Jiang Qiaoxi returned from Hong Kong in late February. He called Lin Qile from the airport, expressing his desire to have lunch at her home.
Lin Qile, after hanging up, climbed out of bed, slipped on her cotton slippers, and went to inform her father. Lin Diangong, who happened to be home making sausages, agreed readily, saying they’d set an extra place at the table.
Passing by the full-length mirror, Lin Qile belatedly noticed her reflection and touched her hair, realizing she should quickly wash it.
This year, Lin Qile spent the New Year in the provincial capital, roaming the headquarters daily, indulging in feasts either at home or at Yu Qiao’s and Du Shang’s houses. Du Shang’s mother had returned from her maiden home, bringing numerous local specialties as gifts to Team Leader Yu and Electrician Lin, thanking them for taking care of Du Shang over the past year.
Lin Qile also attended two banquets. One was for the hundred-day celebration of Driver Shao and Aunt Xiao Xie’s baby.
Wearing a red cotton jacket, she took photos with Uncle Shao and Aunt Xiao Xie and even had the chance to hold the baby. Lin Qile gently stroked the baby’s face, finding it amusing, and said, “His face is so soft!”
Nearby, Uncle Yu was chatting with Driver Shao about recent work and reminiscing about their days at the Mountain Group construction site.
“Back in ’90, when Juan was about to give birth, Lin Haifen was still working overtime at the site,” Uncle Yu frowned, recalling. “We called him saying, ‘Your daughter is about to be born, and you’re still not at the hospital!’ Well, that day everyone working overtime at the site rushed to the hospital together. About a dozen men crowded into that corridor. The nurse looked around confused, asking, ‘Which one of you is the father?'”
“I watched her being born!” Lin Qile giggled, facing the baby, then looked up at the uncles.
Driver Shao and Uncle Yu told her, “We watched you being born too!”
Lin Qile put down the baby and leaned against Uncle Yu, who hugged her shoulders. She felt she belonged here, loving everything about this place.
The second banquet was for Grandma Zhang, the former principal of the Mountain Group Workers’ Kindergarten, celebrating her 66th birthday. Many families from the headquarters attended.
Grandma Zhang inquired if Yu Qiao and Lin Yingtao still fought: “In the past, they’d fight in the morning, at noon, in kindergarten, and even at home. People say married couples fight at the head of the bed and makeup at the foot, but these two kids, since they were little, never made up after fighting! Unless they were teaming up to fight others!”
Grandma Yu, sitting nearby, told her good friend Grandma Zhang that Yu Qiao no longer fought with Lin Yingtao and they didn’t argue when they met: “They’ve grown up!”
Grandma Zhang was surprised and lowered her head, asking, “Really?”
Yu Qiao and Lin Qile sat together at the children’s table. Yu Qiao endured the noisy atmosphere and the old ladies’ rambling chats, while Du Shang kept texting on his phone. Lin Qile expressionlessly shelled pistachios, stuffing the kernels into her mouth, competing with Cai Fangyuan to see who could shell them faster, leaving almost none for others.
“I’ve gained several pounds,” she texted Jiang Qiaoxi, then continued blow-drying her hair.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
Lin Qile quickly tossed aside the hairdryer, grabbing a comb to hastily brush her half-dry hair. Lin’s mother opened the door, and Jiang Qiaoxi entered, wearing a dark gray down jacket and carrying a suitcase. He first greeted Lin’s mother, then turned to see Lin Qile still in her cotton pajamas with her hair down.
Jiang Qiaoxi smiled and said softly, “You haven’t gained that much.”
Lin Diangong had prepared tomato shrimp, sweet and sour ribs, a plate of sweet bamboo shoots, and a bowl of assorted cold cuts. He told Jiang Qiaoxi that the last two dishes, the cold cuts and sweet bamboo shoots, were brought by Du Shang’s mother from her hometown in Guizhou: “They taste quite good, come on, try them!”
Jiang Qiaoxi took off his down jacket, revealing a gray sweater the color of crow feathers. He sat down at the table and picked up his rice bowl. Lin Diangong asked about his parents’ whereabouts, and Jiang Qiaoxi explained they had gone to sweep his brother’s tomb: “It’s in the suburbs, they’ll be back in the afternoon.”
Lin Diangong didn’t inquire further.
Lin’s mother then asked Jiang Qiaoxi about Hong Kong, how it was, and if spending the New Year there was fun.
Though these were just polite questions, Jiang Qiaoxi seemed genuinely pleased. He put down his chopsticks, accepted the can of cola Lin Yingtao handed him from behind and opened it. He began to recount what he had done, where he had played, and what places he had visited during his month-plus stay in Hong Kong as if reporting to his parents.
Lin’s mother remarked, “That’s nice, Hong Kong is warm too, perfect for spending the New Year there.”
Lin Diangong then said to his wife, “When Yingtao goes to university in a couple of years, let’s apply for a transfer to the Foshan project department. We can spend a warm New Year there!”
Lin’s mother was both amused and exasperated: “You’ve only been at headquarters for a few years, and you’re already thinking about going back to tough it out at a construction site!”
Lin Yingtao pursed her lips unhappily: “Why? Are you two going to abandon me…”
Lin Diangong exclaimed, “Oh come on! You’ll be living on campus for university anyway, how is that abandoning you?”
Lin Yingtao peeled tomato shrimp for everyone: “I want to go to a local university! I don’t want to live on campus…”
Jiang Qiaoxi sat across from her, eating the shrimp she had peeled. His long eyelashes remained lowered.
Lin Qile sat on the edge of her small bed, looking down at the photos on Jiang Qiaoxi’s phone. She asked enviously, “Was horseback riding in Hong Kong fun?”
Jiang Qiaoxi opened his suitcase on the floor of Lin Qile’s small room.
Half of the suitcase was occupied by a conspicuous large box. Lin Qile only glanced at it once but could sense its significance to Jiang Qiaoxi.
Jiang Qiaoxi took out the box and gave it to her.
Lin Qile unwrapped the packaging to find a large Duffy bear plush from Disneyland. “It’s so big!” she exclaimed in surprise.
Jiang Qiaoxi said, “My cousin bought this for you.”
Lin Qile hugged the Duffy bear and looked up at him.
Jiang Qiaoxi sat beside her, reached into his pocket, and took out a small box tied with a Christmas red ribbon.
Lin Qile set the bear aside and carefully opened the box.
She took out a necklace inlaid with rubies and cut diamonds. The rose gold chain held a small ruby cherry that reflected light into Lin Qile’s eyes, causing her to blink in bewilderment.
She put the necklace around her neck. Turning to sit, she could see through the small mirror on her desk that Jiang Qiaoxi was behind her, brushing her long hair over her shoulder and helping her fasten the necklace.
Where did the cherry come from?
It came from the love of her parents, from her aunt’s blessings and expectations. In the year approaching her seventeenth birthday, the cherry hung on Jiang Qiaoxi’s still-green branch.
The TV announced that on March 4, 2007, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, a total lunar eclipse would be visible worldwide.
At five in the morning, Lin Qile hurriedly got up, put on her coat, and ran to Yu Qiao’s building, where she met Cai Fangyuan, who was rubbing his hands with red, cold ears. They went upstairs together, running to the rooftop terrace of Yu Qiao’s home, where Yu Qiao, Du Shang, Qin Yeyun, and others had already set up a small table and were eating breakfast.
Jiang Qiaoxi was there too, sitting with Yu Qiao and talking quietly. When he saw Lin Yingtao arrive, he smiled at her.
The eclipse hadn’t started yet; the sky was still dark, with only the lone light bulb on the terrace casting a thin glow.
Lin Qile and Cai Fangyuan ate egg pancakes and used small spoons to compete for the last bits of pickled radish in the bowl.
Yu Qiao suddenly said softly to Jiang Qiaoxi, “You think you know why Lin Yingtao didn’t come over in middle school…”
Lin Qile overheard and felt they might be talking about her behind her back, so she turned away.
The last piece of pickled radish was snatched by Cai Fangyuan.
Lin Qile sat on a small stool on the terrace, feeling cold and hunching her neck.
The heavy ruby cherry pendant fell into the gap between her underwear and sweater.
“When you were little, you loved to run around and even came to the provincial capital alone,” Jiang Qiaoxi sat beside her, his breath forming a light mist as he spoke. “How come now you want to stay local even for university?”
Lin Qile tilted her head back, gazing at the half-eclipsed moon.
“I don’t know,” she said. “When I was little… I always wanted to run outside…” She thought for a moment. “I didn’t realize how big and dangerous the world was…”
Jiang Qiaoxi lowered his eyes to look at her.
“The people and things in the provincial capital are all different from Mountain Group. If I leave the provincial capital in the future, what I see and hear will be different too,” Lin Qile said. “The further I go… the more I feel that home is best, especially when I’m alone and helpless when I’ve done something wrong… People outside are very different from what I thought when I was little.”
Jiang Qiaoxi said, “You’re still like a child.”
Lin Qile said, “I’m almost seventeen now.”
Jiang Qiaoxi asked, “Do you want to stay by your parents’ side forever?”
Lin Qile replied unhappily, “I know that’s not possible.”
She continued, “But I want to be with them as much as I can.”
Jiang Qiaoxi asked himself.
Could he, like Uncle Lin and Aunt Lin, be someone to whom Lin Yingtao could entrust everything – all her vulnerabilities, her mistakes, her moments of helplessness?
Even this morning, he had unconsciously avoided his mother’s bedroom door. Every penny he spent now was “borrowed” from his cousin; Jiang Qiaoxi was still mortgaging his future.
“Jiang Qiaoxi, are you afraid?” Lin Qile said, her voice soft as if not to disturb the moon above that held the world’s attention. “I’m scared to leave home so far away.”
Jiang Qiaoxi said, “Me too.”
Lin Qile turned to look at him, her big eyes particularly bright: “Really?”
So I want to take you with me, Jiang Qiaoxi thought but didn’t say aloud.
On March 5th, a Monday, Lin Qile once again spent all the New Year’s money she had saved for three or four years to buy Jiang Qiaoxi a new watch from a department store. The watch had a navy blue dial, but it wasn’t an American brand this time. She felt Jiang Qiaoxi probably didn’t lack such things, but she couldn’t think of what else he might need.
Cai Fangyuan ordered a cake; he was already a VIP member at the nearby dessert shop. Lin Qile’s parents made a special trip to visit colleagues, leaving the house to these half-grown seventeen-year-olds.
Cai Fangyuan asked, “Which school do you want to go to?”
Jiang Qiaoxi watched Lin Yingtao bend over in front of him to cut the cake, the ruby cherry pendant falling out of her collar, trailing a strand of her hair. He looked up at her face. “UC Berkeley,” he said.
Cai Fangyuan handed his plate to Lin Yingtao, saying, “Great, we’ll come visit you in America then.”
In early April, another Monday, Lin Yingtao returned home from school and had even finished her shower. Just as she was wondering why Jiang Qiaoxi hadn’t wished her a happy birthday yet, the doorbell suddenly rang.
“I’ll get it myself!” Lin Yingtao jumped up and said.
She went out, wearing her nightgown and slippers, to see Jiang Qiaoxi standing at the bottom of the stairs. He was still in his blue and white school uniform, his right hand in his pocket, his left hand hanging down, holding a box.
It seemed he had been preparing for Lin Yingtao’s seventeenth birthday for a long time.
The red box lid was printed with a line of text starting with ‘F’, which Lin Qile couldn’t read. She opened the lid on the stair railing. In the dim light of the stairwell, she looked up and softly asked Jiang Qiaoxi, “What is this?”
Jiang Qiaoxi stood in front of her, not speaking, just watching her unwrap it.
Lin Qile took out a pair of small red high heels from the box. She pressed her lips together, looking down at them for a while. The little red shoes had six to seven-centimeter high heels, with a square bow made of ribbon on the toe. Lin Qile had never had her high heels before; she had only secretly tried on her mother’s when she was very young.
“Why did you buy me high heels?” Lin Qile looked up, her face reddening.
Jiang Qiaoxi said, “Try them on to see if they fit.”
Lin Qile asked, “How do you know my shoe size?”
Jiang Qiaoxi replied, “I took a look at your shoe cabinet before I went to Hong Kong, but they might still not fit.”
Lin Qile carefully placed the shoes on the ground. Holding onto the stair railing, she took off her slippers and put on the red high heels. She bent her knees, trying to stand up. Jiang Qiaoxi reached out to steady her and she nearly fell forward when she straightened up.
Jiang Qiaoxi held her waist, covered by her nightgown, helping Lin Yingtao, wearing high heels for the first time, stand steady.
Lin Yingtao let go of Jiang Qiaoxi’s school uniform jacket and grabbed the stair railing. She was a bit unsteady but managed to stand, her face completely flushed.
Jiang Qiaoxi looked down at the shoes on her feet, then at her face. Lin Yingtao lowered her head and tried to walk a few steps in place, then held onto the railing and turned to walk up the stairs.
Jiang Qiaoxi stood below, watching Lin Yingtao in her childish nightgown but wearing a pair of bright red high heels, moving further away from him.
Lin Yingtao walked unsteadily, her knees never fully straightening.
“Does it hurt?” Jiang Qiaoxi asked from below.
Lin Yingtao’s feet did hurt a bit, but she turned around at the top and shook her head at him.
From a very young age, Lin Yingtao realized that as a girl, growing up seemed to mean facing more and more pain, whether physical or hidden in the heart.
Jiang Qiaoxi stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching Lin Yingtao try to walk down again in the high heels he had bought for her.
She was growing up, innocent and naive, not yet fully molded into the “woman” shape. Jiang Qiaoxi longed to be the one to guide her there prematurely.
He didn’t know what the future would bring; all he had was now.
“How do I look?” Lin Yingtao approached him, looking up anxiously as she asked.
“Yingtao,” Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly said, “Happy birthday.”
Lin Yingtao smiled, her earlobes turning red either from happiness or because she wasn’t used to wearing high heels. She said, “I’ll go home and change into a different dress. This nightgown looks so silly—”
No one spoke after that. Only the light in the stairwell remained on.
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
Our Generation – Chapter Note:
- The first total lunar eclipse of 2007 occurred on March 3, and the second on August 28. The observable time in China was in the early morning of March 4, 2007. This was a total lunar eclipse visible from most parts of the world.