(1)
April 5, 2010, Monday.
Raindrops fell one by one onto the windowsill, slowly dampening the gray concrete and turning it into a deeper shade.
An ant crawled slowly across. The two drops of water before it, which refused to soak into the concrete, were like an impassable ocean. Just as it hesitated, the wind blew more raindrops down, sending it scurrying aimlessly everywhere before it finally leaped off the windowsill.
However, it was just an ant; it wasn’t likely to die from the fall.
A faint sound of snoring came from the girl in the room. The two teardrop moles beneath her right eye made her sleeping face look incredibly peaceful—though at this moment, she was dreaming of who-knows-what, nibbling on a corner of her quilt with a rhythmic chewing motion as glistening saliva drifted unconsciously from the corner of her mouth.
“Mmm… humph…”
There was a soft tap-tap-tap at the door, followed by Yu Mingfei’s unusually gentle voice: “Hey? Is the little brat awake yet? I’m guessing you’re probably still out… tsk, why did this little brat lock the door?”
“Just let Xiao Jing sleep.” Yu Minghui’s voice carried a faint traces of tiredness, as if she hadn’t quite woken up herself.
Today’s Qingming Festival was a public holiday, and it was only five in the morning. It was perfectly normal for An Jing to still be asleep. If she were awake now, she most likely would have been suffering from insomnia last night…
The wind lightly brushed against An Jing’s face. The voices outside the door were chaotic and blurred. An Jing hugged her quilt and stuffed a bit more into her mouth, completely oblivious to the sounds outside.
“Xiao Jing—!”
Yu Mingfei suddenly raised her voice.
“Feifei, it’s early morning, don’t wake up the neighbors.”
“I know, I’m just calling out… hmm—Xiao Jing, Xiao Jing, Xiao Jing.” Yu Mingfei’s knocking grew more rapid, like the drums in a grand festival within An Jing’s dream, causing her bed to vibrate along with the rhythm.
However, she seemed to sleep even more soundly, perhaps because the dream and reality had merged, making it feel more lifelike.
“Xiao Jing, Huihui and I are going to visit the graves. Do you want to come? If not, I’ll take the minibus by myself. Since Huihui and I are headed in two different directions, after all.”
“Mghm.”
“Alright, let’s just go ourselves. Feifei, are you really going to take the minibus alone?”
“Yeah, if it’s just me, I’ll just take the bus. Visiting the graves is more appropriate in the early morning, anyway.” Yu Mingfei straightened the blue shirt she was wearing. “Should I throw a wool coat over this? It seems a bit cold today.”
“You should wear one.”
“Huihui, are you going to your maternal grandmother’s place first?”
“Yeah, grandmother’s side first. This year, the ancestral graves back home were just relocated, so none of us are allowed to go there.”
“I mean, are you only going to your maternal grandmother’s side?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, then give me a call later to pick me up. I want to go to the public cemetery in the afternoon to visit a friend’s grave.”
“You never mentioned this.”
“An online friend I met a few years ago. I haven’t heard from her this year, and I only found out last month that she passed away. I originally thought since we were both in small cities, we could meet up and hang out… now I can only go visit her grave.”
“Visiting the grave of an online friend you’ve never even met… Feifei, you can be quite romantic sometimes.”
“She was a pretty good friend, after all. I even asked her for advice when I fought with you. *Cough*!”
“Have we ever fought?” Yu Minghui blinked curiously.
“M-maybe you felt it was fine… but, I…”
“Feifei, being too sensitive sometimes isn’t good, you know.”
“When I’m not sensitive, you say I’m dense. What do you want me to do?” Yu Mingfei pouted, draped the wool coat from the back of the chair over her shoulders, and then bent down to pull on her tall boots by the door. “Huihui, walk me to the station?”
“Sure thing.”
“Since we live in a small city, the responsibility of visiting the graves falls on us younger generations. Logically, it should be our parents’ generation doing this…”
“It’s fine to save them some trouble. It’s rare to have the Qingming Festival off, so let them rest well at home. The travel expenses to come here aren’t cheap, either.”
“Tsk, is staying in the old hometown without leaving just so we can be used as coolies?” Yu Mingfei touched her pocket, and the hand that was about to push the door open retracted. “I forgot my phone.”
“Where is it?”
“On the nightstand, probably.”
“I’ll get it for you.”
“Yeah, oh, right, grab my thermos for me too.”
“Here, thermos first.”
“Phew… I used to hate drinking water this hot, but now I’m used to it. I’m really getting old.”
“Your health has just declined a bit, that’s all. You drank too much yesterday and got a nosebleed; you really need to exercise properly from now on.”
“I think it’s because that ginseng wine was too potent…”
“It’s just that your body is weak.”
“Have mercy, Huihui. I just want to lie down as soon as I get home; I’m too lazy to move… I would literally die if I had to exercise every day.”
“What if I join you?”
“Well… that’s not out of the question…”
“Found your phone.”
“Good, don’t forget yours either.” As Yu Mingfei spoke, she pushed the door open forcefully. The 5:00 AM gale rushed at her, messing up her freshly combed hair. “The wind is really strong today.”
“Let me check if the windows are closed.”
“They should all be shut.”
“Wait, I’ll leave a note for Xiao Jing.”
“Okay.”
Their voices gradually faded until the door clicked shut. Their words were completely cut off by the wind, and eventually, even the sound of their footsteps could no longer be heard.
The entire house sank back into a silence where even the dust ceased to dance…
***
(2)
“The rain falls incessantly, the grass and trees grow deep in the old hometown, I hear that you are always alone…”
The music in the rain was hazy, dragging An Jing out of her warm dream.
Of course, what actually woke her up was the quilt that had fallen onto the floor.
“Ugh… I was wondering why it was so cold.” An Jing grumbled as she bent over to pick up the quilt and wobbled out of bed.
“Achoo!” She rubbed her shoulders with her arms crossed. “It’s a bit chilly today…”
An Jing haphazardly pulled on the school uniform left by her bed. Since there were several sets at home, she purposely kept the loosest one to use as pajamas—though there was no problem wearing it out, either.
She walked into the living room, squinting her eyes to read the clock on the wall: “Seven… not even seven yet. So early. Haven’t Sister Minghui and Sister Fei woken up yet?”
The freezing tap water quickly woke her up: “Wait, today is Monday. Oh no, I’m going to be late for school!”
She finished her morning routine in record time and grabbed her backpack to run out, but her gaze fell on the calendar by the door. It was the kind where you tear off a page every day; on holidays, the black ink turned into red.
And today, the two large characters for “Qingming” were printed above the date, exceptionally striking.
“Ah… wait, today is the Qingming Festival, it’s a holiday.” An Jing patted her head, her whole body instantly relaxing. “In that case… oh no, have Sister Minghui and Sister Fei already left?”
She hurriedly pushed open their bedroom door. The quilts inside had already been neatly folded. The air in the room held only a lingering trace of a familiar scent, but it was clear the occupants had been gone for a while.
“Ah, they’ve all gone out… am I the only one home today?” An Jing scratched her head. “This is the first time I haven’t had to go visit the graves during the Qingming Festival. It feels a bit strange…”
It was still early, and since she had already washed up, she didn’t feel like going back to sleep.
Moreover, it was a rare holiday. It would be a waste to sleep through it—she had already wasted two days, so she couldn’t let this third day go to waste as well.
She sat down at the computer desk impatiently and opened QQ as soon as the machine booted up.
Even though she had slept very late last night, someone had still sent her a message today.
An Jing clicked it and checked the time: “Sent at six-thirty… Huh, Xiao Ying got up that early?”
[Going out?]
Zhu Ying’s message was simple, just two words.
An Jing looked hesitantly at the rain outside before typing back: [Where to?]
[Xiao Ru’s house.]
[Huh?] When An Jing sent this, she included an anime sticker of a character with a question mark over its head.
[No particular reason, just want to hang out, with you.]
[Oh, okay…]
[See you at the usual spot?]
[See you at the usual spot.]
“Going to Wangwang’s house? Speaking of which, A-Qiang said her parents haven’t been back in a long time. Even though they send money every half-month, I really don’t know what kind of business they’re doing to ignore their daughter like that…” An Jing grumbled as she walked into the living room. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a note and picked it up.
“Feifei and I are going out to visit the graves and will be back very late. There’s bread in the fridge, and half a box of instant noodles left. If you eat out, you can go to that fast food place we always go to. If you don’t have enough money, you can put it on our tab, and we’ll pay when we get back…”
This was the message from Yu Minghui.
An Jing felt the wallet in her pocket and tilted her head slightly: “I should at least have enough for a meal… I’ll eat out today. Better head out quickly, Xiao Ying will definitely get there before me…”
With a thud, the door was slammed shut. The last person in the house had left, finally leaving behind only a mass of cold air…
***
(3)
The rain turned into streaks, falling densely and drumming against the surface of the umbrella with a continuous pitter-patter.
An Jing carefully stepped on the stone tiles of the plaza, trying to avoid being splashed by those “hidden mines.”
By the roadside were some Incense and Candles that had been extinguished shortly after being lit, along with bits of Joss Paper completely soaked by the rain.
Some of the older generation were still practicing the traditions of the small city: scattering Joss Paper along the way to the graves. Those who were more meticulous would even offer incense along the route to bribe the woodland spirits and lesser deities.
It seemed to rain every year during the Qingming Festival.
An Jing lightly spun her umbrella, thinking of things far away:
“I wonder if anyone will visit my grave after I die? But even if they do, it probably won’t matter, right? I’ll be dead anyway, I won’t be able to perceive anything. Whether it’s good or bad won’t matter at all…” Thinking this, she suddenly paused. “Then why visit the graves at all? Is it just to comfort the living?”