Jiang Qiaoxi transferred to Qunshan City on September 6, 1999. One day in late September, Lin Qile walked along the road, reading a manga in her hands.
In the manga, faced with the love letter from the female protagonist Kotoko, the male lead Naoki wore a sour expression and publicly rejected her: “I don’t want it!”
Lin Qile turned the page to look ahead. On the next page, sure enough, all the classmates were mocking Kotoko: Why would you do such a thing? It’s too presumptuous; you knew he wouldn’t pay attention to you.
Cai Fangyuan walked beside Lin Qile, vividly describing rumors about the millennium doomsday to Yu Qiao, Du Shang, and Jiang Qiaoxi. He glanced at Lin Qile a few times, noticing she was engrossed in a manga called “Itazura na Kiss.”
“Itazura na Kiss?” Cai Fangyuan leaned in, reading the title in an exaggerated tone. “Lin Qile, what kind of dirty book are you reading?”
Lin Qile closed the manga and proceeded to pummel Cai Fangyuan’s head.
In truth, Lin Qile also thought the female protagonist, Aihara Kotoko, was silly. Why confess to someone who doesn’t like you?
Lin Qile looked around:
Yu Qiao was walking with a milk bag in his mouth, reading a sports newspaper. He was typically uninterested in Lin Qile and Cai Fangyuan’s skirmishes and didn’t care much about her.
Cai Fangyuan was even worse, often saying Lin Qile had problems, calling her crazy, frequently fighting with her, and making her unhappy.
Now even Du Shang had been influenced by Cai Fangyuan. Several times, Lin Qile heard Du Shang say things like “Lin Qile is such a shrew,” which was annoying.
Only Jiang Qiaoxi never echoed them or was influenced by them. On the way to school, every time Lin Qile finished fighting with Cai Fangyuan and looked back, she’d find Jiang Qiaoxi looking at her, at her crooked braids, or her pulled-open backpack, at her panting face.
Was he concerned about her? Lin Qile wasn’t quite sure.
In math class, Lin Qile was no longer afraid of going to the blackboard to solve problems. Each time, she would secretly turn back, looking specifically in Jiang Qiaoxi’s direction.
Yu Qiao and the others in the back would shout out wrong answers, snickering, wanting to see Lin Qile make a fool of herself. Only Jiang Qiaoxi would occasionally look up, noticing Lin Qile shaking her ponytail and looking at him pitifully.
As the math teacher walked by, Jiang Qiaoxi pretended to look at the osmanthus tree outside, writing the transparent answer on the window with his finger.
If Lin Qile were to write a love letter to someone, she had only one choice.
As October approached, an air of anticipation and excitement filled the streets. The State Council had declared something called a “National Day holiday,” announcing a weeklong vacation for the whole country, seemingly to be repeated annually.
The electric construction workers, usually busy even on weekends with few days off except for the Spring Festival, were delighted to finally have a holiday.
However, Mr. and Mrs. Lin couldn’t take time off. During the seven-day National Day holiday, while everyone wanted to rest, the project couldn’t stop. On the first day of the holiday, Mr. Lin was scheduled to work. He was easygoing about it: accustomed to hard work, he didn’t know what to do at home during a holiday and preferred to work.
Besides, his daughter was never lonely at home.
On October 1, 1999, at 10 AM, Lin Qile, Yu Qiao, Du Shang, Cai Fangyuan, and Jiang Qiaoxi sat on the sofa in Lin Qile’s home, watching the live broadcast of the “grand parade” for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the nation, wide-eyed.
Yu Qiao was the most engrossed, staring at the Air Force fighter jets on screen without blinking. Even Jiang Qiaoxi and Cai Fangyuan, who were more worldly, marveled at the tanks and intercontinental missiles. Lin Qile sat to the side, not understanding but afraid of being left out, forcing herself to watch.
Du Shang said to her, “Cherry, look! This missile is so huge!!”
Lin Qile couldn’t comprehend this excitement. Wow! Such a big metal missile! It looks so scary! She fished out her “Itazura na Kiss” manga from between the sofa cushions and continued reading.
At noon, the parade ended, and Yu Qiao and the others went home for lunch. Lin Qile went to feed the rabbits, waiting for her parents to return from work to cook for her and Jiang Qiaoxi.
In the afternoon, Yu Qiao and the others came back. Yu Qiao brought a basket of his mother’s fried shrimp chips, and Cai Fangyuan brought a Want Want gift pack, and several boxes of Big Roll.
Du Shang came empty-handed, eating shrimp chips, chewing Big Roll, and drinking Lin Yingtao’s Coke. The group of nine-year-old elementary school students sat in a circle on the bamboo mat, each holding reading material, sitting or lying down to read.
Lin Qile with “Itazura na Kiss,” Du Shang with “White Horse Neighing in the West Wind,” Yu Qiao with “Sports Weekly,” Cai Fangyuan with “Popular Computer,” and Jiang Qiaoxi with “Olympiad Math Intensive.”
Du Shang put down his Jin Yong novel and suddenly suggested they go play Dance Dance Revolution in the city. Cai Fangyuan and Lin Qile were the first to reject him.
Cai Fangyuan complained it was tiring. Lin Qile said that every time, Du Shang would monopolize the dance machine, dancing to H.O.T songs from first to last, not letting others play.
Jiang Qiaoxi was filling in an answer on his book after working it out on scratch paper when he heard Lin Qile say, “Why don’t we go on an adventure instead! Let’s go see Farmer Uncle’s big white geese!”
“What big white geese,” Cai Fangyuan lay on the ground, mouth full of fried shrimp chips, mumbling, “Is there even a road? No! Waste of time!”
Du Shang added, “There’s no bridge, how can we go?”
Jiang Qiaoxi saw Lin Qile pout.
“Hey Cherry,” Du Shang suddenly said, “Let us see the little white rabbit Grandma Zhang gave you!”
“No,” Lin Qile said, burying her head in the manga.
Du Shang’s eyebrows drooped, “Why not?”
“My little rabbit is too shy! Afraid of strangers!” Lin Qile fumed, feeling no one supported her big white goose adventure.
Yu Qiao snickered from the side, looking down at his sports newspaper: “I wouldn’t look even if you showed me.”
As night fell and dinner was over, the group came again. Yu Qiao was ordered to bring a basket of his mother’s newly made fried pork to Lin Qile’s house. Cai Fangyuan, originally planning to play games at home, followed the smell of the crispy pork.
Lin Qile’s parents went to work overtime in the evening. Du Shang rummaged through Mr. Lin’s bedside cassettes, looking through them one by one, wanting to play some music.
Yu Qiao sat on the living room sofa, constantly changing channels with the remote. He said to Du Shang, “Uncle Lin has a Black Panther tape, play that!”
Du Shang didn’t like Black Panther. After looking around, he walked into Lin Qile’s small room: “Where did you put your H.O.T tape?”
Lin Qile was still sitting on the floor, intently studying “Itazura na Kiss.”
She looked up at Du Shang, thought for a moment, then turned her head.
Jiang Qiaoxi was still beside her, head down, doing problems. He frowned, muttering to himself, constantly calculating new numbers.
“What song do you want to hear?” she asked him.
Jiang Qiaoxi was engrossed, and it was too noisy outside; only Lin Qile’s area was still quiet. When Lin Qile asked for the second time, Jiang Qiaoxi belatedly looked up at her.
“What?”
“What song do you want to hear?”
“Anything is fine,” he said.
Then he lowered his head and continued calculating.
Lin Qile blinked and asked him again, “Don’t you have any favorite singers?”
Du Shang stood by the wardrobe, now curiously craning his neck to look over.
Since transferring from the provincial capital to the Qunshan construction site, Jiang Qiaoxi’s daily life consisted of nothing but math Olympiad and problem-solving. He had never shown any preferences in public.
“I do,” Jiang Qiaoxi said, gently pinching his mechanical pencil and looking up.
“Who?” Lin Qile and Du Shang asked in unison.
“Leonard Cohen.”
Yu Qiao was engrossed in watching the National Day parade replay outside when he heard Lin Qile and Du Shang ask very loudly from the small room: “Who???”
All four sat in front of Jiang Qiaoxi, listening to him repeat the name: “Leonard Cohen.”
Lin Qile and Yu Qiao looked at each other, then at Cai Fangyuan. Among their “Little Gang of Four,” Cai Fangyuan had been to most cities and was the most knowledgeable, but even he looked bewildered.
“Don’t know him.”
“I don’t know him either.”
The four of them shook their heads.
Jiang Qiaoxi couldn’t finish the problem he was working on for now. He looked at the four of them.
” I don’t know him well either,” he said.
Lin Qile asked, “Then why do you like him?”
Jiang Qiaoxi said, “I heard his songs at my cousin’s house before.”
Lin Qile asked Jiang Qiaoxi what songs Mr. Cohen sang. Jiang Qiaoxi said something in English, and Lin Qile’s eyes widened, lips pursed.
“Do all elementary schools in the provincial capital teach English?” Lin Qile asked.
Jiang Qiaoxi nodded.
Du Shang sprawled on Lin Qile’s parents’ big bed, eyes closed, listening to A-Mei Zhang’s song playing on the tape recorder.
Thinking of you makes me happy, A-Mei Zhang sang. Like mom’s gentle lullaby. Like dad’s year-round busyness.
Mr. Lin worked overtime all day, returning home dusty and tired after 9 PM. With everyone else on holiday, he was busy working alone on duty.
The small bedroom door was ajar, and the children were probably still inside. Mr. Lin approached the door, and before pushing it open, he heard Yu Qiao speaking inside.
“I’ve been thinking today,” Yu Qiao said, elbows on his knees, sitting cross-legged, enunciating each word, “I want to be an Air Force pilot in the future.”
Lin Qile was stunned: “You said you wanted to play basketball last time, now you want to be a pilot—”
“Did you watch the parade properly,” Yu Qiao reproached Lin Qile, “You only know how to read your manga!”
Cai Fangyuan thought for a moment, slightly dazed: “When I grow up, I want to go to Hong Kong.”
Yu Qiao glanced at him: “Are you going to find Chingmy Yau—”
Cai Fangyuan’s chubby face suddenly reddened, both annoyed and embarrassed: “It won’t come true if you say it out loud!”
Lin Qile observed them from the side.
“I want to be a doctor,” Du Shang broke open the last rice cracker, eating half himself, “I’ve decided long ago.”
Yu Qiao patted Du Shang’s back, taking the other half of the rice cracker and stuffing it in his mouth: “The Air Force has hospitals too!”
Du Shang complained, “The military is so scary, I won’t go.”
Mrs. Lin finished knitting at Yu Qiao’s house and returned with her knitting basket. She pushed open the bedroom door: “Yu Qiao, your mom is calling you to help your grandma set up the mosquito net again.”
Hearing this, Yu Qiao stood up and left, leaving his sports newspaper at Lin Qile’s house.
Du Shang and Cai Fangyuan also went home, saying goodbye to Uncle Lin and Auntie Lin before leaving. Lin Qile stood outside her house, seeing them off, then watched Jiang Qiaoxi take his math Olympiad book and some unfinished calculation papers to the neighboring house.
“Jiang Qiaoxi,” Lin Qile suddenly asked him, “what do you want to do when you grow up?”
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Our Generation – Chapter Notes:
“Itazura na Kiss”: A Japanese shoujo manga created by Kaoru Tada, also known as “It Started with a Kiss,” with the Chinese version licensed by Tong Li Publishing in 1997.
National Day holiday: On September 18, 1999, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China announced the “Measures for National Annual Festivals and Memorial Days,” implementing the seven-day holiday system for the first time, including May Day, National Day, and Spring Festival.
Century Grand Parade: The 1999 parade for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the nation, starting at 10 AM and ending at 12:13 PM.
“White Horse Neighing in the West Wind”: A novella by wuxia writer Jin Yong, serialized in Hong Kong’s Ming Pao from October to November 1961.
“Sports Weekly”: Founded in Changsha, Hunan in 1988, originally a newspaper under the Hunan Provincial Sports Commission. After 1994, it gradually dominated China’s sports media market through extensive coverage of the Chinese Jia-A League and European football leagues.
“Popular Computer”: A computer science popularization magazine for the general public under the China Association for Science and Technology, founded in 1995.
Dance Dance Revolution: A rhythm game that became popular in the late 1990s.
Leonard Cohen: Famous singer, artist, and poet. Recipient of the 52nd Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Thinking of You”: A song written and composed by Yu-Sheng Zhang, performed by A-Mei Zhang. Released in June 1997.
Chingmy Yau: Hong Kong actress, twice nominated for Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards.