(1)
June 16, 2010, Wednesday, evening.
Today is the last day of the high school entrance exam.
It’s also the annual Dragon Boat Festival.
But the holiday isn’t particularly lively. There’s no overwhelming celebration or promotion—at most, people eat a couple of zongzi in the morning or evening.
An Jing slowly walked out of the school. For the first time, she felt the backpack on her back was as light as a pair of wings, as if it could carry her slowly flying into the sky.
At the usually unremarkable school gate, many security guards and police officers stood today. Outside, all kinds of vehicles were parked, waiting to pick up students.
From bicycles to e-scooters, from e-scooters to tricycles, from tricycles to vans, and then a few scattered cars…
It was still early; the sun still hung high in the sky. Beams of light passed through the gaps in the leaves and the awning, shining on the uneven concrete ground.
Before stepping out of that slightly unfamiliar automatic sliding door, she subconsciously looked back at the teaching building that, even after renovation, remained simple, and at the camphor tree whose lush branches could block the second-floor windows…
Small City No.2 Middle School does not hold a grand graduation ceremony. The graduation photo taken in advance probably counts as a rather informal farewell.
Once you walk out of the school gate, it means you have officially graduated.
In fact, if you don’t come in person to pick up your documents, you don’t even need to return here.
It’s not like what they show in TV dramas, nor like what they write in youth novels.
An Jing’s middle school graduation was as plain as a regular school dismissal.
She turned around and took an ordinary step forward.
The world was still the same, yet there seemed to be a slight change somewhere.
The cicadas’ chirping suddenly rang out, yet it seemed as if it had been there all along, only now noticed by An Jing.
“Graduated…”
An Jing murmured softly, an indescribable feeling welling up in her heart.
“Xiao Jing~! You’re so slow! How did you do on the exam?”
Zhu Ying’s voice rode the wind, circling in An Jing’s mind twice before startling her back from her daze.
“Ah…! You’re waiting for me here today too.”
“Of course! Today is the most important day—the day exams end!” Zhu Ying smiled brightly as she quickly stepped forward, messed up An Jing’s hair. “Everyone got out before you, we were just waiting for you.”
“Heh…” She raised her head, dazedly looking at the familiar faces standing beside Zhu Ying. For a moment, she felt dazed. Not only Zhou Chao, Fang Qiang, and Sun Wei were there, but also Zhang Qiqi and the hygiene monitor Yuan Lanque, and even Yang Lingfei, whom she hadn’t seen for a long time. They were all excitedly discussing the exam questions just now, anxiously calculating their scores.
“How did you do?” Zhu Ying grabbed her arm.
“No problems, I think I performed normally.”
“That’s good then.”
“Mm…”
“Today is graduation day, why don’t we all get together for a meal!” Zhou Chao raised his voice and suggested excitedly.
An Jing felt a little unaccustomed and gave him a couple extra glances. Mainly because before the high school entrance exam, this guy had been in a girl’s state, and she had thought he wouldn’t change back…
But it seemed the duration was getting longer each time.
An Jing shook her head, tossing those messy thoughts out of her mind. Just as she was about to raise her hand to show agreement with the gathering, she heard Fang Qiang’s voice.
“No thanks, today is my dad’s birthday, I have to go back early.”
“I also want to go back early and tidy up the house—aah—huff.” Zhang Qiqi yawned hugely.
Sun Wei poked his forehead. “I dare not stay outside today. If I don’t go back and review quickly to prepare for retaking the exam, my mom will twist my head off…”
“My family is having a party today to celebrate the end of my high school entrance exam, so… so I can’t join.” Yuan Lanque said softly.
“I’m free, but just us few is no fun. Our class over there seems more lively. How about you guys who want to join come with us?” Yang Lingfei asked with an awkward smile.
“Huh? Everyone’s got something?”
“How about another day?”
“Another day won’t have the same feeling, understand?” Zhou Chao shook his head in exasperation. “Has to be today.”
“Zhao Zhao~!” Just then, a somewhat blurry shout came from the distant crowd. In just a few seconds, the voice became clear. Then, An Jing saw a girl with a neat fringe and straight long hair gently waving in their direction.
“Uh… what are you doing here.” Zhou Chao didn’t correct her address to him, but awkwardly held his right hand loosely near his mouth and coughed lightly.
“The exam’s over, of course I came to pick you up.”
“I’m still…”
“Going for a ride?”
Zhou Chao looked at An Jing and the others with a very apologetic expression. “Since everyone can’t get together, let’s forget about the gathering. I happen to be going… to take my girlfriend for a ride.”
Fang Qiang laughed and gave Zhou Chao a punch on the back. “You kid, get along well!”
“As if I need you to teach me…”
“Then we’re done for today? No more activities?”
“Nope.”
“Nope~”
“Dismissed!”
“Dismissed!”
Everyone didn’t say goodbye to each other, but shouted “dismissed” a few times, then walked in different directions, disappearing into the crowd at the school gate.
(2)
On the way back, An Jing specifically pulled Zhu Ying to make a detour to the garage where Fang Qiang had been living.
The garage’s rolling shutter door was open now, but all the furniture inside had been removed. The traces of the brief stay had been erased, as if no one had ever lived here.
“It’s turned back into an ordinary garage…”
“Last time when they moved, wasn’t Xiao Jing helping too?”
“Uh… just feeling sentimental.”
“Feeling a bit melancholic today?”
“Is that so? By the way, we really don’t have a graduation ceremony?”
“No, Teacher Wenyao said that after the exam today, it’s graduation.”
“It feels so informal.”
“A very casual feeling?”
“Exactly, don’t you think? It’s just like a regular school dismissal.”
“Graduation… is probably like this, nothing special.”
“It’s not what I imagined—there should be a graduation ceremony, the principal’s speech, and student performances… that’s how it should be.”
“You’ve watched too much TV?”
“A few romance novels I’ve read all had this part…” An Jing muttered softly and pouted.
Zhu Ying gently brushed her bangs, pursed her lips and smiled slyly. “Xiao Jing still likes reading romance novels so much. Next time I’ll let you read the ones I like.”
“Ew, your taste, no thanks…”
“What, you look down on me?”
“Cough, no!”
“How about sleeping over at my place today?”
“Why did you suddenly jump to this topic…”
“You’ve been at your place these past few days, come to mine for a change. My parents aren’t home anyway.”
“Isn’t it the same at my place? Plus Huihui Jie cooks, so convenient.”
“No, I want us to be alone!”
“What do you want to do that you insist on being alone…”
“Of course, to have some fun.”
“Ew—”
“Ew what ew!” Zhu Ying snorted and pinched An Jing’s cheek. “Let’s go buy groceries, cook by ourselves tonight~”
“Uh… what do you want to eat…”
“Will I be cooking today?”
“Maybe I should do it?”
“Hmph, then I must cook today!”
“What do you want to make?”
“What does Xiao Jing want to eat?”
“Cucumber salad, tofu salad…”
“Hey, making such simple dishes, you look down on me?”
“Then, then add a—a loofah and egg drop soup?”
“Mm! That works, but still too simple. Anything else?”
“Uh… pepper stir-fried pork… can you do that?”
“Mm—I should be able to try it, doesn’t seem hard.”
“I’ll teach you when you cook…”
“No need! Such a simple dish, I can do it myself today!”
“Can you really do it…” An Jing twitched the corner of her mouth, as if she was about to hang a question mark of doubt on her forehead.
(3)
“Xiao Jing—these bass look really lively.” Zhu Ying propped her hands on her knees and looked at the group of bass in the red rectangular basin.
“They look energetic.” An Jing nodded. “You want to cook the bass?”
“How about pan-fried fish? Seems simple.”
“Uh… it’s not that simple.”
“Anyway, the boss will kill and descale it, then just put it in the frying pan. It’ll definitely taste great. I can already hear the ‘sizzling’ sound of oil!” An Jing really wanted to tell her that imagination was beautiful, but reality was often harsh.
But the words didn’t leave her mouth. She could only smile wryly and nod. “If you want to try, buy a small one to test…”
“Mm! Boss! I want this one!”
“Which one? This one?”
“That one!”
“Kill it?”
“Kill it!”
Soon, the gutted bass was put into a black plastic bag. As for its innards, Zhu Ying asked for them to be packed in a small bag, saying they would feed them to the stray cats when they passed the alley.
“Hmm—it’s still moving.”
As soon as Zhu Ying said that, the bass in the bag jumped hard again, as if it were still alive and struggling.
“What does it feel like?”
“Very strong… It’s my first time carrying a freshly killed fish.” Zhu Ying shook the thick black bag, and the fish inside struggled violently a few more times. “Once, Huihui Jie and I bought a very big snakehead fish. After it was killed, she asked me to carry it. When I just took it, it suddenly flapped very hard, and the bag fell right out of my hand.”
“How big?”
“About three or four times bigger than the bass you bought. It had super strength.”
“Fish—so amazing.”
An Jing nodded. “Nothing else to buy, right?”
“Mm, let’s go. If we see a stray cat later, we’ll feed it the fish innards.”
“What if we don’t see any?”
“Then we’ll throw it next to the trash can. They usually hang out there anyway.”
“But the dogs might eat it first…”
“Good point. Then we’ll put it on the low wall. Dogs shouldn’t be able to jump that high.”
“You call it a low wall, but it’s still two meters high. Can you reach it?”
“Hmph, underestimate me! I’ll just toss it lightly and it’ll land steadily on top!”
“Don’t end up throwing it onto someone’s head…”
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