May's Whitefish

An Nuan's interview ended quickly. In the past, magazines had interviewed students recommended by education departments and key schools across the country. But times had changed. With online media flourishing, even many magazines run by central government agencies had lowered their stature, and other traditional media naturally had to seek out more topics to attract attention and enrich their content.

An Nuan had enthusiastically mentioned that there was a boy in her class who was great at volleyball, but the reporter clearly had no interest in interviewing one more person. After all, not everyone had as many social media followers as An Nuan, or the draw of being a pretty volleyball girl who also excelled academically.

After school, An Nuan went to play volleyball. The magazine's reporter hadn't left yet and was going to take some photos and videos of her training. Liu Chang'an left his schoolbag at school and walked home by himself.

"January's cauliflower grouper, February's hairtail, March's mandarin fish, April's Reeves's shad, May's whitefish..." When he reached the riverbank, Liu Chang'an gazed at the water and realized it had been a long time since he'd eaten fish. For him, eating at the school cafeteria or a nearby little restaurant only filled his stomach. It was his own cooking that was about enjoying good food.

So Liu Chang'an put his phone in a plastic bag, wrapped it up in several layers, and tucked it into his zippered pocket. Then he leaped off the bridge.

The river breeze rushed against him. Liu Chang'an closed his eyes, ready for the water to slap into him.

"Ah!" A woman's scream rang out in the distance.

Liu Chang'an turned in midair, made a circle with his index finger and thumb, and plunged into the water.

For an ordinary person, jumping into the river from that height would be extremely dangerous. But the impact of the water, which felt like it could tear him apart, left Liu Chang'an's muscles tingling with pleasure. Then he surfaced and quickly swam toward the middle of the riverbank.

The woman kept screaming and shouting. A crowd soon gathered, and then they saw Liu Chang'an emerge from the water and calmly swim away.

Should they call the police?

Maybe he was crazy.

Was he doing some kind of extreme sport?

Maybe he was a streamer.

Definitely an outdoor streamer, the kind who cooked himself in an iron pot or something.

As people speculated, Liu Chang'an was already swimming away. He couldn't hear the voices from the bridge. He swam to an area near the head of the sandbar where the water plants grew thickly, searched around, and finally found a large crucian carp tucked between two boulders.

May was the best time to eat whitefish, but you couldn't always find it. Crucian carp was good, too. When choosing one, you had to avoid those with dark backs and round bodies. Their flesh was tough and full of bones, so they weren't tasty. The one in front of him was flat-bodied and pale. Usually, those had tender, soft flesh. Once cooked, the meat would come right off the bones.

Liu Chang'an wasn't greedy. He caught one crucian carp, stuffed it into his pocket, zipped it up, and swam back to shore.

It had been a long time since he'd swum across the Junsha River. The river was much narrower now, and its current had grown far stronger.

Aside from a handful of swimming enthusiasts, far fewer people crossed the Junsha River these days. It was nothing like those peaceful, prosperous years after Liberation, when the great man's example inspired a whole wave of cross-river swimmers.

Soaking wet, Liu Chang'an returned to his neighborhood and bought a bottle of erguotou at the convenience store. When the owner, Auntie Xie, saw what he looked like, she giggled and tugged at his pants, mischievously trying to bare his bottom.

As women grew older, they liked teasing young boys. It was no different from men liking young girls.

Liu Chang'an reacted quickly and held his pants in place. He smiled. Auntie Xie was divorced and had always been feisty and brisk.

"Oh, look at you... Who would've guessed?" Auntie Xie kept giggling, her eyes shining, because she had seen Liu Chang'an's crotch twitch a couple of times.

Liu Chang'an took the crucian carp out of his zippered pocket. If a woman of Auntie Xie's age got the idea he was interested in her, she might come knocking on his door at midnight. Even centuries ago, there had been flirtatious women climbing over walls to visit men, let alone in today's more open times.

Auntie Xie was a little disappointed, but she still found it funny.

"I'll bring you the money later."

"Okay."

Liu Chang'an went home and changed, then cleaned the crucian carp. He added a little wine and autumn oil and steamed it. The key to steaming crucian carp well was making sure the condensation under the lid didn't drip onto the fish. The flesh was best when it turned jade-colored. If it turned too white, it wouldn't taste as tender.

After finishing the fish, Liu Chang'an looked at the truck in front of the house. Was it just going to stay there? It felt a little out of place, but for the moment, he had no idea where to put it.

Liu Chang'an turned and looked at his room.

Just then, his phone rang. The sound was muffled. Liu Chang'an took it out of the plastic bag and checked his messages.

"I saw someone jump off the bridge into the river today. It scared me to death!"

"That was me."

"Ha ha, what a coincidence?"

"It really was me. When I jumped, a woman nearby screamed. She seemed pretty tall. Was that you?"

"No, I got there afterward, quite a while later."

"Really?"

"Really!"

"What a shame. I didn't get a good look at her, either, but she had a nice scream."

"Ha ha, who compliments someone on their scream? In a situation like that, it's just a panicked shriek..."

"Your scream was nice."

"You're awful. I told you it wasn't me!"

While they were chatting, Fan Jian called. The construction site was short one night watchman, and the pay was three hundred for the night.

Night watch wasn't physically demanding, but you had to stay up late and it could get boring, so it paid a little more than hauling bricks. That was how Fan Jian explained it.

Liu Chang'an happily agreed.

At ten that night, Liu Chang'an arrived at the construction site right on time and met Fan Jian.

Fan Jian was still dressed in a suit and tie. It looked like he'd had it specially pressed, and it was a little neater than the last time Liu Chang'an had seen him. As usual, he took out a betel nut as soon as they met.

Liu Chang'an didn't eat those. He smiled and waved it away.

"By eleven, most of the workers will have left. Walk around and check things out. If you see a circuit breaker that's still on, switch it off. If a tap's running, turn it off, too. Other than that, keep an eye out for anyone coming to steal materials. There are a few others besides you; each of you can do your own thing. You don't need to worry about them." Fan Jian sized Liu Chang'an up, suppressing his curiosity instead of asking questions. What on earth was the deal with that secretary in black stockings, who even the boss treated with such care? And, more ridiculously, she kept clinging to a young laborer. Was this some kind of modern fairy tale?

"Okay."

Fan Jian handed Liu Chang'an a hard hat and flashlight. Liu Chang'an followed the route Fan Jian had pointed out. He could rest after making a round, then go check again; he didn't have to keep walking the whole time.

The construction site gradually grew quiet as Liu Chang'an waited.

Tonight's arrangement had undoubtedly come from Zhong Qing. Zhong Qing herself couldn't possibly be this interested in him, so it seemed that idle young lady was determined to keep pestering him without end.

Liu Chang'an didn't like it, but he wasn't in a hurry, either, and he certainly wasn't annoyed. He looked at the flashlight in his hand. Modern technology was truly astonishing. In ancient times, this thing would've been incredibly useful: its beam was focused, with an extremely narrow spread, making it a powerful signal lamp. Even during a night raid, sweeping the light back and forth could leave all the enemy soldiers ahead unable to fight. With their morale in disarray, ten men could easily take on a hundred.

After sitting and playing with the flashlight for a while, Liu Chang'an continued his patrol. When he reached the wall, he saw Zhong Qing standing by the exit, holding the leash of a large black dog. Four sturdy men in black suits stood beside her.

"The construction site is off-limits to unauthorized personnel at night," Liu Chang'an said dutifully.

Zhong Qing's eye twitched. Was there something wrong with Liu Chang'an's head? The last time they met, he had tried to sell her mustard greens and water bamboo. This time, it was obvious she had come for him, so what was he thinking?

Zhu Juntang had clearly hoped to bring Liu Chang'an in with a gentler approach, but Zhong Qing didn't think there was any need. Since he wasn't a man Zhu Juntang was interested in and she only wanted to meet him, then the simplest and most efficient approach was obviously the best.