Ning Shao and Li An’an spent a long time catching up. They had rarely seen each other since high school, largely because Ning Shao had deliberately avoided her. Later, when Ning Shao discovered that Lin Yan had installed a listening device on her phone, she stopped making calls altogether.
When Li An’an told her how she’d gotten into university after graduating from high school, studied veterinary medicine, and now worked at an animal hospital, Ning Shao was genuinely happy for her.
After all, even back in high school, Li An’an had said she loved animals and wanted to become a veterinarian someday. She wanted to spend all day working with animals, and she knew she’d enjoy it even as a job.
They talked for about an hour. Worried about Ning Shao’s health, Li An’an said, “A Shao, send me your address. I’ll come see you.”
She really wanted to come take care of her.
Ning Shao was a doctor and knew her own condition. Besides, it wasn’t safe for a young woman like Li An’an to come over in the middle of the night. She said softly, “It’s late. Let’s meet tomorrow.”
Knowing what Ning Shao was like, Li An’an held back the urge to rush over and see her. She didn’t want to disturb Ning Shao’s rest, either, so she reminded her to take care of herself.
Just before hanging up, she suddenly asked, “A Shao, is anyone else at home with you?”
Ning Shao answered honestly. “No. It’s just me.”
The phone fell silent. Just as Ning Shao thought Li An’an had hung up, her voice came through again.
“But I keep hearing footsteps. They’re really clear. They must be right beside you.”
In the shared apartment,
Li An’an was worried about disturbing her roommate, so she’d gone out to the balcony to make the call. The night air was chilly, and she’d put on a thick cardigan. Listening to the voice on the other end, she couldn’t help frowning.
Thud, thud, thud!
The footsteps were heavy. Ning Shao’s apartment had wooden floors in both the living room and the bedroom, so every step came through clearly—loud enough to drown out her voice at times. Li An’an had to press her ear close to the phone to make out what she was saying.
But the next second, the chaotic, heavy footsteps were replaced by a burst of static. Li An’an instinctively pulled the phone away from her ear.
When she put it back, the strange footsteps were gone, and A Shao’s voice came through clearly.
“Li An’an, it’s noisy upstairs. I couldn’t hear you. What did you say just now?”
Li An’an understood at once.
So the footsteps were coming from upstairs.
She knew A Shao lived in the old part of town, where the soundproofing was terrible.
She was about to answer when Ning Shao gave a soft cough over the phone. Li An’an hurriedly said, “I’m fine. Go get some rest, A Shao. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning.”
Before Ning Shao could refuse, Li An’an hung up.
…
Ning Shao looked at the phone that had gone dead and smiled helplessly.
Weary, she glanced up at the ceiling. Just as Li An’an had started talking, there had been a sudden, violent crash upstairs, as if something heavy had hit the floor. The noise had gone on for quite a while.
That was why Ning Shao hadn’t heard what Li An’an had said.
Just as she began to wonder if something had happened upstairs, she heard shouting and crying.
Clearly, a married couple lived upstairs. In the middle of the night, they were having a furious fight over some trivial matter. That sort of thing wasn’t unusual in this apartment building. Back in high school, Ning Shao had often been jolted awake by arguments like these. She was used to them by now.
Fortunately, the couple’s argument soon ended. Ning Shao looked away. Remembering that she hadn’t eaten all day and was sick, she thought she’d order something—anything—from a food delivery app.
Her slender, pale fingers hovered over the glowing phone screen, then slowly drew back.
She didn’t seem… hungry.
Ning Shao rested her palm against her slightly rounded stomach. She felt none of the hunger she’d expected, as if she’d eaten not long ago.
But she hadn’t eaten anything at all.
*
Worried she might wake A Shao, Li An’an arrived early and waited outside the residential compound, planning to wait until A Shao woke up and texted her.
As she waited, she looked at the familiar concrete apartment building, and a memory of Li An’an came to mind.
In class, everyone said Ning Shao was cold-blooded, like a machine programmed to feel nothing. Back then, Li An’an, who didn’t know A Shao well, thought so too.
Take the lunch break, for example. It was the only time students could sleep and rest. They were still young, and they had evening study sessions[1]Many Chinese secondary schools schedule supervised evening self-study sessions, particularly for students preparing for important examinations. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3733356_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3733356_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); that ran late; before dawn, they had to get up and study with all their might again. Even a body made of iron couldn’t take that.
The whole class slept except Ning Shao. She was always reading or working through problems. She wore a plastic band around her wrist and, whenever she got sleepy, pulled it so it snapped against her skin. She relied on the sting to force herself to stay awake.
She always sat bolt upright. In class, her eyes were bright and alert as she listened and took notes.
Later, when Li An’an heard she was dating Lin Yan, the transfer student who was the talk of the school, she was stunned.
Ning Shao would never let anything get in the way of her studies—not even a romance.
It wasn’t as if no one had ever secretly slipped love letters into her desk. Ling and some other boys had even tried to win her over by bringing her breakfast and snacks every day and giving her all kinds of gifts.
But Ning Shao treated every admirer the same way: she rejected them without the slightest courtesy, trampling their sincere feelings into the dirt without so much as a glance.
So Li An’an simply couldn’t believe Ning Shao would be dating anyone. She secretly followed her, wanting to see whether it was true.
It was the same time of year: late autumn. Before six, the sky was already mostly dark, dim and yellow. Li An’an followed Ning Shao all the way to this neighborhood.
A short distance ahead, Ning Shao and Lin Yan walked one behind the other.
Li An’an saw how cold Ning Shao was toward her “boyfriend,” and at last felt relieved.
She’d known it had to be a rumor. With Li An’an’s love of studying, she could never be the sort to date in high school.
No matter how outstanding the transfer student was, he could never catch Li An’an’s eye.
But then something happened that she never could have expected.
Ning Shao stopped, reached back to take Lin Yan’s hand, and pulled him into a deserted, desolate alley beside them.
Li An’an didn’t dare get too close. She stood at the alley entrance, watching their figures stop deep inside. It was dim and they were far away, but their heads were almost touching, and she could guess what they were doing.
She heard Lin Yan’s voice, low and hoarse, accompanied by heavy, hurried breathing.
“Ning Shao… don’t…”
Even in the secluded, shadowy alley, Li An’an could picture the boy’s expression from his voice alone.
Beneath his extraordinarily handsome features, there seemed to lurk a touch of inhuman frenzy.
He was nothing like his usual wooden, taciturn self, who barely spoke at all.
Ning Shao tilted her snow-white neck back, her lips red as plum blossoms pressed against Lin Yan’s.
At the wet sound of their lips rubbing together, Li An’an’s face flushed scarlet.
She couldn’t understand how Li An’an, who seemed to care about nothing but studying, could be so passionate with Lin Yan.
…
Even now,
Though she’d seen just how possessive Lin Yan could be, Li An’an still believed the two of them must have been in love with each other. Otherwise, A Shao wouldn’t have agreed to date him—let alone kiss him.
References[+]