Chapter 19 (2/2)
“Me too.” Bei Ye replied quietly.
The two youths began to shudder lightly, their hands intertwined with each other’s in an unbreakable grip.
“Do you want to die at this very moment?”
“A part of me wishes to die now, but another part of me doesn’t want to.”
“Me too.” Bei Ye’s low voice rang out, “But, what if, you’re going to die together with me?”
“That’s why I said, a part of me wishes to die now.” She turned her gaze towards him, further tightening her grip on his hands.
The hands of the two youths were tightly intertwined, as though their hands were a knotted rope. They were trembling, their eyes fixated on the metal tracks.
Bei Ye asked, “Are you ready?”
Chen Nian nodded, “Ready.”
The train zoomed past them in a hurry, causing a huge gale as it rushed along the tracks.
Bei Ye hollered, “Let’s go!”
Chen Nian shouted alongside Bei Ye, “Let’s go!”
With their hands tightly intertwined, the two youths ran after the train as they sped against the wind. As they ran alongside the train, a metallic ladder hanging on the side of the train finally appeared in view. Bei Ye turned towards Chen Nian and hollered, “Jump!”
Chen Nian was unable to muster sufficient courage to slam her body into that metallic wall. Using a single arm, Bei Ye grabbed hold of the metallic ladder and hopped onto the ladder. His other hand still kept Chen Nian’s tiny palm tightly in his grip. “Jump up!”
Chen Nian shook her head vigorously – she was afraid.
“I’ll catch you.”
With that, Chen Nian took a deep breath, and hurled herself onto the ladder. Without missing a single beat, Bei Ye stretched his arms out to catch her, his arms encircling her waist with ease. The two youths slammed onto the metallic ladder from the force of Chen Nian’s jump. Chen Nian hurriedly grabbed hold of the ladder, and sneaked a glance at Bei Ye. The two youths stared at each other, their chests heaving from the exercise and their stunned and surprised faces displayed no emotion. All of a sudden, the two youths burst into laughter.
They speedily ascended the ladder, and reached the roof of the train.
The turquoise river wound its way through the rolling fields. Beads of sweat had barely begun to form on the faces of the two youths before they were speedily removed by the never-ending gusts of wind that blew past the two youths. As the train neared a small village, it gradually ground to a temporary halt.
Chen Nian and Bei Ye stealthily clambered down the train and ran away, their hands interlocked in an unbreakable grip.
It was an extremely tiny village. A few concrete houses stood a distance apart from each other, each house separated by huge, rolling wheat and paddy fields.
The two youths wandered aimlessly across the huge, rolling fields of wheat, before finally walking past a huge lotus pond. Chen Nian reached for a lotus leaf, and playfully shook the leaf, causing the clear water droplets on the leaf to divide into a few smaller droplets. The owner of the lotus pond was a burly male. Steering his wooden boat from the centre of the pond, he began to near Bei Ye and Chen Nian; on the boat, innumerable lotus seedpods and lotus flowers were stacked on top of each other, forming a nice, small mountain.
Drawn towards the lotus seedpods, Chen Nian couldn’t tear her gaze away from it. A small smile formed on Bei Ye’s lips, and he turned towards the owner of the lotus pond, inquiring, “Are you intending to sell these lotus seedpods at Xi Cheng?”
The owner replied honestly, “Yes, I am. How about this – I’d sell some to you guys at a cheap price. A dollar for each seedpod.”
It was truly inexpensive. Bei Ye bought seven seedpods, and held them in his hand. The seven seedpods drooped from their stalks, their bobbing motion resembling the heads of seven birds struggling to free themselves from their owner’s grasp.
The owner generously offered, “I’d give you two two lotus flowers for free.”
Chen Nian squat by the lotus pond, and reached out to grab two lotus flowers from the wooden boat. Gently lifting a pink lotus and a white lotus from the boat, she raised them to her nose and took a slight whiff. The scent of the freshly bloomed lotus flower wafted into her nose.
The two youths resumed their stroll across the rolling fields, popping lotus seeds into their mouths as they basked in the warmth of the afternoon sun. The freshly picked lotus seeds were extremely tender and fresh, and felt like a gentle stream of pondwater.
“The sun would get hotter after a while.” Bei Ye commented. Repeatedly strolling by the sh.o.r.e of a lake, he finally stooped down and grabbed a huge lotus leaf after a series of meticulous selections. Removing the stalk of the lotus leaf, he handed the leaf to Chen Nian to serve as a small umbrella.
Chen Nian retrieved it from Bei Ye, and immediately raised it above her head to block the sun.
“Look, there’s some water chestnuts!” Bei Ye squat beside the paddy fields, and retrieved a huge stack of leaves. Easily finding some water chestnuts hidden within the leaves, he easily opened them in one swift motion; Chen Nian lowered herself next to Bei Ye, and observed, “It’s so small.”
Bei Ye removed the tender white meat from within the sh.e.l.ls, and encouraged her, “Try it.”
Chen Nian lowered her head, gingerly eating the water chestnut. As she retrieved the water chestnut, her soft, gentle lips brushed against Bei Ye’s fingers. Although Bei Ye maintained a neutral expression as he returned the leaves to the paddy fields, his heart trembled quietly, as though a ripple had formed in an initially still pond.
“It’s really sweet.” Chen Nian gave Bei Ye a gentle smile. It was extremely fresh and refres.h.i.+ng, unlike those sold on the streets.
This was the true taste of summer.
The two youths continued walking along the fields whilst using the lotus leaf as a s.h.i.+eld from the blazing sunlight. Heading into the fields, they plucked some cuc.u.mbers and tomatoes, popping them into their mouths immediately; removing their shoes, they waded into the paddy fields and allowed their bare feet to sink into the mud. They napped in stables filled with straw. When they finally woke up, the mud on their feet had long hardened, allowing them to easily remove the hardened chunks of mud.
As such, they continued their exploration.
The path along the fields was narrow, and the two youths were unable to walk side by side.
Bei Ye took a discreet step backwards, allowing Chen Nian to walk in front of him whilst he followed her from behind. He didn’t reach for her hand. The remainder of the path that lay ahead of them was too narrow; there was simply no s.p.a.ce for him to stay by her side. He carefully counter her footsteps, his gaze fixated on her back view.
The two youths continued walking tirelessly, as though they were going to walk till the ends of the earth. But, despite the long day, neither of them were the least bit tired.
When the silver moon hung high in the sky, and innumerable fireflies rose from the fields, the two youths finally made their way home.
The metallic train snaked across the wilderness as it bathed in the gentle moonlight. The two youths clambered onto the roof of the train, and seated themselves properly. The night breeze was extremely strong, and slightly cold. The two youths sat next to each other on the roof of the train, staring at the blanket of stars that shone like broken diamonds.
“It looks like it’s going to rain.” Chen Nian commented.
“It does.”
“Will it rain?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What if it starts to rain?” Chen Nian queried.
“Then, the two of us could soak up the rain and become drenched chickens.” Bei Ye replied.
“But, what if it doesn’t rain?” Chen Nian persisted.
“If so, we’ll look at the stars.”
Chen Nian turned to look at Bei Ye, and gazed straight into his eyes.
Slowly reaching out his hand, Bei Ye gently stroked Chen Nian’s cheeks, before carefully cupping her in his palms, and kissing her tenderly.
Chen Nian slowly shut her eyes.
The roof of the train was so far from the ground, that one would be able to grab one or two stars simply by reaching out one’s arms.
Looking at the stars – the meaning of this phrase is embodied by this very day itself.