Jing Sicun had already changed into casual clothes.
Loose short sleeves, a baseball cap, and similarly loose work pants.
Just like when he bumped into Ke Ni in front of the café, Jing Sicun had both hands in his pockets, quietly watching Ke Ni.
Ke Huo was still feeling awkward about what Jing Sicun had said.
Someone walked into the porch in front of the revolving door holding an umbrella, but Jing Sicun’s gaze didn’t change; he continued to stare at Ke Ni.
To avoid the ribs of the umbrella, he took a step in her direction.
The air was humid, filled with misty vapor.
The distance between them suddenly shrank, and Ke Huo could vaguely smell that faintly bitter, herbal scent mixed with mint that always lingered on Jing Sicun.
Ke Ni’s mind was a mess.
She had already forgotten how she said goodbye to Jing Sicun and got into the taxi.
She’d also forgotten how she made her way back to her rented apartment.
Rain drummed against the glass window, the old refrigerator humming as it cooled.
The wooden floor creaked under Ke Huo’s steps.
Ke Ni paced back and forth in the living room, her mind replaying that old math olympiad class over and over.
The math olympiad teacher stood in front of the whiteboard, gently shaking his head, dismissing all sorts of four-digit answers.
He asked Ke Huo and the others:
“Students, think carefully—could the answer to this problem be a number with even more digits?”
Ke Ni stared at the whiteboard, racking her brains, and finally came up with a five-digit answer:
19009.
Ke Ni had secretly glanced at the matchsticks on her deskmate’s desk.
Her deskmate moved the matchsticks between the two eights and got an answer of 10000.
10000 was, of course, smaller than 19009.
Ke Huo was full of pride, thinking she’d gotten the answer absolutely right.
But before she could even bask in her sense of achievement, another student raised their hand and came up with an even more surprising answer.
91009.
That’s right.
Why didn’t anyone think to put the largest digit at the very front?
Ke Huo was stunned; it had never occurred to her that an even larger number could be made.
Yet, the real correct answer in the end was a six-digit number: 811108.
That math olympiad class ended with Ke Ni repeatedly shocked.
Ke Lin did better.
Her father always believed in her, but her answers were always so far off from everyone else’s.
Not long after, Ke Shuang, under her father’s eager expectations, abandoned her true self.
She spat out the six-digit answer, using borrowed words to pretend, disguising herself as a clever person.
Later on, Ke Huo felt another blow while watching Jing Sicun’s interview.
Mountain floods, ocean tides, wind limits…
She kept those things buried deep in her heart.
Ke Ni’s life was still filled with all sorts of extracurricular classes and “I believe in you,” as well as more and more arguments between her parents and an increasingly distant relationship.
She tried hard to keep her secrets safe in her parents’ fragile, crumbling marriage, nervously pretending to be a “Jing Sicun-in-training”…
This kind of life continued until Ke Huo was sixteen.
On the eve of going to record the program, Ke Huo accidentally flipped through a poetry collection by Yu Xiu Hua at a bookstore.
She skimmed through a dozen lengthy pages of the table of contents and foreword, and saw the first poem in the book—
“If I were to give you a book, it wouldn’t be a book of poems.”
“I want to give you a book about herbs, about crops.”
“To tell you the difference between rice and millet.”
“To tell you about a plant that lives in constant fear.”
Just like that.
Ke Ni felt as if her deepest secret had been seen through, and in the bustling downtown bookstore, tears streamed down her face.
Ke Lin had gone through a long period of anxiety, staring at the tiny wounds by her fingernails, knowing she couldn’t let herself be trapped by her old hang-ups.
She picked out a brightly colored dress for herself.
After the rain stopped, Ke Huo went out.
In the days after moving, Ke Huo had unexpectedly discovered a wonderful place in the muddy alleys of this old residential area where she could really feel the warmth of ordinary life.
It was a very special grocery store.
The door of the grocery store was always wide open, and surprisingly, there was no shopkeeper or clerk inside.
The sign hanging at the entrance explained why:
The shopkeeper’s health isn’t good. If you need anything, please help yourself and scan the code to pay.
The grocery store looked like it had been open for many years, and everything inside was the kind Ke Lin had seen as a child:
Yellowed walls; an electric fan hanging from the ceiling;
Old glass with a faint green tint in the wooden display cabinets, a result of limited refining technology;
Dim lighting; a green mini fridge covered in stickers…
Even though the furnishings looked outdated, the store was still clean and tidy.
Snacks and drinks, rice and noodles, household items, pots, bowls, and pans—everything you could want.
Under the awning at the entrance, there were always a few elderly people playing chess or chatting.
The old folks would use the store’s kettle to boil water and brew tea with the leaves they’d brought from home.
A few stray cats with similar markings slept sprawled out on the steps at their feet, unafraid of being disturbed.
Students passing by would go in on their own, grab snacks and drinks, and scan to pay.
They’d also use the store’s kettle to boil water, make instant noodles, and sit by the entrance eating and playing games.
Sometimes, employees from other shops would come in wearing uniforms with their shop’s name, sit down, buy a drink by scanning the code, and chat on the phone while sipping.
There were always people of different backgrounds lying on the chairs in the shop—delivery guys waiting for orders, retired elders with time on their hands, or elderly folks resting after carrying home groceries.
The grocery store was like a lazy corner for the neighborhood.
From upstairs, Ke Ni had seen an old man forget to pay, then run back with a lollipop to scan the code.
She’d seen an aunt from the neighborhood help water the green plants and tulips by the door.
She’d also seen little kids sit on the chairs, count out the money, scan the code, and take a bag of shrimp chips and a few pieces of puffed rice.
Even the unmanned convenience stores run by big capital needed high-definition cameras and data tracking for supervision—
But this old grocery store managed to run just fine, relying only on the residents’ familiarity and sense of morality.
Ke Ni liked this kind of hidden warmth in the smallest details.
She lifted her skirt, stepped over a puddle, and headed for the grocery store, calling her best friend Mu Yao on the way.
The grocery store was bathed in dim yellow light.
Ke Ni held up her phone as she walked in and saw a man sleeping in a wicker chair behind the shelves.
Ke Ni lowered her voice as she weaved through the crowded shelves, saying to her best friend, “Mu Yao, next time you come visit me, I have to bring you to this grocery store to see it.”
Her best friend said over the phone, “Doesn’t Aunt Sun’s family only occupy one room? You get along so well with them, why bother moving out?”
Ke Ni replied, “To practice taking care of myself, duh!”
Mu Yao sounded regretful: “I can’t believe you could leave. Aunt Sun’s cooking is so good—if it were me, I’d never want to move out.”
Ke Lin laughed.
“Yeah, after my dad married Aunt Sun, he gained thirty pounds! I don’t want to become a chubby girl!”
Mu Yao burst out laughing.
Ke Ni held her phone as she went to get the hot water kettle, filled it, started boiling water, and then grabbed a bucket of instant noodles and a sausage. “I’m going to scan to pay now, talk later!”
Mu Yao’s laughter hadn’t faded: “Okay, bye-bye, my dear Ke Xiao Ni Ni!”
Ke Lin scanned the code to pay.
The man behind the display rack of wine, sugar, and tea was still asleep.
From Ke Ni’s angle, she could only see that he was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, with a black baseball cap covering his face.
Ke Ni kept thinking the hat looked familiar.
But her phone suddenly rang, so she hurried to the store entrance to answer.
It was a call from Ke Ni’s Father: “Ni Lin, Professor Wang has something to do tomorrow morning. Tell Lin Xirun and the others that you all should go together the day after tomorrow to listen to the topic analysis.”
Ke Ni said, “Okay.”
Ke Ni’s Father asked, “Did you meet any other contestants while taking the promotional photos today?”
Ke Huo didn’t mention Jing Sicun.
“I did, but I didn’t know any of them.”
Ke Ni’s Father reminded her that next time, she should try to communicate more with the others.
Everyone comes from good schools and is very capable.
By communicating, you get to know each other better.
You’ll see them in future competitions—know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll never be defeated.
Her father added, “You should learn from Lin Xirun on that.”
Ke Ni said, “I know, Dad.”
Ke Ni’s Stepmother was calling Ke Ni’s Father to dinner, so he gave her a few more reminders and was about to hang up.
Ke Ni quickly said, “I just talked with Lu Yao, and she mentioned Aunt Sun’s cooking. Dad, you can’t be greedy anymore, or you’ll really turn into a chubby guy!”
Ke Ni’s Father laughed, “I know. Aunt Sun already warned me—if this keeps up, I’ll get high cholesterol.”
He hung up.
Ke Lin looked at her phone, hesitated for a moment, and then called her mother.
Ke Ni’s Mother had originally been a poorly paid jewelry design assistant, doing the hardest work for the lowest pay.
It wasn’t until Ke Lu started junior high that her mother opened her own jewelry design studio.
The studio gradually gained some fame, and her mother slowly achieved financial independence.
The person who answered was Ke Ni’s Stepfather, a foreigner who liked speaking Chinese with Ke Ni: “Hello, Ni Ni.”
Ke Huo sat by the grocery store entrance.
“Hi, Eric, how have you been lately?”
“Very well.”
Ke Huo’s mother’s cheerful voice came through the phone: “It’s a call from Ke Huo!”
The call switched to her mother.
Before leaving, Eric said, “I heard from your mom that you’re going to be on a TV show. I’m proud of you, good luck!”
“Thank you, I will!”
Ke Ni’s Mother asked, “Ni Lin, why did you suddenly call?”
“Mom, I’m nervous.”
Ke Ni’s Mother said, “Don’t be nervous. You have to do your best in this competition.”
Her mother mentioned her father, saying that Ke Huo’s Father had always wanted Ke Huo to win first place.
Ke Lu didn’t get the top score in the college entrance exam, and her father was disappointed for a long time.
Her mother also said that girls must have their own skills.
“Look at Mom—after I started earning money, didn’t your dad stop saying those things that annoyed you?”
Ke Lin joked, “Mom, have you been working hard lately? If I win the championship, I want a really expensive gift!”
When the call ended, the water in the kettle was already boiling, bubbling away.
A stray cat meowed, rubbing against Ke Ni’s shoes.
Ke Lin had two families, more family members than most, but she quietly watched the damp and glistening alleyway, thinking of someone she’d always tried to avoid thinking about—
That person was always so distant, hands in his pockets, his expression calm and indifferent.
But the things he said were always warm.
“Why are you always unhappy?”
“Are you comparing your elementary school self to college juniors?”
Ke Ni rubbed her eyes, feeling more and more choked up.
The bad feelings she’d held in for so long finally turned into tears, spilling out.
An aunt carrying a bag of frozen dumplings walked to the grocery store entrance and glanced at Ke Ni.
Not wanting to be seen in such a sorry state, Ke Ni quickly lowered her head and turned away.
Behind her, she heard the sound of the fridge opening, followed by the aunt’s puzzled sigh.
The aunt said, “Oh, you’re in the store?”
As Ke Ni continued to wipe her tears and steady her breath, she heard the aunt say again,
“Xiao Jing, these are frozen dumplings I made for your family—there’s beef filling and pork filling…”
Before Ke Ni could react to who “Xiao Jing” was, she heard a familiar voice.
Jing Sicun said, “Thank you, Auntie. Li Ayi brought some frozen meatballs over, too. Please take some home with you.”
The aunt laughed, “Oh, I couldn’t possibly,” and the sound of plastic bags rustling continued behind her.
After a while, the aunt left with a bag of frozen meatballs.
The grocery store grew quiet.
The wind after the rain was damp and a little cool.
Ke Huo sat stiffly in the breeze, not turning around.
Footsteps slowly drew closer.
Jing Sicun walked to the entrance, sat down, popped open a can of beer, and held it out to Ke Huo.
“What’s wrong?”
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