The Olympics opened on August 8. That day, Yang Shuyi took Shao Wu out for a meal. By then the gauze had been removed from his hands. All ten fingers looked new, the fingertips red because the newly grown skin really was flushed crimson. This time they did not eat at the little malatang shop near his home, but at a restaurant that had only recently opened. For the two of them, Yang Shuyi ordered four dishes: pickled-vegetable fish, steamed pork ribs with rice flour, stir-fried sweet-potato shoots, and dressed fish mint root, plus a pot of tremella and pear soup. Solemnly, he said to Shao Wu, “Thank you for everything these past few months.”
In less than three months, he seemed to have grown quite a bit taller. His voice had changed too, becoming lower and gentler. The only thing missing was the teasing way he used to call Shao Wu “top student.”
Shao Wu shook his head. “You don’t have to thank me.”
Yang Shuyi said, “Eat.”
The restaurant was new, the portions generous and the food good, though it was not cheap. Shao Wu knew Yang Shuyi had received a fair amount of money. Uncle Wang had given him thirty thousand yuan. The transport company where Yang Long had worked gave him twenty thousand. After the news reports, all of Yongchuan knew that a student at No. 2 High School had lost his father in the Wenchuan earthquake, had traveled alone to the disaster area to search for him, and, after failing to find him, had stayed to help with earthquake relief. The county government therefore sent people to Yang Shuyi’s home to express their condolences and gave him another thirty thousand yuan.
His father was gone. Auntie Xiaojuan was gone. And Yang Shuyi had eighty thousand yuan in his hands.
Shao Wu did not dare ask what he planned to do next.
Halfway through the meal, Yang Shuyi said, “I’m going to university.”
Shao Wu’s chopsticks paused. He wanted to ask, Because that was your dad’s wish? But he did not dare. After struggling with himself for several seconds, he only nodded. “Oh… okay.”
Yang Shuyi lowered his eyes, perfectly calm. “Longlong will be in sixth grade when school starts. By the time I graduate from university, she’ll only be in high school. I’ll be earning money by then, so I can pay for her to go to university.”
Shao Wu thought for a moment, then asked carefully, “Does Auntie Xiaojuan… have any other relatives in Yingxiu?” He was thinking that if she did, perhaps some of the pressure on Yang Shuyi could be eased.
“I don’t know.” Yang Shuyi looked at Shao Wu without any expression on his face. “That place was completely destroyed. Even if she does, they’d be hard to find.”
Shao Wu suddenly felt he had asked an incredibly stupid question.
He had never been to the disaster area. Even though he and his parents sat in front of the television crying every day, he still could not imagine how completely the place had been destroyed. The programs said many reporters had to receive psychological counseling after leaving the disaster zone or they simply could not return to normal life. They said nurses treated the injured during the day, then held each other and sobbed at night.
But Yang Shuyi. Shao Wu looked at him. He did not seem to have any psychological problems, nor did he break down sobbing. He had come back, brought Longlong and his grandparents home, handled his father’s and Auntie Xiaojuan’s affairs, and now was taking Shao Wu out to dinner to thank him. Everything proceeded in perfect order, as though he were a machine executing instructions. The one exception had been when Uncle Wang gave him the money and he cried, but even those tears stopped quickly.
“I understand…” Shao Wu said softly. “If there’s anything else at home you need help with, tell me. And if there are any problems you don’t know how to do, ask me.”
Yang Shuyi smiled at Shao Wu and said again, “Thank you.”
Shao Wu badly wanted to reach out and touch his face.
Yongchuan No. 2 High School reopened on August 20. School was originally supposed to start on September 1, but every senior class returned ten days early. It was a school tradition. At last, they moved into the separate senior-year building. In front stood the gaokao countdown sign: “291 days until the 2009 gaokao.”
It had rained that morning. The weather was oppressively hot, and even the cicadas dragged out their cries weakly. Students came carrying backpacks and boxes, inventing every possible way to move their heavy books into the new classroom. Shao Wu brought a rolling suitcase from home to haul his own books. Even so, he had to make three full trips and worked up such a sweat that his T-shirt stuck to his back.
The classroom was chaotic. Some people were chatting, some rushing to finish summer homework, some standing beneath the air conditioner cooling off. Shao Wu heard Zhou Lei ask Han Huiyuan, “Want to sit together again this semester?”
Han Huiyuan answered quietly, “I don’t know. I think the homeroom teacher is changing the seating.”
Zhou Lei nodded, his voice dropping too. “Oh. Okay, then.”
Every student had reached an unspoken agreement never to mention the Wenchuan earthquake. Even the words “change seats” came out furtively. They all remembered the argument between Yang Shuyi’s father and their homeroom teacher.
The seating chart had not been posted yet, so no one was in a hurry to unpack. They simply left backpacks and boxes on windowsills or in corners. Several students on cleaning duty were sweeping, while others mopped the floor or wiped the windows. The classroom was noisy and disordered.
Shao Wu asked Yang Shuyi, “Want to walk around the field?”
“No.” Yang Shuyi grabbed the nearest desk and started dragging it. “I need to get settled.”
He dragged the desk to the very back of the classroom, once again near the trash can. Then he said to Shao Wu, “I’m taking my books out.”
Shao Wu murmured, “You… don’t rush yet… They might change the seating this semester.”
Yang Shuyi crouched down and unzipped his rolling suitcase. “You guys can change. I’ll just sit here.” He briskly took out textbook after textbook and workbook after workbook, arranging them neatly on the desk.
A few minutes later, their homeroom teacher entered holding a sheet of A4 paper. He taped it to the wall beside the lectern. “Come take a look at the seating chart…” Before he could finish, his gaze suddenly froze on Yang Shuyi at the back of the classroom.
For one delicate instant, everyone fell silent.
“Everyone,” the homeroom teacher began, pausing as though he needed to emphasize the words, “come take a look. A new semester has started, and your seats have… been adjusted.”
The students surged forward. Yang Shuyi remained seated and did not move.
A mathematics paper lay open on his desk. He was working on it as though he were so absorbed that he had heard nothing at all.
Shao Wu squeezed forward too. On the new seating chart, Yang Shuyi’s deskmate was Wang Qin, the class politics representative. Everyone was dragging desks around to change places. Zhou Lei grinned so widely his mouth nearly split his face. “Class Monitor, we’re still deskmates!”
Wang Qin was moving her desk too.
Shao Wu looked at Yang Shuyi sitting immovably in the back, and his heart tightened again.
More than ten minutes passed. The new seating arrangement was finished. Only the seat beside Wang Qin remained empty.
First period was their homeroom teacher’s class. He came in, let his gaze sweep across the room, and said nothing.
Shao Wu turned around with his heart pounding. Yang Shuyi was no longer working on the mathematics paper. A politics textbook lay open on his desk, and he looked as though he fully intended to listen to the lesson.
For the entire forty-five minutes, the air conditioner ran, yet Shao Wu’s palms stayed damp. At last the bell rang. Their homeroom teacher closed his book. “We’ll stop here for today.” Shao Wu thought he was going to leave, but instead the teacher gripped the book, stepped down from the lectern, and walked straight to Yang Shuyi.
Class was over, but no one moved. Some students turned around, others did not, but every person in the room except Yang Shuyi held their breath.
“Go sit with Wang Qin,” the homeroom teacher said gently, almost coaxingly. “She has a good method for studying the humanities subjects. She can help you more.”
Yang Shuyi smiled, his expression sincere. “No need, Teacher. I think this seat is pretty good.”
The homeroom teacher said nothing. Yang Shuyi said nothing either. In those few short seconds, Shao Wu’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest.
In the end, the homeroom teacher spoke first. “All right. Then you can sit here… If you decide later that you want to sit with Wang Qin, move over yourself.”
Yang Shuyi nodded. “Okay. Thank you, Teacher.”
The homeroom teacher left the classroom.
Yang Shuyi went back to working on that mathematics paper.
After another period, Zhou Lei quietly came over. “I just went to the office and saw the homeroom teacher sighing over and over. Man. He looked really upset.”
Shao Wu said, “I know.”
Zhou Lei shook his head, looking confused. “Actually, I think… I think neither the homeroom teacher nor Yang Shuyi did anything wrong. Back then, the teacher moved him to the back because he thought it was best for him… But I understand why Yang Shuyi doesn’t want to move back either. His dad, because of the seating thing… and then his dad…” He trailed off, probably unable to bear finishing the sentence.
Shao Wu still said, “I know.”
Shao Wu knew neither Yang Shuyi nor the homeroom teacher was at fault. If Yang Shuyi’s father were still alive… maybe Yang Shuyi would even be willing to move back now.
But after that earthquake, after that earthquake, Yang Shuyi would never, ever, ever move back, just as he would never, ever, ever forgive the homeroom teacher. So there was a kind of “not forgiving” in this world where, even knowing the other person was not to blame, you still… did not forgive.
The earthquake changed everything.