(1)
At five in the afternoon, the sun was still hanging high. The wind carried the aroma of cooking from other people’s homes, and the road was filled with noisy honking — the horns and bells of cars, trucks, scooters, and even bicycles all intertwined, injecting vitality into this small city.
So even though it was noisy, Fang Qiang didn’t hate it.
He liked the feeling of living in a bustling area. If he had the choice, he hoped he could keep living downtown in the future.
“Yo!” A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up and saw that well-proportioned, handsome boy waving at him with a big smile.
Even though the two of them were the same age, Fang Qiang somehow felt that he had already taken on a lot of the world-weary cynicism of society.
“Hey, A Qiang, you’ve been learning the harmonica recently?” Another voice followed. A girl who looked young and radiant appeared in Fang Qiang’s sight, but he knew very well that she wasn’t some beautiful girl, but rather a good buddy he’d grown up with.
“Cough, yeah.” Fang Qiang set down the harmonica somewhat awkwardly. “That day, I saw it on clearance sale in the shopping street. I thought it wasn’t expensive, so I bought one.”
“Can you play it?” Zhou Chao stood with one hand on his hip, asking with a light smile.
“It came with a little booklet with simple instructions.”
“Didn’t they teach that in elementary school?” Zhu Ying tilted her head and draped her arm over An Jing’s shoulder.
“In elementary school, our school taught us to play the recorder!” Sun Wei smacked his lips. “I’ve forgotten it all long ago. No, actually, I didn’t really learn it back then either, because it wasn’t tested. I didn’t take it seriously at all.”
“It’s good to learn something. You can entertain yourself later. But — your harmonica has a bit too much drool on it.” Zhou Chao laughed with a hint of teasing. “Look at it, hanging there, just dripping with drool.”
“I can’t help it either, man. Playing this thing makes it easy to get saliva in it. Honestly, I kind of regret buying it. I should have bought something else.”
“Something else? What did you want to buy?”
“How about a guitar? I feel like guys who play guitar are really cool.”
“That thing? You couldn’t even afford it!” Zhou Chao let out a derisive laugh and scolded jokingly, “Practice with the harmonica first. Anyway, this thing is metal. At worst, you can just wash it a few times.”
“I’m worried it’ll rust inside.”
“If it rusts, just swap it for a new one — it’s cheap anyway.” Zhou Chao patted his shoulder. “Alright, hurry up and get your pot out, let’s make something to eat.”
“What’s up? What’s the occasion today?” Fang Qiang looked outside curiously, peering at the sky. “Weren’t you guys going to Dapeng Shopping Street? Why are you here at my place?”
“We’re done shopping. Thought we’d have a meal here today. Otherwise, we might not get another chance, right, An Jing, A Wei?”
“Yeah.”
“I came with Xiao Jing~” Zhu Ying gently held An Jing’s small hand, her eyes smiling sweetly. “But I’m also curious how you’re going to cook here.”
“Heh, I have my ways, okay. But, I don’t have ingredients for so many people—”
“Don’t worry, I’m treating today, alright.” Sun Wei patted his thin chest. “I bought some ingredients. Should be enough to cook.”
“Damn, what did you buy? Don’t tell me we can’t make it here.”
“Nothing much, just vegetables and meat. Anyway, Zhou Chao picked them. He said everything he chose could definitely be cooked.”
“Don’t worry, I picked them carefully.” Zhou Chao nodded and rolled up his sleeves. “Time to get to work, bro!”
“Alright, let me tidy up my stuff…”
(2)
The garage dwelling already felt more lived in than when he’d first moved in.
The folding cot had been pushed to the very back of the garage, and the desk had been moved too — a clip-on desk lamp had been added.
The bedding on the cot had just been smoothed out by Fang Qiang, and flecks of skin and dust were flying through the air.
“A Qiang, you even got a water dispenser.”
“Otherwise, getting a drink of water is too much trouble.” Fang Qiang answered without looking up.
“Not bad, you have money to buy a water dispenser, huh.” Sun Wei smacked his lips. “How much was it? A few hundred?”
“Just eighty yuan. It’s an old unit. The heating function is broken. If I want hot water, I still have to boil it with a kettle.”
“You’re working as a water delivery guy. Can you get water cheaper for yourself?”
“Just free delivery — as long as I haul it back myself.” Fang Qiang grinned. “We can use the water from here for cooking now. No need to go all the way to the public toilet to fetch water.”
“That’s pretty convenient. But what about water for washing vegetables?”
“For washing vegetables, there’s a bucket over there. Just use it sparingly.”
“Enough?”
“Use it sparingly, you know? The water from rinsing rice can be saved for washing vegetables.”
“Oh ho, looks like you’ve learned to be thrifty.”
“Of course. Did you think I was like you? Both stingy and wasteful.”
“Damn, who the hell is both stingy and wasteful?!” Sun Wei yelled in dissatisfaction. “I just spent money on a good car in that flying car game once, and you’re still holding it against me?”
“You’re stingy as hell normally, but when it comes to spending money, you’re suddenly so generous. And what you bought was time-limited. I really don’t get you.” Fang Qiang shook his head. “You don’t spend when you should, but you waste when you shouldn’t.”
“Exactly, A Wei. You should learn from A Qiang on this.”
“Whatever. It felt great to buy it, and I can still play it during summer break!”
Zhou Chao shrugged, pulled a brand-new pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his pocket, tore open the packaging, and handed one each to Fang Qiang and Sun Wei.
“Whoa, you get rich? Smoking Zhonghua now?” Fang Qiang looked shocked. “How much is a pack? Forty or forty-five?”
“That’s because I bought it, you know.” Sun Wei’s eyes almost rolled to the back of his head.
“Huh? You bought it? Really?”
“Really.” An Jing chimed in from the side. “I can vouch for him.”
“Damn, did you hit your head on a door? Buying food and cigarettes today? Seriously? Are you Sun Wei? Or are you someone in disguise?” Fang Qiang made an exaggerated motion of grabbing Sun Wei’s head. “Could it be that he looks like Sun Wei but is actually a robot inside?”
“You know, that might actually be possible!” Zhou Chao also joked with a laugh. “A Qiang, lend me a light.”
“Here!”
“What do you know? It’s because of that thing last time… you know.”
“Apologizing? Honestly, it doesn’t have much to do with Zhou Chao anymore. That was his ex-ex-ex-girlfriend. But for you, as his good buddy, to get together with that woman, that was really not cool.”
“Damn, I’d never been in love before. I was blinded by lust!” Sun Wei took a deep drag on his cigarette, using the smoke to hide his embarrassed face. “A Qiang, you’ve never even touched a girl’s hand. You don’t know, a girl’s thigh…”
“Alright, alright. Stop saying such perverted stuff. There are other girls here!”
“It’s okay, I can pretend I didn’t hear~” Zhu Ying blinked with an ‘innocent’ look.
“Also, since Zhou Chao took a beating for me, I had to show some appreciation, right?”
“Having that intention is enough. Seriously, if you hadn’t stepped up and admitted it was you—”
“What would have happened?”
“Then I might not have considered you a brother.”
“Damn!”
“A Wei might usually be pervy and cowardly, but when it counts, he still has some backbone.” An Jing pursed her lips in a light smile and pinched two fingers together. “Though not much, just a tiny, tiny bit—”
“Damn, no way. Even back in the first semester of seventh grade, when someone was bothering An Jing, I still stepped up, okay!”
“All you did was shout a couple of times.” Fang Qiang curled his lips. “I still had to step in, or both of you would have gotten beaten up.”
“Damn, even just shouting a couple of times back then was already loyal enough, okay? That guy was a real hooligan!”
“Speaking of which, that guy dropped out in eighth grade, right?” An Jing tilted her head and asked.
“Yeah. After he left, the air at school felt a lot more free…”
“The gangster guy from Class Three?”
“Xiao Ying, do you remember him?”
“Yeah, he even confessed to me.”
“Uh… how did you turn him down?”
“I said I had a boyfriend, of course.”
Zhou Chao asked with a playful smile, “Wasn’t he curious about who it was?”
“I said it was a boy in our class.”
“Damn!” Sun Wei suddenly slapped An Jing’s shoulder hard, startling her.
“What?”
“Then that fits! That guy was bothering you. He probably thought you were already Zhu Ying’s boyfriend back then!”
“Huh—? Why me? There were no specific traits mentioned.”
“Don’t you remember? That day you chatted with Zhu Ying in the hallway for a long time.”
“Chatting for a long time? Back then I was her English group leader. She had to recite texts to me. If someone didn’t finish, I couldn’t go home that day.”
“Haha… looks like the seeds were planted way back then.” Zhou Chao took a deep drag. “Fate—”
“Hey—” An Jing rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Can you guys just quit smoking? You’re not even that old, yet you’re puffing away like chimneys. You look like those idiots trying to act cool!”
“Exactly. I don’t like boys who smoke either.” Zhu Ying put her hands on her hips and nodded seriously.
“Speaking of fate, actually.” Zhou Chao took a few strong drags, then stubbed out the remaining half of his cigarette in the ashtray. “An Jing and Zhu Ying have known each other longer than you think.”
“Really? Damn, I thought this guy was suddenly picked up by chance. I didn’t know there was already a connection!” Sun Wei looked surprised.
“In elementary school, one time…”
“You’re not allowed to talk about elementary school!” Zhu Ying’s face suddenly flushed red.
“What are you blushing for?” Sun Wei pouted. “Zhou Chao, keep going.”
“No, no, not allowed to say!”
“Speaking of which, what did Zhu Ying look like in elementary school? About the same as now?”
“Back then—”
Zhu Ying widened her eyes and glared fiercely at Zhou Chao, making him clear his throat uncomfortably.
“She was already pretty in elementary school…”
“Hehe…”
“Xiao Jing, what are you laughing at?!”
“I-I’m not laughing!”
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