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The day Yue Qi first met Xiao Jiu, Shen Jiu, he was old enough to know that being friendly and sweet was better, safer, than being angry or sad. He was old enough to know that he was reliant on the masters and the older children to survive, and old enough to be fond of his slave siblings. Old enough to know what slave meant. At least more or less. He knew it meant that he had to work, and that anyone was allowed to hurt him if they wanted to, and that it was his own job to make sure they didn’t want to. Not that that was any different from before he was a slave. He also knew that any day, he might be sent somewhere else, though he didn’t know what that meant, and never see anyone he knew ever again. He knew that, because he’d seen it happen to three of the older slaves during the couple months he’d been here.
He wasn’t sure how old he really had been that day, but he’d been older than a toddler and younger than most children.
Xiao Jiu, though, had definitely been a toddler. He had walked into the shed they were all kept in on his own, steady on his feet, but tears silently dripping down his face as he looked around with wide, frightened eyes, the hand gripping too tight to his tiny hand clearly the only thing keeping him from running and trying to hide. He’d stumbled when the master shoved him inside and said, “Keep him alive until he’s worth something or you won’t eat until you’ve paid off what we spent on him. His name’s Jiu.”
The door had slammed behind him and locked into place.
Yue Qi stared at the small child, who clearly only wasn’t wailing because he was too exhausted to do so, so skinny that even a slave child like Yue Qi pitied him as he saw the ribs poke through the spots not covered by his threadbare clothes.
One of the older girls, San-jie, got up and walked over to Jiu. Her face was thin, her long hair hanging loose over her shoulders, but her smile was gentle as she knelt down in front of him. Jiu didn’t fight it as she picked him up and carried him over to her spot, holding him. He didn’t do anything at all except cry those silent tears.
From his spot on the hay-covered ground, Yue Qi watched. Ying Ba, number six, was curled up against his side, face buried in his chest and uncaring of the newcomer. San-jie was nice and kind and brushed the new child’s hair out of his face and stroked his back, soothing him. But the child was just staring at everyone. His gaze met Yue Qi’s, and Yue Qi stared back.
Jiu’s eyes were pitch black in the dark shed. Even as the white of them was rimmed red, they were piercing. Intelligent, though that was too large a word for the young slave number seven to know yet. The sentiment was there though.
As the masters came back with food, Yue Qi quickly, gently, pushed Ying Ba away so he could rush over and grab some stale buns before it was all gone. He held the food tight against his chest as he retreated away from the older slaves. He looked down at his small bounty: the buns were hard in his hands, and his mouth watered. His stomach squeezed with hunger.
With a sigh, he handed one over to Ying Ba, who immediately stuffed the whole thing into his mouth. Yue Qi took a bite from the other he’d managed to grab, and looked over at Jiu. Jiu, who San-jie was giving a third of the bun one of her friends had grabbed for her like he had done for Ying Ba.
The child ate with the ferocity of a starved animal. And then burst into tears again, reaching for the rest of the bun in San-jie’s hand, but she held it out of reach as she shoved it into her own mouth. Yue Qi looked down at the bun in his hand.
He swallowed, and broke it in half. Jiu eyed him warily when he walked over, Yue Qi’s limbs heavy with hunger, but the suspicion immediately disappeared when he handed him one half of the bun. Yue Qi quickly swallowed the rest.
When Jiu was done eating, he stared at Yue Qi with calculating, expectant eyes, until Yue Qi said, “Hello. I’m Yue Qi. You can call me Qi-ge. You’re Jiu.”
Jiu narrowed his eyes, and shook his head. “Xiang!” he explained, pointing at his chest.
Yue Qi reached out and stroked his hair. He shook his head. “Not anymore. They’ll beat you for that, Xiao Jiu.”
He was so little. The smallest child Yue Qi had seen since he was sold – his mother had just given birth to his seventh sibling and third sister when they handed him over to the masters. He remembered his own birth name: it was easy enough since they had simply named him Fifth Son. But there was no point to knowing it, to using it, because he was no one’s son anymore. Just Qi. And Ying Ba’s Qi-ge, and now also Jiu’s.
As if on cue, Ying Ba cried out, “Ba also wants more food! Qi-ge!”
Yue Qi tore his eyes away from Xiao Jiu’s face and smiled at Ying Ba. “I’m sorry, Ba’er. There is no more.”
“Why did he get it then! You’re my ge!”
Holding in a sigh, Yue Qi got up, having the explanation of he’s so little, he needs it more right on his tongue, when a firm grip on his sleeve stopped him. Xiao Jiu stared at him, and then at Ba, and glared. He held up his other arm in a clear demand of being lifted.
San-jie giggled. “Look, A-Qi,” she said. “Looks like he’s already got a favourite. But who can blame him, when you’ve got that sweet smile on your face?”
Turning that smile on her, Yue Qi obediently picked Xiao Jiu up even as his arms shook from the effort. Xiao Jiu settled into his arms easily, throwing his own over his shoulders.
Ying Ba let out another protesting cry, and Yue Qi winced as Lin Er, the eldest of the boys since Wu Yi had gone away, smacked him and hissed, “Shut up, pest.”
Cradling Xiao Jiu tighter against his chest, Yue Qi forcibly kept his smile in place as he silently sat down in a secluded corner. Soon, Ying Ba came crawling over again, tear-streaked but silent, and he made place. Catching Xiao Jiu’s hands as he waved them angrily at Ying Ba.
“Don’t worry, Xiao Jiu,” Yue Qi whispered as Ying Ba slipped into sleep, curled up at his side. Xiao Jiu kept staring at him like he could see straight into his soul. “Qi-ge will keep you safe.”
Everything was quiet then, until Xiao Jiu seemed to finish considering what he’d said. Xiao Jiu nodded once, and said, “Qi-ge. Good.”