Jiang Qiaoxi just returned from Hong Kong at the end of February. He called Lin Qile at the airport and said he wanted to go to Lin Qile's house for lunch.
Lin Qile hung up the phone, climbed out of bed, put on cotton slippers and went to tell his father. Electrician Lin was stuffing sausages at home and said, "Okay, it's just a matter of adding a bowl."
When passing by the dressing mirror, Lin Qile looked in the mirror and realized belatedly that she should wash her hair.
Lin Qile spent the New Year in the provincial capital, wandering around the headquarters every day, eating and drinking to his heart's content. He either ate and drank at his own home, at Yu Qiao's home, or at Du Shang's home. Du Shang's mother came back from her parents' home and brought many local specialties, which she delivered to Team Leader Yu and Electrician Lin's homes to thank them for taking care of Du Shang over the past year.
Lin Qile also attended two banquets. One was the centenary banquet of driver Shao and Aunt Xie's child.
She wore a red cotton-padded jacket and took photos with Uncle Shao and Aunt Xie. She also had the opportunity to hold the baby. Lin Qile rubbed the baby's face with her fingers and said, "His face is so soft!"
Uncle Yu was chatting with driver Shao nearby, mostly about their recent work and the past at the construction site in the mountains.
"Back in 1990, Juanzi was about to give birth, but Lin Haifeng was still working overtime at the construction site," Uncle Yu frowned. "He called and said your daughter was about to be born, but you didn't go to the hospital! My goodness, everyone who was working overtime at the construction site rushed to the hospital, and more than a dozen men were crowded in the corridor. The nurse looked around outside and wondered who was the father among you!"
"I watched him being born!" Lin Qile and the baby giggled at each other, and she looked up at the uncles.
Driver Shao and Uncle Yu said, "We watched you being born, too!"
Lin Qile leaned against Uncle Yu, and Uncle Yu held her shoulders and she kept laughing. She felt like she belonged here, and she liked everyone here.
The second banquet was for Grandma Zhang, the former head of the staff kindergarten at the Qunshan construction site, who was celebrating her 66th birthday. Many people from the Qunshan construction site attended. Grandma Zhang asked if Yu Qiao and Lin Yingtao still fight: "In the past, they fought in the morning, at noon, in the kindergarten, and at home. People say that couples fight at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of the bed, but these two kids have never fought since they were young! Unless they go to fight others together!"
Grandma Yu was sitting nearby and told her best friend Grandma Zhang that Yu Qiao no longer fights with Lin Yingtao and they no longer argue when they meet. She has grown up.
Grandma Zhang was startled and lowered her head: "Really?"
Yu Qiao and Lin Qile sat together at the children's table. Yu Qiao endured the noisy atmosphere and the old ladies' wild chatter, while Du Shang kept his head down and texted. Lin Qile peeled pistachios and stuffed the kernels into her mouth expressionlessly. She and Cai Fangyuan competed to see who could peel faster, leaving no plate for the other.
"I've gained several pounds." She sent a text message to Jiang Qiaoxi and continued to blow-dry her hair.
Suddenly the doorbell rang.
Lin Qile quickly threw the hair dryer aside, picked up the comb and combed his half-dry hair several times. Mother Lin opened the door, and Jiang Qiaoxi came in wearing a dark gray down jacket and carrying a suitcase. Jiang Qiaoxi greeted Mother Lin first, then turned around and saw Lin Qile, who was still wearing cotton pajamas and had his hair loose.
Jiang Qiaoxi smiled, lowered his head and said, "Not much fatter."
Electrician Lin fried tomato prawns, sweet and sour pork ribs, mixed a plate of sour bamboo shoots, and cut a bowl of stewed food platter. He told Jiang Qiaoxi that the stewed food and sour bamboo shoots in the latter two dishes were brought by Du Shang's mother from his hometown in Guizhou: "It tastes good, come on, try it!"
Jiang Qiaoxi took off his down jacket and put on a sweater the color of gray crow feathers. He sat down at the table and took the bowl to eat. Electrician Lin asked where his parents were, and Jiang Qiaoxi said they went to visit his brother's grave: "In the suburbs, they won't be back until the afternoon."
Electrician Lin didn't ask any more questions.
Mother Lin also asked Jiang Qiaoxi what Hong Kong was like and whether it was fun to celebrate the New Year in Hong Kong.
It was clearly just a polite remark, but Jiang Qiaoxi seemed very happy to hear it. He put down his chopsticks, took the Coke can that Lin Yingtao handed to him from behind, pulled the ring and opened it. He talked about what he had done, what he had played, and where he had been in Hong Kong over the past month, as if he was telling his biological parents.
Mother Lin said: "That's great. It's warm in Hong Kong too. It's perfect for celebrating the New Year there."
Electrician Lin said to his wife, "When Yingtao goes to college in two years, we will apply to be transferred to the Foshan project department and spend the New Year there in a warm and cozy atmosphere!"
When Mother Lin heard this, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You've only been at the headquarters for a few years, and you want to go to the construction site and suffer!"
Lin Yingtao pursed her lips unhappily: "Why, you two are going to leave me behind..."
Electrician Lin exclaimed, "You all have to live in a dormitory at university. How can this be called abandoning you?"
Lin Yingtao was peeling tomato prawns for the whole family: "I want to apply to a local university! I don't want to live in a dormitory..."
Jiang Qiaoxi sat opposite him, eating the prawns that Lin Yingtao peeled for him. His eyelashes were long and drooped.
Lin Qile sat beside her little bed and looked down at the photos on Jiang Qiaoxi's phone. Lin Qile enviously said, "Isn't it fun to ride a horse in Hong Kong?"
Jiang Qiaoxi opened his suitcase on the floor of Lin Qile's cabin.
A suitcase, half of which was occupied by a conspicuous large box. Lin Qile only took a glance at it and felt the importance it held in Jiang Qiaoxi's eyes.
Jiang Qiaoxi took out the box and gave it to her.
Lin Qile opened the package and saw a Duffy doll from Disneyland. "Such a big doll!" Lin Qile was surprised.
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "This is what my cousin bought for you."
Lin Qile hugged Xiongxiong and looked up at her.
Jiang Qiaoxi sat beside her, reached into his trouser pocket, and took out a small box with a ribbon tied around it.
Lin Qile put the bear aside and carefully opened the box.
She took out the small necklace inlaid with rubies and cut diamonds. Under the rose gold necklace, there was a small ruby-red cherry hanging, reflecting the light, shining into Lin Qile's eyes, causing Lin Qile to close his confused eyes for a moment.
She picked up the necklace and put it on her neck. She turned around and sat down. Through the small mirror on the table, she could see Jiang Qiaoxi brushing her long hair to her shoulders and reaching out to help her tie the necklace.
Where do cherries come from
With the love from his father and mother, and the blessings and expectations from his aunt, the cherries hung on the still green branches of Jiang Qiaoxi's body when he was about to turn seventeen.
It was said on TV that on March 4, 2007, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, a total lunar eclipse could be observed all over the world.
At five in the morning, Lin Qile got up in a hurry, put on her coat, and ran downstairs to Yu Qiao's house, where she happened to meet Cai Fangyuan. They went upstairs together and ran to the rooftop of Yu Qiao's house. Yu Qiao had already set up a small table with Du Shang, Qin Yeyun, and others and were having breakfast.
Jiang Qiaoxi was there too. He and Yu Qiao were sitting together and talking in low voices. When he saw Lin Yingtao coming, he smiled at her.
The lunar eclipse had not yet begun, the sky was dark, and only the light bulb on the roof was lit.
Lin Qile and Cai Fangyuan ate the egg pancakes in their hands and used small spoons to grab the pickled radish in the bowl.
Yu Qiao suddenly whispered to Jiang Qiaoxi: "... Why do you think Lin Yingtao didn't come over from junior high school..."
Lin Qile heard it and felt like they were saying bad things about her, so she turned her head away.
The last piece of pickled radish was snatched away by Cai Fangyuan.
Lin Qile sat on a small bench on the rooftop. It was a bit cold and she hunched her neck.
The heavy jeweled cherry settled in the gap between her underwear and sweater.
"When you were little, you loved to run around and make noises. You even came to the provincial capital by yourself," Jiang Qiaoxi sat beside her. When he spoke, mist came out of his mouth. "How come you want to live locally now even for college?"
Lin Qile looked up at the half-moon.
“I don’t know,” she said. “When I was little… I always wanted to run outside. Maybe it was because I didn’t realize that the world was so big and there were so many dangers.”
Jiang Qiaoxi turned to look at her.
“The people and things outside are different from those in the mountains. When I leave the provincial capital, what I see and hear will definitely be different from what I see and hear there,” Lin Qile said. “The farther I go… the more I feel that my parents are so important, especially when I am alone and have done something wrong.”
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "You are still like a child."
Lin Qile said: "I am almost seventeen years old."
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "Do you want to stay with your parents for the rest of your life?"
Lin Qile said unhappily: "I know it's impossible."
"But I want to be with them as much as possible," Lin Qile said.
Jiang Qiaoxi asked himself.
Could he be like Uncle Lin and Aunt Lin, letting Lin Yingtao entrust everything, all the helplessness and the predicament of having done something wrong to him
Even when he woke up this morning, he was still unconsciously avoiding his mother's door. All the money he spent now was "loaned" to him by his cousin. Jiang Qiaoxi was still prepaying for his future.
"Jiang Qiaoxi, are you afraid?" Lin Qile said in a soft voice, as if she was afraid to disturb the moon in the sky that was being watched by the whole world. "I don't dare to go so far away from home."
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "Me too."
Lin Qile turned his head to look at him, his big eyes particularly bright: "Really?"
So I want to take you away. Jiang Qiaoxi thought so in his heart, but did not say it out loud.
March 5th was a Monday. Lin Qile once again spent all the New Year's money she had saved for three or four years and went to the counter in the mall to choose a new watch for Jiang Qiaoxi. The watch had an ink-blue dial, but it was not an American brand. She felt that Jiang Qiaoxi should not lack such a thing, but she really couldn't think of what he would lack. Cai Fangyuan ordered a cake. He was already a VIP member of the nearby cake shop. Lin Qile's parents went out to visit relatives and left the house to these seventeen-and-a-half-year-old children.
Cai Fangyuan asked, which school do you want to go to
Jiang Qiaoxi watched Lin Yingtao bend down in front of him to cut the cake for them. The jeweled cherry fell out of her collar, entangled with a strand of hair. He looked up at her face. "Berkeley, California," he said.
Cai Fangyuan handed his plate to Lin Yingtao and said, "Okay, I'll visit you in the United States later."
It was a Monday in early April. Lin Qile came home from school and even took a shower. Just when she was wondering why Jiang Qiaoxi hadn't wished her a happy birthday yet, the doorbell suddenly rang from outside.
"I'll go open the door myself!" Lin Qile jumped up and said.
She pushed the door open and went out, wearing her nightgown and slippers, and saw Jiang Qiaoxi standing at the bottom of the stairs. He was still in his school uniform, with his right hand in his trouser pocket and his left hand hanging down, holding a box.
He seemed to have been preparing for Lin Yingtao's seventeenth birthday for a long time.
There was a line of gold characters printed on the pink lid of the box, starting with the letter "f". Lin Qile could not read it, so she opened the box on the handrail of the stairs. The light in the stairwell was dim. She raised her head and asked Jiang Qiaoxi softly, "What is this?"
Jiang Qiaoxi stood in front of her, not saying a word, just looking down at her as she took the things apart.
Lin Qile took out the pair of narrow red high-heeled shoes from the box. She pursed her lips and looked down for a long time. The little red shoes had heels that were six or seven centimeters high, and a square bow made of ribbon on the toe. Lin Qile had never had her own high-heeled shoes. She only secretly wore her mother's when she was very young.
"Why did you buy high heels?" Lin Qile raised his head and his face turned red.
Jiang Qiaoxi said, "Try it and see if it's suitable."
Lin Qile said: "Do you know what size shoes I wear?"
Jiang Qiaoxi said: "I took a look at your shoe cabinet before I went to Hong Kong, but it may not be suitable."
Lin Qile put her shoes on the ground, held onto the handrail of the stairs, took off her slippers, and put on her red high heels. Her knees were bent, and she tried to stand up. Jiang Qiaoxi reached out to support her in front of her, because Lin Qile fell forward as soon as she stood up.
Jiang Qiaoxi held her waist wrapped in her nightgown and helped Lin Yingtao, who was wearing high heels for the first time, to stand steadily.
Lin Qile let go of Jiang Qiaoxi's school uniform jacket and grabbed the handrail of the stairs. Her balance was not stable and her face was red, but she barely managed to stand.
Jiang Qiaoxi looked down at the shoes on her feet, then at her face. Lin Qile lowered his head and tried to walk a few steps in place, then held the handrail and turned to walk up the stairs.
Jiang Qiaoxi stood below, watching Lin Yingtao, who was wearing a childish nightgown and a pair of bright red high heels, getting farther and farther away from him.
Lin Yingtao walked with her back to him, stumbling and not daring to straighten her knees.
"Does it hurt?" Jiang Qiaoxi asked from below.
Lin Yingtao felt a little pain in her feet, but she stood on it, turned around, and shook her head at him.
Lin Yingtao realized from a very young age that she was a girl, and as girls grow up, they always seem to have to face more and more pain, whether it is physical or in the heart.
Jiang Qiaoxi stood downstairs and watched Lin Yingtao try to walk down the stairs wearing the pair of high heels he had personally chosen.
She was ignorant and grew up day by day, and she had not yet been completely embedded in the mold of a "woman". Jiang Qiaoxi was eager to be the pusher in advance.
He doesn't know what will happen in the future, all he can see is the present.
"Does it look good?" Lin Yingtao walked up to him, looked up and asked him with a smile.
"Cherry," Jiang Qiaoxi said suddenly, "Happy birthday."
Lin Yingtao smiled, not sure if it was because she was happy or because she didn't know how to wear high heels. Her earlobes turned red. She said, "I'll go home and change into a skirt. My nightgown is so stupid—"
No one made any more sound, only the light in the stairwell was still on.
The author has something to say: －－－－－－－－－－－
Notes to this chapter:
* The first total lunar eclipse in 2007 occurred on March 3, and the second on August 28. The time when it could be observed in China was the early morning of March 4, 2007. This was a total lunar eclipse that could be observed in most parts of the world.