December 16 was a Monday. Shao Wu had only one class that morning. After class, he stayed in the office, typing rapidly at his computer. He had bought an IP address on Taobao that could access the A&HCI database, then downloaded nearly twenty English-language papers in one go, all on high-school education and all published within the past two months.
As he translated the papers, Shao Wu could not help thinking that passing TEM-8 had not been for nothing. Back when he applied for the job, the school had told him they were not hiring English teachers that year, so he could only teach geography. At the time, he had felt rather regretful.
Elio’s Notes: TEM-8 (Test for English Majors, Band 8) is a high-level English proficiency examination traditionally taken by English majors at Chinese universities.
Who would have thought that the English major he had spent four years studying would prove useful so quickly?
Perhaps because it was raining, the flag-raising ceremony had been canceled. During the break between classes, there was none of the usual noise of students fooling around in the corridors. The whole campus was like a cat curled beside a stove, warm and drowsy. Near noon, Shao Wu received a text from Zhu Jingjing: I’m getting ready to go to the wedding. Are you really not coming?
Shao Wu replied: Not going. Be careful on the way.
Zhu Jingjing did not reply again. Shao Wu knew she was probably a little unhappy, perhaps blaming him for being so indifferent to old classmates. They had all been in the same class, after all, and Shen Qi and Wang Yiheng did not even work in Yongchuan, yet they had still chosen to hold their wedding there. That showed a certain thoughtfulness.
Shao Wu suddenly felt that he was a little like Yang Shuyi. Yang Shuyi had never forgiven their old homeroom teacher or No. 2 High, so from graduation until now he had never stepped through the school gates again. And Shao Wu? Shao Wu knew he would always remember those two careless sentences Shen Qi had spoken, even if Shen Qi herself had probably forgotten them long ago. Even if he was the last person in the world who still remembered, he had to remember for his own sake.
After saving a translated passage onto a USB drive, Shao Wu shut down the computer and went to the cafeteria. Halfway there, he ran into Vice Principal Gao. From two meters away, Gao actually took the initiative to nod at him and called out in a booming voice, “Ah, Xiao Shao, only going to eat now?”
Shao Wu knew Director Wang must already have told Vice Principal Gao his answer. Otherwise, Gao would not have been this friendly.
“I just finished grading homework.” Shao Wu smiled respectfully at Vice Principal Gao. “You’ve already eaten?”
“Finished already. The food today was pretty good! Go eat plenty. I heard Wang Shougang say you’ve all been very busy lately?”
“A little, yes, but don’t worry.” With no one around, Shao Wu lowered his voice. “I’ll take care of the work you assigned me.”
Vice Principal Gao walked away smiling. He moved slowly, and with his heavy build, his back looked like a Maitreya Buddha gliding away. Through the fine curtain of rain, Shao Wu watched him go and remembered the tone his old homeroom teacher had used years ago when mentioning him, envious, but also faintly afraid and helpless: Fan Pengfei’s uncle-by-marriage is going to become vice principal!
Shao Wu was very glad that after all these years, he was no longer the high-school student who could be intimidated by the mere words “vice principal.”
By the time he reached the cafeteria, the rice-and-dishes counter had already run out of food, so Shao Wu ordered a bowl of beef noodles and a plate of stir-fried lettuce greens. While waiting for the noodles, he took out his phone and opened QQ.
Sure enough, the long-silent class group chat had come back to life. The classmates going to the wedding were chatting excitedly. Judging from the timestamps, they were still on their way and had not yet arrived at the venue, but they were already worked up. One said nobody was allowed to leave until they were all drunk; another asked so-and-so whether they were bringing a partner and said they had better bring them along for everyone to meet. It was all teasing and banter. Shao Wu skimmed downward quickly, until after a few seconds his eyes suddenly stopped on one line.
Wang Jiaojiao: Xiaoning, I heard that you-know-who is coming today too!
Wang Jiaojiao? Shao Wu frowned and thought for a while before barely recalling her face, a girl with round, puffed cheeks. Hadn’t she been fairly close to Zheng Xiaoning?
Zheng Xiaoning: Huh? Who?
Wang Jiaojiao: Don’t pretend~~~~~~~~
Another boy jumped in to gossip: Who is it? Why are you two being so mysterious?
Wang Jiaojiao: I’m not saying. Anyway, that person will be there today. Xiaoning, seize your chance~~~
The others began hooting and teasing, but soon the conversation shifted to how much wedding money everyone was giving.
Shao Wu stared blankly at his phone. With such an ambiguous tone, they had to be talking about someone Zheng Xiaoning had once liked or secretly had a crush on. Who else could “that person” be but Yang Shuyi?
But Yang Shuyi was actually coming to the wedding? Was he really that close with Shen Qi and Wang Yiheng?
Shao Wu even had the impulse to call Yang Shuyi and ask, but forcibly held himself back. Since he had already made up an excuse not to attend the wedding, he had no reason to ask whether Yang Shuyi was going. Even if Yang Shuyi did go, they would not be able to see each other anyway.
Serves you right, Shao Wu thought. Was this the punishment for lying?
He put down his phone and carried the beef noodles and stir-fried greens over from the counter, then ate lunch alone. The beef noodles were a little salty but still tolerable. The greens were genuinely awful. Shao Wu picked up one piece and put it in his mouth. As he chewed, he thought they had probably been cooked long ago and merely reheated just now. A single green scallion floated on the thin broth like a tiny insect that had died a miserable death.
His appetite vanished completely.
Shao Wu forced himself to eat half a bowl of noodles, grabbed his umbrella, and left the cafeteria.
The rain had grown heavier than when he came. Across the surfaces of puddles large and small, he could see circular ripples spreading whenever the raindrops struck. By this hour, the day students had already gone home and the boarding students were taking their midday rest. The school was so quiet that only the rain could be heard.
Shao Wu suddenly wanted a bowl of pea-and-minced-pork noodles, from the shop they used to pass on winter mornings on the way to class, the one where he would occasionally buy a serving for Yang Shuyi too. He knew the shop was still open, though it was rather far from school. But he was not in a hurry. He had no classes that afternoon.
Shao Wu left the school and lit a cigarette. Perhaps because of the damp weather, the smoke carried a faint musty smell, yet unexpectedly it made him feel comfortable. He inhaled deeply, drawing nicotine and wet cold into his lungs together, and his mood seemed to ease a little.
Would Yang Shuyi bring Zou Xin to the wedding? Forget it. Who cared? He had been willing to give up graduate school for Zou Xin, so anything he did for her would be normal. The two of them, a perfectly matched couple, going to another perfectly matched couple’s wedding together. What a festive picture. Enough warmth to fight off even this cold, gloomy rain.
Shao Wu walked along the river, smoking as he went, with the air of someone taking advantage of the opportunity to indulge himself. When he finished the first cigarette, he immediately lit a second.
By the time the second cigarette had been smoked down to a stub, the phone in his pocket rang.
It was Zhu Jingjing.
Shao Wu assumed she had finished attending the wedding and was calling to tell him some gossip about their old classmates.
“Shao Wu, it’s me. Yang Shuyi.”
“…”
“Shao Wu?”
“Mm. I’m listening.”
“Zhu Jingjing drank too much. She told me to ask you to come get her.”
“…I’m pretty busy right now. Can you guys send her back to the dorm?”
“No.” Yang Shuyi paused, then said each word distinctly. “She insists that her boyfriend come pick her up.”
Twenty minutes later, Shao Wu stepped out of a taxi and stood before the glass revolving doors of Qinghui Grand Hotel. The ground was littered with shreds of red firecracker paper. It should have looked festive, but soaked through with rain, it instead seemed rather desolate. Shao Wu went inside. Directly ahead was a flower wall made of pink roses, with a heart-shaped sign hanging in the center:
Bride Shen Qi
Welcome to our wedding!
Groom Wang Yiheng
Going around the flower wall, Shao Wu followed the signs and soon arrived at Yihe Hall on the second floor.
The doors to the banquet hall were open. From several meters away, Shao Wu could already hear the clamor of voices and music, and every so often two or three guests would stagger out together, some visibly tipsy.
Shao Wu took a deep breath and walked inside.
Most of the guests had already left. Only two tables remained occupied, and naturally they were filled with his old high-school classmates. As Shao Wu walked toward them under everyone’s gaze, the first person he saw was Yang Shuyi. Among several men who were already drunk enough to sway in their seats, Yang Shuyi’s eyes were perfectly clear.
Shen Qi and Wang Yiheng were there too. Shen Qi was even still wearing her wedding dress. In fact, if she had not been wearing it, Shao Wu probably would not have recognized her.
They had changed. After four years apart, all his classmates had changed. Their faces, expressions, bodies, everything.
“Congratulations. Congratulations to you both.” Shao Wu went over and shook Wang Yiheng’s hand, his expression a little stiff. “I’m really sorry. The school meeting only just ended…”
“Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine!” Wang Yiheng reeked of alcohol and spoke loudly. “You made it, that’s what matters! We haven’t seen each other in forever—four years? Five?”
“Four, I think?”
“Shao Wu, you haven’t changed much at all! Look at me.” Wang Yiheng patted his belly. “I’ve gained twenty jin!”
Elio’s Notes: In mainland China, one jin (斤) equals 500 grams, so twenty jin is about 10 kilograms.
Shen Qi hurried over and linked her arm through Wang Yiheng’s. Smiling at Shao Wu, she said, “He’s drunk.”
Shao Wu nodded. “Zhu Jingjing is drunk too? I came to pick her up.”
“Ah, okay…”
Shao Wu knew he was slapping himself in the face. Earlier, he had claimed he had meetings all day and absolutely could not come, yet here he was to pick up Zhu Jingjing. Fortunately, the other classmates did not know that. They were all thrilled to see him. One female classmate whose name Shao Wu could not even remember pulled over a chair from the next table and called, “Shao Wu, sit! We were just talking!”
It was hard to refuse such enthusiasm, so Shao Wu sat down despite himself.
Zhu Jingjing was seated two people away on his left, already drunk enough to be sprawled over the table. Yang Shuyi sat directly opposite Shao Wu, looking at him without saying a word.
“You’re late. Drink one as punishment.” One of the boys handed him a can of beer. “The baijiu’s all gone, so you’ll have to make do with this!”
“No, no, one glass of beer isn’t enough. You’ve got to finish the whole can at least!”
“You guys are awful—”
“Wow, I got punished with three drinks just now and you didn’t say a word for me. What, are you into Shao Wu?”
“Come on, put your hands on your hearts and tell me: back in high school, how many girls in our class didn’t like Shao Wu?”
“And don’t forget, someone at this table had a crush on a different guy…”
Their laughter made Shao Wu’s scalp prickle. He hurriedly raised the beer. “I’ll drink it.”
He was genuinely thirsty. He tipped the whole can back in one go. The bitterness rushed from his tongue down his throat, making him wrinkle his nose.
“Whoa, Shao Wu can drink!”
“Another strong drinker. Nobody leaves sober today!”
“Hahaha, anyone with ideas better hurry up and get Shao Wu drunk. Time to arrange a drunken hookup—”
Everyone joked without restraint, laughing and making a racket.
Shao Wu looked only at Yang Shuyi. Yang Shuyi moved his gaze away, but every so often it drifted back across Shao Wu’s face as though by accident. So ordinary. So calm.
Zou Xin was not there.
Had Yang Shuyi spoken to Zheng Xiaoning? Had he been drinking? Had people teased him the way they had just teased Shao Wu?
Shao Wu closed his eyes, stood, and said, “Sorry, I still have a meeting this afternoon… I came to get Zhu Jingjing.”
The moment he said that, everyone exploded again:
“What? You two are dating?!”
“Whoa, when did you get together? You didn’t tell any of us!”
“You two weren’t already dating back in high school, were you?”
“Three more drinks! Three more!”
“…I really do have a meeting this afternoon. You guys keep going.” Shao Wu stopped responding to them and went straight over, half dragging and half carrying Zhu Jingjing upright.
“Jingjing, Jingjing?” Shao Wu called softly. She opened her eyes hazily, then suddenly planted a hard kiss on his cheek.
Everyone shrieked, “Woooo—!”
“Shao Wu,” Zhu Jingjing slurred, “you came.”
“Jingjing, we’re going back.” Shao Wu felt as though needles were pricking his back. He wanted nothing more than to vanish from the room on the spot.
But the next second, Yang Shuyi’s voice sounded behind him: “Shao Wu, I’ll help you take her back.”
Shao Wu turned around in a daze. Yang Shuyi had thrown on his coat and was striding toward him, not a trace of expression on his face.
“Let’s go.” Yang Shuyi lifted Zhu Jingjing’s other arm over his shoulder.
Only then did Shao Wu suddenly realize something—
Yang Shuyi seemed… angry?