Gao Zhiyang says there is an area here themed around an anime he really likes, and he absolutely has to go check it out and take pictures.
He is in high spirits, while Chen Jinshan beside him looks sullen. When taking pictures for him, he is even more absent-minded; in the several photos he takes, the person is nearly out of frame in every single one.
“I really can’t compliment your skills.” Gao Zhiyang scrolls through the photos, his frown deep enough to crush a fly. “No, seriously, I’m a living, breathing person. Is it that hard to put me in the center when composing the shot?”
“I’ll take a few more for you.” Chen Jinshan takes his phone and tells him to go back and stand properly.
Gao Zhiyang stands under the statue of that anime character and strikes a very exaggerated pose.
“Take good ones for me, I need to properly manage my Moments.” Gao Zhiyang changes to another pose. “You should manage yours too. Take more pictures and post more, so girls will think you love life and will want to chat with you.”
Pausing for a moment, he adds rather indignantly, “Even though it’s always other girls chasing you and taking the initiative to find topics to chat with you about, someone like you is the type that can only be admired from afar. If they really got close to you, they’d only find you boring and would dump you sooner or later.”
Chen Jinshan doesn’t say a word, listening to him continue to nag: “Your Moments only has competition news, like some old cadre. There’s no vitality at all.”
So noisy. He really wants to use a piece of tape to stick his mouth shut.
Who else had said this to him before?
Oh right, it was Zhou Xiaqing.
When he was little, he was also a chatterbox like Gao Zhiyang. When she did homework with him, he couldn’t sit still and was always looking for her to chat. One moment it was, “Zhouzhou, let me tell you a ghost story,” and the next it was, “Zhouzhou, look, it really feels uncomfortable if you put the pen tip close to the center of your brows.” A little while later, it would be his confused, “Zhouzhou, why are you glaring at me?”
“No wonder the teacher always says you have a spring attached to your butt and the door on your mouth is loose.” Nine-year-old Zhou Xiaqing ripped off a piece of tape and threatened, “If you speak again, I’ll seal your mouth shut with tape.”
“Don’t! Then I’ll really meet a ‘sticky’ end right here!”
Chen Jinshan then obediently shut his mouth and did his homework.
…Yeah, right!
He continued to chatter, disturbing her so much that she couldn’t concentrate on her homework either. Zhou Xiaqing complained to his mother, and his butt happily received two fresh handprints.
“Let’s go, time to line up!”
Gao Zhiyang’s voice pulls him out of his memories. Chen Jinshan ponders for two seconds, throws him a “I have heatstroke, I’m going to rest first,” and then turns around and walks away quickly.
He leaves Gao Zhiyang shouting in place, “What the hell kind of heatstroke can you get in this weather! Who would believe that? Where are you actually going!”
Where to?
Walking back along the way he came, Chen Jinshan returns to that restaurant.
Still in the exact same spot, the girl is resting her head on her arms, lying on the table with her eyes closed to rest. Even from a distance, one can see her listlessness; she looks like a sickly kitten.
He walks over and sits down beside her.
Hearing the movement, Zhou Xiaqing thinks it is Xu Ling, so she asks with her eyes closed, “You’re back so soon? Didn’t you say there would probably be a lot of people at the restroom?”
“Zhou Xiaqing,” Chen Jinshan calls her softly.
“Why did you come back?” Zhou Xiaqing lifts her head at the sound.
“I’m feeling a little unwell.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Heatstroke.”
“…Oh.”
Ignoring his obvious lie, Zhou Xiaqing turns her face to the other side and continues to lie there resting.
The restaurant is a bit noisy. Her phone seems to have rung twice, but she didn’t hear it very clearly.
Immediately after, the ringtone for a voice call rings out, confirming that her phone had indeed just rung.
The phone screen displays “Mom”.
Zhou Xiaqing accepts the video call invitation. On the screen, her mom hurriedly greets her before switching the camera to the rear lens.
She seems to be on the second floor of a mall; the camera angle is looking down. In the exquisitely arranged venue, a host in a suit and leather shoes is interviewing a radiant actress wearing a gown.
The sides are crowded with enthusiastic fans.
“Baby, Auntie Yu and I are traveling, and we just happened to run into that actress you mentioned last time. Quick, look!”
Zhou Xiaqing replies weakly. Sensing something is wrong, her mom squeezes through the crowd to find a quiet place. Carefully observing her daughter on the screen, her tone is filled with heartache: “Are you still not sleeping well? Is the medicine not working?”
Not wanting her mother to worry about her anymore, Zhou Xiaqing replies half-truthfully, “I’ve been sleeping quite well lately. I feel unwell today because I came to the amusement park and rode the roller coaster. My head is spinning and I want to throw up.”
Auntie Yu shows half her face and asks her, “Do you have motion sickness pills?”
Just as she is about to speak, Chen Jinshan intrudes into the frame and answers for her: “No.”
Auntie Yu says in surprise, “Son, why are you here?”
“I had a layover after my competition and happened to run into her.”
“You guys are still at the park right now, right? Jinshan, please go ask the staff if they have any medicine later. You can also massage Zhouzhou’s Neiguan and Hegu acupoints, that’s also quite helpful. I’ll send you an acupoint diagram in a bit. You’re both abroad, so take good care of Zhouzhou.”
“Exactly! Chen Jinshan, you better keep your mouth clean this time, hear me? Speak nicely to Zhouzhou. If you use that sarcastic, weird tone again, I’ll throw away all the limited-edition sneakers in your house! Don’t even think about coming home for the holidays either!”
“The signal is bad and it’s lagging too much. If you have any problems, send me a message, okay baby?”
“Zhouzhou, if you still feel unwell by the afternoon, tell Auntie immediately. Your mom and I both have students studying abroad over there, so they should be able to help take you to the hospital.”
The video feed lags terribly, but even so, the two mothers go over everything they need to instruct before hanging up the video call.
Before the two of them can react to the barrage of instructions just now, a female voice suddenly sounds beside them: “You guys are childhood friends?”
The two of them look up in sync, their gazes simultaneously following Xu Ling.
Watching Xu Ling sit down across from them, they say in unison: “No.”
Xu Ling continues asking, “Friends?”
Zhou Xiaqing and Chen Jinshan answer without prior consultation: “No.”
“But those two aunties seemed to know each other really well.”
“But we aren’t close.”
It is another simultaneous answer, without a fraction of a difference.
“So in sync?” Her gaze patrolling between the two of them, Xu Ling feigns a slightly exaggerated look of sudden realization. “Maybe you really aren’t close.”
Not caring how they react, Xu Ling stands up and waves her phone. “I’m going to go play for a bit. Message me if you need anything.”
After saying that, she walks off on her own.