Ah Yu was stopped at the station security checkpoint. The security officer pointed to the medicine in his pocket: "Liquid medicine needs to be taken out for inspection." He hurriedly pulled it out, the label on the bottle worn and illegible. "Fever reducer," he explained, his voice a little urgent, "My friend has a fever in the mountains and needs it."
The security guard glanced at him and handed the medicine back: "Hurry up, the train needs to check tickets."
Ah Yu said thank you and ran towards the platform with his bag. Inside the backpack were things Lin Wanqing had packed: a neatly folded windbreaker and Zhong Hua's scarf, which carried a faint camphor scent. As he ran across the platform, the announcements came over the loudspeaker, the sound distorted, as if filtered through water.
The moment the train started moving, Ah Yu pressed his face against the window and looked out. The setting sun cast a golden line across the tracks, and the distant buildings gradually shrank in size. He took out his phone, intending to message Zhong Hua, but after typing and deleting, he finally sent only three words: "Wait for me."
When the notification of successful delivery popped up, he seemed to see a sycamore leaf drifting slowly in the wind outside the car window, like someone waving from afar.
Chapter Two: The Shaking Night Train
The first train was a high-speed train. The carriage was very quiet, with only the sound of the air conditioner and the occasional station announcement. Ah Yu sat by the window, holding her backpack to her chest. The fever reducer inside was digging into her ribs, a little painful, but reassuring.
He wanted to call Zhong Hua, but was afraid of disturbing his rest. He opened the chat interface and scrolled up; it was full of trivial messages: "The weather will be nice tomorrow, shall we go take pictures of the old church?" "I passed by that bakery you mentioned last time, the line was really long." "I knocked over Wanqing's paintbrush again, and she glared at me."
The last post was from Zhong Hua, posted at 7 a.m.: "The fog in the mountains is very thick, like a fairyland." He attached a photo showing the rooftops of a few mud-brick houses vaguely visible in the white expanse, as if floating in the clouds.
Ah Yu stared at the photo for a long time, his fingers tracing the screen, as if he could feel the damp, cold mist through the image. He remembered when Zhong Hua had a fever in college, he had also stubbornly endured it. It was the department's model exhibition that day. Zhong Hua had stayed up all night the night before assembling models, and woke up in the morning with a flushed face, but he insisted on going to the event. Ah Yu had helped him onto the dormitory bed, gone to the school clinic to get medicine, and when he returned, he saw Zhong Hua slumped over the table, clutching the model's instruction manual in his hand.
"What are you trying to prove?" Ah Yu angrily shoved the medicine into his mouth. Now that she thinks about it, Zhong Hua back then and the person in the mountains now who is wrapped in a quilt and trying to hold on seem to be no different.
When the train passed the intermediate stop, it was completely dark. The streetlights outside the window stretched into a ribbon of light, like a moving galaxy. Ah Yu was a little sleepy, his head resting against the glass, the light making his temples throb. He closed his eyes, but all he could see was Zhong Hua: the furrowed brow as he sewed his windbreaker, the arm that ached from holding the reflector, the eyes that always smiled when he looked at his camera…
In a daze, my phone vibrated. It was a message from Lin Wanqing: "I asked the village secretary, and he said that Zhong Hua was taking the children to take pictures of the sunrise this morning, but he collapsed at noon and is now receiving an IV drip at the village clinic. Don't worry, I've asked the secretary to keep an eye on him."
Ah Yu suddenly snapped out of her daze and replied, "Did he get an IV? Has his fever gone down?"
Lin Wanqing replied quickly: "The Party Secretary said that he had a fever of 39 degrees Celsius but refused to be hospitalized. He went back to his place after finishing his IV drip. Be careful on the road, and send me a message when you get to the county town."
39 degrees.
Ah Yu's heart clenched again. He stood up and paced back and forth in the carriage twice. Seeing his anxiety, the old lady next to him handed him a piece of candy: "Young man, is something urgent happening to you? Have a piece of candy, it's sweet, it'll make you feel better."
The candy was fruit candy, orange flavored, very similar to the kind Zhong Hua loved to eat in high school. Ah Yu unwrapped the candy, his eyes narrowing from the sourness, and tears almost welled up. He suddenly remembered in episode 305, when he secretly ate the expired candy Zhong Hua had left behind, his brows furrowing from the sourness, and Zhong Hua saying, "Back then, you stole my candy, saying it was sour it would refresh you."
It turns out that some habits can really be remembered for many years.
When transferring to the second train, he had to wait forty minutes at the transfer station. The waiting room was crowded, so Ah Yu found a corner to sit down, using his backpack as a pillow and curling up in the chair. He set an alarm, but still couldn't fall asleep. All he could hear were the train whistles arriving at the station, like Zhong Hua's voice urging him to hurry up: "Ah Yu, hurry up, the light is going out."
In a daze, he seemed to be back at Qinghai Lake. The sunset was particularly beautiful that day. Ah Yu kept taking pictures with his camera. When he turned around, he saw Zhong Hua standing not far away, holding a bottle of water, his eyes following his lens. "Have you taken enough pictures?" Zhong Hua called to him, his voice a little scattered by the wind. "If you don't leave now, you'll have to stay in a tent tonight."
"Just one picture!" Ah Yu pointed the camera at him, and Zhong Hua blinked subconsciously. In the photo, his eyelashes were glistening with the light of the setting sun, like a golden leaf had fallen on them.
When the alarm clock rang, Ah Yu sat up abruptly, his heart pounding. The orange candy in his mouth had long since melted, leaving only a slightly bitter taste. He checked his pocket and found the fever reducer was still there, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
The second train was a slow, old-fashioned green train, and the carriage was filled with the smell of instant noodles and sweat. Ah Yu found a window seat and sat down. Next to her was an old man carrying a hoe, who asked her in a local dialect, "Going to visit relatives in the mountains?"
“No,” Ah Yu shook her head, her voice a little hoarse, “I’m going to pick up a friend.”
"Oh, the mountain roads must be difficult to travel on?" The old man tapped his pipe. "It rained a few days ago, and the roads were very slippery."
Ah Yu hummed in agreement and looked out the window. In the pitch-black night, only the occasional village lights flickered, like stars fallen to the ground. He remembered the firefly photos Zhong Hua had sent; against the dark background, tiny green lights moved, like someone had scattered a handful of diamonds. Zhong Hua had said he would take pictures to show Ah Yu because Ah Yu always said that you couldn't see fireflies in the city.
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