“How much longer are you going to stare at it?” Yang Shuyi looked a little helpless. “It’s almost twelve-thirty.”
Shao Wu stood close to the wall, carefully studying the Fuwa graffiti and reaching out to touch it every now and then. When the soft pads of his fingers pressed against the wall, he could feel the rough coldness of brick and stone. If he leaned his nose closer, he could even catch the faintest smell of paint.
“Let me look a little longer,” Shao Wu said, unable to keep the smile out of his voice.
A few more minutes passed before Yang Shuyi stepped over and forcibly turned Shao Wu by the shoulders so his back faced the wall. “If you want to look, come back tomorrow. I’m starving to death.”
“I didn’t bring my phone…” Shao Wu looked back reluctantly. “What if I go home, get it, and come back to take a picture?”
“What’s the rush? It’ll look the same tomorrow, birthday boy.” Yang Shuyi smiled. “Hurry home and eat. Your parents are probably getting worried.”
Shao Wu really was hungry. After several reluctant looks back, he finally left the old apartment building with Yang Shuyi. He would have no time that afternoon because everyone was going to share his cake at dinner, so he could not get away. And once it was dark, his phone would not be able to take a decent photo. Tomorrow, then. Shao Wu silently decided he would get up half an hour early and photograph every bit of the graffiti, not missing even the corners.
“Thank you… Yang Shuyi,” Shao Wu said when they were about to part. “I really, really like it.”
Yang Shuyi patted his shoulder. “Third time. All right, I know. I’ll draw you something else next year.”
Shao Wu: “Really?”
Yang Shuyi nodded with a smile. “Really means really.”
Shao Wu’s whole heart seemed to turn into a cake fresh from the oven, warm, airy, and soft. Looking at Yang Shuyi, he could not help confirming, “You’re eating my birthday cake this afternoon, right?”
Yang Shuyi was almost impatient now. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Only then did Shao Wu relax. He swung onto his bicycle, his last words flying back on the wind. “See you this afternoon, then!”
Yang Shuyi: “See you this afternoon.”
For lunch, Shao Wu’s father personally cooked him a feast: rabbit with hot peppers, steamed pork with rice flour, shredded chicken salad, daylily and sliced-pork soup, plus several plates of fresh, light vegetable dishes. Shao Wu ate until his cheeks were flushed, although the graffiti wall had something to do with that too. His mother laughed and pinched his ear. “Slow down! Don’t eat until you make yourself sick!”
“Oh, come on. He’s still growing at this age, of course he eats a lot.” His father put another piece of steamed pork into Shao Wu’s bowl. “It’s not that easy to stuff yourself sick. Here, son, eat some more.”
Shao Wu quickly waved his hands. “No, I can’t. If I eat any more… I’ll be too full to sleep.”
“He’s having cake with his classmates tonight too, and he’s already eaten plenty today,” his mother reminded him. “Cream is considered heaty, so eat less tonight and give more to your classmates, all right?”
“Mm, I know. Don’t worry, I’m not going to burst.”
“Seventeen already.” His mother smiled and shook her head. “If you really eat yourself sick, that’ll be embarrassing.”
Although he was not actually stuffed, Shao Wu still could not fall asleep that noon. He kept thinking about that wall, the five long-legged Fuwa Yang Shuyi had painted by hand… His whole body felt weightless, as though he were lying on a cloud. How had Yang Shuyi even thought of giving him graffiti? That guy really was something. He usually acted like he had nothing to say, but his head was full of ideas.
When it was time to go back to school, Shao Wu washed his face and climbed onto his bicycle again. May was already early summer, but spring still trailed behind it reluctantly. The air was damp and carried the smell of plants. The afternoon sunlight was bright, and Shao Wu pedaled lightly. First period was geography. His geography grades were not very good, but he liked the class. They should be covering location factors today, right?
What Shao Wu could not have imagined then was that a few months later, their geography teacher would add a special lesson on the causes of the Wenchuan earthquake. It was a lesson he would remember for the rest of his life. The Sichuan Basin and the Tibetan Plateau pressed against each other, while Yingxiu, known as “the foremost town of Aba,” lay along the fault zone created by that compression, the main Longmenshan fault zone. The block west of the fault thrust upward while also moving leftward, making the Wenchuan earthquake a thrust-strike-slip event. Heaven and earth are not benevolent. Energy accumulated over three to five thousand years was released in just ninety-six seconds.
Afternoon classes at Yongchuan No. 2 High School began at exactly two o’clock. When Shao Wu entered the classroom, Yang Shuyi was still sleeping facedown on his desk as usual.
Then the bell rang. Their geography teacher, Teacher Cui, entered the classroom. He wore a small goatee and looked like a stern little old man. “Class.”
Han Huiyuan called, “Stand up!”
Everyone dragged themselves to their feet, stretching out the greeting. “Good-af-ter-noon, teach-er.” First period after lunch was always like this. Everyone was sleepy.
At 2:02, Teacher Cui slapped the lectern in annoyance. “Are you really that sleepy? Wake yourselves up! Zhou Lei! You’re asleep, aren’t you?”
Zhou Lei jolted. “No! Teacher, I wasn’t asleep!”
At 2:15, Teacher Cui snapped off a piece of chalk and accurately threw it at Liu Jiadong in the back row. “Stop sleeping! Get up and answer this question!”
Naturally, Liu Jiadong could not answer. He rubbed his nose awkwardly.
At 2:28, Shao Wu noticed the classroom lights sway. At the same moment, Zhu Jingjing turned around and said to Wang Yiheng, who sat behind her, “Stop shaking the desk!” Wang Yiheng looked bewildered. “Huh? I’m not shaking it.”
In the very next second, Teacher Cui suddenly screamed, “Run! Run! It’s an earthquake!”
At 2:28 p.m. on May 12, 2008, a magnitude 8.2 earthquake on the Richter scale struck Yingxiu Town, Wenchuan County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.
Elio’s Notes: The novel describes the earthquake as 8.2 on the Richter scale. Modern reference values differ by scale: the U.S. Geological Survey lists moment magnitude 7.9, while the China Earthquake Administration lists surface-wave magnitude 8.0. I’ve preserved the source wording rather than silently changing it.
On that day, Shao Wu never got to eat his birthday cake.
For many years afterward, Shao Wu never ate birthday cake again.