That night, Yu Jinyang got home and took the test paper that had just been returned out of his backpack.
He hadn’t been around during the lunch break—he’d gone to attend the Squad Leader’s Meeting, and Gao Dian had said that it was Li Yingqiao who brought the test paper back for him.
He stared at the wrinkled test, which had been soaked and then dried out until it was puffed up and crumpled, as if someone had crumpled it up before, falling into deep contemplation.
Yu Renjie was just then passing by his room’s doorway, looking the picture of an ailing man as he tied a small dumbbell.
Seeing his son so still, he poked his head in and called, “Son, what are you thinking about?”
Yu Jinyang snapped out of it, looking blankly at his dad.
“You haven’t messed with her lately, have you?”
“What would I mess with her for?”
Yu Renjie didn’t even need to think with his toes to know who “her” referred to.
“I’ve been going to work properly these days, all right?”
“I swear! Your dad’s been getting home on time every day lately, not going out to stir up trouble,” Tang Xiang Lady, rarely speaking up for him, said as she lowered her head to apply nail oil, then gossiped with a smile, “Did you and Li Yingqiao get into another fight?”
Yu Jinyang buried his head and continued doing homework, his voice muffled, “We did not.”
Tang Xiang sat on the living room sofa, twisting her hands to see if she’d applied the polish evenly, then smiled and continued, “When are your teachers finally going to rearrange the seats?
Look how worried my son is.
But I think, honestly, Li Yingqiao is really cute.
She helps her mom watch the shop every day, helps Chun Zhen Nai Nai next door pull down the shutter door, takes out the trash—she’s got endless energy.”
Yu Renjie immediately put down the dumbbell and said, “If that’s what you call cute, then our son could be called the landlord! At least he’s super plus—”
Yu Renjie didn’t finish, because his son was glaring at him.
Tang Xiang tossed the nail oil into a messy drawer and continued, “A-Yang, sure, she’s cute now, but when you grow up that won’t do. No matter what, you’ve got to shoot up to 1.8 meters. In a few days, Mom will take you to the hospital for a bone check. If it really doesn’t work, we’ll have to get hormone injections. Otherwise, every time I go pick you up from school, I lose at the starting line.”
“It’s fine, he’ll definitely be taller by high school.”
Yu Renjie said with great confidence.
Rather than confidence, it was more like resignation—he’d accepted his fate.
“Nonsense, he’s not even 1.4 meters now. Do you think 1.4 meters in high school is enough?”
Tang Xiang rolled her eyes.
“If that doesn’t work, he’ll end up like—Da Lang.”
Tang Xiang gave Yu Renjie a quick up-and-down look.
“How tall were you at this age?”
Yu Renjie, “Back then, who cared about height? If you had enough to eat, you were lucky. If my younger brother wasn’t such a rice bucket, never full no matter how much he ate, I figure I could’ve grown another five centimeters.”
Yu Jinyang didn’t want to listen to them discuss his height anymore, so he buried his head into his desk and muttered, “You don’t need to come pick me up. It’s just crossing one street, I can walk home by myself.”
Tang Xiang suddenly thought of seeing Miaojia’s mom at the market before, so she walked over and patted her son’s head, asking, “A-Yang, do you want to learn street dance?”
***
Yu Jinyang learned street dance to get taller.
Li Yingqiao learned to sing for the benefit of all humanity—or so she thought.
There was a music shop at the gate of Xiao Hua City.
Now, instead of darting home like a monkey after school, she would squat by the music shop and listen to songs.
Using the breakfast money her mom gave her, she’d eat one less bun every day, and after half a month she could buy a cassette tape.
There were so many popular singers back then, she couldn’t choose.
Jay Chou was already famous all over the country, so she decided to learn from him—he was the most popular!
She wanted to show off her skills at the New Year’s party next year.
That day after school, the sunset over Xiao Hua City still hung at the tip of the mountain, the lingering warmth wrapping the whole suburb.
For the students of Grade Four, Class Two in Xiao Hua City, it was finally the exciting moment to switch seats.
Li Yingqiao was just about to turn and give Yu Jinyang a heartfelt goodbye, but saw that he’d already packed up his things and couldn’t wait to greet his new desk mate.
Li Yingqiao immediately pulled a long face and glared at him fiercely as the teacher told everyone to sit down to announce the new seating order.
She wound herself up like a clockwork toy, body turning back, both hands dutifully folded on the desk in front of her, but her eyes still shot fierce side glances at Yu Jinyang.
Yu Jinyang ignored her, pretending not to see.
Li Yingqiao nudged him hard with her elbow, still casting longing sideways glances as if she wanted to stare a hole right through him.
Yu Jinyang had been sore all over from street dance practice these past two days, and her jab made his chest ache dully.
He sucked in a sharp breath, finally unable to take it anymore and looked at her, saying, “Will you stop it, please?”
Li Yingqiao caught the meaning immediately.
“Are you annoyed with me?”
He didn’t answer, just pursed his lips and turned to look at Liang Mei on the podium.
Good manners kept him from saying anything too harsh, but sometimes silence spoke louder than words.
Of course, Li Yingqiao didn’t care whether he liked her or not.
Little brat.
In her eyes, Yu Jinyang was so much shorter than her—why would an elephant care if an ant spat at it?
“If you get bullied by that tall fifth grader again, don’t come looking for me.”
Li Yingqiao snorted, “Heartless little brat.”
“Li Yingqiao,” he turned to look at her, “Have you thought about which middle school you want to go to? With your grades now, you can’t get into Experimental Middle School. Are you planning to just drift along at Xiancheng No. 2?”
The educational resources in Fengtan were quite lacking.
It was just a small town tucked away at the edge of the map, with nothing much to attract people besides beautiful scenery and fresh air.
Most schools were only there for compulsory education, with no special resources.
The whole county had only two key schools—Experimental Middle School (junior high) and Fengtan High School.
The other No.2 and No.3 schools were just for kids to complete nine years of compulsory education.
Yu Jinyang was obviously determined to get into Fengtan High.
But Fengtan High was the only provincial key school in all of Nanlai City. To get in, not only did local students have to fight tooth and nail, but students from the other thirteen counties all tried to squeeze in as well.
So far, not a single student from Xiao Hua City had ever gotten into Fengtan High—not one.
Li Yingqiao had never thought about getting into Fengtan High.
Aunt Li Shuli never pressured her about grades, only wanting her to grow up happy and healthy.
She shot Yu Jinyang a sidelong glance, floating and careless.
“Mind your own business. Worry about your own little bird. If you keep daydreaming in class, no one’s going to raise their hand for you!”
Yu Jinyang’s face was so thin-skinned, now that they weren’t deskmates, let’s see how he manages.
He swore, if he said one more word to her, he’d cut his own tongue out.
Because she was tall, Li Yingqiao was assigned to a desk in the last row with Gao Dian from the Guoqi Class, while Yu Jinyang, who was also short, was seated with Zheng Miaojia in the first row.
Liang Mei apparently didn’t want to fully integrate the Xiao Hua City kids into the group, even pairing up their seats.
Zheng Miaojia was the complete opposite of Li Yingqiao—she always spoke softly, so much so that Yu Jinyang often couldn’t hear her and had to focus hard just to catch her words.
“Qiaoqiao is going to Madman Alley tonight, did you know?”
Zheng Miaojia whispered, covering her mouth.
Madman Alley was a street in the deepest part of Xiao Hua City, dark and deserted.
The cracks in the bluestone pavement seeped with river damp, cold, and moss climbed up the walls.
The whole street had a chilling air that made living people shudder.
In the mouths of Xiao Hua City’s adults, Madman Alley was a threat—“If you don’t sleep, the madman from Madman Alley will come and take you away!”
“What’s she going to do?”
Yu Jinyang asked.
“A few days ago, a madman from Madman Alley ran out and snatched rice cakes from Chun Zhen Nai Nai. She was knocked to the ground, broke her tailbone, and has been in the hospital these past days. It’s Li Auntie who’s been bringing her meals. So, Qiaoqiao is planning to go ask for money tonight.” Zheng Miaojia said admiringly, “She really is our Xiao Hua City’s guardian.”
***
“Just so you know, even though I’m this tall, I’m still a kid, okay! I’m in fourth grade at Huacheng Primary School! I have a student ID! If you dare attack me, my mom will never let you off!”
Whether it would work or not, Li Yingqiao shouted into the empty alley, “Ha! Did you hear me?”
The alley was deathly silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
“Say it! Did you hear me?”
She shouted again, not knowing who she was trying to scare.
Just as she turned her head, she saw her annoying former deskmate carrying two bags of trash, heading to the garbage bin.
Back then, Xiao Hua City didn’t have trash sorting.
Everyone dumped their garbage at the station near Madman Alley—rotten vegetable leaves, rusty batteries, used tissues, all thrown in a heap to rot and stink.
Even flies would go weak at the knees from the smell, so hardly anyone came here except those who dumped their trash on schedule.
Li Yingqiao, seeing Yu Jinyang, was like an hourglass that had just been flipped and was about to start the countdown.
She didn’t have time to turn back now.
Not wanting to lose face in front of her little brother from yesterday, she gave Yu Jinyang a cold snort and swaggered into Madman Alley.
Two seconds later.
“Ah—ah—!”
A shrill scream tore through the silent sky above Xiao Hua City, followed by a chorus of barking dogs echoing through the alley.
“Woof woof woof woof woof!”
Then Yu Jinyang saw “Tank” comrade come rocketing out of the alley at lightning speed, the fastest he’d ever seen her move.
The dogs couldn’t even catch her.
But she was still shouting—
“Yu Jinyang! Save me!”
She was absolutely, positively terrified of dogs!
***
Her first attempt at debt collection had failed, but Li Yingqiao wasn’t discouraged.
The second time, she went fully armed—with gloves, knee pads, her mom’s scooter helmet, and a decoy—Yu Jinyang.
“You go in first, I’ll be right behind you,” Li Yingqiao said righteously.
“Why should I go first?”
Yu Jinyang stuffed his hands into his pockets, making it clear that if she didn’t go, he wouldn’t either.
“Don’t you understand ‘right behind you’? You go in, I’ll come right away.”
Yu Jinyang said bluntly, “Li Yingqiao, I came here with you out of kindness, and you want to use me as a meat shield, don’t you?”
Li Yingqiao sang out, in a tone she’d picked up from who-knows-where, “How could you say that, it’s so hurtful.”
Yu Jinyang was just about to speak when Li Yingqiao dropped the act and said coldly, “Are you going in or not? You only respond to force, huh?”
Yu Jinyang, “…I can’t run as fast as you. What if the dogs bite me?”
Li Yingqiao, “Get a rabies shot.”
Yu Jinyang didn’t hesitate—he turned and walked away.
Li Yingqiao stomped her foot on the wall, blocking his way.
Yu Jinyang was stubborn too.
The rotten stench drifting from the garbage station made them both wrinkle their noses every now and then.
Eventually, they just pinched their noses and squared off, neither willing to back down.
As they were locked in a stalemate, from the silent alley came a noise—first the shuffling of slippers, then the rustling of plastic bags being rummaged through.
They peeked their heads around to look—
A wild-haired, filthy madman was there, his left hand clutching half a birthday cake from some kid in Xiao Hua City, his right hand holding a dead goldfish. ‘
He took a bite of cake, then a bite of dead fish, swallowing it all down.
Blood was smeared on the corner of his mouth, and his whole body was covered in bruises, with hardly a patch of good skin.
His bare feet twisted on the ground, and every now and then he scratched his foot with his big toe.
Sensing the gaze of the two children, he suddenly whipped his head around to look at them.
After staring for a moment, he grinned—a mouthful of blackened teeth, bits of bloody filth, and a goldfish scale stuck in between.
Li Yingqiao turned and ran.
Yu Jinyang was shocked too, but what really surprised him was that after running away, Li Yingqiao came stomping right back, as if she’d forgotten something.
She scooped him up by the backs of his knees and carried him off like a sack of rice.
For the first time in his life, he searched his mind for swear words.
Damn it all.
When will I ever grow taller?
***
That night, Li Yingqiao got back to the grocery store still a bit shaken, hugging Aunt Li Shuli’s waist and refusing to let go, even sticking to her while she cooked.
Aunt Li Shuli had been so busy these days—delivering cold chain goods to the school, taking food to Chun Zhen Nai Nai at the hospital—that she barely had time to pay attention to her daughter.
Distracted, she soothed her a couple of times and sent her out to watch the shop.
Li Yingqiao had just turned on the TV for two minutes when a customer came in—well-dressed in a suit and tie, a rare sight in Xiao Hua City.
Except for the occasional time Uncle Yu dressed up, the local middle-aged men all wore vests, shorts, and slippers.
The man asked Li Yingqiao for a pack of cigarettes, a brand not often bought here.
Li Yingqiao found the cigarettes on the shelf with practiced ease.
The man gave her a gentle smile.
“Where’s your mom?”
Li Yingqiao jerked her chin toward the little kitchen behind the storeroom.
“Probably making dinner for me.”
The man deftly pulled money from his wallet and handed it to her.
“Which grade are you in?”
“Fourth…”
Li Yingqiao eyed him suspiciously.
“Why do you ask so many questions?”
The man smiled.
“I even know your name is Li Yingqiao. And your nickname is Tank, right?”
Li Yingqiao looked at the man’s well-defined features, a hint of suspicion rising in her heart. She stared straight at this stranger.
“Who are you?”
Suddenly, the man made a shushing sound.
“Don’t let your mom hear.”