Balloons

Huanghuali wood had an exceptionally fine grain. Once stripped of its bark, it showed an oily sheen without needing careful sanding, and after sanding and polishing, it gleamed like a mirror. Its distinctive ghost-face patterns were not eerie at all, but instead exuded a classical elegance, while its fragrance in particular left the mind clear and refreshed...

Once Qin An stripped the bark off this branch, he knew it was top-grade Huanghuali wood, but he had no intention of scheming after Old Liu's tree...

By the late Ming dynasty, mature Huanghuali trees had already been on the verge of disappearing. After Ming and Qing furniture became hot commodities, prices had kept climbing, but freshly cut Huanghuali lumber still cost only thirty-odd yuan per jin at present. It would take another ten years or more before it rivaled gold in value...

Qin An had always had some talent for business, and after taking over his father's school, he had done even better. Now that he was doing it all over again, if he still needed to concern himself with what this Huanghuali tree would be worth in ten years, he would feel far too useless...

Having swiped a piece of emery cloth, Qin An jogged back to school just as the afternoon nap period began...

Qin An rested his head on his desk, still gripping the branch beneath it and sanding away. This branch was particularly well suited to making a slingshot frame. Rather than the usual Y shape, it was a U with a handle underneath...

Sun Sun had not expected Qin An to actually be making a slingshot. She turned her head away and closed her eyes to doze...

Seeing Sun Pao skulking around by the doorway, Qin An slipped outside...

"What are you doing?" Sun Pao was in Class 70, separated from Qin An's classroom by the stairwell and an office, and often came over to hang out...

Sun Pao held a small balloon filled with water. Glancing both ways down the deserted corridor, he lowered his voice. "What is this thing? Isn't it a balloon?"

Only then did Qin An notice the little nub at the tip of the balloon in Sun Pao's hand. Its opening was rather wide, too, and its surface was greasy...

"What are you doing with that thing?" The implication, naturally, was that it was not a balloon...

"Our English teacher, that chick... she saw me playing with this today and actually called me a little pervert..." Sun Pao began to feel that the thing in his hand was rather embarrassing...

"That's a condom..." Qin An rubbed his nose and held back his laughter, unsure for the moment how to explain...

The English teacher for Sun Pao's class was a newly assigned graduate of a teachers' college. She was not yet twenty, with a few pimples still on her face, and very young...

"What's a condom for? I found it at home this morning. I thought it was a balloon..." Sun Pao squeezed the pouch of water, making it twist this way and that...

"Uh... you put it over your thing when you go to bed at night, then tie it up, and you won't have to get up to pee. In the morning, just untie it and throw it in the toilet..." With that explanation, Qin An felt he could keep Sun Pao from embarrassing himself again without having to puzzle over how to give him a sex education lesson...

Sun Pao clutched his throat, wanting to throw up. Qin An patted him sympathetically on the back and went back to the classroom...

After school, Qin An saw Ye Zhulan's mother coming to pick her up and walked straight over. "Auntie Kuang, how come you had time to pick her up today?"

Holding Ye Zhulan's hand, Kuang Yongmei smiled and said to Qin An, "Now that you've changed classes, you need to study hard. No more fooling around with Yezi..."

Kuang Yongmei found it a little strange. This child usually hid whenever he saw her, so why had he changed today? She did not have a particularly favorable impression of Qin An. All parents hoped their children would spend more time with good students, and someone like Qin An, who was notorious for his mischievous antics, was naturally not among those she encouraged Ye Zhulan to spend time with...

Ye Zhulan's grades were good. Even though she often played around with Qin An, she had not fallen behind in her studies, so Kuang Yongmei left her daughter to it...

"Got it. Goodbye, Auntie Kuang. Goodbye, Yezi..." Qin An casually followed Kuang Yongmei's lead in using Ye Zhulan's nickname, making Ye Zhulan blush...

Looking at the somewhat bashful Ye Zhulan, Kuang Yongmei merely thought her daughter was embarrassed at having her nickname spoken aloud. She thought that Qin An was quite outgoing and knew his manners; his grades were just a little poor. Perhaps he was not quite as worthless as the teachers made him out to be...

Qin An ran toward the school gate. Spotting Sun Sun from behind, he greeted her with a smile and jogged to catch up...

Although Sun Sun had not said she would wait for Qin An after school, nor mentioned his promise to teach her to sing, she was walking much more slowly than usual...

"Walking so slowly-were you waiting for me?" Qin An was utterly shameless about it, not worried that Sun Sun might tell him he was flattering himself...

"I was not!" Sun Sun lowered her head, then felt that made her look a little guilty and raised it again, her cheeks flushed, still not looking at Qin An...

"I'll sing it once first..." Qin An did not tease her further. There would be time enough to be affectionate once they grew closer...

Qin An's voice had already begun to change and was somewhat hoarse. Singing "Lightly Painted Eyebrows," with its gently unfolding, plaintive melody, he had no need to deliberately lower his voice...

Sun Sun took her lyrics notebook out of her schoolbag and listened attentively, following Qin An's singing. At first she only looked at the lyrics, but gradually she grew entranced and turned to watch Qin An sing...

The sun was nearing the horizon, its light falling on his face, which still held traces of childishness. His eyes were especially clear and shining. Perhaps it was the imagery of the lyrics, or perhaps the feeling he brought to the song, that drew Sun Sun into the melody without her realizing it...

Sensing Sun Sun's gaze, Qin An continued singing. As he watched a hint of sorrow gradually enter her bright eyes, he could not help thinking of the poem: "Last night, red candles burned in the bridal chamber; at dawn, I wait to pay respects to his parents in the hall... my makeup done, I softly ask my husband: are my eyebrows painted fashionably, neither too dark nor too light?"...

After Sun Sun's first concert ended, she invited Qin An to celebrate. Qin An suggested making a few dishes at his place to treat her for her hard work. While they were eating, Qin Huai called to say he was coming over. Sun Sun had panicked a little then. She was still wearing the sultry makeup from her concert, and she could not find anything at Qin An's place to remove it with. All she could do was clutch Qin An's hand and anxiously ask whether his father would dislike her looking like this...

At the time, Qin An had only wanted to laugh. How could Sun Sun, so supremely confident onstage, worry about failing to win Qin Huai's approval? Why should she care what a middle-aged man thought...

Now, of course, Qin An could understand why Sun Sun had been so uneasy then... Sun Sun had worried whether her eyebrows were "fashionable," yet had never had a time when she could rightfully "ask her husband"...