In September, the Zhongneng Power Plant Elementary School in Qunshan City reopened for the new semester.
Fifth-grader Lin Qile led the way, marching with four boys toward the big mountain once again.
But at the end of the mountain path, there was still no bridge, no road. Lin Qile pouted, her red leather shoes touching the edge of the cliff.
After a year, why was it still impassable?
“Why hasn’t anyone built a bridge here?” Lin Qile asked.
Yu Qiao replied, “Why don’t you build it?”
Lin Qile looked up, gazing at the tempting unknown journey on the other side of the cliff.
“If we build a bridge here in the future, what should we name it?” she asked.
For Jiang Qiaoxi, this was his first time hiking deep into the mountains. Growing up, he had never attended summer camps or gone on spring or autumn outings. He rarely ventured outdoors or connected with nature.
He was a bit dazed, looking up at the treetops reaching the sky, his feet stepping on the thick, soft pine needles.
“Jiang Qiaoxi, what do you think we should name the bridge?”
“Anything is fine,” Jiang Qiaoxi said softly.
Lin Qile was puzzled. “Should we call it ‘Anything Bridge’ then?”
Du Shang crouched down, rummaging through pine needles and fallen leaves under a tree. “Look!” he exclaimed, “There are mushrooms here!”
Cai Fangyuan plopped down under the tree, still flipping through his brand-new Dou Dou photo book—a gift Jiang Qiaoxi had brought him from Hong Kong. This time, he was determined to hide it well so no one could find it.
Jiang Qiaoxi hadn’t just brought gifts for Lin and Cai; he had also bought an “I Yah” cassette for Du Shang and a movable O’Neal action figure for Yu Qiao.
The disciplinary teacher stood in the security room, flipping through the student roster. He grumbled, “The new ‘quadruple champion’ is running off with Lin Yingtao too?”
The five elementary school students crawled on their hands and knees across the cement ground, sneaking past the security room and nimbly entering the school gate. Jiang Qiaoxi was a bit uncomfortable doing this, but Lin Qile grabbed his hand and dragged him back into school.
Now in fifth grade, Lin Qile had grown taller. Looking in the mirror, she saw she had developed long, slender legs. Lin the electrician had bought her a bicycle and a tape recorder, hoping she would study English in her spare time.
Lin Qile didn’t like studying English; she only wanted to learn how to ride a bike. Yu Qiao had known how to ride for ages, and even the clumsy Du Shang could manage it somewhat shakily.
On her first attempt, Lin Qile fell over after just a few pedals, tumbling to the roadside with her bike. Her knee was scraped, the wound covered in dirt and blood. Lin Qile’s face scrunched up, but she stood up determinedly amidst Cai Fangyuan’s laughter, righted her bike, and mounted it for a second try.
Jiang Qiaoxi sat by the roadside, looking at Cai Fangyuan’s collection of Little Raccoon Water Margin cards. He looked up to see Lin Qile’s legs trembling slightly under her skirt, obviously in pain. Lin Qile put her feet on the pedals, gripped the handlebars firmly, and with renewed determination, prepared to ride again.
Cai Fangyuan waved his cards, “I have three Wu Yong cards! Take whichever one you want!”
He watched as Jiang Qiaoxi suddenly sprang to his feet beside him.
Lin Qile lost her balance again, and Jiang Qiaoxi was a moment too late to steady her handlebars.
This time, it wasn’t just Lin Qile who fell. Jiang Qiaoxi was knocked to the ground as she fell on top of him, and the pink headlight on the front of Lin Qile’s bicycle scraped across Jiang Qiaoxi’s forehead. He turned his head just in time, or it might have cut across his nose bridge.
Suddenly, the entire Qunshan construction site was filled with the sound of Lin Qile’s wailing, echoing through every street.
When Lin the electrician returned home from work, he found his daughter still sitting on the doorstep, sobbing. The nurse at the workers’ hospital had already cleaned Jiang Qiaoxi’s forehead with iodine and applied a Band-Aid; he was fine now.
“Will… will it leave a scar?” Lin Qile hiccupped between sobs, coughing from crying so hard.
Jiang Qiaoxi said, “If there’s a scar, it’ll be on me, not you.”
The culprit’s bicycle stood at the doorway. After falling twice, its chain had come off. Lin the electrician comforted Cherry for a while, then fetched his toolbox from inside and crouched down to repair the bike.
After lunch, Lin Qile wanted to try riding again. Lin the electrician lowered the seat a bit, and Lin Qile mounted the bike, her feet touching the ground.
At first, Lin the electrician held the handlebars, almost cradling his daughter as they moved forward. Gradually, he let go of the hand supporting Lin Cherry’s back.
When he finally released the handlebars, Lin Qile was truly riding on her own. She flew around the plaza in front of the workers’ club, her bottom lifting off the seat, her legs gradually straightening. As if divinely inspired, she pedaled forward at great speed.
This was the scene Jiang Qiaoxi saw when he came to the roadside.
Lin Qile rode faster and faster, her adventurous spirit fearless of anything. A bicycle caught up with her from behind, and Lin Qile turned to see it was none other than Wei Yong, the little troublemaker.
Wei Yong called out, “Lin Yingtao, you’re about to hit the wall!”
“If anyone’s hitting the wall, it’ll be you first!” Lin Qile shouted back.
Her two pigtails streamed in the wind, her skirt fluttering. In an instant, Lin Qile rode past her father and Jiang Qiaoxi, while Wei Yong hit the brakes, stopping abruptly in front of Lin the electrician.
“Uncle Lin,” he said, raising his eyelids impertinently but with a hint of politeness.
He glanced at Jiang Qiaoxi standing next to Lin the electrician, then rode off.
Jiang Qiaoxi had never seen a father as permissive with his daughter as Lin the electrician was with Lin Qile. As soon as she learned to ride, she rode like mad, and Lin the electrician neither scolded nor interfered, allowing her nature to unfold freely. This permissiveness sometimes led to injuries, but Lin Qile seemed fearless of such consequences.
When Lin Qile was finally tired of riding, she dismounted and excitedly called out, “Dad! I can ride a bike now!”
Lin the electrician walked over and took her home.
During a class break, Jiang Qiaoxi asked Yu Qiao who Wei Yong was.
Yu Qiao asked, “Did he bother you?”
“No,” Jiang Qiaoxi replied.
He was just recalling the warning Lin Qile had given him when he first arrived a year ago.
That day, he had seen Wei Yong stop his bike specifically to greet Uncle Lin.
Yu Qiao explained, “When Cai Fangyuan and Du Shang first transferred here, they were both bullied by Wei Yong. Lin Yingtao fought with him all the time because of that.”
Jiang Qiaoxi was surprised.
In the front row, Cai Fangyuan was looking at his photo book again during the break.
Jiang Qiaoxi didn’t think Lin Qile’s small frame could beat Wei Yong in a fight.
Yu Qiao spoke of these things as if they were someone else’s affairs, completely unrelated to him. He glanced up to see Lin Yingtao fighting with Qin Yeyun under the desk again. Suddenly, Yu Qiao called out, “Qin Yeyun.”
Qin Yeyun, who had been tugging at Lin Qile’s face, abruptly turned her head upon hearing Yu Qiao call her name.
Yu Qiao said, “My dad asked me to ask you how Uncle Qin has been lately.”
Qin Yeyun let go of Lin Qile and sat down next to Yu Qiao. Although she was also only ten years old, she looked more like a girl than Lin Qile did. Her nails had traces of nail polish, and she even knew how to use adults’ curling irons to curl her hair.
“My dad’s fine,” Qin Yeyun said, looking at Yu Qiao. “He’s doing well.”
Yu Qiao asked, “Can he stand up at home now?”
Qin Yeyun thought for a moment as if she had never really paid attention to such things. “Do you actually want to talk to me, or are you just trying to help Lin Yingtao?” she demanded, slamming her hand on the desk fiercely.
This happened in September. In Jiang Qiaoxi’s memory, Yu Qiao was the first to notice that Qin Yeyun’s father “couldn’t stand up.” After all, even Lin Qile, who went to the small shop to buy snacks every day, had only said, “Uncle Qin is always sitting behind the counter. I’ve never seen him stand up.”
As Lin Qile entered fifth grade, her rivalry with Qin Yeyun seemed to escalate from simple fistfights to a more sophisticated level.
Jiang Qiaoxi was sitting on a bamboo mat, working on his homework, when he heard Lin Qile smacking her lips beside him. “Jiang Qiaoxi, look at me! Quick, look at me!” she called out.
Jiang Qiaoxi lifted his head and was startled by what he saw. Lin Qile had slathered a thick layer of lipstick on her mouth. The red was too bright and too gaudy. Moreover, Lin Qile didn’t know how to apply it properly, resulting in a messy “all over the mouth” effect.
“Does it look good?” Lin Qile asked, her eyes twinkling as she gazed at him.
Jiang Qiaoxi shook his head.
Disappointed, Lin Qile pouted. The pout only made matters worse, increasing the area covered in red. She had secretly taken her mother’s lipstick, using up nearly half of the perfectly good tube. “Qin Yeyun always calls me uncultured,” Lin Qile explained.
“You’re not uncultured. Why don’t you wipe it off?” Jiang Qiaoxi suggested.
“Really?” Lin Qile asked, then grabbed some paper to wipe her mouth.
Her haphazard application made the cleanup even messier. Her naturally red lips became even redder as she rubbed the back of her hand across her mouth.
Jiang Qiaoxi watched her for a moment, observing her clumsy movements and the lipstick smears on her cheeks. He put down his pen, the black wristwatch on his arm, and ink stains on his fingers visible as he reached out.
His thumb traced Lin Qile’s lower lip from left to right. As soon as he touched her, Lin Qile stared at him with her big cherry-like eyes, suddenly still.
“Is it clean now?” Lin Qile asked.
The band-aid on Jiang Qiaoxi’s forehead was long gone, but a thin scar remained. Only up close could Lin Qile see it.
Lin Qile felt Jiang Qiaoxi’s palm cover her mouth, and she fell silent. His hand gently rubbed across her lips.
“It’s clean now,” Jiang Qiaoxi said.
Before the adults returned home, Lin Qile crawled into the mosquito net to listen to a cassette tape with Jiang Qiaoxi.
It wasn’t just any tape, but the new female singer’s album Jiang Qiaoxi had given her last time. Since her father bought her a new tape recorder, Lin Qile no longer used her Walkman.
Lying on the bed with her legs raised behind her, Lin Qile wore one earphone and asked, “Why didn’t you buy me that… that Uncle Lai’s tape instead?”
Jiang Qiaoxi, resting his head on Lin Qile’s pillow with his eyes closed, replied, “What would you want that for?”
“Because I’ve never heard it before,” Lin Qile explained.
Jiang Qiaoxi opened his eyes.
Lin Qile had never heard Jiang Qiaoxi sing before. It was the first time she heard him casually hum a few lines for her.
Like a bird on the wire,
Like a drunk in a midnight choir,
I have tried in my own way to be free.
As Lin Qile entered fifth grade, her rivalry with Qin Yeyun seemed to escalate from simple fistfights to a more sophisticated level.
Jiang Qiaoxi was sitting on a bamboo mat, working on his homework, when he heard Lin Qile smacking her lips beside him. “Jiang Qiaoxi, look at me! Quick, look at me!” she called out.
Jiang Qiaoxi lifted his head and was startled by what he saw. Lin Qile had slathered a thick layer of lipstick on her mouth. The red was too bright and too gaudy. Moreover, Lin Qile didn’t know how to apply it properly, resulting in a messy “all over the mouth” effect.
“Does it look good?” Lin Qile asked, her eyes twinkling as she gazed at him.
Jiang Qiaoxi shook his head.
Disappointed, Lin Qile pouted. The pout only made matters worse, increasing the area covered in red. She had secretly taken her mother’s lipstick, using up nearly half of the perfectly good tube. “Qin Yeyun always calls me uncultured,” Lin Qile explained.
“You’re not uncultured. Why don’t you wipe it off?” Jiang Qiaoxi suggested.
“Really?” Lin Qile asked, then grabbed some paper to wipe her mouth.
Her haphazard application made the cleanup even messier. Her naturally red lips became even redder as she rubbed the back of her hand across her mouth.
Jiang Qiaoxi watched her for a moment, observing her clumsy movements and the lipstick smears on her cheeks. He put down his pen, the black wristwatch on his arm, and ink stains on his fingers visible as he reached out.
His thumb traced Lin Qile’s lower lip from left to right. As soon as he touched her, Lin Qile stared at him with her big cherry-like eyes, suddenly still.
“Is it clean now?” Lin Qile asked.
The band-aid on Jiang Qiaoxi’s forehead was long gone, but a thin scar remained. Only up close could Lin Qile see it.
Lin Qile felt Jiang Qiaoxi’s palm cover her mouth, and she fell silent. His hand gently rubbed across her lips.
“It’s clean now,” Jiang Qiaoxi said.
Before the adults returned home, Lin Qile crawled into the mosquito net to listen to a cassette tape with Jiang Qiaoxi.
It wasn’t just any tape, but the new female singer’s album Jiang Qiaoxi had given her last time. Since her father bought her a new tape recorder, Lin Qile no longer used her Walkman.
Lying on the bed with her legs raised behind her, Lin Qile wore one earphone and asked, “Why didn’t you buy me that… that Uncle Lai’s tape instead?”
Jiang Qiaoxi, resting his head on Lin Qile’s pillow with his eyes closed, replied, “What would you want that for?”
“Because I’ve never heard it before,” Lin Qile explained.
Jiang Qiaoxi opened his eyes.
Lin Qile had never heard Jiang Qiaoxi sing before. It was the first time she heard him casually hum a few lines for her.
Lin Qile thought the song sounded “gloomy,” and she asked Jiang Qiaoxi what the lyrics meant.
Jiang Qiaoxi glanced at her and shook his head.
Lin Qile wheedled, “Then sing it again for me.”
“Sing it once more, please!”
Jiang Qiaoxi looked at the time on his wristwatch, and unable to resist Lin Qile’s plea, he sang it again.
There were no adults in the Lin household, just the two children.
Inside the mosquito net, it was very quiet, with only Jiang Qiaoxi softly singing an English song.
Lin Qile gazed at him intently, holding her breath and listening silently. She cradled the tape recorder in her hands, the new female singer’s cassette turning quietly and soundlessly inside.
At the end of November, Jiang Qiaoxi’s cousin from Hong Kong sent a small box of books, which included a Leonard Cohen cassette tape. Jiang Qiaoxi took Lin Qile to his house, opened the box, and gave her the tape.
Lin Qile asked, “Is your English so good because you want to go to America in the future?”
Jiang Qiaoxi was flipping through the remaining books in the box.
Lin Qile inquired, “How do you get to America? By train? By boat?”
Jiang Qiaoxi looked up at her.
He pulled over his square schoolbag and opened the book compartment. On the inside, there was a hidden 10-centimeter square pocket.
This pocket held Jiang Qiaoxi’s secret. Since coming to Qunshan City from the provincial capital, this schoolbag rarely left his side.
Inside the pocket was a plane ticket, a 1998 ticket from Hong Kong to Boston, USA.
“Is this your plane ticket?”
“It’s my cousin’s.”
Lin Qile held the ticket up to her eyes, though she couldn’t understand it.
There were many things about Jiang Qiaoxi, many aspects of his life, that Lin Qile couldn’t comprehend.
Jiang Qiaoxi took the ticket back and returned it to his secret little space.
On a winter morning, Qin Yeyun’s father fell in front of their family store. Many workers heading to their early shifts saw the large lump on his knee, which had been swollen for months, the skin a brownish-purple color.
“Old Qin,” they called, stopping their bicycles, “you should go to the hospital!”
Lin Qile and her friends, on their way to school, also witnessed this scene.
Uncle Qin was helped by many people. His forehead was covered in sweat, but he insisted, “It’s nothing, I’m fine.”
When school let out, Lin Qile saw a crowd gathered in front of Uncle Qin’s shop.
Lin Qile approached with her backpack, and she heard Uncle Yu Qiao’s voice from inside.
“We’re workers, and we should be content with being workers! Old Qin, tell me the truth, are you upset because of Wang Daolin?”
“Brother Yu, Brother Yu,” Uncle Qin was the one comforting Uncle Yu, “I’m fine, I’m doing well! I feel like I’ll get better soon—”
“Bullshit!” Uncle Yu cursed, “You’re coming with me to the hospital right now!”
“I won’t go!” Uncle Qin’s voice was urgent, “Brother Yu! Brother Yu! Don’t ruin this for me. I won’t go, I won’t go, I really— I can’t go! If I go, all my efforts will be wasted, I’ll fail at the last hurdle—”
Uncle Qin was very emotional, and so was Uncle Yu. Uncle Qin said, “I still have a daughter— Yeyun is watching, Yeyun is inside watching. Brother Yu, don’t ruin this for me, Brother Yu, I’m begging you, I’m begging you!!”
Lin Dianwei returned from work and, hearing about the incident at the shop, rushed over to help. Uncle Qin adamantly refused to go to the hospital. He said he would get better soon, that he could already feel strength returning to his leg and foot, and that he would be able to return to work next year. He said he had been unlucky all his life, but he had a feeling, a premonition that his future was about to change.
Winter vacation arrived, and Jiang Qiaoxi refused to return to the provincial capital. It was one thing not to go back during summer break, but he didn’t want to return even for the New Year. His mother, Liang Hongfei, sensed something was amiss and called several times, but Jiang Qiaoxi always said he wanted to stay in Qunshan. Liang Hongfei was insistent, but Jiang Qiaoxi was even more so.
Liang Hongfei said, “I heard from an aunt who returned to headquarters from the Qunshan construction site that you’ve found a ‘little girlfriend’ in Qunshan?”
Jiang Qiaoxi’s hand tightened on the receiver.
Even Jiang Qiaoxi hadn’t heard such talk before.
Liang Hongfei said, “If you won’t come back, then I’ll just have to come to Qunshan to see you two father and son.”
Liang Hongfei decided to come to Qunshan on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Qunshan had a heavy snowfall, and the fountain in front of the Workers’ Club was frozen over. Lin Qile, wearing new cotton shoes, carefully stepped onto the ice.
Du Shang said, “Cherry, be careful!”
Lin Qile found the ice was quite solid and began to walk around freely on it.
The Workers’ Club was close to Qin Yeyun’s family shop. Just as Du Shang was telling Lin Qile that he was learning Wing Chun from Hong Kong movies, a sudden cry erupted from the shop.
It was Qin Yeyun’s voice: “Dad!! Daddy!!”
Foreman Yu rushed back from the construction site, burst into the Qin family shop, and without a word, hoisted someone up and left. “Yeyun!” he called out, “Go find Yu Qiao and have him take you to the hospital!”
That night, at Qunshan City People’s Hospital, many patients who had to spend New Year’s in the hospital were watching TV dramas.
Uncle Qin had just come out of surgery and was still unconscious as the doctor wheeled him out of the operating room.
Qin Yeyun was terrified. She clung to Yu Qiao outside the ward, crying hard, her tears soaking his down jacket.
Yu Qiao mostly didn’t know what to do and could only let her hold onto him. He heard the doctor say that it was fortunate they brought him in time; if they had delayed any longer, the entire leg might have been beyond saving.
Lin Qile used the hospital phone to call Jiang Qiaoxi’s house, but no one answered. Du Shang, who had also come to the hospital, asked, “Cherry, what has Jiang Qiaoxi been up to these past few days?”
“His mother is coming,” Lin Qile said softly, staring at the receiver in her hand.
Du Shang didn’t understand. “So?”
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Our Generation – Chapter Notes:
- “I Yah”: The fourth album by the South Korean group H.O.T, released on September 1, 1999.
- O’Neal: An American professional basketball player, nicknamed “The Big Shark.” In 2000, he was named the NBA regular season MVP.
- Xiao Huanxiong Water Margin Cards: A set of collectible cards included with Unification’s Xiao Huanxiong crispy noodles. From 1999 to 2001, 108 cards, along with six villain cards, were gradually released.
- “Bird on the Wire”: A song featured on Leonard Cohen’s second album, Songs from a Room, released in 1969.