(1)
May 1st, 2010.
Labor Day.
For a small city, the roads only get congested during these long holiday periods.
After all, many people take advantage of the rare break to go home: to see their parents, to walk the country paths. It’s not necessarily for fun; often, it’s just a hope to free themselves from the busy life and enjoy a moment of leisure.
—Though doing so often ends up making them even busier.
In the morning, An Jing got up very early. Today was the day for the summer outing arranged by their class advisor, Wen Ye.
Although it’s not officially summer yet, it’s pretty close.
The weather was getting hotter day by day. Even in the early morning, it didn’t feel cold, but rather had a coolness that made your pores relax.
And in a little while, as the sun climbed higher, the warm sunshine on your skin would turn scorching.
Faintly, you could hear a few clear bird calls, mixed with the cicada chirps from those that had already crawled out of the soil and up into the trees early.
“Huihui Jie, I’m heading out.”
“So early? Breakfast isn’t ready yet.”
“I’ll eat outside! I need to get to the school gate early to meet up!”
“Alright~ Have fun today.”
“Who knows what we’ll even do!” An Jing waved vigorously. “If we go to the beach, I’ll collect some sea glass for Huihui Jie!”
“I want the blue kind.”
“I’ll try!”
(2)
Labor Day is a day off for workers.
But for the boss of a breakfast stall, holidays mostly don’t exist. Even on days like this, they have to set up their stall early, letting the steaming heat fill the small shop.
An Jing walked into a shao bing shop. The shao bing made here were a bit different from others—not round, but square.
Besides the most traditional scallion shao bing, there were also minced meat shao bing, which were further divided into sweet and spicy, and non-spicy.
This kind of spiciness was the most acceptable for An Jing. A sweet taste with just a tiny bit of stimulating heat, enough to greatly increase your appetite.
“Boss, one sweet and spicy shao bing, and a cup of salted tofu pudding, to go.”
“One fifty!”
“Here, keep the change.”
An Jing placed two coins of different colors on the shao bing oven. Suddenly, she felt weight on her back, and then her neck was encircled by a pair of slender arms.
“Xiao Jing Jing~!”
“Eek—what a gross nickname.”
“Where’s it gross?”
“It’s so mushy, like you’re calling a kindergarten kid… Pfft, then I’ll just call you that, Xiao Jing Jing!”
“Xiao Ying Ying—”
“Eek! So mushy!”
‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!’ An Jing turned her head and saw Zhu Ying’s smiling face. “Why did you come here today? Weren’t you waiting at the intersection?”
“Came to buy breakfast, and just happened to run into Xiao Jing.”
“You’re eating shao bing too?”
“Yep.” As she spoke, Zhu Ying held up one index finger to the boss. “Boss~! One sweet and spicy shao bing, and a cup of spicy tofu pudding!”
“Coming right up!”
The so-called spicy tofu pudding was basically the salted tofu pudding with some chili powder and bell pepper sauce added. While it wasn’t extremely spicy, for An Jing, it was spicy enough to make her saliva feel thick.
“Eating something that spicy so early in the morning?”
“Is it spicy?” Zhu Ying tilted her head.
‘…I have nothing to say to people who can handle spice.’
“Just practice more and you’ll get used to it!”
“Sounds like drinking alcohol. People who urge others to drink also say, ‘just drink more and you’ll get used to it’…” An Jing pouted. “We should be pretty early if we go now, right? Meeting at six, and it’s just past five now.”
“I feel like, today, for sure, a lot of people will be late.”
“Teacher Wen Ye said she wouldn’t wait for anyone late. Do you think she really won’t?”
“Probably not…? Or at least she’ll wait ten minutes?” Zhu Ying rested her chin on An Jing’s shoulder. Such an intimate gesture between two girls in public wouldn’t seem strange.
If it were a boy and a girl, it would feel a bit mushy to some.
Older folks might even find it somewhat shameless.
“Here you go, sweet and spicy shao bing! Tofu pudding’s ready too!”
If you’re taking it to go, the tofu pudding is sealed in a plastic cup like a milk tea cup. You poke a thick straw in and can suck it right up.
But sometimes the fried dough sticks and pickled vegetables sink to the bottom. So either shake it well before drinking to mix them, or tear the lid off after drinking and pour out the remaining stuff.
An Jing held the hot, square shao bing, unable to wait, and took a bite, puffing out hot air, “Hoo hoo! So hot!”
“Eat slowly, no one’s fighting you for it.”
“But shao bing is best right out of the oven!”
“I’ll wait a bit to eat mine, have some tofu pudding first.” Zhu Ying slowly sipped her tofu pudding, using her other hand, which held the shao bing bag, to lead An Jing as they walked toward the road. “Xiao Jing, hurry, hurry, you can eat when we get there.”
“There’s no rush, we have plenty of time. Eating while walking tastes the best anyway.”
“Why?”
“Because you can enjoy the scenery along the way! And it feels very fulfilling.”
“So your feet, eyes, and mouth are all busy, huh?”
“Yeah, it feels like you’re making full use of your time, don’t you think? When you make full use of time, you get a feeling like you’ve beaten time.”
“Hmm… Occasionally, maybe…”
(3)
At the school gate in the early morning, several students were already standing.
An Jing and Zhu Ying weren’t the earliest.
The health committee member and Wang Xinru had already arrived. Class Advisor Wen Ye had also parked her white Suzuki Hustler with black stripes by the roadside.
“Teacher Wen Ye! Good morning!”
“Morning, Zhu Ying. Dressed so pretty today?”
“Well, we’re going out to play, and the weather’s getting hot, perfect for wearing a short skirt like this.”
“It looks good, but when we get to the woods, bugs might target you to bite,” Wen Ye said with a light laugh.
“Hah, good thing I brought my school uniform and pulled out the long-sleeved top.”
“Tch, I brought mosquito repellent, it’ll be fine for sure.”
“Hope the repellent works~” Wen Ye teased with a smile. “But, what a shame. It would’ve been great if you both wore short skirts. Best if one wore black and the other white, that would be a beautiful sight.”
“Hey, hey, teacher, I’m a boy!” An Jing was stunned for a moment before hurriedly protesting.
“Being so cute, does it matter if you’re a boy or a girl?”
“Xiao Jing, want to try? I brought a change of clothes!”
“I don’t want to, hey!”
“If any classmates ask who you are, just say you’re An Jing’s younger sister.”
“Hey, hey!”
“Named something like An Yin~”
An Jing’s face flushed bright red. She awkwardly covered her cheeks and whispered as if pleading, “Don’t… don’t say things like that out loud…”
Wen Ye wore a playful smile on her face. “You two, ride in my car later?”
“Huh?”
“There’s a minibus, but it’ll probably be crowded. My car still has some space—but at most for two or three more people.”
“With the passenger seat and the back, three people, right?”
“I’ve already talked to Wang Xinru, she’ll sit in the passenger seat, you two sit in the back. That’s just right. Any more would be too cramped.”
“Huh, Wangwang?” An Jing turned around and saw Wang Xinru, who was holding milk and taking small sips, just meeting her gaze. The latter immediately revealed a gentle smile and gave a slight nod.
“That guy Qiu Yi, lately I don’t know what vinegar he drank, but he absolutely refuses to let any boys ride in my car.”
“Qiu Yi…?”
“My husband, of course. What? Is it strange? I’m obviously already married.”
“It’s just that Teacher Wen Ye seems quite young, I didn’t expect you to be married already?”
“Of course. Not just married, I even have a kid.”
“Wow, how old are you, teacher?”
“Asking a woman her age is a big taboo~!” Wen Ye lightly poked An Jing’s forehead with her finger.
An Jing chuckled foolishly a couple of times before suddenly realizing, “Wait, that’s not right! Teacher, aren’t I a boy?”
“Hehe~ An Jing is different, of course.”
“Huh—?”
“Hmm, what Teacher Wen Ye probably means is that you’re less threatening, even if you are a boy,” Zhu Ying explained seriously.
“Ah, right, then Teacher Wen Ye’s husband… husband? Um, where is he sitting?”
“He’s driving the minibus over. A double-decker one.”
“Wow, a double-decker minibus? And that’s not enough seats?”
“One floor can only seat about ten people, after all.”
“So small. Wouldn’t a double-decker car like that tip over easily…”
“Don’t worry, the chassis is stable. But still, he should drive slowly. Who knows with him? We have bigger cars at home, but he insists on driving this old-timer.” Wen Ye helplessly spread her hands. “Though I can understand that this model is rare and he wants to drive it out for everyone to see, but relatively speaking, it’s not very practical.”
“Does Teacher’s family have a super big garage with all kinds of cars?”
“That’s my father-in-law. My own garage, I don’t want it that big.” Wen Ye leaned against the door of her own Hustler car. “His is completely a collection warehouse. Just choosing which car to drive out every day gives me a headache.”
“Right, and maintenance and stuff must be troublesome too.”
“That’s actually okay, there are specialized people who handle it.”
“An Jing! You’re here so early!”
“A Qiang, you’re here too.”
“I live close by, just walked over.” Fang Qiang waved vigorously, and An Jing proactively walked over to chat with him.
Zhu Ying’s friends had arrived too. Besides Zhang Qiqi, she was also on good terms with a few other girls at school. Right now, they were all gathered around her, excitedly complimenting each other’s outfits.
Wen Ye pulled open the car door, leaned back into the driver’s seat, covered her mouth as she yawned, a somewhat nostalgic smile on her face. “Time flies, it’s this time of year again… Fourteen years, not that far away either.”
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