Lin Qile asked Yu Qiao what “laid off” meant.
Yu Qiao explained, “It means no longer having a job provided by the state. Like Qin Yeyun’s father.”
Lin Qile pondered for a moment. “Couldn’t Uncle Wang open a small shop at the construction site?”
“My dad said Qin’s uncle was a special case. The site made an exception for him,” Yu Qiao replied. “Besides, there’s already one shop. They can’t open another. Uncle Wang’s just unlucky.”
Unlucky. Lin Qile thought. “Luck” was such a cruel word.
“My dad lent him money too,” Yu Qiao added. “Who knows when he’ll come borrowing again.”
Uncle Wang first came to the Qunshan construction site in June. By July, he called Lin the electrician, saying he had reached Guangxi and made his first small deal.
“Brother Lin!” Uncle Wang exclaimed jubilantly over the phone, his mood drastically changed from his dejected visit to the Lin household. “Thank you and your wife for the loan. I’ll repay it with interest next week when I return to Qunshan, including the money for the dish soap!”
He was overjoyed. Lin the electrician was still a bit dazed by the call.
“Did you make money?” Lin asked, then added, “No need for interest between brothers. Don’t worry about the dish soap money either. Your sister-in-law says it works well.”
Uncle Wang insisted, “Brother Lin, don’t refuse. I know how hard you and your wife work for your wages. Construction work is tough and poorly paid. I bought your wife some imported cosmetics from Guangxi as an apology for borrowing money so suddenly!”
Uncle Wang had struck it rich in Guangxi, transforming from an unlucky laid-off worker to a legitimate businessman with a cell phone and a car. Lin Qile sat on a heating pipe by the roadside, sipping grape juice and watching Jiang Qiaoxi and Yu Qiao play soccer. Behind her, passing construction workers all discussed Uncle Wang’s story.
After playing for a while, Jiang Qiaoxi, sweating profusely, sat down next to Lin Qile.
“Didn’t you bring water?” he asked.
Lin Qile shook her head, noticing sweat even on Jiang Qiaoxi’s eyelashes. She offered him her grape juice.
Jiang Qiaoxi gulped it down, finishing the remaining half of the bottle.
The children went to buy water at the site’s shop. Before entering, they overheard a conversation inside.
Uncle Qin asked, “How much did he earn?”
“Not sure,” replied a customer buying cigarettes. “I heard he’s going to buy a house in the provincial capital after this deal!”
Lin Qile entered the cramped shop. Yu Qiao had said Uncle Qin was “lucky” to run this shop due to special circumstances.
But to Lin Qile, Uncle Qin didn’t seem lucky at all.
Construction was a dangerous business, with hundreds of casualties each year.
Uncle Qin was one such victim. An injury left him with a permanent limp in his left leg. He not only lost his job but his family fell apart too.
If it weren’t for Yu Qiao’s father pulling strings, Uncle Qin might not have even had the chance to run this shop at the site.
Uncle Qin had always hoped to heal his leg and return to work. He visited the hospital for treatment every two weeks, spending much of his savings, but to no avail.
By the time Lin Qile met him, he had stopped going to the hospital. Instead, he practiced qigong like the locals to treat his ailment.
Just before summer break, Uncle Wang returned triumphantly. He parked his car near the Lin family’s home, dressed in a stylish suit. Instead of Amway products, he now carried tea and imported cosmetics. He joined the Lins for lunch.
Lin Qile sat at the doorstep, munching on a large piece of taro from Lipu that Uncle Wang had brought from Guangxi. Her mother called from inside, saying more taro had been steamed, and asked her to share it with the neighbors.
Uncle Wang said, “Brother Lin, I borrowed money from several construction sites before. To be honest, only a few colleagues like you were willing to help. Now that I’ve figured things out in Guangxi, look at the living conditions here – brick houses, you and your wife working hard all your lives with little Cherry, and she’s still so young—”
Lin the electrician hesitated, “You mean…”
Uncle Wang continued, “I’ll need help with my business in Guangxi. I don’t trust others, so why not work with family? I trust you and Brother Yu completely! Would you rather toil here forever or come out and seek opportunities with us?”
Lin Qile carried the taro towards Cai Fangyuan’s house, overhearing Cai’s mother inside, “Cherry said to buy Taishan tourism shares, but Lin Haifeng didn’t buy any himself?”
Uncle Cai sighed, “No, he didn’t. That’s why I feel a bit awkward.”
Cai Fangyuan’s mother laughed, “That Lin Haifeng! He’s always missing out on opportunities. He’s lucky to have such a smart daughter, but he can’t even benefit from that!”
After finishing lunch, Uncle Wang prepared to leave. Lin’s mother said, “Cherry, come say goodbye to Uncle Wang.”
Lin Qile approached, thanking Uncle Wang for the toys and imported schoolbag he had given her.
Uncle Wang patted her head and said to her father, “Brother Lin, give me a call when you’ve made up your mind!”
That night, Lin Qile slept in her small room. Through the wardrobe, she heard her parents quietly discussing something.
Her mother sighed softly, while her father occasionally laughed, comforting her.
In the middle of the night, Lin Qile woke up to find her father still awake.
Lin the electrician sat on the bed, reading a book by a small lamp. Seeing his daughter awake, he asked, “Mosquitoes?”
Lin Cherry shook her head and walked to her father’s side.
The book he was reading was called “Steppenwolf,” with a workers’ library label on its spine. Lin Cherry sat in his lap, trying to read along, but soon felt drowsy.
Early the next morning, Lin’s parents left for work as usual. With final exams approaching, her father reminded her to study more and play less.
“Dad,” Lin Qile asked, “are you going to Guangxi too?”
Lin the electrician, hanging his work ID around his neck, crouched down upon hearing this.
“Dad’s not going,” he told her, smiling with a hint of apology in his eyes. He asked, “Cherry, do you have enough pocket money lately?”
“Yes, I do,” Lin Cherry replied.
Lin the electrician nodded with a smile.
Lin Cherry said, “Dad, can we have Nanjing roast duck for dinner tonight?”
“Sure,” Lin the electrician agreed, “I’ll buy it after work if the duck vendor comes today.”
Lin Qile held her father’s hand to the corner before joining her friends to go to school.
During the summer vacation of 2000, Jiang Qiaoxi decided not to return to the provincial capital. He planned to stay with his cousin in Hong Kong for a while before coming back to Qunshan.
After he left, Lin Qile became listless, lacking enthusiasm even when playing with Yu Qiao and the others.
She spent her time at home reading “Journey to the West” comics, from lunch until dinner. By nightfall, she was crying uncontrollably. Lin the electrician called her, saying Qiaoxi was on the phone from Hong Kong.
Lin Qile wiped away her tears, her voice still shaky from crying.
“Sun Wukong’s master abandoned him…” Lin Qile sobbed into the phone.
Jiang Qiaoxi was silent for a moment on the other end in Hong Kong, then said, “You’ve just started reading, haven’t you?”
“Have you finished it?” Lin Qile asked.
Jiang Qiaoxi made an affirmative sound.
“He’ll become very powerful later,” he said.
“Really?” Lin Qile asked.
“He’s the Great Sage Equal to Heaven,” Jiang Qiaoxi said. “He’ll be unrivaled in heaven and earth.”
Jiang Qiaoxi said he would bring Lin Qile gifts from Hong Kong and told her not to cry anymore. Hearing this, Lin Qile finally broke into a smile.
This was Jiang Qiaoxi’s first phone call. The next day, Lin Qile woke up early and started reading “Journey to the West” again. After just a few sentences, she suddenly thought of Jiang Qiaoxi.
Lin Qile sat on a stool hugging the phone, dialing the number Jiang Qiaoxi had left for his cousin’s house in Hong Kong.
As soon as the other side picked up, Jiang Qiaoxi’s sleepy and tired voice came through: “Hello?”
Lin Qile was startled, unsure why Jiang Qiaoxi sounded like this first thing in the morning. “Jiang Qiaoxi!” she called out.
Jiang Qiaoxi, as if seeing a ghost, immediately hung up the phone.
Confused, Lin Qile tried calling Hong Kong again, but no one answered, so she gave up.
Jiang Qiaoxi had said he’d return to Qunshan in early August. Lin Qile spent every day at home eagerly anticipating August, distracted by everything she did.
At the end of July, Lin the electrician was very happy because Manager Cai said the apartment assigned to Lin and his wife by the provincial headquarters had finally been confirmed.
It was July 29th. Lin Cherry sat on her father’s lap, looking at the map of the provincial headquarters’ residential area spread out on the coffee table. Uncle Cai circled various areas with a pen, telling the Lin family which remaining apartments had the best locations.
“Has Brother Yu chosen already?” Lin asked.
“Long ago,” Uncle Cai said. “Your family is the only one left. Hurry up, or workers from the next construction site will snatch them up.”
Lin the electrician asked, “Cherry, which building do you want to live in?”
Lin Cherry didn’t know, so she asked, “Which building does Jiang Qiaoxi live in?”
Uncle Cai laughed, “His family lives in the cadre building, across the street from yours.”
Hearing this, Lin Cherry nodded and said, “Then I’m fine with any building.”
As she went to feed her rabbits in the backyard, she overheard Uncle Cai speaking softly in the living room: “Cherry’s grown up, she’s becoming a young lady.”
“What do you mean grown up?” Lin’s mother laughed. “She’s just a child, talking nonsense.”
Uncle Cai said, “Juanzi, you should… keep an eye on her situation…”
Before going to bed that night, Lin Qile crossed off another day in her diary. It would soon be July 30th. Was Jiang Qiaoxi coming back soon?
Perhaps it was because she thought about him day and night. In the middle of the night, Lin Qile was woken up by a soft tapping sound.
The sound was faint but rhythmic, knocking on the small window by Lin Qile’s bed, partially hidden by evergreen leaves.
Lin Qile pulled back the curtain and peered outside, rubbing her eyes. She got out of bed in her nightgown, put on her slippers, and carefully walked past her parents’ large bed where they were sleeping, into the living room.
She unlocked the front door.
It was the late hours at the Qunshan construction site. Jiang Qiaoxi stood outside Lin Qile’s door, wearing his usual summer outfit of black shorts and a black short-sleeved shirt, holding a box in his hands.
Lin Qile heard cicadas chirping in the trees, and perhaps the snoring of some uncle nearby.
“You’re back?” Lin Qile asked.
Jiang Qiaoxi looked at Lin Qile’s face, then behind her. He asked, “Are your uncle and aunt asleep?”
Lin Qile quietly closed the front door, tiptoed past her parent’s bed, and entered her small bedroom.
She turned on the bedside lamp, and in the dim light, she took the toy box from Jiang Qiaoxi’s hands.
“Is this for me?” She looked at the Barbie doll inside the box.
“This is from my cousin for you,” Jiang Qiaoxi said as he sat down on the edge of the bed.
Lin Qile curiously examined the doll, then saw Jiang Qiaoxi take out a smaller box from his pocket.
It was a music cassette tape.
“This is from me,” he said.
Lin Qile put down the doll and took the cassette to look at it.
She had never seen the female singer on the cover before.
“Why are you giving me this?” she asked.
Jiang Qiaoxi’s voice was soft, but because the night was so quiet, it seemed clear. Lin Qile could even hear his breathing.
“I heard one of her songs in Hong Kong,” he said, “and suddenly thought of you.”
“Why did you think of me?” Lin Qile asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
Mosquitoes were biting in the bedroom. Lin Qile sat on her bed and lowered the mosquito net curtain. Jiang Qiaoxi followed her inside the net.
Lin Qile’s hair wasn’t tied in a ponytail but fell in waves on her shoulders. She took her Walkman from the bedside table, removed the half-listened tape inside, and inserted the new one Jiang Qiaoxi had given her.
Jiang Qiaoxi leaned closer. Lin Qile could smell a faint fragrance from him, seemingly the grassy scent of men’s shower gel.
Jiang Qiaoxi took one of Lin Qile’s earphones and put it in his ear.
“I think it’s the third song,” he said, taking the Walkman and pressing fast forward.
Lin Qile turned off the bedside lamp and lay down on her pillow. She moved over a bit, and Jiang Qiaoxi lay down beside her.
The intro was a piano melody. Lin Qile held the lyric booklet close to her face, trying to make out the photo of the new female singer named Sun Yanzi in the darkness. She asked, “Jiang Qiaoxi, is Hong Kong nice?”
“Yes,” Jiang Qiaoxi whispered in the dark.
“Is it fun?” Lin Qile asked.
“It’s not about being fun or not,” he replied.
“Then what’s good about it?” Lin Qile pressed.
Jiang Qiaoxi fell silent, perhaps annoyed by Lin Qile’s questions, or maybe he didn’t know how to answer. He squeezed next to Lin Qile on the small bed in this small Qunshan city. The female singer kept singing, and as Jiang Qiaoxi listened, he slowly closed his eyes.
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Our Generation – Chapter Notes:
Lipu taro: Produced in Lipu County, Guilin area. It became nationally famous following the broadcast of the TV drama “Prime Minister Liu Luoguo.”
“Steppenwolf”: A representative work by German author Hermann Hesse, 1986 edition by Shanghai Translation Publishing House.
On June 9, 2000, Singaporean singer Sun Yanzi released her first self-titled album “Sun Yanzi.” Jiang Qiaoxi bought this album in late July. The third song “Tian Hei Hei” won the Best Composition Award at the 12th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards.