In August 2005, Lin Qile sat in the backseat of a taxi in the provincial capital, listening to the driver make small talk with her parents.
“So you work for the power company?” the driver exclaimed. “I’ve heard everyone in that industry is loaded!”
Lin Dianggong smiled awkwardly. “We’re just workers.”
In Lin Qile’s childhood memories, when everyone lived in single-story houses, the class distinctions weren’t as apparent.
The taxi stopped at the entrance of the company’s residential complex. As Lin Qile got out, she heard her father say, “Yu Qiao and Cai Fangyuan live in the west wing, while Du Shang and our family are in the east.”
Lin Qile shouldered her backpack and picked up her potted evergreen and sunflower. She looked up at the surrounding high-rises, finally seeing the “provincial headquarters complex” her older siblings had mentioned countless times.
The moving company had already set up their furniture. As Lin Qile entered her new home, she realized that at fifteen, she finally had a real bedroom of her own, not just a space sectioned off from her parents by a wardrobe.
Du Shang and Yu Qiao came over at noon to help Uncle Lin with the remaining boxes. By afternoon, Qin Yeyun had arrived as well.
After three years apart, Lin Qile and Qin Yeyun had both grown up; they wouldn’t fight on sight anymore. In some ways, their relationship was even closer than with Yu Qiao and the others, a natural boundary drawn by gender.
Qin Yeyun still sported a perm, wearing a tank top, shorts, and flip-flops. She played with Lin Qile’s old Barbie doll from Qunshan, incredulous. “Lin Yingtao, how did a dummy like you manage to get into the provincial Experimental High School?”
Lin Qile, almost done unpacking, retorted, “It proves I’m actually smart!”
“Yeah, right,” Qin Yeyun teased sarcastically. “Don’t tell me it was the power of love. That Jiang Qiaoxi—”
Du Shang entered with a basket of freshly steamed jujube buns from Lin’s mother. Overhearing Qin Yeyun, he suddenly burst into a coughing fit.
“What’s with the cough?” Qin Yeyun snapped, startled. “You scared me!”
Manager Cai called Lin Dianggong: “Lin Haifeng, why haven’t you brought your daughter to the city yet?”
Lin Dianggong, holding his Motorola phone, replied, “She’s here! Yingtao! Your Uncle Cai wants to talk to you!”
Manager Cai wasn’t in the city; he’d gone to a new work site to manage a project. Over the phone, he said, “Yingtao, have Cai Fangyuan take you to the aquarium tomorrow. School’s starting soon—have you looked into the high school curriculum? Your Uncle Yu even asked me about getting you a spot as a temporary student at the Experimental High School, but you got in on your own! I always knew you were clever, little one. How else could you have picked ‘Taishan Tourism’ as—”
As a child, Lin Qile always held someone’s hand when playing with Yu Qiao and the others in Qunshan. Now they were grown, and their strong gender characteristics made Lin Qile realize she couldn’t casually hold any boy’s hand anymore.
Manager Cai’s driver came in a private car to pick up Lin Qile for the aquarium. Yu Qiao and the others were already inside, including Cai Fangyuan in the front passenger seat. He was still chubby but no longer soft like a ball; he’d grown taller, with firmer arms.
Cai Fangyuan had his phone in his pocket, along with something Lin Qile had never seen before. Du Shang, sitting in the back, asked to borrow it and told Lin Qile it was called an “iPod mini.”
An earbud was placed in Lin Qile’s ear, playing a female singer’s voice.
“Is an iPod just an MP3 player?” Lin Qile asked.
Cai Fangyuan turned back and said, “Lin Yingtao, Jiang Qiaoxi can’t make it today!”
Du Shang looked up. “Why do you keep mentioning him? We weren’t expecting him anyway!”
Cai Fangyuan explained, “His parents have him studying for the math competition all summer. He can’t go anywhere.” He added, “I’m just letting Lin Yingtao know!”
Lin Yingtao sat quietly in the back, focused on the music. She wanted to tell them to stop mentioning Jiang Qiaoxi.
At fifteen, newly arrived in the big city and attending one of the province’s best high schools, Lin Yingtao should soon forget about Jiang Qiaoxi. After all, she was young and would surely meet new people to like.
At the aquarium, while watching the sea lions, Lin Yingtao lost sight of her companions in the crowd, absorbed in the show.
Fortunately, Yu Qiao was tall and easy to spot.
Lin Yingtao called out to him, jumping to be seen. Yu Qiao heard her, turned, and grabbed her hand, telling her not to wander off.
“Getting lost in an aquarium, and you’re going to board at South Campus,” Yu Qiao remarked, glancing down at her.
Lin Yingtao pouted unconsciously. “I never got lost when I was alone in Qunshan.”
Yu Qiao replied, “So you only get lost when people are around.”
Lin Yingtao disagreed.
“If no one was around, I could follow the signs out,” Lin Yingtao said, spotting Cai Fangyuan and the others waiting at the exit. She told Yu Qiao, “But I don’t like walking alone.”
As she finished speaking, she felt Yu Qiao suddenly let go of her hand and ruffle her hair instead.
Before school started, Team Leader Yu visited the Lin family to introduce a new classmate to Lin Qile.
Her name was Xin Tingting, also from a power company family. She had lived at the Laishui work site and just moved to the provincial headquarters.
In a few days, like Lin Qile, she would report to the South Campus of Experimental High School.
“Yu Qiao and the other boys are day students at the main campus, so they can’t help you much,” Team Leader Yu told the two girls. “You two will be boarding at South Campus, so be good friends and help each other, alright?”
Xin Tingting was clearly a good girl—studious and obedient to her parents, with even stricter upbringing than Lin Qile had imagined. She wouldn’t drink cola or eat shrimp crackers. She didn’t even like reading comics, saying, “Mom doesn’t allow it.”
Unable to find common ground, Lin Qile asked, “Do you have a favorite celebrity?”
Xin Tingting pursed her lips and shook her head, seeming almost afraid.
Lin Qile didn’t mention it to anyone, but she felt Xin Tingting’s upbringing reminded her of Jiang Qiaoxi.
She couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.
In mid-August, the new first-year students at the provincial Experimental High School officially enrolled. They would take a series of entrance exams, be assigned to classes, and then endure the grueling military training.
Lin Qile was assigned to Class 29 at South Campus. Coincidentally, Xin Tingting was in the same class, though unfortunately not in the same dorm room—otherwise, Lin Dianggong might have felt more at ease.
As soon as military training began, Lin Qile constantly revised her impression of Xin Tingting.
“Reporting, instructor… I feel dizzy…”
“Instructor, may I go to the bathroom? I’m… I’m…”
“Reporting, instructor, my shoelace came undone…”
Given permission, Xin Tingting would crouch to tie her shoelace, only to softly collapse halfway through. She’d then spend the entire afternoon resting in the dorm.
Lin Qile faced the scorching sun daily, watching more and more girls in her class fake illness to escape. Xin Tingting excelled at this, but Lin Qile couldn’t grasp the technique. She had only been good at skipping class in elementary school, and her lies were often discovered.
Xin Tingting looked obedient, her hair tied high in a ponytail, speaking in a soft, gentle voice.
“Qile,” she said to Lin Qile during lunch in the cafeteria, “you should crouch down first, lower your center of gravity, then fall. That way, it won’t hurt as much.”
How had Xin Tingting mastered such sophisticated deception? She lied without a hint of nervousness, an honor student without any visible flaws.
The next day, just as Xin Tingting successfully escaped again, turning back to wink at Lin Qile from behind the instructor, Lin Qile finally mustered the courage to raise her hand.
Before she could say “Reporting, instructor,” she heard the instructor scolding the boys on the other side of the formation.
“Look at how you’re standing! You’re all a mess! Trying to learn from the girls and find excuses to slack off. Look at your classmate Lin Qile—such a pretty girl, standing here since day one—”
Lin Qile sheepishly lowered her hand.
Class activities were interspersed throughout the military training. Lin Qile wore the olive green short-sleeved shirt and long pants every day, unlike other girls who changed into their own clothes at every opportunity. Her roommates came fully equipped with curling irons, makeup, pots and pans—they’d have brought refrigerators and washing machines if they could have their maids carry them from home.
Lin Qile’s desk held only textbooks, a few comics, some music cassettes, and an old Barbie doll.
“Qile,” her roommates called her, mimicking Xin Tingting, “you… didn’t bring any makeup?”
They were getting ready for self-introductions at the class meeting, wanting to look pretty. At fifteen, girls inevitably focused more on boys. They believed the teachers wouldn’t be too strict yet, as school hadn’t officially started.
“Are we allowed to wear makeup in high school?” Lin Qile asked.
“School hasn’t really started yet, so they won’t be that strict!” the local city girls laughed. “Don’t we all wear makeup for the welcome party anyway?”
Lin Qile turned and opened the drawer beside her.
Her roommates suddenly stared at its contents: “Is that… Chanel?”
Lin Qile hesitated.
The dorm leader rushed over, snatching the black lipstick tube from Lin Qile’s hand to examine it. She even sniffed it: “It really is Chanel lipstick!!”
In 2005, Chanel hadn’t opened any counters in the provincial capital yet. For most middle school students, it remained an overseas luxury brand seen only in Japanese fashion magazines.
Lin Qile watched as her roommates passed around the lipstick, exclaiming over the two C’s that identified it as Chanel.
“Qile!” one roommate asked, “Aren’t you from the… Aren’t you a provincial recruit? How do you have Chanel?”
“Where did you buy it?”
Surrounded by questions, Lin Qile had to answer: “I didn’t buy it—someone gave it to me—”
“I want to try it! Qile, can I use it?” A roommate said, turning to find her mirror.
“Me too!”
The barely-used lipstick, purely decorative in Lin Qile’s possession, was now in demand. She’d brought it out to fit in, not expecting her roommates to actually use it. Lin Qile belatedly stood up: “It—it might be expired—”
After all, it was a birthday gift from four years ago.
“Even expired, it’s still Chanel!” the girls wailed.
At fifteen, news that “a certain girl has a Chanel lipstick” spread quickly among the dorms. On the way to class, even Xin Tingting curiously asked Lin Qile: “How come someone gave you Chanel lipstick?”
Lin Qile shook her head, seemingly unsure herself.
“Was it from a boy?” Xin Tingting pried.
Away from her parents at boarding school, Xin Tingting seemed much more lively.
Lin Qile nodded.
“That’s strange,” Xin Tingting laughed. “In middle school, I only saw boys give girls small pendants, hairpins, or watches. This is the first time I’ve heard of someone giving lipstick. Isn’t that an adult gift?”
The classroom was already full of students. Thankfully, Xin Tingting’s presence made Lin Qile feel less lonely than she had at Qunshan No. 1 Middle School. She listened as her classmates introduced themselves one by one, often hearing them say they were from “Provincial Experimental Affiliated Middle School” and were happy to advance to the directly affiliated high school.
Lin Qile unconsciously lowered her head more and more, until the homeroom teacher called her name.
Lin Qile had to walk up under her classmates’ shifting gazes.
She raised her head and addressed the class: “I’m from the beautiful city of Qunshan. My name is Lin Qile.”
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Our Generation – Chapter Notes:
iPod mini: In January 2004, Apple introduced the iPod mini music player, with height and width comparable to a standard business card.
Chanel: Famous French luxury brand. Opened its first boutique in China at the Beijing Wangfu Hotel in 1999, and its second in Shanghai in 2006.