Liu Jun smoothly passed through customs and headed straight for the exit with single-minded determination. His father was waiting for him on a hospital bed, and he had already wasted too much time on return procedures and the flight home. Now he had to race against every minute and second to rush back to his hometown—a hometown he hadn’t seen in six years. He silently recited his aunt’s instructions: domestic construction is changing with each passing day, don’t be afraid, find a taxi when you leave the airport, make sure to find a yellow Qiangsheng or green Dazhong, negotiate the price like this and that…
Liu Jun had dark skin, a fit physique, and agile movements. His only luggage was a backpack stuffed to bursting, making him look more like a traveler.
Stumbling through a narrow path cleared by people welcoming passengers and drivers soliciting customers, Liu Jun heard a somewhat hesitant voice: “Liu Jun? Excuse me, are you Liu Jun?” Liu Jun followed the voice and saw that the caller was a medium-built young man with a pair of black thin-framed glasses on a fair face. Liu Jun couldn’t immediately recall having such an elegant and refined acquaintance back home—his friends, in his mother’s words, were all wild men. “I am. May I ask who you are…”
“I’m Qian Hongming.” Qian Hongming wasted no words, simply extending his hand in a gesture of “please.” But he didn’t forget to catch the complex expression in Liu Jun’s eyes. He, too, had come here today with a heart full of complexity, uncertain how to face Liu Jun. Therefore, fewer words were better than more, responding to change with constancy.
Liu Jun was stunned, hardly daring to believe his eyes. Could this distinguished-looking person be Qian Hongming, who used to be like a muddy potato? He tried to find familiar shadows from the past in the back figure already walking ahead, but there were none—even Qian Hongming’s height and weight seemed completely different from before. Yet his heart recognized this as Qian Hongming—the one who had skipped grades with him since elementary school, jointly dominated the top five of their grade rankings, advanced together to key middle and high schools, shared bunk beds in the dorms, were once as close as brothers, and had fought desperately before going abroad, swearing to sever all ties. He actually couldn’t recognize Qian Hongming, or rather, it was Qian Hongming who had undergone daily changes, completely renewed from head to toe. Six years—time flies like an arrow.
Walking ahead, Qian Hongming also had a tense expression. He should have been experienced in business for many years, skilled in social maneuvering, yet today he found it difficult to face the seemingly unfamiliar Liu Jun, especially with so many unclear and unexplainable past events between them—he had no confidence in his heart. But he took deep breaths, deliberately quickening his pace to stay ahead while continuously taking deep breaths with his back to Liu Jun. Seeing they had reached an open area, he suddenly stopped and tried his best to say calmly: “I happened to be on a business trip to Shanghai today and guessed you’d be on this flight…” As he spoke, he awkwardly extended his right hand, waiting for the hot-tempered and direct Liu Jun, the pride of heaven, to reject him.
Liu Jun’s face twitched slightly, but he still unhesitatingly extended his hand to meet Qian Hongming’s. After six years, their hands clasped together again. “Thank you for making the special trip to Shanghai to pick me up. How is my father’s condition?”
Looking at the black and white hands that seemed to symbolize Asian-African unity, Qian Hongming cleared his throat lightly to cover the embarrassment of being seen through by Liu Jun. “Your father has been successfully resuscitated and is currently out of danger. It doesn’t look like it will greatly affect his future life. The doctor said the news of your return inspired the patient’s strong will to survive.”
A heavy stone finally fell from Liu Jun’s heart. He wanted to speak but stopped, well aware of what Qian Hongming’s detailed knowledge of the situation meant. Now it was his turn to take deep breaths. But since he had already returned, what was the point of pursuing those matters? “Thank you, thank you all for helping to take care of my father. This way… I can rest assured.”
Qian Hongming glanced up silently, using the motion of withdrawing his hand to open the Santana 2000 car door to avoid the topic. After settling the luggage, he said, “You’ve had a long journey, rest for a while. We still have a long way to go, but there’s already a section of highway now, so we can arrive tonight. There happen to be drinks and bread in the back seat—please help yourself if you’re hungry.”
Based on his past understanding of Qian Hongming, Liu Jun believed the bread in the back seat was not there by coincidence, just as Qian Hongming wasn’t just happening to be on a business trip in Shanghai when he detoured to pick him up. All of this was Qian Hongming’s consistent thoughtfulness. But he would no longer expose this with laughter as he used to—the past meant history, and history could not be replicated. Moreover, there were so many things from the past that he didn’t want to face or uncover.
Outside the car window was the colorful Shanghai. “Hongming, what are you doing now? Are you married?”
“I’m married. Got married last year to a college classmate. I’ve been working at an import-export company since graduation. What about you? Are you working as the engineer you always dreamed of?” Qian Hongming pulled out a business card with one hand and passed it over.
“I have a girlfriend, a native German, beautiful and sexy. We’re very much in love. I’m realizing my childhood dream—I’m now a Senior Engineer. German boys grow up playing with hammers and screwdrivers. Fortunately, I treated the metalworking workshop as my living room since childhood, so I haven’t disgraced the Chinese people. Has your import-export business been affected by the financial crisis?” Liu Jun looked at Qian Hongming’s business card and saw it read “Export Department 2 Manager, Arts and Crafts Import-Export Company.” “Oh my, you’ve completely abandoned your computer science major?”
Qian Hongming carefully absorbed Liu Jun’s consistent pride and straightforwardness, while feeling depressed that Liu Jun hadn’t mentioned his hard-earned manager title or the company car he was driving. He said against his heart: “Yes, when faced with making a living, anything can be…” He suddenly realized he couldn’t say this, especially not in front of Liu Jun. He forcibly swallowed the words “abandoned” and said instead: “Heh, our company mainly exports to Europe and America. The markets there haven’t been greatly affected. I heard the glass ceiling phenomenon in Europe is quite serious. It looks like you’re doing better than expected. But won’t you be affected when it comes to management promotions?”
“I only need to do my technical work well and manage my team members. I don’t need to think about any glass ceiling. Perhaps my experience is still shallow. Can you tell me about my father’s specific condition?”
The two spoke carefully all the way, trying not to touch the scar that lay between them, no longer with the recklessness of childhood. Liu Jun initially observed the thriving scenery along the road with curiosity, but soon grew tired. Days of worry and running around for visa applications, fatigue from being cramped on the plane for so long, the good news of his father’s recovery, plus Qian Hongming’s steady driving—he began to drift between sleep and wakefulness. But his consciousness was excited about returning to China for the first time in six years, excited about seeing so many Oriental faces when he came out, and excited that the first familiar person he encountered was Qian Hongming. He reclined his seat and lay quietly with arms crossed, but his mind began continuously flashing back to scenes from the past. He thought he had forgotten them well, but the images were so vivid.
Qian Hongming looked at the now-quiet Liu Jun, as if he could hear Liu Jun’s even breathing. He couldn’t help but whisper to himself softly: “You’ve finally matured, too.” He looked again at his own hands on the black steering wheel—these hands were well-maintained, with clean, fair skin and lustrous, rosy nails, obviously not the hands of a laboring person. In contrast, Qian Hongming had deliberately observed Liu Jun’s hands while waiting in the car—those hands that claimed to play piano looked so rough, with thick knuckles. He smiled. So what if he had abandoned his major? He had also given up guaranteed graduate school admission, but he had earned back a world that was completely his own. He had rapidly distinguished himself by increasing export business volume, quickly established his position in the company, quickly moved from company dormitories to a luxuriously decorated three-bedroom apartment, quickly acquired his car, and upgraded from an Xiali to the newly launched Santana 2000. He made his girlfriend look up to him with admiring eyes year after year, made her follow him to coastal development without regret, until he made her his wife. He didn’t care at all about Liu Jun’s failure to recognize him today—in fact, he liked it. This showed he had undergone a complete transformation. What could better illustrate the point than old brothers not recognizing each other after six years apart?
Qian Hongming’s heart was singing with joy. But he didn’t let his satisfaction show on his face. He thoughtfully raised the car’s temperature a bit to prevent the careless Liu Jun from catching a cold. Liu Jun was now a senior engineer at a German company in manufacturing-developed Germany? Qian Hongming mentally calculated the time needed to advance from graduate school to senior engineer domestically—he didn’t know what Germany’s engineer evaluation system was like, but it should be stricter. It seemed Liu Jun had also done very well fighting alone in Germany, worthy of that good brain of his. Although they had once sworn to sever all ties, they were just children then—it didn’t count. Qian Hongming could see his own heart—he was deeply proud of his old friend. Today’s five-hour drive to Shanghai airport to meet Liu Jun seemed to be under his sister’s pressure, but actually, wasn’t it also his half-hearted compliance? Judging by today’s meeting, Liu Jun was no longer incompatible with him—Liu Jun had matured. Regardless of the reason, and regardless of what Liu Jun thought, he hoped the two could restore diplomatic relations, even if only superficial ones. He owed no one in this world except his sister and Liu Jun. He hoped to have the opportunity to repay the guilt in his heart. He would keep his word—he was no longer the little boy who had nothing in the past. He was now a man who could stand tall and support the sky.