Qiu Xing didn’t answer Lin Yiran’s question; he just silently turned back around.
Ahead was an endless road that met the sky, pointing vaguely toward the distance. The highway had only one direction—straight ahead, with no turning back.
On the day the college entrance exam results were released, the two were eating in a service area restaurant. Each had a tray with two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and a soup. The food tasted surprisingly good. Lin Yiran used to eat slowly, but these days, Qiu Xing had taught her to eat quickly.
Qiu Xing looked like he wasn’t in a hurry and said to her, “No rush.”
Lin Yiran nodded, took a sip of soup, and slowed her pace.
At the next table sat what appeared to be two truck drivers. They spoke with accents, but could be heard clearly.
One asked the other, “Aren’t the college entrance exam results out today?”
The other replied, “They are. The morning news was all about it. Ah, the score threshold is very high this year. I wonder if my nephew will make it into a key university.”
Qiu Xing only realized when they were almost finished eating. He looked at Lin Yiran and asked, “The results are out?”
Lin Yiran had just learned this from the next table as well. She said, “It was supposed to be tomorrow.”
“Check it,” Qiu Xing said.
Lin Yiran opened the backpack she was carrying and took out her exam admission ticket, which had her account number written on the back. Qiu Xing handed her his phone, and Lin Yiran took it and opened the browser.
Qiu Xing continued eating across from her, and after a while asked, “Did you find it?”
“Not yet, I can’t log in,” Lin Yiran handed the phone back and said, “Everyone’s probably checking right now. Let’s wait a bit.”
Lin Yiran picked up her chopsticks and continued eating.
Except for the first two times when Qiu Xing met her at the old house, since getting on Qiu Xing’s truck, Lin Yiran hadn’t seemed particularly nervous and always appeared rather composed.
She didn’t talk much, never complained, and was very clean herself, but no matter how old Qiu Xing’s truck was, how unpleasant the smell in the truck, or how dirty a service area bathroom might be, she never showed any disgust. She was always afraid of troubling Qiu Xing, so she tried to minimize her presence as much as possible, avoiding speaking unless necessary.
It was obvious that, despite her parents divorcing when she was young, her mother had raised her well. She was a calm, composed, and straightforward young girl.
After returning to the truck and setting off again, Qiu Xing left his phone with Lin Yiran to check the results. Lin Yiran refreshed the page about every ten minutes. The signal on the road wasn’t good, and it took a long time for the website to load.
“I found it,” Lin Yiran said.
Qiu Xing asked, “How much?”
Lin Yiran told him a number, and Qiu Xing glanced at her, asking, “Are you in arts or sciences?”
Lin Yiran answered, “I’m in arts.”
Qiu Xing asked again, “What’s the minimum score requirement?”
Lin Yiran first said, “Let me check,” and after half a minute said, “The Tier One university requirement in our province is 523.”
She spoke softly and calmly. Qiu Xing didn’t hide his surprise and said, “You’re such a good student?”
Ranked seventy-something in the province, this result wasn’t particularly good or bad for Lin Yiran; it was within her expected range. But it was the first time in these few days that Qiu Xing had shown any emotion other than indifference and numbness. The surprised look he just gave her made Lin Yiran smile and say, “It’s okay.”
No matter what circumstances one was experiencing, the college entrance exam was always a big deal.
Even in this typically silent and heavy truck cab, the exam created a topic of conversation. Qiu Xing wasn’t as cold as usual, and their back-and-forth chat continued for quite a while.
Qiu Xing asked Lin Yiran which university and major she wanted to apply to.
Lin Yiran only said she wanted to apply for a literature-related major, and had no particular thoughts about which university.
Qiu Xing then asked if she preferred the south or the north, and which city she liked.
Lin Yiran thought for a moment, then gently shook her head.
Lin Yiran felt confused about these questions. She hadn’t been to many cities and couldn’t say whether she liked them or not. As long as she could leave the city where she’d been living, with no more debt collectors and no one looking for her, anywhere would do.
Qiu Xing wasn’t just making casual conversation; he gave Lin Yiran several options. It wasn’t surprising that he knew about many cities, but what was surprising was that he could list almost all the suitable universities from north to south—ones suitable for Lin Yiran to attend, cities with comfortable environments, places with particularly good programs in certain majors. This made Lin Yiran feel somewhat surprised.
Qiu Xing’s usual dejection and the hardships of life on the road created an obvious disconnect with the topic he was now discussing.
Lin Yiran tilted her head to look at Qiu Xing. He talked to her while driving, and Lin Yiran occasionally responded to show she was listening.
Qiu Xing met her gaze and asked, “When do you fill out your application preferences?”
Lin Yiran said, “As soon as the system opens, tomorrow or the day after.”
Qiu Xing asked her again, “Did you bring your books? The application guide.”
Lin Yiran shook her head, “I’d need to get it from school. I don’t have it.”
Qiu Xing glanced at her again, “How will you apply then? Do you know the school codes?”
Lin Yiran answered honestly, “I was thinking of finding an internet cafe after I get off.”
Before Qiu Xing could say more, the phone rang. Lin Yiran handed it to him, Qiu Xing answered the call, and afterward, they didn’t continue their conversation.
That night, Qiu Xing parked the truck in a warehouse yard. There was a truck unloading in front, and they had to wait for it to finish before the workers could come to load Qiu Xing’s truck.
The weather was stuffy and hot, with barely any wind, and the high walls around the warehouse blocked even what little breeze there was. Qiu Xing sat below the truck with a flattened cardboard box beneath him.
Lin Yiran had been in the truck, leaning on the window, but later it became too hot to stay inside, so she jumped down as well.
Qiu Xing didn’t raise his head, just lifted himself and tore the cardboard box under him into two pieces. He sat back down on one piece and casually placed the other on a nearby stone, indicating that Lin Yiran should sit.
Lin Yiran tore off another small piece from the top and sat on the stone, using the small piece of cardboard to fan herself.
The two sat quietly. Qiu Xing looked down at his phone while Lin Yiran watched the workers going back and forth unloading cargo.
The loose strands of hair around her face swayed rhythmically with the slight breeze, and the cool air blew over to Qiu Xing from a short distance.
After a while, Qiu Xing handed over his phone.
Lin Yiran looked at him, took it, and asked, “What is it?”
Qiu Xing didn’t answer, just nodded his chin toward the phone, telling her to see for herself. He rested his arm on his bent knee and silently turned back to look ahead. He always had this demeanor, seeming both indifferent and impatient.
Lin Yiran was used to his reluctance to talk. She lowered her head to look at his phone, then very unexpectedly raised her head again to look at Qiu Xing.
On the phone was a WeChat chat window with photos sent by someone else—dozens of pages photographed from a college application guide.
Scrolling to the top of the message history, there was a message Qiu Xing had sent: [Send me photos of the arts Tier One university pages from the application guide.]
Lin Chang: [What do you need it for, Brother Qiu? Who’s using it?]
Qiu Xing: [Take photos of both volumes.]
Then came dozens of images sent continuously by the other person.
Lin Yiran looked at the phone, then at Qiu Xing. Qiu Xing still had the same expression, but Lin Yiran was now somewhat stunned.
She should say “thank you.”
She and Qiu Xing could hardly be considered close, but after these past few days, even saying “thank you” to Qiu Xing would seem inadequate.
“Think about it carefully. Don’t apply carelessly or you’ll regret it once you’re enrolled,” Qiu Xing said.
Lin Yiran nodded, and realizing he might not see, added, “Okay.”
“If anything’s unclear, just text him and ask him to take more photos,” Qiu Xing said flatly.
“Okay,” Lin Yiran looked at Qiu Xing and still said softly, “Thank you.”
Qiu Xing didn’t speak again. He leaned back against the yard wall behind him, rested his head against the wall, and closed his eyes to rest. His hands and arms were still smudged with the black marks from going up to the truck roof to lift the tarpaulin, and since he would need to secure it again after loading, he hadn’t washed his hands.
He was always unkempt like this, no different from the truck drivers they met on the road, except that he dressed more lightly and was younger.
Qiu Xing’s phone was also always dirty, and because he often placed it randomly or let it slide out of his pocket, the back cover was dented and the edges were all chipped.
Lin Yiran took his phone back to the truck and used Qiu Xing’s paper and pen to note down information about several universities she was particularly interested in.
Meanwhile, Lin Chang sent more messages to Qiu Xing: [Brother Qiu, when are you coming back? I can just bring the books to you.]
After a while, he sent another: [Brother, take me with you next time you go out, okay? I’d like to travel around with you.]
The workers were loading cargo at the back, and bundles of heavy goods were being thrown on. Lin Yiran could feel the slight vibration of the truck body each time a bundle of goods was loaded.
Qiu Xing walked by under the truck, and as he passed by Lin Yiran’s side of the door, he raised his hand to give her a bottle of ice water.
Lin Yiran reached out to take it, and Qiu Xing walked away again.
By the time Qiu Xing got back in the truck, almost two more hours had passed. The sky was completely dark. Qiu Xing drove the truck onto the highway. Lin Yiran had turned off the light in the cab when he got in, to avoid affecting his vision.
Qiu Xing asked her, “Have you decided?”
Lin Yiran made an “mm” sound and said, “More or less.”
“Which ones?”
Lin Yiran read out the few she had written down on the paper, almost all of which had been mentioned by Qiu Xing the day before.
Qiu Xing asked again, “Is that the order?”
Lin Yiran nodded, “Yes.”
“Okay,” Qiu Xing said, “as long as you’re satisfied with your choices.”
The bottle of water Qiu Xing had given her earlier was placed by the car door, with tiny water droplets on the surface. Lin Yiran took out two pieces of paper to wipe the bottle dry, then folded the damp paper.
She took both of Qiu Xing’s phones and began to quietly wipe them, her head lowered.
Qiu Xing didn’t even turn his gaze, showing no concern about her taking his phones.
After wiping both of Qiu Xing’s phones clean, Lin Yiran put them back and placed the used paper balls in a plastic bag.
Lin Yiran had been sitting in the truck for quite a while earlier. It was consistently stuffy and hot inside, and she had sweated, her face flushed with heat. Now with the truck moving, wind came in through the window. Lin Yiran tidied the loose hair at the back of her neck and retied her hair.
“Are you tired?” Qiu Xing asked her.
“No,” Lin Yiran answered, “just a bit hot.”
“We’ll still have to sleep on the road tonight.”
Just as Lin Yiran was about to say “It’s fine,” Qiu Xing continued.
“We’ll reach Huacheng tomorrow afternoon, an hour from Linzhou high-speed rail station,” Qiu Xing looked ahead and added, “You can get off in Huacheng.”