Worse than Scum

Lee felt himself startle a little, knowing that his face had just frozen up as he sat there, trying to process what he he had just heard from the teenage girl in front of him.

"Oh it was very easy to do it. I needed the money, and he was offering, so I went for it. Do you hate me now? Do you think that I'm worse than scum, Mr Shen?" she taunted Lee, a haunting and wide grin stretched over her face, cutting through the exhaustion that had seemed to be relentlessly plaguing her before.

"No- no. I don't, er, hate you. It makes sense," Lee managed to stutter out, waving his arms about, trying to convince her that he wasn't a threat and that he believed her.

Li Chang blinked, her face becoming blank and more serious, but not quite mellowing out either.

"Smart cookie. Where's all that bravado from before? Sex that really that off putting to you, or you can't hear a woman talk about it?" she questioned back, her voice lowering and somehow becoming even more dangerous, sounding as if she was about to unsheathe a sword to try and stab Lee where he sat in front of her.

Her face was partially draped in shadows, the darkness concealing her form more than the sweat soaked clothing that she wore. She was obviously panting and was on the verge of keeling over into unconsciousness.

"No... I. Never really thought about it before... At all," Lee mumbled out, looking downwards onto the floor.

"Oh really..." she drawled out, putting her entire face into the light to show off the deep, dark circles that weighed down her eye lids.

"The bravery... well, his life was in danger, and I, um... I can watch over him for the night, while you sleep," Lee tried to offer, shifting the topic away from something that he had no experience in back to the present situation.

"No. I will. Find another house. They're all empty, and I'll call you as I need you, or if you're leaving, leave behind the herbs and pour the water in a dry bucket. I saw you make the paste and medicine, I'll manage," she declared, her face twisting into a glare that could even rival the God of Strength's very own when he yelled at Lee for diving into the lake.

"You're exhausted. You can't take care of your son and yourself. I can help," Lee tried to plead, trying to make her see the value of his person and let himself try and save the boy's life.

"Mr Shen, it is improper for you to do such a thing, remaining in close quarters with a woman during the night. I suggest you abandon your quest of chivalry and take your sleep elsewhere. We will reconvene at a later juncture," Li Chang raised her voice to yell, looking as if she was on the verge of kicking Lee out herself.

Knowing that he would be able to argue against her effectively enough, Lee silently stood up, leaving all his belongings behind, and walked out of the door of the wooden house.

As soon as he walked outside, he was met immediately with the sight of all the children from before crowding around him: some were looking downwards off to the side, their faces obscured by their hair; others stood respectably towards the back, their posture ramrod straight and carrying a strange tenseness; while a small group of the smallest children were all huddled together, their tiny bodies squished together, leaving no gaps, the children at the inner most areas pointedly not looking at all suffocated as they would if they were still living.

Lee sat down on the step in front of the door and curled up, his knees bent and resting against his chest, arms wrapped around them.

Lee sighed, and looked up over the group.

"Explain what happened with the water," he just stated, not even demanding answers.

His limbs were limp and felt too loose to even use effectively, weak and feeble just like they did after the first days that Lee had spent in the field when he hadn't quite built up the adequate strength needed for the job.

He could feel his head bowing under the weight of the night, his neck resisting against the urge to just let his body fall tumbling onto the floor.

"We'll explain in a bit, but first, can we show you what we brought you here to see," one of the older children interrupted with, his face concerned and looking guilty.

"You've probably worked it out yourself but, it's still something that's kind of heavy, and so, just watch the show first, alright, It's not nice at all. My mum always did this thing where if she needed to break some bad news to us, she'd cook us something real nice first to get us in a good and calm mood first so we wouldn't do anything bad or stupid when we heard what she needed to say. It worked well, so please come with us," the boy then pleaded, reaching out with a hand for Lee to take and use to pull himself up.

"My name is A-Cheng," he introduced himself with.

"My name is A-Luo," the boy, who had kicked the football, announced out loudly.

"My name is A-Lang," the first boy that Lee had spoken to called out.

"My name is A-Si," the, girl who had climbed up A-Luo, sang out from where she was still dangling from his shoulders.

"My name is Shen Lan," Lee announced to the whole group, letting go of A-Cheng's hand and bowing down to them all, while letting a small toddler crawl their way up to his boots, before pulling themselves into standing and tugging on his trousers.

"Am YingYing," she gurgled out, giving out her own beaming, bright smile, the translucent ribbon and bell in her hair ringing out clearly and mellowly.

Lee smiled, before letting her be picked up by her older sister.