Part 2. Love Letter from That Year
66 | Becoming an Adult
There are some things…that you know, we’ll talk about it after we get into college, okay?
When summer break started, Gu Mingxi helped Pang Qian catch up on all the material from school. He helped her explain the things she didn’t quite understand, do a lot of practice problems, and even acted as a teacher to grade and explain what she did wrong.
Sometimes his supervision really irritated Pang Qian. Seeing all the yet to be done practice tests and questions, she would throw a small tantrum. Gu Mingxi knew that Pang Qian was the kind of person who needed to be rewarded along with her punishments, so when she didn’t want to work on the practice problems, he would go out to play with her.
That August, Gu Mingxi became an adult. Because his 18th birthday by the lunar calendar was only one day off from Pang Qian’s 17th birthday by the Gregorian calendar, the two families decided to celebrate them together.
On the day of Pang Qian’s birthday, Li Han and Gu Mingxi went to Pang Qian’s house. Pang Shuisheng prepared a big table of dishes, and he also bought a large birthday cake so the two kids could blow out the candles.
Pang Qian gave Gu Mingxi a pair of Adidas flip flops. They were pretty expensive, and she had to scrimp together pocket money for several months to get it.
Two days later was the Qixi Festival. Gu Mingxi asked hit mother if he and Pang Qian could spend the day out, and Li Han agreed.
Gu Mingxi and Pang Qian went to Shark’s barbecue shop. When Shark found out it was Gu Mingxi’s 18th birthday, he was extremely excited and he put out a table of food. He also called for Clam and Oyster to barbecue a big plate of lamb skewers and chicken wings.
Shark opened a few bottles of cold beer. “Kid, you’re an adult now, a man. And it’s summer break now. Have a bit of beer!”
Gu Mingxi didn’t reject the offer, and Shark poured him a cup of beer and plopped a straw inside. Pang Qian watched curiously and said, “Shark, I want to drink it too.”
Shark gave her a can of cola. “Not you. You’re still a kid. Next year! Next year, you come again and I’ll make sure you guys don’t leave without getting a bit drunk!”
To make it easier on Gu Mingxi when he ate, Shark found a short table and placed it outside the shop. They sat around the table, eating and drinking. Gu Mingxi was completely relaxed. He had his right foot up on the table holding onto a a barbecue stick, his head lowered to take a bite.
Clam still couldn’t forget about Pang Qian. He asked, “Little Crab, didn’t you add me on QQ before? Why did you put me on your blacklist after that?”
Pang Qian blinked her eyes at him. “I didn’t. I haven’t been online in a long time. My house doesn’t have a computer. I can only go online when I go to Gu Mingxi’s place.”
Clam immediately turned to look at Gu Mingxi, who was slightly biting onto his straw and drinking beer, as if he hadn’t heard anything at all.
Shark asked Gu Mingxi, “When school starts, you two will be seniors. Are you going to have a lot more schoolwork then?”
Gu Mingxi nodded. “Yeah. We’ll have to go to school on Sat.u.r.days too, and also go to self-study at night.”
“If you or Little Crab ever feel too much pressure, you can always come here to sit awhile and relax a bit. This is called striking a balance between work and play,” Shark said. “And didn’t you two say you were going to go to school in Shanghai? Then after next year, we won’t be able to meet much anymore. When you guys pa.s.s your college exams, I’ll have a celebratory banquet here for you. It’ll also be a farewell party at the same time.”
Gu Mingxi couldn’t help laughing. “Shark, you’ve thought a bit far into the future.”
Shark lit a cigarette. “Far? These things are right in front of your eyes.”
After they ate and drank to their content, Gu Mingxi and Pang Qian got ready to head home.
Pang Qian ate a lot of chicken wings so her stomach was bloated. She told Gu Mingxi not to get on the bus right away, and to walk around a little bit and digest first.
There were a lot of immigrant workers in the machine factory area. On summer evenings, a lot of people would be out walking on the street. And so, a lot of small shops opened up along the street.
Pang Qian saw a small cosmetics shop and pulled Gu Mingxi inside. She saw the basket of colorful 5-dollar nail polish, and then her interest was caught on an 8 dollar tube of lipstick.
Gu Mingxi walked up to her and saw that she was about to spread the cheap lipstick onto her lips, and he immediately said, “Don’t put it on!”
Pang Qian turned to look at him, and Gu Mingxi’s face was oddly red. In a low voice, he said, “Your birthday present’s in my pants pocket. Take it out yourself.”
Pang Qian was pleasantly surprised and quickly pulled it out of his pocket. She looked at the item in her hands, and it was a brand new tube of lipstick.
There was a fine, matte black case wrapped in plastic. It was the brand that she’d tried on at the mall before.
“Wow! This is really expensive!” Pang Qian was extremely happy. “Thank you, Gu Mingxi!”
The happy Pang Qian saw a photo booth inside a shop they were pa.s.sing by. She dragged Gu Mingxi inside to take pictures.
Gu Mingxi had never taken those kinds of photos before. Pang Qian seriously considered which background to use as she pulled him inside the booth. The curtains on either side of them were pulled closed, with just the two of them in that small s.p.a.ce.
Pang Qian looked at them on the screen, and could’t help saying, “Gu Mingxi, you’re so handsome!”
Gu Mingxi curled his lips, looking a bit shy. He turned his head side to side a little and watched his image turning on the screen. Pang Qian picked an angle and pressed the b.u.t.ton.
“So good looking!” She leaned to the screen to look at the photo they’d just taken. She felt that Gu Mingxi was even more handsome than those Hong Kong and Taiwanese celebrities. But the photo also captured his empty, hanging sleeves.
Gu Mingx said, “I’m not taking these. Do it yourself.”
Pang Qian turned to look at him but didn’t say anything. She vainly took a few pictures by herself, but when it was time to take two larger photos, she pulled Gu Mingxi back beside her and said, “Let’s take two together. You can take one and I’ll take one. This is a photo from your 18th birthday. It’ll be memorable!”
Gu Mingxi naturally didn’t refuse. He very obediently stood beside Pang Qian, and they took a photo together.
The two of them both had smiles on their faces. Pang Qian inspected it and said, “This one looks really stiff.”
And then, without any explanation, she hugged Gu Mingxi and pulled his waist down. She stood on her tiptoes so that their faces were level. She reached her arm over and pressed the b.u.t.ton, and a photo appeared with a brightly smiling teenaged girl and a boy whose face looked slightly drunk.
When they returned to the Golden Compound, the alcohol had gone a bit to Gu Mingxi’s head. It was his first time drinking beer, and his head felt a bit heavy. He suddenly became very excited and said to Pang Qian, “Didn’t you say before that you wanted me to give you a ride on my bike? Let’s try it!”
“Ah?” Pang Qian asked with surprise. “Right now?”
“Yeah, I just added air to the tires a couple days ago.”
Gu Mingxi really rode his bike and gave Pang Qian a ride. His shoulders rested against the specially-made stand on his bike, and Pang Qian sat sideways behind him, holding tightly to his waist.
Gu Mingxi had never given anyone a ride before. With some difficulty, he started to ride the bike as it swayed back and forth slightly. Pang Qian was scared to death, but she didn’t dare to shout out loud in the compound. She could only smack Gu Mingxi’s back and say quietly, “Be careful!”
The compound was dark, except for the slits of light s.h.i.+ning out from the windows of people’s homes. Every once in awhile, you could hear Old Zeng’s dog, w.a.n.g w.a.n.g, barking. Gu Mingxi rode his bike around the garden a few times. His courage kept growing, and he suddenly changed directions and rode outside the compound.
“Hey!” Pang Qian cried out, though she didn’t dare to struggle. When the bike reached the street, she couldn’t help shouting out, “Gu Mingxi, if you make me fall off, I’m not going to forgive you!”
He was actually riding pretty fast as well. Pang Qian’s skirt flew up in the wind. She shouted out loud as she held tightly onto his waist, only able to hear his faint laughter.
“Don’t worry, I don’t make you fall.” His lips were in a wide smile as he rode around on the street in high spirits. Very soon, he rode over to where the metal factory originally was.
The area had become a large construction site. There were a several pile drivers inside and work lights, the image of the past long gone. It was already quite late, so no one was working there. Gu Mingxi stopped the bike with his left foot. Pang Qian jumped off and stood beside him, looking at the scene before them.
She said, “My dad tole me that they’re building a mall here with a market and movie theater, and also a large plaza. A lot of the small restaurants around here will be turned into shopping stores, and this place will become a commercial center.”
Gu Mingxi nodded. “My mom told me the same. She said it would take three or four years.”
Pang Qian turned her head to look at him. Gu Mingxi’s eyes sparkled, and sweat beads dripped down his face from his forehead. She looked at his slender neck and the traces of sweat above. His body exuded the feeling of a young man, no longer the little boy he used to be.
When he rode back home with Pang Qian, she held tightly to his waist and her face stuck to his warm back. She asked, “Gu Mingxi, do you like me?”
The youth’s heart skipped a beat as he rode. He was silent for awhile, before answering, “Mm, I like you.”
“What kind of like is it?”
He thought again, and said, “It’s the kind of like that you’re thinking of.”
Pang Qian couldn’t see his face. She said lightly, “Is it the kind of like, like I like you?”
He couldn’t help smiling slightly. He nodded, “Yeah, just like the way you like me.”
“Gu Mingxi.”
“Hm?”
“You’re the one who said, we shouldn’t think about anything this year.”
“I did say that. What about it?”
“So I decided not to think about anything. There are some things…that you know, we’ll talk about it after we get into college, okay?”
