Owner Feng’s use of the word “chase” indicated that Li Fanghao had just left, which also meant that mother wouldn’t be home to check on her for a while—given Li Fanghao’s personality, buying something as expensive as a phone would definitely involve comparing prices at three different stores, spending at least two hours browsing the computer mall.
Qiao Qingyu’s thoughts swayed with the bus’s stops and starts. The few minutes wasted at the newspaper stand weren’t completely meaningless; at least she had vaguely understood why her parents had worked so hard to relocate the entire family to Huan Zhou—as they say, the best place to hide is in plain sight. In Chaoyang New Village, they were just like many other migrants squeezed in there, ordinary people busy with their daily lives, nameless and anonymous.
How wonderful, that her parents’ method of escaping rumors was to settle in the very place where rumors were born, like rushing into the calm eye of a typhoon to avoid the storm—both wise and tragic.
Looking out the bus window, Qiao Qingyu thought that Huan Zhou must be a turbulent city. Qiao Baiyu’s past was just a small wave in this city, and their family’s arrival was as silent as leaves falling on the sea surface. It was good—she liked the city’s power to swallow everything.
The bus stopped at Qing Lake North Road, and Qiao Qingyu got off. The scorching sun had scared away many tourists. She walked alone along the lake, without a hat or umbrella, not particularly seeking shade. Her empty-handed, stroll caused several passersby to turn their heads. After walking for half an hour under the blazing sun, Qiao Qingyu came to a pavilion on the south shore, and seeing a small air-conditioned shop behind it, she went inside.
The shopkeeper behind the counter greeted her, smiling and commenting on her flushed cheeks in the Huan Zhou dialect, presumably mistaking her for a local student who had come down to buy water.
Qiao Qingyu took a bottle of mineral water from the refrigerator, turned, and handed the shopkeeper five yuan, smiling reservedly.
“Cool your face, cool your face,” the shopkeeper pointed at the water bottle in her hand, putting his palm on his face to demonstrate, “Don’t you care about that pretty face of yours?”
Her face did feel burning hot and somewhat painful. Qiao Qingyu first opened the cap and took a big gulp, then followed the shopkeeper’s example, pressing the remaining half bottle of ice-cold water against her face.
As she took the change from the shopkeeper, the automatic door behind her chimed open, and several laughing young men and women burst in.
“Qiao Qingyu?”
Turning around, Qiao Qingyu was startled to see a distant yet familiar innocent smile.
“Senior He Kai?”
“What a surprise,” He Kai’s eyes lit up, “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see Qing Lake,” Qiao Qingyu smiled and whispered. The gazes of He Kai’s companions all fell on her, making her feel somewhat embarrassed.
“Are you alone?” He Kai asked again.
Qiao Qingyu nodded.
“I heard you transferred to Huan Second Middle School?”
“Yes.”
Being so cold wasn’t intentional on Qiao Qingyu’s part. On the contrary, she was excited and nervous. At Shun Yun First Middle School, He Kai had excellent grades and was handsome. Like many other girls, Qiao Qingyu had harbored naive admiration and vague affection for him. She was one year below He Kai and had never spoken to him, yet He Kai knew her name.
“It was so sudden.”
The hint of regret in He Kai’s voice caused his companions to howl and whoop. Qiao Qingyu felt her face grow even redder. He Kai helplessly gestured for them to stop, then turned to ask Qiao Qingyu if she’d like to join them for dinner.
Qiao Qingyu felt awkward: “No need, I have to go home.”
“Where do you live?” asked one of the busybodies behind He Kai.
“Chaoyang New Village.”
“That’s on our way!” The busybody excitedly put his hand on He Kai’s shoulder, giving him a meaningful look: “We’re going to Grand Canal Food Street, right across from Chaoyang New Village, let’s give you a ride.”
“Come with us,” He Kai tried to maintain his composure as he looked at Qiao Qingyu.
Qiao Qingyu didn’t refuse. She brazenly got into their business van, ending up in the last row with He Kai, awkwardly making intermittent conversation with him throughout the journey. To prevent Owner Feng from spotting her getting off the van, Qiao Qingyu specifically asked to be dropped off at the arch bridge, planning to slip into the community through the back entrance by the canal.
Unexpectedly, He Kai got off with her.
“I also like walking by the water,” He Kai said casually, “Let me walk you to your building.”
The two walked slowly along the narrow footpath by the Grand Canal, Qiao Qingyu’s thoughts scattered, unable to focus on He Kai’s gentle words. It was already past 4:30, Li Fanghao could appear at Chaoyang New Village at any moment, with the newly bought phone. Qiao Qingyu didn’t want Li Fanghao to witness her saying a lingering goodbye to He Kai downstairs. She had to get He Kai to leave, without a moment’s delay.
“…but I noticed you’re different from other girls,” He Kai had been saying, “You never use an umbrella in summer, you’re not afraid of the sun at all.”
The words “afraid of the sun” made Qiao Qingyu turn her head toward He Kai.
“Aren’t you afraid of getting tanned?” He Kai asked, then quickly added, “I’m not saying you’re dark, don’t misunderstand… your skin is very fair, I meant to ask how you don’t get tanned… that’s a stupid question, haha, I just wanted to say girls like you are special, not like some girls who become overly concerned about their appearance just because they have some beauty, you’re different from them…”
Qiao Qingyu noticed a large camphor tree not far away by the river, its branches luxuriant and magnificent. The thick shade under the tree would make a good place to bid farewell to He Kai.
“Girls like you…”
“I am afraid of the sun,” Qiao Qingyu rather rudely interrupted He Kai—she immediately regretted her unseemly panic, “I just rarely go out, so I always forget to bring an umbrella.”
“I think you’re so cool.”
Qiao Qingyu felt a bit dizzy, unsure whether it was due to the dazzling sunlight hitting her face or He Kai’s smile. She quietly took a breath, quickened her pace, and led He Kai to the shade under the camphor tree. She had meant to find an excuse to quickly say goodbye to He Kai, but he was carefully examining a notice board inside the railing, seemingly deliberately trying to prolong the time.
“Entry is strictly forbidden,” He Kai read aloud, “consequences will be horrifying.”
Qiao Qingyu casually glanced at the warning, but her gaze was firmly fixed on those characters: extraordinary, incomparable Liu-style calligraphy.
Truly good calligraphy has life and soul. The characters before her eyes, like the “Ride the wind and break the waves in time, set sail straight for the vast sea” that Qiao Baiyu had written at age twelve and hung on their wall, were full of unique freshness and vitality.
Qiao Baiyu’s strokes were light and graceful like a radiant young girl, while the strokes before her eyes were strong and clean like a bright young man, more unrestrained.
In comparison, the stack of rice paper she had used up during summer vacation seemed like clumsy puppets with uncoordinated limbs.
Sighing softly, Qiao Qingyu stepped closer and saw that the warning was written with a brush on white paper, stuck over the original official notice board, covering the characters engraved on the board. The official board seemed serious, leading Qiao Qingyu to deduce that this old tree was a protected heritage tree.
“How horrifying could it be?” He Kai also realized this was someone’s prank, laughing carelessly, “I’d like to see.”
With that, he lifted his foot and decisively stepped over the low railing surrounding the tree trunk.
This mischievous act effectively broke He Kai’s distant and rigid image in Qiao Qingyu’s mind. Her gaze followed He Kai as she watched him touch the rough tree trunk, silently circle it once, then jump out of the railing. He turned his back to Qiao Qingyu, half-squatting by the riverbank, his head slightly tilted toward the water.
A wooden cargo ship loaded with sand glided silently past He Kai’s silhouette, creating ripples in Qiao Qingyu’s heart.
Imperfection is beauty. Leaving quietly, departing without a goodbye, would make today’s small adventure endlessly memorable, and besides—Qiao Qingyu forcefully convinced herself to lift her foot—greeting Li Fanghao at home would be more considerate than letting a well-meaning mother rush home excitedly only to find an empty house.
Having made up her mind, Qiao Qingyu stared straight at He Kai’s back, trying hard to engrave this perfect scene in her mind. The ancient camphor tree was lush, the grayish-green waves were velvet-soft, and the young man by the river stood motionless, harboring thoughts more burning than the summer day.
Suddenly He Kai turned his head back, and Qiao Qingyu hurriedly shifted her gaze to the warning sign under the tree.
“There are fish in the water,” He Kai smiled, “Do you want to come and see?”
Qiao Qingyu moved her gaze from the sign reading “Entry strictly forbidden, consequences will be horrifying,” and saw He Kai stand up, step back inside the railing, and move to one side of the sign, tilting his head to examine it.
“This handwriting looks very similar to yours,” He Kai smiled, “Like the school motto hanging on the back wall of your classroom, everyone said you wrote that…”
It was indeed written by her, Qiao Qingyu nodded. Just like how He Kai knew her name, the fact that he knew about her writing the school motto also surprised her. However, because she was just staring at the sign, her reaction seemed somewhat flat.
“Yours is more beautiful,” He Kai added.
Qiao Qingyu looked up and shook her head firmly: “No, mine is the worst.”
He Kai smiled somewhat puzzledly but didn’t pursue the matter, and Qiao Qingyu fell silent as well, allowing her gaze to linger on the warning sign.
It was clear that the person who wrote these characters, like Qiao Baiyu, had hands blessed by heaven, writing with ease and composure. While Qiao Baiyu was graceful and playful, this person was bold and unrestrained. A proud person, Qiao Qingyu concluded.
A male. She concluded again.
After looking for a while, the characters for “horrifying” became grotesque. Qiao Qingyu wondered: being able to write such characters showed that this person wasn’t an immature child, yet why would someone who wasn’t a child do such childish things as intimidating passersby?
“Want to come see the fish?” He Kai asked.
Qiao Qingyu remembered her plan to leave without saying goodbye. She looked at He Kai, opened her mouth but swallowed back the “no” that was on her lips. He Kai had invited her twice, and she couldn’t bear to refuse. The clock in her heart ticked louder, growing more anxious.
“You won’t be returning to Shun Yun First Middle School anymore, right?” He Kai smiled somewhat shyly, “I thought I’d never see you again, today was unexpected… By the way, which class are you in at Huan Second? Can I write to you?”
Qiao Qingyu bit her lower lip lightly, hesitating before speaking: “I’m in Class 5, Year 2.”
For a moment, both were silent. Suddenly He Kai remembered something, frantically searched his pants pockets to no avail, then looked up to ask Qiao Qingyu if she had a pen.
Qiao Qingyu shook her head.
He Kai looked around, picked up a stone by his feet, and forcefully scratched on the paper that read “Entry strictly forbidden, consequences will be horrifying.” Seeing faint marks appear, he happily winked at Qiao Qingyu.
Then, he used the stone to scratch a string of numbers below those characters, carefully tore off the lower right corner of the paper, and handed it to Qiao Qingyu.
“My phone number.”
For some reason, Qiao Qingyu very much wanted to run away. But she still reached out her hand.
She didn’t get He Kai’s phone number.
A pair of large feet descended from above, landing with a “pat” on the paper in He Kai’s hand, crushing it to the ground.