Summer Camp

The grudge between them was not a major one, so it could hardly be called a case of enemies being destined to meet. Still, when Zhang Yahan saw Jiaming, she was clearly taken aback, though she ultimately did not greet him.

A few years later, a trip like this would have been little more than a disguised dating game for young people. But this was only 1994, after all, and strangers of the opposite sex were not yet so easy with one another. The three girls who had come together occupied the back row of the coach, fooling around among themselves. As usual, Jiaming and Lingjing sat together, taking out the radio Lingjing had given him and listening to the broadcast, each wearing one earbud. They were the only two children on the whole bus who looked like a couple, and Lingjing was so pretty that the other boys kept casting curious, envious glances their way.

As for Liu Huaisha, she found a seat by herself, eating a lollipop while taking out the latest handheld game console to play Tetris. Up front, Zhang Yahan occasionally exchanged a few words with the male tour leader, while treating Huang Haoyun with chilly indifference. Jiaming guessed that she had only recently returned from abroad and wanted to see what these students were really like, so she could handle her future teaching work better. As for Huang Haoyun, he was nothing more than a pitiful little hanger-on.

Sometimes, Zhang Yahan would look over at Jiaming. Remembering what had happened the previous night and thinking of how awful the child was, anger rose in her heart. Seeing the two of them sitting together like a couple, she almost wanted to go over and expose Jiaming's ugly true colors, lest a lovely little girl like Lingjing be harmed. Having returned from overseas, she was rather open-minded. She would not assume their relationship was innocent just because they were young. After all, in Britain, many children their age had already gone all the way.

Before long, the coach left the city. Seeing the two of them listening affectionately to the same radio, she said a few words to the tour leader. Soon afterward, he took a cassette player from the bus, put in a tape, and Zhou Huajian's "A Dream of Swords and Blades" began echoing through the carriage.

Zhou Huajian's album Unstoppable by Wind and Rain had not been out for long, but a good song was still a good song. Intending to liven up the atmosphere, the tour leader began singing along softly. Before long, people in the front and back of the bus joined in with quiet humming. Jiaming and Lingjing could no longer listen to the radio, so they stopped and listened to the song as well. Zhang Yahan secretly felt pleased with herself, but when she happened to glance over, she seemed to see a mocking smile at the corner of Jiaming's mouth, as though he had seen through her thoughts. Looking again, however, she found him with his eyes closed, listening in apparent enjoyment. Only then did she decide it had been an illusion.

At around ten in the morning, everyone arrived at the campsite. They first prepared lunch in a clearing in the woods at the foot of the mountain. The plan was to climb to the summit over the course of the afternoon after lunch, then pitch tents there for the night.

This was probably a location the travel agency had chosen with great care. Led by the tour leader, they passed through a small grove and arrived beside a small pond in the center. Surrounded by trees, the water was clear, and tiny yellow flowers dotted the green carpet of grass. It would have been perfect even for shooting an album cover. The moment they saw it, everyone liked the place. Then some went to gather firewood, some started fires, and everyone began preparing to cook.

Originally, the tour leader had wanted to divide everyone into small groups by drawing lots. But since everyone had their own little circle, no one was willing to be separated, so the idea was dropped. Still, when he handed out the cooking equipment, he was clearly worried about whether the three of them could manage. The boys and girls around them all welcomed the three into their own groups, but Liu Huaisha was competitive and immediately refused. "Hmph, who knows who'll end up with nothing to eat!"

Though she had talked big, Sister Liu herself was a modern woman who had always stayed far away from the kitchen. However, she knew that Lingjing often helped her mother cook at home, and Jiaming seemed to know something about cooking as well, so she felt confident. Once the tasks were divided, she went out to gather firewood and start the fire, Jiaming washed the rice, and Lingjing picked through the vegetables. Everything went fairly smoothly. Before long, the fire was blazing, and once the pot was set down, all they had to do was wait for the rice to cook—except Sister Liu brought back several poisonous mushrooms and nearly gave Jiaming a heart attack...

After dealing with the poisonous mushrooms, Jiaming placed the radio on the grass to listen to the broadcast. The three sat there watching several pampered people bustle around nonstop, while Liu Huaisha and Lingjing pointed at them and laughed arrogantly. Huang Haoyun went over to the pond to wash rice, only to dump an entire pot of it into the water, prompting an eruption of laughter from this side.

The tour leader hurriedly brought over more rice to salvage the situation. Young Master Huang was relieved of that duty and ran over to Zhang Yahan, who was tending the fire, complaining arrogantly that this place was so boring, that playing house with children was ridiculous, and boasting endlessly about how things were at his home. Zhang Yahan's face turned bright red. She looked as though she truly wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it, just so she could declare, "I don't know him."

After that chaotic commotion, Lingjing probably wanted to relieve herself in the woods nearby, so she got up and left. At that moment, the radio was broadcasting a news report: "At around eleven this morning, two armed robbers held up an Agricultural Bank on the outskirts of Jianghai City, stealing approximately sixty-seven thousand yuan in cash before fleeing by vehicle in the direction of Highway 42..."

Jiaming had just stood up and stretched when Lingjing's pained cry of "Ah!" came from nearby. She had only reached the edge of the small grove when a middle-aged man rushing out from within knocked her to the ground. There was a scar on his face, and he carried a travel bag on his back, making him look like another hiker or camper. Close behind him, a Triangle-eyed man rushed out as well, casually cursing. When they saw so many people looking at them, both men froze on the spot.

Lingjing covered her aching forehead and climbed to her feet. Looking at the two men, Jiaming felt a sense of foreboding rise within him. In that brief moment, Zhang Yahan had already been the first to run over. "Little one, are you all right? How can you walk like that...?"

She stood up and spoke righteously, but the two men were both staring fixedly at the radio Jiaming had placed on the ground, where the broadcast was still continuing.

"...According to witnesses, one of the two men is approximately thirty-five or thirty-six years old, somewhat stocky, with a scar on his left cheek. The other is around twenty-eight or twenty-nine, thinner in build. Both are armed and considered extremely dangerous. Members of the public are urged to..."

At some point, both sides had fallen completely silent. They stared at one another. Zhang Yahan pulled Lingjing back, intending to retreat as well, but then she cried out as Scarface grabbed her and pulled her over. A Type 54 pistol was already pressed against the back of her head. "Nobody move!" As he shouted, Triangle-eyed seized Lingjing by the shoulder with one hand. In his other hand was a homemade double-barreled sawed-off shotgun.

The radio had already switched to Luo Dayou's "Love Song 1990." The contrast was almost absurd. The two men appeared to be planning to flee into the mountains. Dragging along one adult woman and one little girl, they began backing away. More than twenty people by the pond raised their hands and stared wide-eyed, not daring to make a sound. Lingjing trembled as Triangle-eyed held her. Large tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked at Jiaming, but she did not dare make a sound.

"Don't worry. It'll be fine," Jiaming mouthed. Having spent so much time together, she could understand simple meanings like that. Yet his words only made more tears fall from her eyes. Then Jiaming raised both hands and slowly walked toward the four of them.

"Stop! What are you doing!? Don't you want to live?" Scarface shouted. Seeing that it was only a child approaching, he did not seem overly tense. Behind them, Liu Huaisha called out tearfully, "Jiaming, come back! Jiaming, come back..."

Taking a breath, Jiaming tried his best to look frightened.

"I... Uncle, I want to... can I trade places with those two..."

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