Winter break began, and Shao Wu spent every day shut up at home, either doing homework or reading. Somehow, his parents had made up again, and neither of them mentioned helping Wang Yujun find a job anymore. Well, that made sense. Shao Wu remembered the way Wang Yujun had kissed that man so fiercely in the noodle shop. Wang Yujun was so… uninhibited. Who would dare recommend him for a job?
His parents were both busy in the days before New Year. His father had endless social engagements, while his mother took advantage of the kindergarten’s winter break to attend a management-training course in Chongqing. With the house to himself, Shao Wu was practically free as a bird. He usually did homework in the mornings, grabbed something to eat at a nearby restaurant at noon, and spent the afternoons reading whatever caught his eye. He borrowed a copy of Crystal Boys from the library. Online, people said it was a novel about gay men. But Shao Wu made it only a third of the way through before he could not bear to keep reading.
Elio’s Notes: Crystal Boys (《孽子》) is a novel by Bai Xianyong centered on gay men in 1970s Taipei. The established English title is Crystal Boys.
It’s too sad. The boys in Crystal Boys were all too miserable. Reading about their suffering, Shao Wu could not help feeling a painful sense of kinship and becoming miserable along with them. They also made him think of Wang Yujun. What had Wang Yujun gone through? Why had he stopped working and started spending every day hanging around internet cafés? How could he kiss a man so openly in public, as if no one else existed? On the third day of winter break, Shao Wu went back to Jinlai Internet Café to look for Wang Yujun again, but he was not there. The attendant said Wang Yujun had not shown up for several days. Maybe he had gone home for New Year.
Did Wang Yujun even have a home? Shao Wu did not know.
Shao Wu did not know something else either: did this count as adolescence? So adolescence was not merely a physical stage, but a psychological one too? He began staring blankly at mathematics papers. He began keeping his phone within arm’s reach at all times, afraid he might miss a call. He began skipping past the English songs on his MP3 player until he reached Faye Wong’s Hypnosis. From the turn of the century, her voice drifted hazily through the room: the taste of the first bite of cake, the taste of the second bite; the wind blows, the wind blows; popcorn is beautiful.
Elio’s Notes: Hypnosis (《催眠》) is a 1999 song by Faye Wong. Its turn-of-the-century placement is part of the novel’s deliberately period-specific atmosphere.
It did not snow again in Yongchuan. Instead, it rained often.
Yang Shuyi did not call him.
On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Shao Wu’s parents finally had time off. As in previous years, the three of them loaded up the car with bags and boxes of New Year goods and drove to Chongqing for the family reunion. Shao Wu’s third aunt did business in Chongqing and lived in a villa, so the extended family always gathered at her place. There was plenty of room.
It did not rain that day, and the sun even came out briefly that morning. The puddles on the road had dried. Shao Wu’s mother sat in the passenger seat, beaming. “That’s a good sign for this year.” In the back seat, Shao Wu hugged a box of cured pork and murmured, “Mm.”
“What’s wrong, son?” His mother turned around to look at him. “You in a bad mood?”
“Huh? No.”
“Didn’t sleep well last night, then? You look listless.”
“No…” Shao Wu curved his lips into a smile. “The heater’s too warm. It’s making me sleepy.”
From the twenty-fourth to the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, five full days had passed without a call from Yang Shuyi. Shao Wu felt both annoyed and regretful. He was annoyed because Yang Shuyi really had not contacted him at all. And he regretted that, if he had known this would happen, he would have asked for Yang Shuyi’s home phone number. Yang Shuyi did not have a mobile phone, but surely Shao Wu could still reach him through the landline? After all, he had said he would be home looking after Grandpa and Grandma.
It had only been five days, really. Yet to Shao Wu, it felt like a very, very long time.
Quite a few relatives had already arrived at Third Aunt’s house. The place was packed: some people were playing mahjong, some cooking, some minding children. It was noisy and festive. The center of attention at this year’s gathering was Shao Wu’s cousin Zhang Ruizhe, Second Aunt’s son. Zhang Ruizhe had gotten into Beijing Institute of Technology through the gaokao the previous year, and this was the first winter break of his four years at university.
Adults and children alike crowded around Zhang Ruizhe asking what Beijing was like and what his university was like. Zhang Ruizhe had always been a good talker, and after spending a semester with his roommate from Liaoning, he had even picked up a hint of a Northeastern accent. Everything he said sounded entertaining.
Shao Wu squeezed into the group too and listened to his cousin talk about university life.
“The heating is amazing. Look at this padded coat of mine. My roommate splashed water all over it, and man, I put it on the radiator for a little while and it was dry! So convenient!”
“But outside it’s seriously cold. One night I washed my long johns and hung them on the balcony. Next morning I touched them and they were rock solid! The water had frozen.”
“Huh?” Shao Wu asked blankly. “Could you still wear them?”
“Sure. Put them on the radiator for a while and they dry out.”
His cousin pulled out his phone to show everyone photographs. It was a Nokia N95 slider, a new model from the previous year. On the screen, Beijing’s sky was a brilliant, spotless blue. Five Fuwa mascots were painted along the wall of the zoo, and new high-rises seemed to be going up everywhere. In the next photo, a lake had frozen over and crowds of people in down jackets were skating across it.
Elio’s Notes: The Fuwa were the five official mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Along with the Nokia N95 and the construction boom, they firmly anchor this scene in Beijing just before the 2008 Games.
“That’s Weiming Lake at Peking University. You know that one, right?” his cousin said to Shao Wu. “You can skate there in winter. It’s pretty fun.”
This was Beijing in 2008, bursting with energy and promise. Even a handful of photographs was enough to stir a teenager’s imagination.
“After you finish the gaokao next year, apply to a university in Beijing too. My mom says your grades are good, so you’ll have no problem,” his cousin said enthusiastically. “Then I can show you around. There are tons of fun places.”
Shao Wu was so absorbed in the photographs that he had just opened his mouth to say “Okay” when the phone in his pocket vibrated.
He snapped back to himself and hurried out of the room onto the second-floor terrace.
An unfamiliar landline number glowed on the screen.
“…Hello?” Shao Wu answered. His heart was pounding, and his mouth had gone dry.
“Shao Wu.” Yang Shuyi’s voice came through the receiver, so suddenly that it hardly felt real. “What are you doing?”
“I-I’m at our family reunion.” The moment he said it, Shao Wu realized how pointless that sounded. At this time of year, whose family was not having one? “At my Third Aunt’s house,” he added.
“Mm. Grandma asked me to ask you something.” Yang Shuyi laughed softly, sounding a little embarrassed. “Do you have any plans for the second day of New Year? Grandma wants to invite you over for a meal.”
In previous years, Shao Wu’s family always went to visit his maternal grandparents on the second day of New Year.
But—
“Uh… lunch or dinner?”
“Either one. Whatever works for you.”
“I…” Shao Wu felt his throat tighten. “Either one works for me too.”
Yang Shuyi laughed again. “Then how about lunch?”
“O-okay. Thank Grandma for me.”
He was going to Yang Shuyi’s house for a meal!
“No need to be so polite. Then I’ll see you then.”
“See you then.” Shao Wu tightened his grip on the phone.
Neither of them spoke, but neither hung up either. After two or three seconds of silence, Yang Shuyi said gently, “I’ll wish you a Happy New Year in advance. Happy New Year.”
Shao Wu bit his lip and answered, “Happy New Year.”
“Bye, then.”
“Bye.”
Yang Shuyi hung up.
Shao Wu stood dazed on the terrace. In the distance were buildings of different heights, the faint outline of mountains, and thick winter clouds.
He did not want to go anywhere. Beijing, Weiming Lake, the zoo… he did not want any of it.
He only wanted to see Yang Shuyi right now. Right now.