐ nodded slowly.
"...Fair enough."
Yè Yī had been quiet until then.
Qiū Huà Bǐ turned to him.
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"You don't believe in all this, right?"
Yè Yī shook his head.
"Not really."
"But you still came."
He looked toward Violet.
"She asked."
Qiū Huà Bǐ stared at him, then at Violet, then back at him once again.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
He let out a quiet laugh.
"I swear. I understand international finance, black-market supply chains, and three different encryption protocols."
He pointed at Violet.
"But this woman..."
Violet raised an eyebrow.
"...You make zero sense."
"I'm nineteen years old."
Qiū Huà Bǐ smiled.
"Yeah..."
Qiū Huà Bǐ's eyes widens in shock.
" You're the same age as me?!"
Violet shrugs.
Qiū Huà Bǐ turns to Yè Yī.
"How old are you anyway?"
"Twenty one."
Qiū Huà Bǐ scratches his head.
"I thought you were twenty three... Sorry."
He opened the church door for them.
"Maybe that wraps up the sermon for today. I need tea, sunlight and maybe some of Yī gē's niúròu chuàn (beef skewers)."
Yè Yī gave him a sideways look.
"That doesn't even make sense."
"I know.... but I still want those skewers"
They stepped outside.
The morning had already warmed the pavement. A bus passed at the end of the street, and someone across the road was dragging open the shutters of a shop.
Violet walked ahead.
For once, neither of the two men had a question ready... and perhaps that was why the walk back felt easier.
Yè Yī had gained a sister the night before. Qiū Huà Bǐ had gained absolutely nothing he could explain, but somewhere between an ancestral hall and a church, something in the three of them had settled into place.
This was not a destiny. Well.., at least not yet— but a keen sense of familiarity.
And for people who had met only recently, that was already more than enough.