Chapter 17 (2/2)

What he ended up giving He Luo was a work permit. “Really?” He Luo’s eyes were bright. “Doesn’t this mean I can go over to the players’ side? Thank you!”

“Ah, how can I take this? Besides, don’t you have to control the traffic?”

He Luo really wanted to go so without humility, she said, “Okay! I owe you a favour.” After watching the match, she talked to Zhang Yuan on the phone about it.

“I thought there will at least be one veteran NBA star but who knows it’s all third-tier old players.” He Luo laughed. “But it’s still very cool to be at the scene. I took the risk of being kicked out of the venue and went up to the VIP area. I took many clear photos, I’ll send you them some other day.”

“I don’t have a ticket. Shen Lie gave me his work permit and went to play at the university’s fair. Oh right, does your university have such activities of luring new students? I never hear you talk about it.”

He Luo burst out laughing. “But you’re still a cadre, aren’t you? Monitor. Zhang. Yuan.”

“Very profound self-criticism,” He Luo said. “But there’s actually many other activities outside of student unions and clubs. They’re not all bureaucratic.”

In the next few days, there were no phone calls, no correspondence.

He Luo was busy with midterms, for everyday of a week. Her department dean told them at the beginning of their year, “Whoever who fail must drop out. The curriculum of our department is difficult. Every batch there is at least 10% of people who won’t be able to get their degrees.” After discounting those who scored higher than she did in other provinces, those who majored in science over those in liberal arts, no matter how she thought about it, she felt she was firmly in that 10%. After a stressful and frightful exam week, it was not as horrifying as she first thought but she was exhausted. Only after she binged on sleep over the weekend, did she realise that there had been no news from Zhang Yuan since.

She had been brainwashed by the exams.

That night He Luo sat alone in her bed and, as soon as it was about 9, she ran to the phone booth to queue. Even if she could only talk for three minutes. Even if she only ask about weather. That would be good enough.

He Luo could hear no more.

A sweaty Zhang Yuan was dragged from the basketball court to the restaurant to celebrate a cla.s.smate’s birthday. He was drenched in the smell of smoke and alcohol. By the time he returned, it was too late to go to bathroom, so he went and got himself two bottles of hot water instead. Halfway through him was.h.i.+ng his hair in the washroom, a roommate called him. “Your pager’s ringing, it’s a Beijing number!”

The autumn wind was sweeping the leaves, the weather was gradually chilling. As time past, He Luo pulled her collars up higher. She stared at the lonely stars in the sky.

“Another 5 more minutes, okay?”

He Luo turned around in anger. “Do you want me to ask you to wait for five minutes, and another five minutes more, or do you want me to call home right now and chat for half an hour? Well?” She was not at all polite.

Only after He Luo levelled a cold glare at him, did he shut up.

He Luo was initially quite angered but after a second thought, perhaps the boy’s family or lover was also waiting in anxiety for him. Her heart softened.

“I’m not waiting anymore,” she said in a low voice. The boy gloated.

Zhang Yuan had ran all the way outside. In a snowing day, there was almost no one who would go out to make a call. He soon found a phone booth and had jammed his phone card in when he noticed it was so cold that the LCD screen was not even lit. He ran to his department head’s office and dialled the number over and over. But the phone was always engaged. When he looked carefully at the time, he saw that the paging had came half an hour ago.

His trip to Beijing was a bag of blessing and disappointment. Before he could savour the joy of reunion, there were disturbing thoughts threatening him. When He Luo called Shen Lie omnipotent, he was embarra.s.sed. It was a wake-up call for him. In his heart he introduced it was not her intention, she even avoided the topic of their college entrance exam and his failure. But it inadvertently revealed her own thoughts. He Luo was such a practical person. How would he looked to her? Did she find him too naive and too unreliable?

But He Luo’s occasional clumsiness, occasional slyness, her shy thoughtfulness, her light smile, her slight frown - all those in his eyes were indescribably good. He remembered their good old days, where their youth was their only obstacle.

Walking back, he realised he was still carrying his towel and wearing only a thin sweater. The cold wind was still blowing, covering his wet hair in light frost. Breathing out white smoke, he thought of He Luo’s hearty laughter and derived warm from that memory.

[ill.u.s.tration by Jiwoon Pak]

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