JFWCM Chapter 6
by VolareThe side of the chalk box was printed with the words “24 Colors,” glowing with a soft fluorescence in the morning light. Yi Shang’s fingertip brushed against the edge of the paper bag, where there was a crease from repeated folding.
“She likes to draw on the tombstones,” Jiang Wan’yuan’s voice was mixed with the roar of the engine, “She says it makes tomb-sweeping less boring.”
The car drove into the mountainous area, and the sunlight was cut into fragments by the shadows of the trees, casting them on the two people. Yi Shang watched Jiang Wan’yuan’s profile, sometimes bright and sometimes dark in the interlacing of light and shadow, her eyelashes casting tiny shadows on the bridge of her nose.
“Next stop, Nanshan Cemetery,” when the car’s broadcast sounded, Jiang Wan’yuan suddenly clenched her backpack straps.
Only the two of them got out of the car. The bus stop stood alone by the winding mountain road, behind them an endless flight of steps. Jiang Wan’yuan took out two fruit candies from her pocket and gave one to Yi Shang: “Replenish your blood sugar.”
The coolness of the mint candy exploding on her tongue made Yi Shang a little more awake. She followed Jiang Wan’yuan up the steps, and unknown weeds sprouted from the cracks in the stone steps, brushing against her ankles and causing a slight itch.
“There’s a surprise on the 137th step.” When they reached the middle of the mountain, Jiang Wan’yuan suddenly said. Her breathing was already a little unsteady, but her steps were still light.
Yi Shang counted the steps and saw a crooked little sun carved on the stone slab at the 137th step. Jiang Wan’yuan squatted down and traced the pattern with her finger: “My sister carved this when she was fifteen, saying it was a reward for climbers.”
The sunlight suddenly became dazzling. Yi Shang squinted her eyes and saw that Jiang Wan’yuan’s ear was translucent red in the strong light, with tiny hairs clearly visible.
Several withered bouquets of flowers were placed at the entrance of the cemetery. Jiang Wan’yuan turned right familiarly, passed through three rows of cypress trees, and stopped in front of a dark marble tombstone. A bouquet of fresh white calla lilies had already been placed in front of the tombstone.
“Mom’s been here.” Jiang Wan’yuan said softly. She squatted down and carefully wiped the tombstone with a wet wipe from her backpack, revealing the bright smile of the girl in the photo. “Sister, I brought a friend.”
Yi Shang looked at the line “Jiang Wan’ning 2001-2019” under the photo, and suddenly realized that the girl on the tombstone was forever stuck at an age younger than herself. She silently took out the chalk box and placed it in front of the tomb.
Jiang Wan’yuan unwrapped the packaging and picked out a pink chalk: “She liked this color the most.” She said, drawing a star on the edge of the tombstone, “When I was a kid, she always said that after she died, she would become a star in the sky and supervise me to do my homework.”
Yi Shang looked at the crooked star and suddenly squatted down, taking the chalk and adding a neat pentagonal outline beside it. Their elbows accidentally touched, and chalk dust rustled onto the black marble.
“The physics teacher said,” Yi Shang’s voice was a little dry, “that for your sister’s last electromagnetism problem, she was the only one in the province who used field theory to solve it.”
Jiang Wan’yuan’s chalk stopped. She turned her head, her eyes were red but smiling: “Really? That fierce old man praised her?”
The sunlight shone through the gaps in the leaves, scattering dancing spots of light between them. Yi Shang nodded, and then took out a blue chalk, writing the first equation of Maxwell’s equations next to the star.
“She would have liked this.” Jiang Wan’yuan suddenly grabbed Yi Shang’s wrist, “Do you know, on the last page of her notebook…” Her voice stopped abruptly, her gaze fell on a certain point behind Yi Shang, and her face turned pale instantly.
Yi Shang turned around and saw a middle-aged woman in a dark trench coat standing at the top of the steps. The calla lilies in the woman’s hand fell to the ground with a thud.
“Jiang Wan’yuan.” The woman’s voice was like ice, “You’re skipping class?”
Jiang Wan’yuan’s fingers were still pinching the pink chalk, her knuckles white from the force. Yi Shang saw her Adam’s apple bob, but she couldn’t make a sound.
“Auntie, hello.” Yi Shang stood up, subconsciously standing in front of Jiang Wan’yuan, “I’m the one who asked her to come.”
The woman’s gaze swept across Yi Shang’s face like a blade, and finally fell on the opened chalk box in front of the tombstone. As she approached in her high heels, Yi Shang smelled the scent of disinfectant mixed with perfume.
“Of course I remember Ningning’s death anniversary.” The woman bent down to pick up the fallen bouquet, her fingers trembling, “But that’s not a reason for you to skip the physics competition.”
Jiang Wan’yuan suddenly raised her head: “That was my sister—”
“Shut up!” The woman suddenly raised her hand, and the chalk box was knocked to the ground, colorful chalks rolling around the tombstone. Yi Shang saw Jiang Wan’yuan’s shoulders flinch reflexively.
The sunlight was suddenly blocked by clouds. The woman pulled out a piece of paper from her bag and threw it in front of Jiang Wan’yuan: “Look at your test paper from last week! 26 points! Your sister at this age was already—”
“Already dead.” Jiang Wan’yuan’s voice was very soft, but it was like pressing the pause button. She slowly picked up a chalk that was broken in half, “Mom, on the last note my sister wrote to me, she drew a rabbit, not a formula.”
A crack appeared in the woman’s expression. She turned to the tombstone, and the girl in the photo was forever frozen in her eighteen-year-old smile. Yi Shang noticed a line of small print at the bottom of the tombstone: “Here lies a physicist who could draw rabbits.”
“Go home.” The woman finally uttered only these two words, and turned to walk towards the steps. Her high heels tapped crisply on the stone slabs, like some kind of countdown.
Jiang Wan’yuan squatted and didn’t move until the sound of footsteps disappeared completely. She picked up all the chalks, putting them back into the box one by one, her movements so slow that it seemed like she was performing some kind of ritual.
“I’m sorry.” She said suddenly, “I wanted to show you my sister’s secret base.”
Yi Shang squatted down to help her clean up. A blue chalk rolled to the back of the tombstone, she reached out to grab it, but felt a raised mark. Looking closer, she found a small coordinate carved on the stone slab: N32°04′, E118°46′.
“This is…”
Jiang Wan’yuan leaned over and suddenly smiled: “Zijin Mountain Astronomical Observatory.” Her fingertip stroked the string of numbers, “The day my sister got her recommendation notice, we secretly climbed over the wall to watch the meteor shower.” A drop of water landed on the coordinates, Yi Shang wasn’t sure if it was sweat or something else.
The mountain wind suddenly picked up, blowing away the piled-up clouds. The sunlight poured down again, shining on the box of chalk that had been cleaned up. Jiang Wan’yuan stood up and patted the dust off her jeans: “Let’s go, my mom must be waiting in the parking lot.”
The road down the mountain was even more silent than the road up. Jiang Wan’yuan walked in front, her back outlined with a fuzzy golden edge by the sunlight. Yi Shang watched her own shadow step on her shadow step by step, the two dark shadows briefly overlapping and then separating on the stone steps.
In the parking lot, the familiar black car was indeed parked there. The rear window was lowered halfway, revealing the woman’s tense profile.
Jiang Wan’yuan suddenly turned around and stuffed something into Yi Shang’s hand: “For you.” It was an intact pink chalk, “Next time…” Her words were unfinished, and the car horn sounded harshly.
Yi Shang watched Jiang Wan’yuan open the car door, and something fell out of her pocket the moment she bent over. After the car sped away, Yi Shang walked over and picked it up – it was that liquor-filled chocolate, the wrapper already a little wrinkled.
She unwrapped the package and put the chocolate in her mouth. The sweet and greasy liquor filling melted on her tongue, with a slight bitterness. Bell sounds came from a distance, and Yi Shang counted, exactly seven times.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. It was a message from her father: “Family dinner at seven tonight, don’t be late.” The lock screen background was a photo from last year’s physics competition award ceremony, her father standing beside her, a just-right smile on his lips.
Yi Shang put the chalk in the interlayer of her backpack, her fingertip touching that train ticket. She stood in the empty parking lot, suddenly wanting to know what Jiang Wan’yuan’s expression was like in the car at this moment.