(1)
The room still held the damp moisture from the rain, but the rain outside had already stopped.
Sunlight was streaming through the gaps in the clouds, making the babbling stream sparkle.
An Jing tentatively pushed open the wooden door and peeked inside.
“Uh… no one’s here.”
“The cake’s on the table. Has Zhou Chao already come by?”
“Wangwang isn’t home? Maybe she’s upstairs?” An Jing murmured as she stepped over the threshold and glanced at the still-steaming cup of green tea on the table. “She probably hasn’t been gone long.”
Zhu Ying walked over to the table and casually plucked a fennel bean into her mouth. “Maybe she just went to the bathroom. Let’s wait for a bit downstairs.”
An Jing nodded, placed her schoolbag on the bamboo chair, and sat down with a creak.
These bamboo chairs always seemed to make noise when you sat on them. They were a bit loose and wobbly, and occasionally, if they were too old, they could even pinch your skin.
But fortunately, the chairs at Wang Xinru’s house didn’t look that worn out yet.
An Jing pulled out her game console, which she’d been playing on the bus earlier. The electronic beeping sounds started up again, and using the sunlight streaming in through the window, she once again immersed herself in the world of throwing Poké Balls to catch Pokémon.
Zhu Ying pulled over an even smaller wooden chair beside An Jing, gently leaned her arm against hers, and took out her flip phone. After a brief loading screen, she opened the text-based version of QQ Farm.
“Xiao Jing, when I get to high school, I want to ask my dad for a new phone.”
“Huh? That super expensive thing… the iPhone?”
“I want that one, but my dad definitely won’t buy it. I’ll get something similar when the time comes—one without a keyboard, just a pure touchscreen. I heard those phones have tons of features. Maybe I’ll even be able to receive images on QQ.”
“That won’t be cheap either.” An Jing’s eyes were still fixed on the GBA’s screen. The Poké Ball wobbled left and right, but at the last second it popped open. She wasn’t worried, though—she opened her bag and saw another hundred or so Great Balls waiting for this hard-to-catch Pokémon.
“Xiao Jing, aren’t you going to get a new one?”
“I think mine works fine. And besides, I really like my current phone. There’s no need to change. Even if I asked, my dad would definitely say no.”
“Your dad’s way stingier than mine.”
“It’s not stinginess. He’d just say something like, ‘Schoolwork comes first. Going to high school is for studying.’ If I wanted to switch phones just for fun, he’d shut me down. As long as a phone can call and text, that’s enough—that’s what he thinks. At least mine has a few extra features, so I’m pretty satisfied.”
“Xiao Jing is so easily content.”
“Contentment brings happiness.”
“Hmph~ I don’t care! I’m still changing. Times are moving forward, and I can’t fall behind.”
“How about we get a summer job? Earn some money and buy it ourselves. If we’re still short, then we ask our parents. That way they’re more likely to agree.”
“Great idea! But what kind of job could we do? A waitress?”
“We’ll look around when the time comes. There are always places hiring, as long as they’re looking for summer or temporary workers.” An Jing’s eyes lit up. “Ah, got it!”
“Is that the one you were trying to catch the whole bus ride?”
“Yeah. Look—Articuno. Pretty cool, right?”
“Mm… looks chilly.”
“That’s why it’s called Articuno.” After showing off, An Jing looked down and started fiddling with the console again. This time she wasn’t catching Pokémon; she was picking new moves to teach it.
◎
(2)
When Wang Xinru came downstairs, she saw Zhu Ying lying on An Jing’s thighs, typing messages rapidly with both thumbs. From the familiar notification sound, it was definitely QQ.
An Jing was holding a horizontal game console, playing with a focused expression, a thoughtful look on her face—like she was trying hard to solve a puzzle.
There wasn’t much conversation between the two, but they were very close. They weren’t looking at each other, but their free body parts would often do little affectionate gestures.
For example, Zhu Ying liked to deliberately shake her head, using her hair to tickle An Jing’s cheek.
And An Jing would gently bounce her leg, making Zhu Ying’s head bob up and down.
“An’an and Yingying, when did you get here?”
“Huh? About twenty minutes ago.” An Jing quickly pressed a few buttons, turned off the console, and looked up with a smile.
“Almost half an hour.” Zhu Ying pressed on An Jing’s shoulder and sat up with a rustle, turning her head to look at Wang Xinru. “Xiao Ru, you look really pretty today.”
“Huh? Really?” Wang Xinru chuckled softly, pinched the hem of her skirt, and spun around. “What do you think, An’an?”
“Looks great.” An Jing answered without hesitation.
Wang Xinru was wearing an orange-yellow pinafore dress over a white lace-trimmed short-sleeved top, with a pair of clean white ankle socks that barely covered her ankles. Her light blue sandals didn’t ruin the look; instead, they made her appear relaxed and natural.
“Xiao Ru really suits orange-yellow. Right now, you look just like a sunflower.”
“Really?” She looked down at her skirt. “I just thought this outfit fit the summer.”
“We didn’t pick the wrong cake, did we?” An Jing wrinkled her nose proudly. “I told you Wangwang would like this style.”
“What’s the cake like?”
“It’s a Flower Field Cake. Xiao Jing picked it out. The background is a painted flower field, and they used colored cream to make a few yellow flowers.”
“Those are sunflowers…”
“But sunflowers have black centers, don’t they? Those were too yellow.”
“There must be different varieties.” An Jing shook her head helplessly.
Wang Xinru gently smoothed the folds of her skirt and grinned. “An’an and Yingying, do you want to help make dinner?”
“Dinner? But it’s only noon.” An Jing was dumbfounded.
“We can start preparing slowly.”
“Are we making a really lavish dinner?” Zhu Ying seemed interested.
“How about a simple home-cooked meal? But the wild vegetables need a bit of work. They have to be soaked in salt water for a while first.”
“Oh, you mean the kind that tastes bitter if you don’t soak them?”
“Yeah, and there’s more than one kind.” Wang Xinru pointed to a bamboo basket by the kitchen door. “I picked these all yesterday.”
“That’s a lot.”
“Wild vegetables are pretty tasty… and they save money.”
“That’s impressive, Wangwang. You weren’t exactly a housework expert before.”
“When you live on your own, you have to learn these things slowly.” Wang Xinru chuckled. “Today I’ll make An’an do more work, okay? I changed into clean clothes and don’t want to get them dirty.”
“No problem! Leave it to me!”
“I’ll help too!”
“If you don’t mind, you can go back a little later tonight…” Wang Xinru paused for a few seconds, then added, “Or you could even stay overnight.”
“Stay overnight? Hmm… I’m interested. What about you, Xiao Jing?”
“Huh? Where would we sleep?”
“There are a few extra rooms…”
“But whenever we stay over, it’s more fun to all sleep together, isn’t it?”
“Cough… I’ll take my own room.” An Jing scratched her head.
“Come on, you’re not a guy anymore. What are you shy about?”
“Even if I’m not a guy, I can’t be that flirtatious.”
“Hmm? What does that have to do with flirting? Xiao Jing, you’re definitely thinking about something weird!”
“I am not!”
“You totally are!”
“Uh… well, yeah, of course I’d think of something weird…”
“It’s fine. If you want, you can even hug me while you sleep.”
“I’m afraid I’ll end up hugging the wrong person in the middle of the night…”
“You dare?!” Zhu Ying’s eyes widened, and her shout made both Wang Xinru and An Jing shrink their necks.
“See? You can never be sure about nighttime. Once I’m asleep, I don’t know what I’ll do. This morning I woke up on the floor, and I don’t even remember how I got there.”
“Then we should just tie Xiao Jing up with a rope.” Zhu Ying narrowed her eyes with a smile.
“Eek?!”
(3)
It wasn’t a lively birthday dinner—only An Jing and Zhu Ying came, and even counting Wang Xinru, there were just three people. Yet this was the most heartwarming birthday Wang Xinru had ever had.
On the table was a bowl of tofu soup thickened with starch, sprinkled with a little minced meat and scallions. The aroma was already tantalizing.
The other dishes were: cold fern shoots mixed with dandelion; purslane stir-fried in oil with sweet pepper sauce; and several pieces of fried fish wrapped in perilla leaves.
The last dish was made by An Jing—a stir-fry of a random mix of wild vegetables, including the bamboo shoots Wang Xinru had dug up yesterday.
They were all vegetables, nothing extravagant like meat or fish, but the plates were piled high, giving a feeling of abundance.
The three of them worked quickly. The reason they were busy until evening was mostly because they spent more time chatting. Occasionally, Wang Xinru would run upstairs to bring something down—like when An Jing gave her a summer vacation homework book from elementary school, she went upstairs and grabbed several old notebooks from An Jing’s elementary school days.
They were full of scribbles from An Jing’s childhood. Zhu Ying guessed for a long time but couldn’t figure out what some of the drawings meant.
As for asking An Jing—she herself had no idea. She even felt unfamiliar looking at the words on the pages.
“Alright! Finally we can eat! I didn’t have lunch, I’m starving.”
“Eat the fried fish first. It won’t taste as good if it gets cold.”
“Hold on. Do you want something to drink?” Wang Xinru suddenly asked.
“If you don’t have anything at home, that’s fine.”
“I could run out and buy some. The village shop is right nearby…” Wang Xinru smiled excitedly. “Or, Xiao Jing, would you like to try some yellow wine?”
“Yellow wine? Did you buy it?”
“Someone gave it to me. Actually, they gave it to my dad—a jar of Nu’er Hong…”
“His daughter got married?”
“Yes.”
“Then your dad must be really close to him.” An Jing had grown up in town and knew the local customs well. “My dad would probably love that kind of yellow wine…”
“Xiao Jing, I want to try it!” Zhu Ying’s eyes lit up.
“Well… a little bit should… be okay, right?”
“I’ll go get it!”