Do the Right Thing

It was a new morning. Mr. Li and Queen Zhang continued their walk to Choushi (丑市) once again.

“Ughh! Are we there yet? I am a queen. You should be carrying me on a chair on top of your back”, complained Queen Zhang.

“Like bruh, are we lost? Do we need to ask the map or sing and dance or something? You got me walking on this nasty ass dirt with these Raggedy Ann doll lookin’ ass Payless shoes”, further complained Queen Zhang.

“You made me sell my clothes, crown and jewelry and you took all of the money. So, why could you not just buy a damn horse? Oh let me guess... you cannot afford Horse insurance? I will have you executed for mistreatment of your prisoners! You hear me!? E X E C U T E D.”, Queen Zhang continued.

“LOUSY GENERAL!”, shouted the upset queen.

“Uhhh . . .We’re here. . .”, informed Mr. Li.

“Oh... hehe.”

Mr. Li was cautious. The soldiers he saw yesterday were going in the opposite direction. Therefore, it was possible that King Zhang’s army was occupying this city.

Mr. Li and Queen Zhang stopped by a food vendor and ate some fried rice (炒饭).

A young girl watched the two from afar. She had short black hair that was cut unevenly. Her clothes were worn and they must have been years old.

She followed Queen Zhang and Mr. Li around town. The two had bought some ingredients to cook. They rented a hotel once again.

Mr. Li realized that he had forgotten something, so he went back to the market. As he left his room, he bumped into the young girl.

“对不起”, said Mr. Li.

(Sorry)

He then helped the fallen girl back on her feet. She realized that Mr. Li forgot to lock the door. Meanwhile, Queen Zhang decided to wash up. She removed her wedding ring and placed it in a basket with her clothes.

Queen Zhang sung in the shower. The young girl went into the bathroom and took the ring. When Mr. Li returned, he decided to make dinner. Mr. Li chose to cook some meat loaf with onions.

“I... I cannot find my ring”, revealed Queen Zhang.

“Are you sure you did not drop it on the floor somewhere?”

“NO, ARE YOU SURE THAT YOU DID NOT SELL IT TO BUY THOSE ONIONS?”, fired back Queen Zhang.

“Not at all. I am an angel, 100% innocent and pure hearted,” replied Mr. Li. A halo almost appeared above Mr. Li’s head, but Queen Zhang just stared at him in disbelief.

“Now, help me chop these onions, will ya?”, requested Mr. Li.

While preparing to cut the onions, Queen Zhang became very tense. She paused for a moment. Suddenly, she gained a burst of self-confidence. A few seconds passed.

Unfortunately, Queen Zhang mistakenly cut her finger and threw the onions up mistakenly and they landed in Mr. Li’s eyes!

“Aghhhhhh! 我眼睛!我眼睛!”, screamed Mr. Li.

(My eyes! My eyes!)

Simultaneously, Queen Zhang screamed in pain because of her cut finger.

The girl saw Queen Zhang and Mr. Li crying near the window. She could hear their warm and wet tears filled with heavy sorrow, as they hit the ground with great force, which sent shutters down the girl’s spine.

The girl misunderstood what was happening, but she felt incredibly guilty. She quickly ran back to her boss’s shack and retrieved the ring. It began to rain. She hoped that the rain would wash away her guilt. Then, the girl knocked on Queen Zhang and Mr. Li’s window.

Mr. Li opened the window. He saw the girl with her arms raised, as she presented him the ring, as if she was making an offering to a God.

“你找到了。谢谢你”, said Mr. Li.

(You found it... Thank you.)

The girl gave Mr. Li a faint smile and then she scurried away into the darkness.

“Hmm... how did she know that we were the owners of the ring? Hmm... perhaps...”, Mr. Li thought to himself.

“Your highness... here is your ring. A young girl found it and brought it here.”

“Ah, yes! This is great...”, shouted Queen Zhang, as she slipped the ring back on her finger, which was now bandaged up.

The next day, Queen Zhang and Mr. Li left the hotel. They went to a street vendor to eat some Scrambled Eggs (炒鸡蛋).

Suddenly, there was a man yelling.

“Dumb girl! You have brought me nothing today?”, shouted the man.

“I... I...”, stammered the girl.

“You what!? Speak up!”, ordered the man.

“I gave it back... I gave it back to the lady”, confessed the girl.

“Stupid! All this damn time I have been trying to get all 7 Rings like Mariana Gigante, and you are telling me that you gave the ring back? I swear to the heavens, that I am going to snap my fingers and you will turn into dust!”, complained the belligerent man.

“As a matter of fact, there’s a new joke going around... Have you heard it? What did the 5 fingers say to the face?”, asked the vehement man.

“What—?“, asked the confused and frightened girl.

“SLAP!”, replied the angry man, as he slapped the young girl with considerable force.

The small girl fell to the ground. The man rested his foot on top of the girl’s head.

“你是垃圾!”

(You’re garbage!)

The rambunctious man was about to deliver a kick to the child. That is when Mr. Li pulled the man back by his shoulder and made him lose his balance. The man made an easy and embarrassing fall to the floor face first, with his butt up in the air.

“停止。”, demanded Mr. Li.

(Stop it.)

However, the infuriated man stood up and then he pulled out a knife 🔪. He tried to stab Mr. Li. Surprisingly, the kid stepped in and grabbed the knife with her hands by the blade.

Mr. Li kicked the man down once more.

“Tch... fool”, insulted the downed man.

The young girl was shaken and fell to her knees. She began to cry, while blood spilled from her finger tips.

Mr. Li smiled.