Chapter 45
In the summer of 2003, the city had not yet fully recovered from the SARS outbreak. As Li Muxue dragged her suitcase along the familiar streets, the first thing she smelled was not the familiar scent of locust blossoms, but the smell of disinfectant wafting from the pharmacy at the alley entrance. A half-finished, curled-edge "Wash your hands frequently, avoid gatherings" notice was still pasted on the glass door, the red ink faded like unwiped tear stains.
She had just leaned her suitcase against the wall of the grocery store on her usual route home from school, intending to go in and buy a bottle of chilled Bawangsi soda, when she heard a "click" from a bicycle chain behind her. That sound had been sealed in her memory for many years. Back in high school, when Xu Chen would give her a ride to eat spicy hot pot, the chain would always make that sound. Xu Chen would often laugh and say, "That's my old buddy calling your name for me." Li Muxue turned around abruptly. The sunlight shone directly on the person's face. He raised his hand to shield his eyes, revealing the scar on the back of his hand from when he was cut by a beer bottle. It was fading now, but it felt like it was etched into her heart.
"Mu Xue?" Xu Chen's voice was a bit deeper than last year. In the small basket on the front of his bicycle were a bundle of manuscript paper and two books, all of which were his professional materials.
Li Muxue gripped the suitcase handle tighter, the plastic handle digging into her knuckles until they turned white.
"You... are on summer vacation?" Xu Chen parked his bicycle by the roadside. His white shirt was soaked with sweat and clung to his back. He had lost weight in the year since they last met, and his jawline was sharper, but his eyes were still the same as before, as if they were filled with starlight.
"How are things on your end?" Xu Chen asked again, her voice gentle. "Back in March, I heard that your university was also under lockdown."
"Yeah, it's been locked down for almost two months." Li Muxue finally found her voice, the chill on her fingertips slowly dissipating: "Every day I was taking online classes in the dorm, we had to keep a meter apart when getting food in the cafeteria, and even going to the library required a reservation. Your situation at the university must have been similar, right? Those few months were truly filled with anxiety... By the way, what are you doing here?"
Xu Chen smiled somewhat awkwardly: "I just got back from summer vacation. I just bought two reference books at the bookstore. I passed by this store on my way home and I was a little thirsty..."
Both seemed to be deliberately concealing their excitement and unease, because this was their first reunion in a year since their breakup. They stood at the edge of the alley and talked for a long time...
As the sun began to set in the west, Xu Chen suddenly pointed to the depths of the alley: "That old Siji pulled noodles place is still open. Last year you always said they had lots of chicken carcass meat. Want to go?"
Li Muxue didn't say anything, but followed him. On the still bumpy old alley, their shadows sometimes overlapped and sometimes separated, just like the past year or so that had passed.
When the noodle shop owner came out, she first looked at Xu Chen, then at Li Muxue, and paused for a moment: "It's been a long time since I've seen you two come together. Two bowls of chicken soup noodles, one extra wide and one without cilantro?"
Xu Chen quickly replied, "Yes, everything is the same as always, plus two more boiled shredded chicken frames..."
Li Muxue's eyes welled up with tears. The small noodle shop was filled with the aroma of chicken frames. Compared to the French feast Shen Haoyu had a year ago, the chicken frames and chicken noodle soup were heaven on her palate, even though the prices were worlds apart—a steak could buy fifty bowls of noodles. When she saw the plain chicken frames, exuding the scent of bygone days, being served, Li Muxue almost burst into tears.
"Muxue, I've tried," Xu Chen put down his chopsticks, the steam from the bowl blurring his features, his voice as soft as a dove's feather: "I've tried to forget you. But I haven't succeeded!"
“Me too,” she said. Those three words, too, were light and airy, yet they drained all her strength.
Her tears fell into the noodle soup, splashing up tiny droplets: "Xu Chen, you should have a cell phone now, right? Give me your number, I'll save it..." She deliberately changed the subject.
————
That night, Li Muxue lay in bed, unbearably hot, the fan in her hand almost falling apart from her constant fanning. Her mind was filled with images of Xu Chen and the feel of his fingers brushing against the back of her hand. At two in the morning, she got up, picked up the phone Shen Haoyu had given her, and dialed his number.
"Hello?" The phone was answered after only one ring, as if Xu Chen had been watching over him the whole time.
“I can’t sleep,” she said.
"Me too." After a brief silence, Xu Chen said, "See you at the usual place, dare to?"
Li Muxue's heart pounded like a drum: "Dare!"
The so-called "old place" is the workers' club, which is also an abandoned old-fashioned movie theater. The three-story building has been in disrepair for many years and has not been demolished due to property rights issues. It is only 300 meters away from the north gate of their high school.
When Li Muxue slipped out of the house, she felt like a thief, yet she trembled with excitement. Her parents were fast asleep in the bedroom, a scene almost identical to that summer night many years ago when they listened to the radio on the rooftop.
Xu Chen was already waiting for her at the movie theater entrance, holding a flashlight and a bag.
“I brought you mung bean ice cream, it’s melting quickly. Eat it while you can,” he said.
The cinema doors were sealed off, so they had to climb in through the back window. The cinema was much more dilapidated than they remembered; the seats were covered in dust, and the air was filled with a musty smell, but there was a strange coolness to it.
“We’ve gone mad,” Li Muxue said, biting into her ice cream. “The news reported that this is the hottest summer in thirty-eight years, and we came to this godforsaken place in the middle of the night.”
“We’ve been crazy all along,” Xu Chen chuckled, “starting from falling in love with the daughter of our ‘enemy’.”
Xu Chen suddenly grabbed her hand, his grip tight: "Mu Xue, to be honest, I've been living like a walking corpse for the past year. I've been studying desperately, trying new things, but whenever the night is quiet, you're all I can think about..."
Incredibly, just as he was saying these words, a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed across the window, followed by a deafening clap of thunder. The summer downpour came quickly and suddenly, instantly engulfing the world in a curtain of rain.
Li Muxue looked at Xu Chen in front of her. His eyes were shining in the darkness, and his breathing was rapid. She could feel an impulse that was about to tear her chest apart.
"Let's start over!" Li Muxue shouted, her voice so loud it drowned out the rain. "I don't care what they think, I don't care about family feuds, let's just be ourselves!"
"This is outrageous," Xu Chen said breathlessly.
"Then let the lightning strike us dead!" Li Muxue declared recklessly to the lightning in the sky outside the window.
Xu Chen gently pulled her closer, wiping away her tears with his fiery lips—tears that were both salty and sweet. At the same time, they shared their first kiss…
They didn't die, but they did make a "defying fate" decision that night...
(To be continued)
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