(1)
At the bend in the road, the distant roar of an engine could be heard, the “woo-woo” sound drawing ever nearer. With a crisp, decisive turn, the car swung onto the lane leading up to the school gate.
It was a white Shenlong Fukang.
This kind of hatchback was very compact, with little space inside to load things, but that just made it look even more agile.
It continued forward a bit, then performed a beautiful tailspin to turn around, coming to a stop right in front of the school gate.
“Huihui-jie!”
An Jing waved enthusiastically at the young woman inside, whose face, when expressionless, was as cold as an iceberg.
“You’re so fast!”
“I was just about to head out!”
Yu Minghui’s eyes sparkled as she laughed, her icy demeanor melting away in an instant.
“When I saw the text from Xiao Jing, I thought I might as well take you with me.”
“Xiao Ying is coming too!”
An Jing pointed to Zhu Ying, who was standing just behind her.
Zhu Ying pressed her lips together in a smile and bent down slightly to greet them.
“Huihui-jie~”
“Xiao Ying, you’re coming too? The place we’re going today is a little far!”
“I don’t mind, as long as I’m sent home tonight.”
“Then hop in!”
Yu Minghui tapped the steering wheel lightly with her finger.
“Who wants the front seat?”
“I’ll sit in the back—”
“What about you, Xiao Ying?”
“Of course I’m squeezing in with Xiao Jing.”
“Be careful not to get carsick!”
“No way!”
***
(2)
“X-_”
“Need a napkin?”
“Mm… urgh—!!”
“Sorry, there were barely any cars on the road, so I accidentally drove too fast.”
“It’s a mountain road… urgh—”
The sunlight spilled over the white car’s roof, making it look like it was coated with yet-unmelted condensed milk.
Zhu Ying glanced back, then promptly threw up again with a “wah!”
An Jing handed her a napkin and turned her face away, worried that if she watched any longer, she’d end up vomiting too…
Yu Minghui, looking apologetic, reached into the back seat and took out a bottle of mineral water, twisting the cap off and handing it to Zhu Ying.
Zhu Ying shook her head, bracing her hands on her knees. At the thought of their homeroom teacher’s son lying in a pool of blood, she retched several more times—she’d probably thrown up everything she ate for lunch and breakfast today.
The more she tried not to think about it, the clearer the scene became—even though, in reality, all she’d seen was a blurry silhouette.
“Huihui-jie, could you maybe… drive a bit more gently?”
An Jing sighed helplessly.
“Look, Xiao Ying is this carsick.”
“Sorry, I just sped up out of habit.”
“Though, I didn’t think today’s turns were that bad. It shouldn’t have made you so sick, right?”
“I wasn’t feeling great to begin with…”
Zhu Ying took the napkin An Jing kept holding out, wiped the corner of her mouth, and shifted her gaze away from the bushes she’d just generously ‘fertilized.’
“Xiao Ying, rinse your mouth and drink some water—it’ll help you feel better.”
“Mm… thanks…”
It took nearly half an hour before Zhu Ying finally started to recover.
“Feeling better?”
“Much better…”
“You usually feel your teeth go sour after throwing up,” An Jing said, handing her another bottle of water from the back seat.
“Drink more water or it’ll feel really awful.”
“Mm… Xiao Jing, you’re so thoughtful.”
“Cough… it’s nothing, really!” An Jing’s face flushed red, and she smiled shyly, taking a couple of steps forward.
“Huihui-jie, where are we going next?”
“Further in.”
“Is this a village?”
“Yep, but hardly anyone lives here anymore. Look at all the weeds growing on the slope, and all those loose stones—you used to be able to drive a car up here.”
An Jing looked back.
The car was parked by the tunnel exit, and the little tunnel itself looked barely wide enough for one car to go through at a time.
If another car came from the opposite direction, one would have to back all the way to the entrance to let the other pass.
In Province Z, a mountainous place, tunnels like these were everywhere.
Some had even been dug out decades ago by local residents; they were either not very sturdy or not very spacious.
Many had already been abandoned, since the war had ended and, in times of peace, there was little reason to live deep in the mountains anymore.
This tunnel was covered in flowering vines and clumps of fuzzy green moss, looking completely untended.
Even if it wasn’t abandoned yet, it probably wouldn’t last much longer.
Thankfully, this tunnel seemed reinforced, so at least for the next decade or so, there was no need to worry about it collapsing.
“Where are we?”
An Jing looked around with curiosity.
“The grass is so tall, even the flower fields have been abandoned.”
“This is my grandma’s house—well, to be precise,” Yu Minghui took a deep breath of the fresh air and ruffled An Jing’s hair with a smile, “it’s my grandaunt’s house, since my grandma doesn’t live here anymore.”
“Grandaunt?”
“My grandma’s younger sister.”
“Oh… Why does she still live here? Isn’t it really inconvenient?”
“Maybe she just can’t bear to leave.”
“Is she the only one living in this village?”
After rinsing her mouth, Zhu Ying poured some clear mineral water into her mouth, the raised plastic bottle catching a glint of sunlight.
“There are still a few old folks living here—probably six or seven, maybe eight or nine at most.”
Yu Minghui shook her head with a smile.
“Sometimes I come by to visit, just to clear my head. I never come during the holidays, just pick any random day.”
“Even in villages with convenient transportation, people are leaving. Let alone a remote mountain village like this.”
Now that she’d recovered, Zhu Ying finally had the energy to enjoy the scenery.
“But coming here once in a while isn’t bad—Xiao Jing, are you like that too?”
“Like what?”
An Jing looked blank.
“I mean, do you prefer quiet places to crowded tourist spots—even if those places aren’t really ‘scenic’ at all?”
“Uh… well…”
An Jing dragged out the sound, “I guess I still like busier places a bit more…”
“Why, though? If it’s crowded, you can’t see the scenery.”
“But crowded places are more convenient, right?”
“Your name is ‘An Jing’—quiet—but you actually like the bustle the most.”
Zhu Ying folded her arms and let out a little hum, then leaned in close to blow a warm breath across An Jing’s face.
“How about now, does it smell?”
“…A bit sour.”
“Guess you haven’t had enough water yet.”
“Let’s go, Xiao Jing, Xiao Ying, let’s head up.”
***
(3)
This place must have been beautiful once.
Even now, despite the decay, a trace of its former charm could still be seen.
On either side of the slope, there should have been farmland and flower fields, and the low, mud-brick houses were built along the incline.
Unlike most natural villages, this place had clearly been planned during construction.
The houses weren’t densely packed, and all were built beyond a wooden archway.
There were words carved into the stone at the entrance, but the red paint had flaked off, leaving only faint traces of the characters visible up close.
“Dà Shítou Village. What a simple name.”
An Jing curled her lips.
“Since they went through the trouble of carving it into stone, I thought it would be something pretty.”
“My grandma said they tried other names before, but everyone chose the simplest one in the end.”
Yu Minghui gently stroked the stone at the village entrance.
“A lot of people believed that if the name was too grand, something bad would happen to the village.”
“Did anything ever happen?”
“Not really, but eventually everyone left anyway.”
“They all moved to the city…”
“Yeah, first to small cities, then bigger ones, then the provincial capital, and finally everyone ended up near the first-tier cities.”
Yu Minghui put her hands behind her back and strolled through the still-sturdy wooden archway with a gentle smile.
“Just like Japan.”
“By the way, I heard from Fei-jie that Huihui-jie, you’ve been to Japan?”
“Mm, most people there gather in Tokyo. When I was visiting, I thought, maybe in the future, Tokyo will just be Japan, and Japan will just be Tokyo.”
“Japan’s really only the size of a single province anyway—though it’s still bigger than Province Z.”
An Jing hurried to catch up with Yu Minghui, but Zhu Ying grabbed her and pulled her back.
“Xiao Jing, slow down! Whew… this hill is tough.”
“Really? You can’t even handle this slope?”
“I said I’m not feeling well today!”
Zhu Ying glared at her fiercely.
“I’m on my period too…”
An Jing pouted, looking around the village with curiosity.
Unlike the fishing village, there were few wooden houses here.
Most were built with mud bricks or stone; an occasional red-brick house counted as new.
The village’s muddy path was paved with scattered cobblestones, some dug up and tossed aside by who-knew-who, some already cracked and broken.
“Whoa—that house collapsed.”
An Jing stood on tiptoe to peer over a low wall.
“But it looks like only half fell.”
“That one was crushed by snow—in the blizzard of ’08. But actually, nobody had lived there for over ten years.”
“At least it didn’t collapse while someone was inside…”
“A house with people is less likely to collapse under snow.”
“The roof wouldn’t collect as much snow? Oh, right, people cook at home and there’s heat.”
“I like the vines on that broken wall.”
Zhu Ying pointed inside.
“Vines growing from the ruins have a special beauty.”
“Ah… really?”
“Yeah! Look, Xiao Jing, there are little white flowers blooming on the vine. Aren’t they adorable?”
“So tiny.”
“That’s what makes them cute. There’s this… bursting sense of life!”
“Yeah… it does feel like that.”
“Do you want to look around the village first or go to my grandaunt’s house?”
Yu Minghui stood not far ahead, smiling.
“Let’s go there first! There’s still plenty of time to explore, right, Xiao Ying?”
“I’m good with anything.”
Zhu Ying opened her phone and snapped a photo—not of the scenery, but of An Jing standing by the broken wall.
For some reason, in that instant, she felt that An Jing looked especially reassuring…