TSIBAMS Chapter 110
by Volare“China Central Television.”
“China Central Television.”
“Dear viewers, everyone—”
“Happy New Year!”
The joyous start of the Spring Festival Gala instantly filled the small warehouse of 1984 with fervent anticipation. The small television set that Xu Ge had brought over from his home was quite functional, mainly because it didn’t take up much space.
The three of them huddled together around the steaming hot pot, their eyes glued to the bubbling pot, not even glancing away for a moment while the opening music played on the television.
The so-called pot wasn’t actually a proper hot pot; it was an old, discarded rice cooker that Bai Shu had brought from his house.
It couldn’t compare to today’s smart rice cookers; it was an old-fashioned, mechanical rice cooker with no specific buttons, just one switch. Once pressed, it would continuously heat, and wouldn’t switch to the warming mode as long as there was a drop of water left in the pot.
“This old stuff can really take a beating!” Xu Ge exclaimed while pouring in some sliced beef.
“Xu Ge, move over a bit!” Qi Guang nudged him with his elbow, “I don’t even have room to move my hands!”
“Are you crowded?” Xu Ge turned to ask Bai Shu.
“I’m fine,” Bai Shu replied.
“Alright!” Xu Ge sat as firm as a mountain, not moving an inch. He reached into the pot with his chopsticks, grabbed a piece of meat, and placed it into Bai Shu’s bowl.
Qi Guang: “…”
In previous years, during the Spring Festival, he had been forcibly dragged home by Shuai Xiaoyun, then made to sit and eat with a bunch of relatives whom even Shuai Xiaoyun barely knew. There wasn’t a single year he could remember all those faces.
Everyone chatting and drinking in a seemingly harmonious atmosphere was tolerable, but they couldn’t resist asking random, meaningless questions, which made Qi Guang incredibly miserable with the constant awkward small talk.
Finally, this year, that misery was left for Shuai Xiaoyun to endure alone.
As for him, he had switched to this dog-food fest.
And it was a damn good trade-off.
After quickly finishing the hot pot, there wasn’t much time to sit around and watch the Spring Festival Gala.
In Xu Ge’s words, those in the entertainment business had no holidays, and they couldn’t close their doors even on New Year’s Eve, not wanting to miss out on any potential customers. That was why he decided to spend the New Year at the bar himself, even after giving the bartenders and Xiao Ma the day off.
Sure enough, around dinner time, small groups of young people started coming in to have fun.
Perhaps it was because of the New Year, the atmosphere today was particularly good. There were no live singers, just some music playing from the speakers, and everyone was satisfied. Soon, as more people arrived, someone even suggested playing some high-energy dance music so that everyone could groove together.
Xu Ge grumbled, “You guys are ruining the bar’s style,” but he reluctantly changed the playlist, eventually even joining the crowd and dancing along.
After finishing with that batch of customers, Qi Guang quietly slipped away from the bar and walked out into the streets.
The usually bustling commercial street was now mostly closed, with doors shuttered. Every year at this time, Qi Guang’s spirits would drop.
He was afraid of being alone, but he was also afraid of intruding on other people’s merriment.
So he might as well just be alone.
But this time, there was a bit more reluctance than usual.
During the New Year’s countdown, he had felt that life was full of hope, that all the hardships had passed, but that was only a fleeting moment, like watching a grand fireworks display, so spectacular that it was hard to distinguish reality from illusion. You thought you had it, but after your spirit had been elevated to its peak, it would fall and disappear into the night sky—leaving behind nothing but emptiness.
And the brief excitement from before was not enough to fill this void.
Without realizing it, he had walked to the riverbank. Temporary stalls selling fireworks and firecrackers lined the way to the bridge. Qi Guang walked along, looking around, and bought a river lantern and some pop snaps.
He had always liked playing with pop snaps. They were easy, and didn’t require fire. They would just make a bang when they hit the ground. Other than the slightly silly posture, there were no other downsides.
He finally finished throwing an entire box by the spot where he used to fish.
He squatted down and took out the river lantern he had just bought from the plastic bag. He first took out a lotus-shaped river lantern, then another lotus-shaped river lantern…
Did he buy two?
He stared blankly at the two identical lotus-shaped lanterns in his hand.
He chuckled bitterly to himself, “I need to change my habits.”
“On the eve of reunion, family love runs deep. Actually, at this time of year, for us Chinese people, the happiest thing is when the whole family can sit together in harmony, eat a reunion dinner, chat, and talk about the changes that have happened this year.”
The female host on the television, elegant and composed, smiled while reciting her lines. The upcoming gala had once been a show Ye Xing would look forward to every year—every year, they would eat a New Year’s Eve dinner with family and watch the Spring Festival Gala, properly ushering in the New Year.
But this year, he only felt that the Spring Festival Gala was saving him, and also saving Fang Rong.
The two of them were sitting across from each other eating dinner, but no one spoke for a long time, pretending not to notice that there was one less person at the table this year.
Finally, Ye Xing couldn’t resist breaking the silence, “Can I go see my dad in a few days? It’s been so long since I came back…”
“No,” Fang Rong refused outright.
“Why?” Ye Xing asked.
Fang Rong put down her chopsticks and looked at him.
“It was also his intention not to let me tell you about the situation at home before. Your father doesn’t want you to know about these things, and he definitely won’t let you visit him.”
“But…”
“There are no buts. Even if you went, he wouldn’t see you. He’s a very proud man,” Fang Rong’s tone was very resolute. “He knows that he didn’t set a good example for you, nor was he a qualified father. Besides, I don’t agree with you going either. If you have something to say, tell me and I’ll pass it on.”
“Okay,” Ye Xing didn’t want to provoke her and didn’t press the matter further.
Fang Rong turned up the volume of the television and continued eating.
A moment later, she seemed to have also sensed that the New Year’s atmosphere was too strange and tried to break the silence, “Wasn’t your friend supposed to stay at our place for the New Year? Why did he leave all of a sudden?”
“He went to another friend’s house,” Ye Xing said.
“What? Did you guys have a fight?”
“No, he went to his boyfriend’s house.”
The air froze for a dozen seconds. Just when Ye Xing thought that the fake boyfriend he made up for Li Ke had finally shut her up, Fang Rong spoke again, “You should hang out less with those kinds of people in the future, and interact more with normal classmates.”
“What kind of people?” Ye Xing put down his chopsticks and looked at her, “What’s abnormal about them?”
Fang Rong also put down her chopsticks, but this time the force was more like slamming down the chopsticks.
It was clear that her emotions were coming on very fast and strong.
“Is it normal to be in a relationship with someone of the same sex? Or is it normal not to go home for the New Year? Look at you, you never used to talk back to me before, what have you been turned into now? What will happen if you keep hanging out with all this riffraff?”
Ye Xing upheld his principle of never provoking her, took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and slowly stood up, “If you’re done eating, you can go watch TV, I’ll wash the dishes later.”
“Don’t just stay in your room all the time, sitting there watching TV,” Fang Rong ordered.
“Okay,” Ye Xing nodded and sat back down.
Ever since returning from Chen Town, he had always known that the way he interacted with Fang Rong had undergone subtle changes.
Perhaps it was because they were all playing roles and it was too tiring, or maybe there were some irreconcilable conflicts that couldn’t be avoided. He knew very well that Fang Rong was now fragile and sensitive. Too many topics would provoke her. Even if Ye Xing just cautiously tried to test the waters, he would eventually go from silently declaring war to silently surrendering.
Watching the Spring Festival Gala made Ye Xing feel like he was sitting on pins and needles. He had never felt that time passed so slowly. Finally, after watching who knew how many skits and choruses, he waited for the hosts to read the commercials.
He immediately stood up, “I’m going back to my room.”
Going back to his room was like returning to a safe harbor. He would find some excuse not to go back to the living room later. Tonight, he would just grit his teeth and get through it.
Thinking this, he walked to the bookshelf, planning to find a book to read. A few days ago, when he was wandering around with Li Ke, they happened to come across an old bookstore that was selling used books. He bought a copy of “La Dame aux Camélias” by Alexandre Dumas fils, but he hadn’t flipped through it yet.
—Ever since admiring Qi Guang’s bookshelf, he had developed a strong interest in collecting different books, and he had taken filling his bookshelf as a long-term project.
He didn’t see “La Dame aux Camélias”, but a row of neatly arranged “Five-Year College Entrance Exam, Three-Year Mock Exams” and various new college entrance exam syllabus tutorials occupied a lot of space on the bookshelf, standing there proudly to declare their ownership.
Ye Xing panicked.
These books were all new. Not to mention that he already had his own, the main point was—where were the notebooks that had been in this spot before?
The notebooks where Qi Guang had summarized the key points for him!
He almost lost his footing. He searched through the bookshelf again, and then knelt down to look through the pile of books scattered on the bottom, which he hadn’t had time to organize yet, but the notebooks were still nowhere to be found.
A bad premonition suddenly appeared. He quickly rushed out of the room, “Mom, did you move my room?”
“I cleaned it up for you,” Fang Rong said, her eyes glued to the TV screen.
“Have you seen any notebooks? Wire-bound, a little thick, about this size,” Ye Xing walked quickly to her and gestured with his hands, “There’s one in particular that you should remember, the one I used to read often in the hospital.”
Fang Rong glanced at him, “I think I might have seen it.”
“Where is it?” Ye Xing asked.
Fang Rong swallowed awkwardly, shifting her gaze to the other side, “I threw it away, I thought it was scrap paper since it was so old.”
Ye Xing’s eyes widened, “Why did you throw away my stuff?!”
“It’s just a notebook, I bought you so much material, isn’t it enough for you to read?” Fang Rong stood up, pointing towards his room, “Aren’t there more examples on those?”
“You thought it was scrap paper? How do you know there were examples in it?!” Ye Xing suppressed his anger, taking quick breaths, and trying his best to keep his tone steady, “Where did you throw it?”
“Downstairs,” Fang Rong said coldly.
Ye Xing didn’t bother to put on a coat, and didn’t even change out of his slippers. He opened the door and ran to the trash cans downstairs.
“Ye Xing, are you crazy? Come back here! Do you want to go rummage through the trash cans on New Year’s Eve?!”