Ji Tong had also prepared food for He Feng. She quietly sneaked into the kitchen to get a cup, then took out a plastic lunch box and a small bottle of alcohol from her schoolbag.
He Feng watched her tiptoeing around, finding it quite amusing.
Ji Tong lit candles, mumbled a few words to herself, then looked at He Feng happily. “Is it there?”
“Yes.” He Feng moved closer to absorb their essence.
This alcohol was really… indescribable…
Ji Tong looked at him foolishly. “Finished eating?”
He Feng smiled and said “Mm.”
“Want more?”
Not wanting to dampen her spirits, He Feng said, “Sure.”
Ji Tong picked up a cup of alcohol, wanting to taste it herself, and downed it like water in one gulp.
“Hey.” Seeing her frown with an expression like she was about to vomit, He Feng said, “What are you drinking randomly for?”
Ji Tong pinched out a peanut and swallowed it. “It tastes awful.” She picked up the bottle to look at it. “Is the alcohol bad? I just grabbed it randomly at the supermarket.”
“It’s okay.”
Ji Tong ate another peanut. “Forget it, I won’t drink anymore. When I have money later, I’ll buy you good alcohol.” As she spoke, she stood up with the wine cup and went to the kitchen.
When she came back, she could barely walk straight.
Ji Tong wobbled in holding the wall. “Am I drunk?”
“Be careful, don’t bump into anything.”
He Feng used wind to close the door.
Ji Tong sat at the desk, screwed the bottle cap tight, and threw it in the trash. “It tasted terrible.”
“You drank too much.”
“What a wonderful feeling.” Ji Tong smiled at him foolishly. “I feel light and floating. Is this how you ghosts feel when you float?”
He Feng didn’t answer her.
“Look, you’re still swaying.”
“You’re the one swaying. Go to sleep.”
“No, I won’t sleep. If I fall asleep, you’ll leave.” Ji Tong looked at him dizzily. He was so handsome, even though he was completely pale and had one eye covered.
He Feng suddenly smiled, his eyes showing an indescribable tenderness and indulgence. It was this smile that completely destroyed her remaining willpower. Beauty confuses people – and this beauty wasn’t just referring to women.
Her head was dizzy. She suddenly picked up a test paper from beside her, pressed it to her lips, and leaned toward him for a kiss. Unexpectedly, she missed and her head hit the wall, making her cry out in pain.
He Feng quickly went to check on her. “Are you alright?”
Ji Tong leaned against the wall, too embarrassed to look at him. Though alcohol had gone to her head and she was drunk, she still had some consciousness and felt utterly ashamed. “I’m fine…”
“Does it hurt?”
Ji Tong’s face was red to her ears. She didn’t answer him, shrinking her head and diving into the covers, randomly grabbing the blanket to cover herself completely.
He Feng moved closer to the bed, looking down at the motionless girl under the bedding. “Were you trying to kiss me just now?”
Ji Tong kicked her feet and revealed only her eyes, looking at him with a dazed yet innocent expression. “No.”
“Then what are you embarrassed about?”
Ji Tong hid her eyes again.
“That’s not how you kiss.”
Ji Tong bit her lip, feeling she had truly embarrassed herself completely. Just as she was feeling dejected, the blanket suddenly lifted itself. She looked up in alarm, and just as she was about to grab it, the thin blanket from the foot of the bed covered her face.
Then something touched her forehead.
It was He Feng’s lips. Slowly sliding down from her forehead, gently touching her mouth.
Ji Tong felt her heart beating uncontrollably and wildly.
He Feng lifted his face and pulled aside a corner of the thin blanket, looking at her wide eyes. “Am I handsome?”
She was stunned for a long moment. “Huh?”
“Then why are your eyes so wide?”
Ji Tong immediately closed her eyes.
She bit her teeth, nervously curled her hands, waiting for his next move.
But He Feng touched his own face instead.
She half-opened her eyes to look at him.
“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you.”
Just as He Feng was about to get up, Ji Tong tried to hug him through the blanket, only to miss again. “Why can you touch me, but I can’t catch you?”
She pouted and mumbled, “It’s not fair.”
He Feng unexpectedly covered her again, heavily nibbling and biting her lips.
Ji Tong had no experience and clumsily cooperated.
Her mouth was filled with the taste of velvet.
She felt like she was floating in mid-air, her spirit and body completely paralyzed, floating softly.
How could he be more intoxicating than alcohol?
“Tong Tong, what are you doing in the middle of the night? All that clattering.” Zhou Xin opened the door, scratching her hair.
He Feng flashed out of the room, taking the candlelight with him.
Ji Tong immediately felt like she’d returned to the human world. Looking at the pitch-black room, her head cleared instantly. “I… I went to pee.”
Zhou Xin sniffed. “Why is there a smell of alcohol?”
“I ate… alcoholic… wine-soaked glutinous rice balls.”
Zhou Xin was very sleepy and had no energy to investigate further. She closed the door and left. “Go to sleep quickly.”
Ji Tong broke out in a cold sweat. After there was no movement outside, she let out a big breath, then looked around and asked in a low voice, “Are you still here?”
“He Feng.”
No response.
Old pervert, kissing and then running away.
Ji Tong pulled the blanket over her face, wrapping herself like a cocoon, rolling back and forth on the bed. As she rolled, her vision became more blurry, and she accidentally fell asleep.
…
He Feng was now under a tree very far away. He covered his eye patch, unable to control himself, painfully holding his head and banging it against the ground.
He forcefully struck his left eye once.
“He… Lord He.”
He suddenly looked up, his face twisted as he stared at a passing female ghost.
“What’s wrong with you?”
He didn’t answer and disappeared without a trace.
The female ghost swallowed nervously, still shaken, shook her head and continued on her way.
…
Before New Year, every household put up spring couplets, and children in the community ran around with sparklers.
Recently, ghosts everywhere had stayed far away, with few wandering the streets. Ji Tong hadn’t seen He Feng for two days. She thought it was because of the spring couplets, so she secretly tore them down and threw them away, causing Zhou Xin to complain all morning.
He Feng had been dragged to a dinner gathering. Born Chinese, dead as a Chinese ghost – Spring Festival being the biggest holiday was celebrated in the underworld too.
With constant social obligations, He Feng finally managed to slip away.
The human world was now deep in the night’s quiet.
He Feng stood in the corner of the room, watching the sleeping Ji Tong from afar, guarding her through the night.
The next morning, before sunrise, the sky was blue-purple.
Ji Tong had a good dream, dreaming she and He Feng had hunted a wild chicken in the mountains in the past. Just as it was roasted and she was about to take a bite, she woke up.
Ji Tong unhappily turned over, her eyes half-open, vaguely catching sight of a ghostly shadow in the corner.
She opened her eyes and looked at He Feng for a moment.
He said, “It’s not dawn yet. Sleep a bit more.”
“You came.” Ji Tong rubbed her eyes and sat up, leaning her head against the headboard. “How long have you been here?”
“A few hours.” He Feng added, “It’s still early. Sleep.”
“I’m not sleepy anymore.”
Her shoulders were exposed outside the blanket. He Feng instructed, “Cover yourself with the blanket. It’s very cold today – it snowed.”
“It snowed?” Ji Tong immediately threw off the blanket and got out of bed, pulled open the curtains, wiped the fog from the window, and looked outside. “Wow.”
Though it wasn’t dawn yet, she could see snow covering the ground.
Her nose tip pressed against the cold window and quickly turned red.
“Go back to bed. Don’t get sick.”
Ji Tong rubbed her arms and walked to the foot of the bed, putting on her coat. “Let’s go outside.”
…
Fine, small snowflakes were still falling from the sky.
Ji Tong wore a hat and gloves, shaping a small snowman.
He Feng couldn’t help her and could only stand aside watching her work.
Ji Tong broke off two twigs to make the snowman’s arms, dusted off her hands, put them on her hips, and asked him with a smile, “Is it cute?”
He Feng’s gaze froze, and he was dazed.
At that moment, it suddenly felt like returning to the winter of 1936, when he had also asked her the same question about a snowman.
【Is it cute?】
【Ugly】
【Where is it ugly?】
【Ugly everywhere】
【You try, you try. Let me see what you can make】
“He Feng.” “He Feng?” “He Feng?”
Seeing him in a daze, Ji Tong waved her hand in front of him. “What are you thinking about?”
He Feng came back to his senses. His eyes, already lightless, now seemed even dimmer. He shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Did you think of something unhappy?”
“No.” He Feng forced a smile, hiding his emotions, his gaze becoming gentle as he looked at the snowman. “Very cute.”
Ji Tong clearly sensed he had something on his mind. She deliberately tried to cheer him up, using her little fingernail to poke two small nostrils in the snowman. “Look.”
He Feng laughed. “A perfectly good snowman turned into a pig.”
Ji Tong also laughed. “This is you.”
“Me?” He Feng frowned slightly. “So this is what I look like.”
“I’ll make another one of me.”
After speaking, Ji Tong began rolling new snowballs. Soon, she was rubbing her hands and looking with satisfaction at the two little snowmen leaning against each other. “I really want to take them home, but unfortunately they’ll melt soon. We don’t get snow for very long here. If we were in the north, they could be preserved for a long time.” Ji Tong suddenly remembered, “Didn’t you say Shiyi Dian is at Changbai Mountain?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go to Changbai Mountain next winter.”
“Okay.”
“Doesn’t Changbai Mountain have a Tianchi Lake?”
“Yes.”
“What else is there?”
“There’s Shiyi Dian.” He Feng smiled.
“Where is it on Changbai Mountain?”
“A place you can’t see.”
Ji Tong glanced at him sideways. “I want to visit Shiyi Dian.”
“After a hundred years, when you marry over, that’ll be fine.”
Ji Tong suppressed a smile and said, “Have you been to many places?”
“Yes.”
“Do you go to Beijing?”
“I’ve been there.”
“Have you seen military parades?”
“I’ve seen them.”
“Which ones?”
“Every one.”
Ji Tong was speechless for a moment, then smiled. “Then next time we’ll go together.”
“Okay.”
Ji Tong rubbed her ears. “So cold. Let’s go back. Mom will be getting up soon too.”
“I won’t go up.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Today is New Year’s Eve. Spend time with your family.”
“You’re also my family.” Ji Tong blurted out, then felt somewhat embarrassed and said sullenly, “Then come find me later.”
“Okay.”
Ji Tong was reluctant to leave, silently looking at him.
“Go up.”
Ji Tong nodded. “Then I’m going.”
“Go.”
…
In the evening, Zhou Xin made a big table of food, and the family sat together watching the gala.
Grandma was old and couldn’t stay up late, so she went to sleep early. Ji Tong hugged a pillow and sat on the sofa, staring at the TV in a daze. Zhou Xin brought her a cup of hot milk. “Alright, stop watching. Go to sleep. Tomorrow morning we’ll go pay New Year visits with Mom.”
Ji Tong took the milk and slowly went back to her room.
After drinking the milk, she brushed her teeth and lay down to rest.
She suddenly missed He Feng terribly. She looked at the ceiling, softly calling his name.
After calling for a while, he still didn’t come.
Could something be keeping him busy?
Maybe work was tying him up?
Ji Tong turned over and casually mumbled, “Not coming today?”
“I’ve been here for a long time.”
Ji Tong was startled and shivered. She heard the voice but didn’t see the ghost. “Where are you?”
He Feng appeared, standing right in front of her.
“Then why didn’t you answer when I called you so many times?”
“I just wanted you to call my name more.”
“Fine then, He Feng.”
“Mm.”
“He Feng.”
“Yes.”
“He Feng, He Feng, He Feng.”
He laughed softly. “I’m here.”
Ji Tong pillowed her face on her hand, quietly looking at him. “I want to chat with you.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Anything.”
“You start.”
Ji Tong thought for a moment. “Can I ask you questions?”
“Okay.”
“So readily?” Ji Tong found it somewhat incredible. “Then I’ll ask.”
“Go ahead.”
“How long were we together later?”
“On and off, from a timeline perspective, three years.”
“Only three years.” Ji Tong was somewhat disappointed. “Then… did we have children?”
He Feng shook his head.
“Where, what year, and how did we meet again?”
“Beiping, 1936. You came with friends to watch opera, and I happened to be there too.”
“Did we always live in Beiping after that?”
“No.” He Feng paused and said in a low voice, “I was in Changchun, you were in Nanjing.”
Ji Tong fell silent. She thought for a moment, looking at He Feng’s dim gaze. “Did I die in that great—”
He Feng knew what she was going to say. “No.”
Ji Tong swallowed the rest of her words.
“Don’t guess randomly. It wasn’t what you’re thinking.”
Mentioning that matter made Ji Tong feel extremely depressed.
The room continued in long silence.
“Nanjing was massacred.”
“Not only Nanjing was massacred.” Seeing her looking like she was about to cry, He Feng crouched down beside her bed. “A’Zhi, close your eyes.”
Ji Tong looked at him in confusion.
“I’ll take you somewhere.”
She closed her eyes.
“Alright.”
When she opened her eyes again, she was actually floating in mid-air.
Ji Tong stared wide-eyed at He Feng beside her who was holding her hand. “I’m out of my body!”
“Mm.”
She looked down. In the dark night, the ground stretched with intricate lines of lights – strips, dots, blocks – outlining a dazzling picture.
She had taken night flights several times and looked down at the earth’s night scenery, but perhaps because he was beside her, she felt this scene was unprecedentedly beautiful.
“What are those twinkling things?”
“Fireworks.”
Only then did Ji Tong recognize them – colorful little dots jumping hastily in various places. “So beautiful.”
He Feng held her tightly and went even higher.
He parted all the clouds and mist, letting her see clearly what the world looked like.
Ji Tong was too excited to speak.
“Can you find your home?”
Ji Tong shook her head.
He Feng pointed it out to her. “It’s there.”
Ji Tong smiled and nodded.
“Over there is Shanghai.”
“So bright.”
He Feng pointed them out to her one by one. “There, Heilongjiang; that, Beijing; that, my hometown, Shandong; there, Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong…”
Just as Ji Tong was looking happily, He Feng took her even higher.
She was now a wisp of soul and couldn’t feel cold, but inexplicably began to shiver, saying emotionally, “China.”
“Mm.”
She looked at the motherland’s land with deep feeling. “So beautiful.”
He Feng smiled. “Yes, you see, we’ve become better and better.”
…
…
A large group of ghosts in the south were causing major chaos. He Feng was transferred to help and had been away for a month. In the days without him, Ji Tong did nothing but practice problems.
At the end of March, something happened in class. A boarding school male student who sat behind Ji Tong went out to an internet cafe, broke his leg climbing back over the wall, and dropped out.
Ji Tong’s back seat was empty for a while, until one afternoon after the third period, the homeroom teacher brought in a tall, thin male student and said to the classmates, “Everyone sit for a moment.”
The whole class focused on that handsome, unfamiliar face.
“This is a new transfer student to our class. He came from Japan to study. Everyone take good care of the new student and communicate appropriately – this is also a way to improve academically.”
Whispers arose everywhere.
The homeroom teacher looked at the male student. “Introduce yourself first.”
The male student wore gold-rimmed glasses, had fair skin, wasn’t very tall, and had somewhat long bangs that covered his eyebrows – a hairstyle absolutely not allowed in school. He nodded, then said, “My name is Takada Shuichi. I’m from Tokyo and I really like Chinese culture.” His gaze stopped on Ji Tong. “I also really like Chinese people.” He lifted the corners of his mouth slightly. “I hope everyone will guide me in the short time ahead.”
He spoke in Chinese, so fluent it didn’t seem like he was a foreigner. The class continuously made sounds of “wow” and “wow” in amazement.
The homeroom teacher said to him, “Sit in that empty seat first. If you need anything, find me or the class monitor.”
“Okay, thank you, teacher.”
“Go ahead.”
Takada Shuichi nodded politely, and the homeroom teacher left the classroom.
He walked down from the podium toward his seat.
They were all Asian, not easily distinguishable abroad. Everyone found this foreigner novel and either craned their necks, stretched their ears, or gathered around, chattering, “Hello.” “Your Chinese is really good.” “Have you been in China for many years?” “How long does it take to get from Tokyo here?”
Takada Shuichi smiled and nodded but didn’t answer. He passed through the crowd and headed straight for his seat. Finally, he stopped in the aisle, looking at the female student writing problems with her head down.
Ji Tong sensed his presence and looked up. The two looked at each other silently for two seconds. Takada Shuichi curved his mouth. “Hello, I’m Takada Shuichi.”
Ji Tong blinked lightly. “You just introduced yourself.”
Takada Shuichi nodded and suddenly extended his hand to her. “Please take care of me.”
Ji Tong didn’t particularly like Japan to begin with. Since recovering her past life memories, she disliked Japanese people even more. Even seeing the character ‘日’ could make her think of those bodies piled like mountains. Looking at this slender, bony hand before her, not responding would seem to make this little Japanese think Chinese people weren’t polite. So she raised her hand to touch his fingers, shaking lightly twice. “Okay.”
Takada Shuichi withdrew his hand and sat in his seat with a smile. His desk mate greeted him, “Hello, I’m Song Qi, the class monitor.”
Takada Shuichi nodded to him. “Hello, please take care of me.”
“Of course.”
Then other students leaned over. “Why did you come to this small city?” “We’re almost taking college entrance exams. Will you take them here?” “Do you commute or board?”…
After Takada Shuichi answered all the questions, class finally started.
The English teacher walked to the podium with books. With the monitor’s command, the whole class stood up.
From standing to sitting, his gaze always followed the girl in front of him. He looked at her long hair – a few strands at the ends were split. He gently pinched one strand and lightly pulled it.
Ji Tong covered her head and looked back at him.
Takada Shuichi withdrew his hand and smiled at her. “Sorry, my book caught your hair.”
She said nothing and turned back around.
Takada Shuichi sat up straight, his gaze lingering on her back for a few more seconds. Then he lowered his head to look at the dark brown strand of hair between his fingers – so fine, so soft, so beautiful. He gently wound it around his ring finger.