Thursday afternoon, after school.
The sky was no longer a pure blue, but covered by thick clouds, white and gray interwoven.
Sunlight threaded through the clouds, spilling mottled patches of light through the gaps and onto the campus.
Chen Siyu poked Jiang Ning. "The big supermarket outside school is opening today. There'll be a circus performance at the entrance tonight—horses and monkeys. I heard that if an audience member gets picked, they can ride the horses and play with the monkeys for free!"
Geng Lu said, "There was a lottery for anyone who bought something at the supermarket at noon. You could win all sorts of prizes, including vouchers to ride horses and play with monkeys."
"I know, I know. Someone in our class won one!" Chen Siyu said.
"Who?" Geng Lu asked.
"Shan Kaiquan." Chen Siyu named him.
"What great luck. Too bad... the circus has nothing to do with us. We have evening self-study."
"Sigh..." Chen Siyu sighed. "I hope the circus will still be there after school."
"Jiang Ning, have you ever seen a circus?" Chen Siyu asked.
"No, but I've seen plenty of Traveling Theater Troupes," Jiang Ning said. "Whenever there was a funeral in the village, they always hired one to perform acrobatics and variety acts."
It had been an ordinary explanation, but Chen Siyu was utterly shocked. "You've seen Traveling Theater Troupes?"
"Of course." Jiang Ning answered. What was so surprising about that?
He added, "I watched them all the time."
Traveling Theater Troupes were very popular in their town. A performance only cost a few hundred yuan, and for a single funeral, the host family would often hire two or three troupes to perform in turns. Each time, more than half the village would gather to watch.
"All the time!"
When Chen Siyu