“Who cares? With looks like that, it’s worth it even if he just sleeps with you.”
“True, so he’s single now?”
Her girlfriend immediately excitedly encouraged, “Want to send him a message and ask him out?”
“Don’t talk nonsense,” the female classmate’s face immediately flushed red with embarrassment. “My mom wants me to find a civil servant.” Despite her words, her eyes showed eagerness.
Method Yan glanced at Ye Meng, seeing her unconcerned, even pouring herself more wine. After a while, Ye Meng casually joined in: “Civil servants are good.”
The female classmate, activated by some strange nerve, instinctively contradicted Ye Meng: “I’ve been set up with a few civil servants and found them boring. My parents aren’t forcing me to find one; they think what’s most important is that I like the person. I feel life shouldn’t be too stable, or there’s no excitement.”
Ye Meng smiled, “Then go after him.”
The male classmates immediately joined in teasing: “Let’s make a bet on whether our Liu Yiyi can get a date with this guy. That way, even if you get rejected, you won’t lose face. Just say you were playing a game with friends!”
They had already provided her with an excuse. Liu Yiyi was more than willing and agreed readily.
Liu Yiyi pulled up Li Jinyu’s WeChat. The chat box was empty, showing they hadn’t talked since adding each other. Her girlfriend criticized her with a look of disdain: “What’s this? You never even chatted with him before? Too timid.”
Liu Yiyi blushed slightly, trying to think of what to say.
“Going out for a smoke.” Ye Meng stood up with her phone and left.
Method Yan followed closely behind. The two leaned against the smoking area in the corridor, casually inhaling and exhaling smoke. Nearby stood several big-bellied middle-aged men who seemed like local township officials out for business entertainment.
Method Yan ignored them and said to Ye Meng: “Got yourself in trouble, huh? What will you do if Liu Yiyi catches him?”
Ye Meng held a cigarette in one hand and her phone in the other, considering whether to call back that unknown number. Without looking up, she replied, “If she catches him, then she catches him. Am I supposed to hang myself from one tree? Hold on, let me make a call.”
She said this while inconspicuously stepping aside, and dialing the number.
The other end answered quickly. “Hello?”
Ye Meng took a drag from her cigarette and said, “Were you looking for me earlier?”
The person spoke with a Cantonese accent: “Yes, miss, this is the property center. Recently we have a—”
“Thank you, not interested. I’m not in Beijing.”
Ye Meng hung up immediately, exhaling a long breath of disappointment. She would never trust her sixth sense again.
…
In Beijing, New Year’s Eve brought torrential rain. Millions of water columns flowed into rivers. Howling winds caused trees to bend like grotesque demons. Every scene resembled a Picasso painting, abstract and distorted.
A delivery guy hurriedly left Beijing Union Medical College Hospital, anxiously mounted his electric scooter, and darted into the rain curtain. Halfway through his journey, a lightbulb suddenly went off in his head. He smacked his helmet as he realized—that phone call might not have been from his telemarketing list! A man at the hospital had borrowed his phone earlier. Maybe it was his friend?
But now he had an urgent contract to deliver, and there wasn’t enough time to go back.
Forget it, the person would surely find another phone to call from. If this contract was delivered late and the other party closed their accounts in the next two hours, his boss wouldn’t receive the payment before the New Year, and his bonus would be gone.
So the wobbling electric scooter suddenly accelerated, kicking up dust as it disappeared into the mesmerizing urban neon lights.
On the first day of the New Year, Ye Meng finally learned indirectly from Little Gao that Li Jinyu wasn’t in town recently—he had gone to Beijing. Little Gao didn’t say what for, only that he might return around the fifth day of the New Year.
That night at Dai’s place, they had reached a consensus: Ye Meng said she would treat Little Gao like a younger brother. Although Little Gao had feelings for Ye Meng, upon careful consideration, he thought it was more appropriate to remain friends. He didn’t want to be someone’s live-in son-in-law.
That night, Little Gao had been plied with some alcohol and became talkative. Ye Meng learned vaguely from him that Li Jinyu’s grandmother had lung cancer. His previous job as a hand model was to earn money for her medical expenses.
So why had he gone to Beijing? Surely not to be a hand model there?
“He went to donate blood,” the old lady explained casually while peeling a banana in her hospital bed. “His brother was playing with his toy car outside the community gates to pick up a delivery before the New Year. That naughty boy drove the toy car onto the road and got hit by a vehicle. Massive bleeding, life-threatening. Might even need a kidney transplant.”
“Is he his biological brother?” Ye Meng asked.
“No, his mother remarried and had him a few years ago. He’s only five or six now.”
“Is there no blood in the blood bank? Why did they make him go all the way there? They’re not asking Li Jinyu to donate a kidney, are they?”
The old lady snorted, seemingly unwilling to mention his mother: “That shouldn’t happen. He has some rare panda blood type that I don’t understand. Anyway, it’s very rare. Look how pitiful Li Jinyu is—they ignore him normally, but when trouble comes, they immediately think of him.”
On the fifth day of the New Year, the poor little bean returned.
Ye Meng sat in her car, watching Li Jinyu emerge from the crowded train station. Tall and thin, he stood out. He wore a white T-shirt underneath, black casual sports pants with three stripes, and a black and white patchwork jacket. On his feet were the same slim high-tops. He still wore a face mask, inexplicably resembling a college boy on vacation.
“Beep-beep—”
She pressed the horn moderately to alert him, then lowered the window. Li Jinyu had a large black messenger bag strapped to his chest, his hands tucked into his pockets. The only exposed part of his body was a pair of beautiful almond eyes. Across the stream of people, he stared at her for a few seconds.
By now, dusk was falling over the town. The twilight sank like ink, enveloping the entire small city in a reddish glow of blue lamps and yellow scrolls. The street lights hadn’t yet come on. In the faint rosy light, their gazes locked onto each other in the cold, thin air.
His eyes looked so deeply affectionate.
As if he had loved her for a long time. If she didn’t know he was born with such passionate eyes—that he could look at a trash can as if it were his girlfriend—Ye Meng’s blood would have immediately boiled. Her heart would have raised a majestic golden whip with all the loving sentiment of “my heart holds mountains and valleys; for you, I will move mountains and rivers.”
Ye Meng drove him home, then went to park the car. Li Jinyu didn’t wait for her. At the alley entrance to the community, he fed two stray cats, patted their heads, and strode toward the building.
He hadn’t closed the door, though, leaving it ajar. When Ye Meng entered, she saw that he had already taken off his jacket. Wearing a loose white T-shirt, he stood tall in the narrow yard, casually playing with a pop-pop snapper.
The kind that explodes when thrown on the ground.
During the New Year, fireworks and firecrackers weren’t allowed. Children could only play with these to satisfy their urges. She hadn’t expected such a grown man to be so childish.
The “bang bang” explosions became increasingly clear as Ye Meng pushed open the yard’s floor-to-ceiling window and walked over.
In the small yard was a bathtub as tall as a person, containing several small goldfish. Frightened by his explosive snappers, they darted around in confusion. Li Jinyu leaned against the bathtub. Without turning to look at her or throwing any more snappers on the ground, he crouched down to tease the little yellow dog. From the car ride until now, he seemed unwilling to speak a word to her.
“Li Jinyu?” Ye Meng decided to coax him.
“…” The person in question continued crouching, teasing the dog.
“Li Jinyu.”
“Bang!” He said nothing, stood up, leaned against the fish tank, and started throwing snappers again.
“Li Jinyu.”
“Bang!” He threw another one.
Ye Meng’s explosive temper flared up, her patience very limited. She warned angrily: “Fine, I’m leaving. You can keep playing. Better blow up this little broken house. When your grandma gets out of the hospital, get ready for a beating!”
“Ye Meng, do you want to try with me?” A voice suddenly came from behind—low and hoarse.
Li Jinyu didn’t know how to start. Now, he despised himself in his heart. He felt his morals were truly problematic. Knowing about Ye Meng and Nurse Little Gao’s situation, he still had the thick skin to ask.
The moon gradually descended, hiding behind the round mountaintop. By now, the small town was completely dark. The street lights finally came on. Pedestrians strolled along the riverbank, chatting and laughing. Loneliness seemed to elongate the shadow of the man in the small yard, making him appear especially desolate.
He didn’t know if his throat hadn’t fully recovered or if this trip to Beijing and another argument with his mother had worsened it. Very hoarse, his vocal cords seemed like they had been sanded over. He cleared his throat, but it was still no use. He spoke with a hoarse, low voice—
“Do you still want me?”
He leaned casually, simultaneously cursing himself inside while nonchalantly throwing out another line:
“Have you broken up with Little Gao? If not, forget what I said.”
Ye Meng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, looking at him speechlessly: “You believed what Method Yan said?”
He still leaned against the bathtub. The snappers in his hand were empty now. With nothing left to hold, he could only turn to look at her. In those deep black eyes, there were emotions difficult to control—suppressed, bitter.
From outside the yard’s fence came the loud voices of mahjong players, firecracker sounds, and children calling to their friends. In the lit-up surroundings, dreams and reality seemed to meet in the darkness.
Then, he turned sideways, leaning his back against the fish tank, and pulled her over. The two stood against the fish tank.
Li Jinyu looked down at her and said: “Yes, I’m the most gullible. So, don’t take advantage of me.”