Chapter 17 (1/2)

Li Yun Wei laughed when she saw Zhang Yuan. “My old deskmate, why don’t you speak up if you’re going to come? You made me worry about He Luo for nothing.”

“Let’s hurry up and eat!” Li Yun Wei said. “When it gets late, it’s not safe to walk around our campus. I heard a girl even got robbed sometime ago.”

Li Yun Wei took it and studied it carefully. She asked He Luo, “I have a question. Many of such reports would say the woman who bite the suspect’s tongue off and that’s how they solve the crime. Isn’t it strange? Even if it’s biting, won’t it just be biting the suspect’s lips?”

“Okay, let’s get roasted duck,” he said. “What else do you want? How about stewed lamb and stir-fried lettuce?”

“Our batteries have been charged,” replied Zhang Yuan. He Luo elbowed him in the ribs.

“In the male steps, no less,” Shen Lie added.

Li Yun Wei chirped, “Even if you have the thieving heart [intention to cheat], do you have the courage to to do so?”

“Forget it.” Shen Lie waved a hand. “I heard your people are strong drinkers. The total sales of a summer is equivalent to the entirety of the West region’s sales in a year. I’ll just teach you how to eat the roasted duck instead.” On top a Chinese prata, he placed fatty duck meat, duck skin, and then sauce-dipped slices of cuc.u.mber on it. “This is the way the authentic way to eat a Beijing duck wrap.” As he said this, he used the chopsticks to press on the edges of the prata, rolling them until it was a proper cylindrical wrap.

He Luo couldn’t hold onto the sides of the prata well enough and the wrap burst open, dispersing oil from the duck slices. Rather dispirited, she said, “How exactly can I get this done!”

“Exactly!” Shen Lie shook his chopsticks. “You have to learn this. In the future when you demonstrate this to people, you can take the opportunity to eat the whole duck.”

The mutton soup they ordered was still nowhere to be seen even though the flame under their heated pot was starting to dim. The pot was going to dry out. Zhang Yuan shouted, “Waiter, add water! I’ll give you 10 seconds.”

She was so loud that the boys a few tables over looked over. One of them, a short-haired boy, stared at her. He observed her from head to toe and, just as she was about to scold someone, he said, “You are… Li Yun Wei?”

“I’m from Zhang Feng primary school.” The boy smiled, eyebrows straight. “You don’t remember?”

“Yes, after coming here for a math compet.i.tion, I ended up studying in a high school here.”

“You’re Zhang Yuan?” Xu He Yang was surprised. “I’ve heard of you but I never met you.”

“Xu He Yang.” Turning towards Li Yun Wei, he explained, “I often see this cla.s.smate of yours on the list of school olympiads. Once I won the city’s first prize, two of the only prizes available, and was over the moon. Then when I took a better look, I realised there was still a full score award! This is the guy who won it.”

He Luo said, “I’ve never heard you mention such an awe-inspiring matter.”

“Had you continue on your path in junior high, maybe it’s you with the opportunity to study high school here.” Xu He Yang raised his head, pretending to wipe sweat from his forehead. “I’m lucky!” He added, “But now we’ve run into each other in the same university. Which department are you in?”

“This guy is a cla.s.sic good boyfriend, he’s here for He Luo.” Li Yun Wei smiled.

On the way back to the dorm, a gingko leaf spun and fell on He Luo’s hair. Zhang Yuan picked it up and said, “The yellow of gingko, the autumn of Beijing, the day is coming.”

When they read the book in their third year in high school, they were also studying the Beijing map. He Luo had pinpointed Tsinghua park as the centre and drew a circle with the radius of 10cm on the 1:100,000 map. “Oh, we’re going as far as Xiangshan!” She laughed. “In the future, let’s go see the red leaves together, okay?”

He Luo was momentarily speechless. “There’s always another chance,” she said.

*

Zhou Ying Yan said, “Zhang Yuan might as well have not come. Before he came, He Luo would only sigh now and then. But now she is depressed all day. Every time we eat at the canteen, she insists on sitting in the same spot they dined in earlier.”

“Ah, can you bring me in?” He Luo asked.

He Luo was embarra.s.sed to mention that she had been in a daze. She smiled and sighed. “Forget it, I’ll just not go.”