(1)
The gentle spring rain dyed the streets at five in the morning as if it were midnight.
Street lamps glowed one by one, stretching into the distance, with patches of darkness in between.
But if you looked far enough, you could always see the light from the lamps that hadn’t yet broken.
The sidewalk’s stone tiles were like hidden thunder under the rain—no one knew if the next step would splash water.
So when there were few cars around, it was actually “safer” to walk on the asphalt road beside the sidewalk.
Thick white steam billowed out from each breakfast stall, carrying that warm, fresh scent that somehow made Anjing feel more awake.
Several customers had already gathered in front of the Bun Shop, while a few were slurping Wonton Soup inside the Wonton Shop.
At the Street Corner, the low Residential Wall of a house was missing a piece.
There, a simple canopy made of colorful plastic sheets had been set up, where a middle-aged couple was busy preparing ingredients.
On the three round Iron Griddles in front of them, piles of food rose like small mountains, releasing an enticing aroma as they were constantly stirred and fried.
This was the most common roadside breakfast stall in small towns, frying rice noodles, flat rice noodles, and noodles respectively.
If you didn’t want any extras, a large portion cost only one yuan.
If you wanted to add pork loin or ham sausage, it would cost extra.
Under the canopy sat several workers in dirty, worn clothes—likely from a nearby construction site.
Some wore only short sleeves but were already sweating, tiredly lifting clear plastic cups to take a sip of white liquor.
They grimaced after the harsh taste, then quickly lowered their heads, shoveling the fried noodles into their mouths.
These were probably night shift workers who had just finished and were getting ready to go home and sleep.
Although the small town didn’t have many large factories, there were many small ones—some better described as family workshops, since they were often just single-story houses built in rural yards on the outskirts.
Most factories handled very specialized tasks—making only gears, or just producing pants, or simply performing light processing on raw materials brought in by others…
Wages weren’t high, but the hours were long, and there were hardly any social insurance or medical benefits.
Still, many people chose to work there.
Some probably didn’t want to be far from home, while others felt safer working for relatives.
Whenever Anjing saw these people, as a student, she always felt grateful.
After all, she had no worries about life and didn’t have to fear living that kind of existence—she believed that as long as she kept studying and got into university, she could at least have an ordinary nine-to-five life.
“Xiao Jing?”
Zhu Ying tilted her umbrella slightly, but the mischievous wind still blew the misty rain onto their faces.
“How about some fried noodles?”
Anjing looked at the dry, rubbery-looking fried noodles and nodded gently.
“Then fried noodles it is.”
“Boss~ two servings of fried noodles, and two bags of soy milk.”
“Do you want anything added to the fried noodles?”
“I don’t.”
“What about you, Xiao Jing?”
“I want pork loin.”
Anjing hesitated, pressing her lips together.
“Uh… and some vegetables too. Oh, and make sure it’s cooked through!”
“How much do you want it for?”
“One yuan portion is fine.”
“Same here.”
“Alright.”
The boss used a small garden-spade-like iron spatula to separate a portion of the noodles, then stir-fried it on the empty spot on the Iron Griddle.
This kind of fried noodles tasted better than the kind cooked one serving at a time in a single wok, because the noodles on top were always kept warm and occasionally flipped, making them especially well-cooked.
“Cooked through” roughly meant dry and chewy.
The boss held the foam container that creaked as it was squeezed, filled one portion of fried noodles, then grabbed a handful of vegetables to toss into the empty spot on the griddle.
He also took a skewer of pre-fried pork loin, removed the bamboo stick, and placed the meat on the griddle to reheat.
That small garden-spade-like tool was both a spatula and a knife in the boss’s hands, making it especially handy.
The large pieces of pork loin were sliced into smaller chunks, and the vegetables gained a tempting color as they were stir-fried.
Finally, the boss pushed the mound of noodles over, frying everything together a bit before scooping it all into the foam containers.
“Pork loin and vegetables added is two yuan fifty. Two servings together total three yuan fifty.”
“Boss, and the soy milk.”
Zhu Ying reminded, “Make mine hot.”
“Okay, okay, soy milk is fifty cents, so four yuan fifty total.”
Anjing hurriedly handed over the money before Zhu Ying could reach for her wallet.
Lately, whenever they bought things together, it was usually Anjing who paid, which made her feel a little embarrassed.
Zhu Ying didn’t say anything about it but just smiled slightly, winking at Anjing as she took the bag from the boss.
“Let me carry it?”
“No need, Xiao Jing, you hold the umbrella.”
“Oh… okay.”
Anjing nodded, raised the umbrella, and was about to walk out when the boss called after her.
“Haha, young lady, you forgot your change!”
“Ah, I almost forgot!”
Anjing turned awkwardly and took the fifty-cent note, stuffing it carelessly into her pocket.
“Ahem, let’s go? Eat in the classroom before it gets cold.”
“Mm, let’s go!”
Zhu Ying held the breakfast with her left hand, hugged Anjing’s arm that held the umbrella with her right, and gently leaned her head against hers.
“Slow down, don’t step in any puddles.”
“I know.”
***
(2)
The street lamp at the school gate seemed about to break; it flickered unsteadily.
The drizzle was continuous, tempting one not to open an umbrella.
But in reality, if you didn’t, this seemingly light rain would quickly soak your hair.
Spring was much warmer now, but getting wet still made you prone to catching a cold.
Anjing’s arms were already a little sore, so she raised the umbrella a bit higher.
She glanced at the newly installed electric gate for the semester, then tried pushing the small side door beside it.
The small door was closed and had a copper lock hanging on it, but it wasn’t actually locked.
Anjing stretched out her slender arm, took the small lock off from the inside, and slowly pulled open the iron door.
The guard booth glowed with an orange-yellow light, where the Uncle Security Guard was already asleep, head resting on a stack of newspapers.
Beside him, the open glass cup had lost its heat—the tea leaves inside, soaked repeatedly, had sunk to the bottom.
Anjing and Zhu Ying exchanged a glance and inexplicably found it funny, both unable to help smiling with their eyes narrowing.
“Pfft…”
“Ahem… what are you laughing at?”
“What’s Xiao Jing laughing about?”
“I don’t know, it just seems funny… like sneaking in like a thief.”
“Oh right, did you put the lock back on?”
“Uh huh, it’s in my pocket—I almost took it with me…”
Anjing hurriedly hung the lock back on the small door, making a faint clinking sound.
Fortunately, the Uncle Security Guard was sound asleep and didn’t react to the noise.
The orange-yellow light continued to shine on his back, like sunlight during the day.
Anjing quickened her pace slightly and gently twirled the umbrella.
“There’s a familiar feeling.”
“Familiar about what?”
“Walking with you under an umbrella in the rain, in the early morning.”
“Do you remember it now?”
“Just feels familiar, but I can’t recall anything.”
Anjing tilted her head toward Zhu Ying.
“Still from a dream?”
“Yes. That time we both ‘couldn’t sleep’ in the dream, so we went out under an umbrella to search for supplies.
The sky was just as dark, the rain light, and we walked closely together, searching through ruin after ruin.
By dawn, we’d only found a pack of sugar, but the process was fun—like a perfectly intact phone we spent ages trying to turn on, only to find it was a model…”
Zhu Ying suddenly stopped and looked quietly at Anjing.
Her clear eyes seemed to glow faintly in the darkness.
“Xiao Jing, do you want to hear more?”
“Yes.”
“Hm~ the funniest part was when you got scared by a mannequin. While searching, it suddenly toppled onto you. Pfft, that scene was really funny.”
“…Wait, you were the one scared, right? You hugged me suddenly and screamed, which startled me.”
“Eh—! You remember now?”
“A little. You can’t fool me this time!”
“Do you know what happened next?”
“What?”
“Xiao Jing suddenly got bold, placing her hand on my stomach and lifting my shirt, then…”
“Hey, hey, there’s no way I would do that!”
“Don’t believe me? Dream Xiao Jing can be quite daring sometimes, you know.”
“That was you, wasn’t it?”
“Eh, remember something else?”
“No—”
Anjing lowered her eyelids.
“Just a guess. Turns out I was right.”
“Tch, actually I never did that kind of thing either!”
“Really?”
“Of course! What do you take me for?”
“…Ahem!”
Anjing blushed and coughed, folded the umbrella to shake off the water droplets, then suddenly quickened her steps toward the building.
“The kind who can’t help but grope pretty girls!”
“Damn you, Xiao Jing!!”
Zhu Ying gritted her teeth and stomped hard.
“Where did your mind go?!”
“Isn’t that true?!”
Anjing sped up.
“I’m only like that with you!!”
“Really?”
“Of course!”
“But I’m not happy about it at all!”
“Fine, if you dare, don’t run!”
Zhu Ying growled, chasing after Anjing upstairs.
“If you do, you won’t be allowed back in the classroom!”
Their footsteps grew hurried in the stairwell.
Their breathing grew heavier.
“Ah!!”
“Hmph! Got you!”
“I’m sorry!”
“Too late! I’ll punish you right here!”
“Eh!? Ah!!”
Then came the sound of something heavy suddenly hitting the floor.
“Clumsy Xiao Jing, you fell, didn’t you? Does it hurt?”
“I’m okay… ah, ow—don’t, don’t touch!”
“You said you’re fine, but your hand got cut by a stone on the ground. Look, it’s bleeding, really.”
“It’s only because of tha—”
“Hm?”
“I’m fine! Really!”
“Get up quickly. I’m not joking. I think I have a band-aid in my bag. First, clean the wound.”
“Cough… okay…”
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