Idle

Liu Chang'an had kept hold of the cup of orange juice he'd taken from the milk tea shop. Even when he was knocked down, he hadn't spilled a drop. Watching him stroll back with the cup in his hands, An Nuan felt both happy and worried.

The reason she was happy was simple: Liu Chang'an had gotten into a fight for her. Girls liked boys who would throw a punch for them. That was one reason why so many good-for-nothing punks and hooligans never lacked girlfriends. Not every girl thought that far ahead.

Some girls egged their boyfriends on to fight, while others were relieved their boyfriends would throw a punch for them but even more worried about their safety.

In the end, this whole thing had happened because of her. An Nuan didn't truly think Liu Chang'an was at fault. He still didn't let anything bother him. What would he do if Ma Benwei really brought people to find him?

A rustling sound came from behind her. An Nuan turned around and jumped in fright. Liu Yuewang, frowning, was pushing her way out of a hedge, stumbling over to An Nuan's side before pinching her ear. "So everything I told you went in one ear and out the other, huh?"

"Mom... When did you start lurking there?" An Nuan's ear hurt, and she hurriedly grabbed her mother's arm.

"Hmph... I came back after class and saw Zhizhi sneaking around outside the milk tea shop, peeking in. After she left, I took a perfectly proper look myself and realized what was going on." Liu Yuewang pinched An Nuan's ear and started walking back. "Tell me, what were you two talking about just now? I couldn't hear... These mosquitoes are huge. One bit my neck..."

"You were spying on me..."

"I'm concerned about you. That's perfectly proper."

"I think you should hurry home and put some mosquito repellent on your neck. If it leaves a red mark, what will people think?"

At An Nuan's reminder, Liu Yuewang let go of her ear and headed home, feeling her neck. As she went, she called back to An Nuan, "Hurry back and explain yourself!"

After just a couple of steps, Liu Yuewang stopped and looked sternly at An Nuan. "How do you know what people will think if it leaves a red mark?"

An Nuan sighed. "I'm not a three-year-old who knows nothing. They call it a hickey. If you kiss someone's neck hard enough, it leaves one."

"You're so young..."

"So young?"

"..."

Liu Yuewang's cheeks flushed crimson, only slightly lighter than her lips.

Liu Chang'an finished his orange juice at the bridgehead, then jumped down to Jiangzhou from the highest point in the middle of the bridge. It was only twenty or thirty meters, and he barely felt the impact beneath his feet. He landed steadily.

An old man with a head of white hair sat in a wheelchair, staring blankly at Liu Chang'an. Then he looked up at the sky.

"I jumped down from up there," Liu Chang'an told him, giving him a definite answer so the old man wouldn't think his failing eyesight had played a trick on him and feel even sadder about the passing years.

Baolong Center really was the best. Liu Chang'an looked into the distance, though he wouldn't be doing that again anytime soon. He walked along the scenic boulevard into the river breeze. The waves beat against the shore in a low, steady rhythm that soothed the mind. At the southern end of Jiangzhou, Liu Chang'an stopped beneath the statue of the great leader. He looked at the towering statue, which stood on a 3,500-square-meter base made of 8,000 granite blocks, and gave it a hard shove.

It didn't budge.

"What are you doing?" The groundskeeper had seen people come to burn incense, try to chip off pieces of granite, pray for children or a good marriage, and even climb the statue... But this was the first time he'd seen someone trying to push it.

This might be a lunatic.

"I'm testing how strong I am."

Sure enough, a lunatic.

Liu Chang'an dusted off his hands, not feeling the least bit defeated. There were limits to human strength, after all.

By the end of October, the oranges on Juzhou would ripen, one patch after another. Liu Chang'an walked through the orange grove and sat quietly on the square in front of the statue.

Golden flowers in autumn, a moonlit night in Xiaoxiang, Juzhou's lovely scenery like a painted screen.

Amid blue-green haze, beneath the bright moon, the little boat's fishing is done.

Water for a home, a reed hut for a shelter; fish soup and rice for every meal.

The scenic area closed for the night, and Liu Chang'an left with the other visitors. He crossed the bridgehead and followed the busy streets to buy a jug of green plum wine at Taiping Street. It was a little sour and astringent.

Beyond Taiping Street was Junsha's famous bar district. In the old days, plenty of fish lay belly-up along the streets, their bellies as white as snow. They reeked of booze, though.

A young man with curly hair, thick eyebrows, and full lips was grilling lamb at a street stall. Liu Chang'an ordered two skewers of lamb liver but asked to grill them himself. Business hadn't picked up yet, so the young man agreed. Liu Chang'an grilled them, and before he'd even taken a bite, they had people's mouths watering.

As soon as he got home, he received a call from Qin Yanan asking what he had planned for tomorrow. After a moment's hesitation, Liu Chang'an told her to come over early.

Qin Yanan arrived even earlier than Liu Chang'an had expected.

For the first time, someone knocked on his little door before he'd even woken up. Even Zhou Dongdong had never come that early.

The weather had turned a little cooler, and the morning was chilly. Qin Yanan looked at Liu Chang'an in his tank top and baggy shorts. He folded his arms, but his skin didn't break out in goosebumps.

"Old people hope they can spend holidays with their families, especially the Dragon Boat Festival... You get one less every time." Liu Chang'an looked at Qin Yanan. "If you really don't want to stay in Junsha, insist on going back. What can he do to you? Deep down, he'll still be happy."

"I've realized you really don't like having me around." Qin Yanan was sure of it now, though it made her a little happier, too. "I wouldn't dare defy him. At least, not until you've written the letter and he's given up on the idea."

"I don't dislike having you around. I like you very much, even more than you think. I'm happy to see you." Liu Chang'an turned around. "Find yourself a little stool outside and sit for a while. I'll write the letter, so don't worry. I'll go wash up first."

His tone carried the fond satisfaction of an old man seeing the descendant of someone he'd known long ago. Qin Yanan had heard him speak that way many times.

Qin Yanan looked around and finally found a little stool, apparently made of bamboo strips, beside the jars and pots. It even had a simple, elegant charm. For the first time, she took a careful look around and realized that, though Liu Chang'an's place was a little small, it had a peaceful, secluded feel to it.

There was a window about the size of a washbasin, with a faded paper-cut decoration on it, intricate to the point of seeming to hide a landscape painting and a poem. Mud plaster covered the wall beneath it, and green vines climbed over it. The corner of the wall bore marks from drawing water. Little flowers and plants grew in all sorts of bottles and jars that looked as if he'd picked them up at random. They were common plants from the roadside, but all bunched together in shades of green, they looked quite lovely.

It was easy to imagine this as the home of a leisurely old man.

After washing up, Liu Chang'an came out and asked, "Want to go for a run?"

Qin Yanan was wearing a white short jacket with knotted buttons. Her hair was loosely coiled into a bun at the back of her head, with a few strands dangling by her ears like swaying vines. The ornaments trembling from her earlobes were naturally formed blossoms. The collar covered her long neck completely, and her arms were like white lotus roots. Her high-waisted trousers matched the jacket and made her legs look even longer. She wore flat running shoes, and nothing looked out of place. Maybe when someone was pretty and had a good figure, anything looked good on them.

"I rarely exercise. I'll pass." Qin Yanan waved her hands repeatedly, while keeping an eye on Liu Chang'an's eyes to see whether he showed any male disappointment or knowing amusement.

"Oh, got it. Your breast roots would hurt if you ran, so you can only do exercises that don't involve big movements or much exertion." Liu Chang'an nodded, then turned and walked back into the room.

He sounded as though he were merely stating an objective fact, without a trace of teasing that might make someone angry. Still, Qin Yanan's fair face flushed pink, filling with color.

The previous night, she had dreamed of her great-grandmother. They said people in dreams had no faces when you recalled them, but after waking, Qin Yanan distinctly remembered that Ye Sijin looked exactly as she did in the photographs: elegant and serene, with a sorrowful furrow between her brows. The only thing she remembered from the dream was her great-grandmother calling out a name, probably that of the man she had been so close to.

Qin Yanan had never dreamed of Ye Sijin before. Her great-grandmother had passed away before the Liberation, and the stories she'd heard about her were all heroic deeds described like something out of a textbook. Qin Yanan admired her, but she had never felt the tender affection a great-granddaughter might feel for the great-grandfather who had doted on her.

A dream like that made Qin Yanan think her great-grandmother had come to her in a dream. Though, as a materialist who believed in Marxism, she shouldn't have believed in such feudal superstition, it still affected her mood. That was why she'd come to see Liu Chang'an so early in the morning.

She kind of wanted to tell Liu Chang'an about her dream. He was always talking about her great-grandmother. Maybe he could offer another explanation for it?