The evening sky suddenly began to turn a dusky yellow. The sunset still had a long way to go before dipping below the horizon.
It was an abnormal, dusky yellow.
It was like being in an endless desert.
The entire world was tinged with a kind of desolate, fading yellow. The clouds seemed to have flipped over, turning from white to a deep gray all at once. They hung low, pressing down, making it a little hard to breathe.
A strong wind ruffled An Jing’s hair. A marble shot from her hand, crack! hitting another marble and knocking it out of the boundary drawn with a stick.
“I win!”
“Not bad! I’m out of practice, haven’t played in ages.”
“Don’t underestimate me! Back in the day, it was just that my odds against you were low, okay? I always won against others. That’s why I kept playing with you—I wanted to win a few more times from you. Too bad, that last time, you ended up winning all my marbles in one go.”
“Haha—I was just too strong back then. Unbelievably strong.” Zhou Chao laughed, scratching his head. “How did I even manage to hit exactly where I aimed?”
“You’d have to ask yourself that.” An Jing pouted slightly, gently dusted off the marbles, and put them back in her pocket. She looked up at the sky. “Such a strange sky.”
“It’s like a sandstorm is coming.”
“Yeah, yeah! I feel the same way!”
“Xiao Jing!” Zhu Ying, leaning against the bus window, suddenly exclaimed. “Look! The horizon is blood-red!”
“Wow—really?”
It wasn’t the color of an ordinary sunset. That smear of crimson seemed to stain the entire other half of the sky, even making the cries of the wild geese flying past sound somewhat mournful.
“Whoa, heavenly portents.” Zhou Chao exclaimed exaggeratedly. “An Jing, do you know about the 2012 doomsday prophecy?”
“I know.”
“Maybe this is the precursor!”
“I remember it was December 21st, 2012!”
“Right! It totally feels like the end of the world. Damn, it’s kinda awesome.” “You like this feeling?”
“I like the feeling of everyone being destroyed together. For some reason, it feels… thrilling. Don’t you think?” Zhou Chao tilted his head to look at An Jing, a small curve lifting the corner of his mouth.
“I don’t know if I like it or not. But seeing this sky, feeling like the world is about to end, it just makes me inexplicably… fired up.”
“Fired up?” Zhou Chao didn’t quite understand.
“If something is going to destroy the world, then someone has to stand up and save it, right?” An Jing clenched her fists excitedly. “Even if everyone else despairs, I’d be willing to try. I think that feeling is great, it’s that kind of—”
“Bringing light to others?”
“Yes!” “Haha—An Jing is just An Jing.” Zhou Chao threw his head back and laughed. “Always been like this.” “Xiao Jing has already saved the world in the dream world, you know. And she fought desperately! I saw it with my own eyes.”
Ahem, I don’t really remember those things clearly…”
“Maybe it wasn’t a dream, but the world had already been destroyed once—” Zhou Chao patted An Jing’s shoulder. “You just saved it, so the whole world returned to normal.”
“Anyway, it’s a happy thing. Even if it happened again, I’d do the same—Zhou Chao, don’t you think so? Using all your strength to protect more people.”
“Me, I’m a bit more selfish. Not like you, haha. I definitely wouldn’t do that.” Zhou Chao shook his head. “But, don’t be an altruist either. That’s pretty cruel to yourself.”
“I don’t know what kind of person I am. I think people are always complex. You can’t define them with just one ‘ism.’ Anyway—I am me. I am An Jing.”
“Yeah.” Zhou Chao seemed pleased. He placed both hands on her shoulders. “I really envy you, kid.”
“Why envy me? Everyone can become the person they want to be—if they want to.”
“Haha, maybe it’s because I don’t want to!”
Just then, a tall, slender figure of a girl appeared on the country path. Zhang Qiqi was running under the blood-red sky, sprinting towards them.
“Hey—Zhang Qiqi—! If you don’t run faster, it’s gonna rain—!” Zhou Chao cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone and shouted.
Zhang Qiqi didn’t answer, just quickened her pace. As she got closer, they could see she was carrying two large bags in her hands. No one knew what was in them, but they looked somewhat heavy.
She jumped off the path, her feet landing on the soft, muddy soil of the field, and dashed to the front of the bus. Placing the things on the steps, she finally let out a big breath. “Phew, tired me out.”
“Qiqi, what did you go do?”
“Brought some stuff over. Here, since we’re here, don’t you guys want to try a cookout?”
“A cookout in the field, with the abandoned bus next door as our rest spot. That does sound pretty good.” Zhou Chao stroked his chin. “Need help?”
“Let’s not talk about help yet—it’s going to rain! Not sure if we can even have a cookout!”
“It might still be possible. Buses usually have a luggage compartment with a lid. If we lift the lid and prop it up with something, it could block the rain.” As he spoke, Zhou Chao walked to the side of the bus, feeling around for the possible luggage compartment. “Found it. Is this it?”
“Should be? I haven’t really checked it out.” Zhang Qiqi leaned against the bus door, tilting her head to look at Zhou Chao. “Well, figure out how to prop it up then. I need to rest.”
“An Jing, come help! Once it rains, it’ll be too late.” “How?”
“You go find some branches. Long ones, thick ones. Preferably two, but one will do.” “Okay, I’ll go look!” An Jing scampered off, while Zhou Chao lifted the lid of the luggage compartment, which wasn’t even locked.
It was probably originally controlled by some switch in the vehicle, but since most of the interior had been stripped, the thing could just be lifted by hand.
The lid had hydraulic rods and could stay open on its own. Zhou Chao tested it, pressing down slightly; the lid wobbled. “Better to prop it up with a pole for safety. Then we’d only need one. Next…”
“Next what?” Zhu Ying, leaning by the window, was especially curious.
“Dig a drainage ditch with branches so water doesn’t flow this way. Best to surround it with stones, but there don’t seem to be enough stones. After all, we need stones to circle the campfire too.” “Oh—sounds pretty professional?”
“Haha, I’ve actually never tried it myself. Even though my hometown is in the countryside, when my parents lived in the city before, I lived in the city too. It was only after starting junior high, when they decided not to rent anymore, that I went back to live in the countryside.”
“So you just think it should be done this way?”
“Yeah. Let’s try! That’s the most fun part of a cookout.” “Zhou Chao—how about this thick bamboo? There’s half a piece!”
“Sure, let me see!” Zhou Chao turned to look at An Jing, who was dragging the bamboo over. “A bit long.”
“We can bury part of it in the ground. That’ll make it more stable.”
“Makes sense.”
“Looks like Xiao Jing has more experience~”
“Well, she grew up in the countryside since she was little. And on a small island countryside at that.” “Quick, dig a hole, stick the bamboo in!” “Okay!”
The two youths seemed particularly interested in this kind of thing, working swiftly. In just a few minutes, they had set up a simple temporary rain shelter.
The shelter was the bus luggage compartment’s lid, propped up by the bamboo. They dug a shallow trench around it for drainage, circled the middle with a ring of stones, and piled the gathered firewood inside.
“An Jing, got any scrap paper? We can use it as tinder.”
“Don’t need scrap paper.” An Jing handed Zhou Chao a small, brown, soft lump. “I dug up a little pine resin just now. Use this to light it.”
“Nice! You actually consciously collected tinder.”
“Since we’re having a cookout, we’d need this anyway. It was on the way.” An Jing urged, “Hurry, hurry, light the fire?”
“Leave it to me.” Zhou Chao patted his pants pockets, then his jacket pockets, finally pulling out a plastic lighter. Then he took out a cigarette pack, lit a cigarette, took a satisfying deep drag, and used the cigarette to light the pine resin before tossing it into the firewood.
The moment the campfire ignited, both youths let out an excited shout, looked at each other, and burst into inexplicable laughter.
“Haha—”
“Success!”
At that moment, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. First the light, then the rumble of thunder.
“Mean woman, the rest is up to you!” An Jing yelled at Zhang Qiqi. “Let’s see if this actually works first.” Zhang Qiqi put a hand on her hip. “Who’s going to fetch some water from the stream over there first?”
“It’s going to rain, you’ll get wet.” Zhu Ying puffed out her cheeks, seemingly worried about An Jing.
“I’ll go. I’m fast.” Zhou Chao picked up the red plastic bucket from inside the bus. “Use this for water, right?”
“Yeah, hurry back.”
“OK!”
Zhou Chao dashed out. As everyone waited, he came running back with the bucket. From afar, they could see his grinning face; he seemed to be enjoying himself.
But the very next second, the rainstorm poured down, instantly blurring Zhou Chao’s figure.
“Zhou Chao, run faster—!”
“Com—ing—!” Zhou Chao’s voice was muffled and broken. He charged through the curtain of rain back to the bus, thump placing the bucket inside.
“Are you okay?” An Jing asked quickly.
“How could I be okay? I’m soaked, haha. But it’s fine, it’s hot anyway. I’ll dry off by the fire in a bit.”
“We should have fetched water earlier. The mean woman was just messing with you.”
“That’s right~ What, not happy?” Zhang Qiqi lifted her chin—though clearly, she just hadn’t thought of it earlier.
“It’s fine. But, what we’re going to cook next is up to you, Zhang Qiqi.” “Mhm, let me check the fire first—good, it’s not out. And it’s pretty dry over there. Let’s start!” “What are we eating for the cookout?” An Jing asked, full of curiosity.
“Of course, soup. And we’ll grill some other stuff on the side. Don’t think about stir-frying, that’s too much trouble—” Zhang Qiqi vigorously ruffled Zhou Chao’s wet hair, then took off her school uniform jacket. “Here, use this to dry your head, or you’ll catch a cold.” “Huh?”
“Use the clothes to wipe it. They need washing today anyway.” “Haha… gentle woman.”
“I’m not, I’m a mean woman~”
“An Jing said it, not me.”
“Hey hey, Zhou Chao, whose side are you on?!”