(1)
Wednesday, May 26, 2010.
A completely ordinary early summer. The green ceiling fan in the classroom was whirring loudly overhead. Even the most energetic boys were sweating profusely on their foreheads just from sitting still.
At times like this, a torrential downpour was what everyone most looked forward to.
It had been about half a month since her last visit to the research institute. For An Jing, who had returned to her studies, those events already felt distant now. After all, the overwhelming amount of homework and the heat that seemed to distort the very air were what truly felt real.
“This year summer came early.”
“Yeah… last year wasn’t this hot…”
It was the same conversation heard every summer. In fact, the people saying this had said the same thing the year before and the year before that—as if every year was the hottest one.
But An Jing had her own judgment. Usually, the cicadas started their restless chirping in mid-June, which was when true high summer began. If there wasn’t an unusually restless chorus of cicadas before that, it couldn’t really be considered that hot.
…
And now, the cicadas chirped occasionally, but compared to that, there were still more crisp bird calls from the treetops—which meant the weather was actually perfectly normal for this time of year.
Just as normal as any ordinary summer in previous years.
But the weather not being that hot didn’t mean she herself didn’t feel hot.
To avoid exposing any changes in her body, she was still wearing her school uniform jacket, even with the zipper pulled all the way up.
If she was wearing the school uniform jacket, there was no way she could wear school uniform shorts, right?
That kind of combination would be far too conspicuous.
So An Jing had to wear the school uniform trousers as well.
The long-sleeved uniform and trousers felt a bit thin in autumn, but for summer, they were quite “thick.” She felt like she was steaming in a sauna inside her clothes, with beads of sweat constantly forming on her forehead.
“Xiao Jing, try this.” Zhu Ying handed a battery-operated handheld fan to her. “Your face is all sweaty.”
“I can’t help it. I really don’t get why you guys don’t feel hot wearing long sleeves and trousers…” An Jing sighed, naturally taking the small fan from Zhu Ying. A few years ago, these weren’t common to find, but this summer they seemed to be everywhere—especially at the little shops near the school gate, where the variety and styles were so numerous they could practically open a small fan specialty store.
Zhu Ying’s fan was black and red, with a very plain design—no messy patterns or lines. The only special thing about it was that even the blades were black and red, which looked surprisingly dynamic when spinning.
“The breeze is so weak…”
“You can turn it up higher.” Zhu Ying pointed at the tiny switch. “It’s on the side.”
“Oh—” An Jing unhesitatingly turned the fan to maximum, squinting slightly as her furrowed brow relaxed a bit. “Ah, so cool…”
“About half a month left to hold out. It’s getting hotter and hotter. Xiao Jing, are you really okay?”
“It’s fine… just a dozen or so days. I’ll tough it out through sheer willpower!”
“I heard… the exam room doesn’t even have air conditioning.”
“Shit, seriously?”
“Pfft, why are you so worked up?”
“That’s awful. If the exam room doesn’t have AC, I’ll probably sweat a pound after the test…” An Jing closed her eyes in pain. “I wish I could just take off all my clothes…”
“You sure about that?”
“I’m kidding. I can’t even unzip my jacket now… let alone take off clothes…” An Jing rested her chin on her desk. “I’m too hot to study…”
“How about wrapping bandages around it? Say you got hurt or something.”
“Hey, hey, that’s way too suspicious! Wrapping it right there, of all places?”
“Then there’s no other way. Either you just sweat it out, or wait until graduation when you can cool down properly—wear the shortest skirt!”
“Let’s skip the shortest skirt…” An Jing stood up with a whoosh. “I can’t take it anymore. I’m going to Teacher Ye’s office to enjoy the AC!”
“Think it through first. Once you’ve been in the AC, you’ll find the classroom temperature even more unbearable, you know?”
“That’s terrible… Aren’t you hot?”
“I’m fine. Look, Xiao Ru hasn’t even broken a sweat. She’s the one who’s really not hot.”
“Right—Wangwang, are you hot?” An Jing tugged on Wang Xinru’s jacket and mumbled.
Wang Xinru, who was struggling with her math test paper, looked up with a pursed smile. “Not hot. It’s nice and warm.”
“There’s such a gap between people in this world…” An Jing lifted her water bottle and took a big gulp of plain water. “Ah, the water I poured this morning still hasn’t cooled down. Why doesn’t the world have a superpower that can make yourself really cool?”
“How about thinking of something that chills your heart?”
“Like what?”
“Like a sudden car accident, and I die right in front of you.”
“Hey, hey, who curses themselves like that!”
“It’s for a chilling thought~”
“My heart nearly stopped, let alone chilled…”
“Hehe. Wait—oh, right. My thermos. Here, have a sip to cool down?”
“It’s already boiling hot and you want me to drink hot water?”
“Silly, a thermos isn’t just for keeping hot water.” Zhu Ying gently shook the cup, producing a clinking sound. “See, the ice hasn’t fully melted yet.”
“Wow, you have ice!”
“Mm. This morning, I took ice from the freezer and filled the whole cup with it. No water. That way it melts slower.” Zhu Ying wiped her hands with a tissue, then carefully pinched a wet ice cube and slowly brought it to An Jing’s lips. “Here, Xiao Jing. Say ‘ah’—have an ice cube to cool down.”
“Ah-“
“How is it?” Zhu Ying blinked, asking curiously.
“Mmm—cool!” An Jing gave a thumbs-up and slumped back into her chair. “Refreshingly cold… phew…”
“Want me to put two in your water bottle? That’ll turn it into ice water.”
“Sure.”
“Xiao Ru, want some—” Zhu Ying raised her thermos again, gently pressing her smooth underarm against An Jing’s forehead while shaking it vigorously. “It’s all ice?”
“No thanks… I’m fine like this.”
“I want some, I want some!” Sun Wei was never shy.
“Who asked you? You want some? No way!” Zhu Ying shot him a glance and sat back down. “I’ll save it. Xiao Jing can have more this afternoon.”
“Mmm—!” An Jing held the ice cube in her mouth, puffing out her right cheek. “Now I can finally finish this chemistry problem properly…”
(2)
Ninth Love rested her chin on her hand, staring blankly at the green cedar trees outside the window.
She had recently lost contact with that “uncle.” Even when she followed Sun Wei to his house, she couldn’t find him. According to Sun Wei, he hadn’t seen that guy in a long time either.
But since he gave so much money at once and didn’t ask for much, she hadn’t given up yet. Waiting a bit longer wouldn’t hurt. Even if he really disappeared, she still had some money left to spend.
“Xiao Ai? Xiao Ai?” A girl in class who was on decent terms with her gently tapped her shoulder. Recently, their relationship had been getting better. This wasn’t because their friendship had deepened, but simply because Ninth Love had been willing to spend money lately, making the other girl more proactive than before.
Money became addictive once you got used to it because it could really solve a lot of problems, especially in interpersonal relationships. As long as you were willing to spend, you could definitely make friends. And no matter what they thought inside, at least on the surface they would appear very enthusiastic.
“Mm, what’s up?”
“Your boyfriend texted me, asking what you’re doing and why you’re not replying.”
“Boyfriend?” Ninth Love was momentarily stunned, then remembered that the “boyfriend” she was referring to was probably the one she still hadn’t broken up with, not the “boyfriend” she had dated to complete a task.
“Oh… I’ll reply to him.”
“Speaking of which, you haven’t been walking home from school with him in a while, have you?”
“Mm… I’ve been busy.”
“Xiao Ai, I heard you’ve been going to Class Five a lot. Is it because you have a new crush? Or is it the old boyfriend?”
“Old?”
“A second chance? … Didn’t you say that guy was really bad to you, never cared about you? And I’ve heard he changes girlfriends all the time. I suggest you don’t get back with him. Your current boyfriend is great.”
“I’ve just been going over for some stuff… it’s got nothing to do with him.” Ninth Love blinked. “I’d never get back together with a scumbag like him. Even if all the men in the world died, he would never count as a good man.”
“Phew, that’s a relief. Oh, right, reply to your boyfriend quickly?”
“Okay…” Ninth Love nodded, pulled out her phone that had been on silent, and saw seven or eight text messages. Logging into her plain-looking QQ, she was bombarded by a huge flood of messages.
`Where are you? Why are you not around?`
`What’s with you being busy all the time lately? Can we walk home together after school?`
`I heard you’ve been getting close to that guy from before. Is that true?`
`Reply to me! Where are you?`
`Don’t mess with me.`
Ninth Love quickly scanned dozens of similar messages. For some reason, she felt a bit guilty and stifled: `Nothing, just been busy. I already told you a long time ago, he never cared about me. There’s no way I’d still be with him.`
`Finally you replied. So, walking home together this afternoon?`
`…Okay.`
`Sounds reluctant. What’s wrong? Not feeling well?`
`No, I’m fine.`
`Good. Hey… Do you think I haven’t been caring about you enough lately?`
`…It’s okay.`
`Don’t be so cold. I was a bit busy the past few days, but I definitely still care about you. Rest assured, I’m totally different from that scumbag ex of yours. He abandoned you—I never would!`
Ninth Love licked her lips, suddenly feeling a tightness in her chest. She took a deep breath and sent a smiley emoji: `I still have homework to do. See you after school.`