DBTHDCAR Chapter 70

—⟦ Fan Xia, where are you? Pick up the phone! ⟧ 

—⟦ Fan Xia, what on earth are you doing? I went to the internet café to look for you. The owner said you’d already left. Did you go get a late-night snack? ⟧

—⟦ Fan Xia, call back right now, you hear me? It’s Ning Xiaobei, not Ding Zheyang. Call me back! ⟧

Sitting in the waiting hall of the long-distance bus station, Fan Xia gnawed on a freshly bought hot corn on the cob while stuffing his phone back into his pocket.

There were more than a dozen text messages in his inbox, all sent by Xiaobei using Ding Zheyang’s phone, along with over a dozen missed calls.

Fan Xia couldn’t bring himself to turn the phone off completely. Instead, he shoved it into his pocket — out of sight, out of mind.

He hadn’t expected the temperature to drop so suddenly after stepping out of the internet café. Sitting in this drafty waiting hall, wearing only a tracksuit, he felt chilled to the bone.

He had just asked the ticket clerk; at this hour, the last bus back to downtown Shanghai had already left. As it happened, he didn’t want to go back to the city anyway, so he simply bought a ticket for the next available bus.

Fan Xia pulled the ticket out of his pocket and took a look. By sheer coincidence, the next bus was headed for Chongming.

Speaking of Chongming, ever since he started high school, he hadn’t gone there much.

Lately, his younger sister had grown up. At four or five years old, she was at that irresistibly cute stage, dressed up like a little princess from a cartoon. It made Fan Jian, as her father, want to hold her in his hands every single day.

Whenever he carried Xiao Nuxia downstairs for a walk and saw boys around her age, Fan Jian would glare fiercely at them, thinking none of them were worthy of his little princess, and not even a glance was allowed. He already looked fierce to begin with; when he widened his eyes, he was even more frightening than the demon wardens in the City God Temple. The boys who had just wanted to sneak a look at the pretty girl would get so scared they ran back to their mothers in a panic.

His daughter was perfect in every way— the apple of her father’s eye, his little padded jacket¹common expression meaning a beloved daughter who brings warmth and comfort. The only problem was, the moment she opened her mouth, that thick Chongming dialect, tinged with a strong seaside accent made Fan Jian worry endlessly.

Afraid that his fair, delicate, and stylish daughter would still be going xie a, xie a²蟹啊蟹啊: Mimics Chongming/Shanghainese-accented speech; represents a strong local dialect that sounds rustic or unfashionable. all the time after starting school, completely unmodern, Fan Jian sent her to a kindergarten in the city.

As her mother needed to take care of the child, Liang Huihui naturally returned to the suburbs far less often.

Now, in the old house in Chongming, only his stepmother’s parents remained. He wasn’t particularly close to the two elderly people, but he wasn’t exactly distant from them either.

On top of that, it was already late. By the time he actually got to the island, who knew what time it would be? He felt too embarrassed to disturb the two elderly people.

In any case, he’d leave here first and figure things out later.

Fan Xia thought this with a broken jar, let it shatter attitude.

“What do we do? Still can’t find Fan Xia?”

Outside the gates of the Affiliated High School, Ding Zheyang looked anxiously at Xiaobei.

Ning Xiaobei had received two IV drips that afternoon, and the swelling had now completely gone down. Once bitten by a snake, he’d grown wary; he now carried anti-allergy medicine and an asthma inhaler with him, and even wore a medical mask he’d bought at the pharmacy. Masks back then were the thick, white cotton kind, layered over the face and stuffy to wear. But no matter how uncomfortable, it was still better than having an attack.

“He’s not answering calls or replying to messages. I have no idea what he’s thinking…”

Ning Xiaobei was so angry his teeth itched, he felt like biting a chunk out of Fan Xia.

Who knew what kind of nonsense that little dark-skinned rascal was up to. Earlier, Xiaobei had been seriously ill and couldn’t focus on anything. Now that he thought about it, the kid had already been acting strange since they left the botanical garden. His eyes were unfocused, and he spoke weakly, without energy.

“There’s only half an hour left before curfew. If he doesn’t make it back by then, he won’t be able to get in, and we won’t be able to get out. What are we supposed to do?”

Ding Zheyang felt a headache coming on.

He didn’t even dare tell Chang Leyun about this.

Lele had said before that the girls in her dorm were extremely nosy. One of them, named Jin Li, was practically the school’s broadcasting station and the No. 76 Secret Service Department³No. 76 Special Service Department was an espionage organization established during the China’s War of Resistance. The girls in the next dorm used the tiny electric heaters to boil water, and even the girls upstairs sneaking out at night to watch nearby film crews; she was the one who reported them all. If this got out, it would definitely spread everywhere.

“Should we go tell Teacher Gu? He’s a nice guy, maybe he’d help us quietly?”

“Better not… Teacher Gu can barely protect himself right now. He’s probably at his mansion figuring out how to write his self-criticism. Let’s not add to his troubles.”

Ning Xiaobei waved his hands repeatedly.

“I’ll give him one last ultimatum…”

To be honest, when Ning Xiaobei came downstairs earlier, he had come fully prepared. He had his student ID and wallet on him, ready to spend the whole night searching.

— ⟦ Fan Xia, this is your final warning. If you don’t call back within five minutes, don’t ever call me Boss again for the rest of your life. Next week I’m moving to my grandma’s place. If I talk to you again, I’m a dog!!!!! ⟧

After typing five furious exclamation marks, Ning Xiaobei even felt a little childish himself. But there was no helping it, Fan Xia was exactly the kind of immature person who’d fall for this.

Sure enough, less than a minute later, his phone rang.

Ning Xiaobei took a deep breath, held back the urge to curse, and forced a smile behind his mask. It was the kind of grin that didn’t reach the eyes, borderline terrifying, making Ding Zheyang step back half a pace.

“Where are you?”

“What do you mean I don’t need to worry’? Do I need to? I’m just doing my duty as class monitor.”

“Hey! You actually hung up on me! Don’t you want to live?!”

The beep beep from the other end of the line made Ning Xiaobei’s blood pressure shoot up. If he weren’t 17 but 37, his veins would probably have burst.

That brat. That little devil.

“So?”

Ding Zheyang asked cautiously.

“He ran away from home. Should be at the bus station now, we need to go after him.”

Although the kid stubbornly refused to speak, Ning Xiaobei could faintly make out the announcements echoing from the station, enough to judge that he was at the town’s only long-distance bus terminal.

What’s he up to this time? Last time, he ran away to learn martial arts in the mountains, what excuse is it now?

Checking the bus schedule, it was almost time to depart. Fan Xia bought a wool scarf at the station’s small shop and draped it over his back. He also grabbed a loaf of bread that looked absolutely terrible; something you’d only ever see at a bus or train station, nowhere else.

The bus had air-conditioning, much warmer than the drafty waiting hall. Few people traveled by night, so Fan Xia took up two seats for himself, half-sitting, half-lying, resting his head against the window, and closed his eyes in exhaustion.

“Fan Xia…”

Half-asleep, Fan Xia thought he heard someone calling his name. He reached up and scratched his cheek, burying himself deeper into sleep.

Though the dream was blurry, the colors were vivid, with broad swaths of yellow and green weaving together. Music floated in his ears, and two men in tank tops and shorts danced cheek-to-cheek.

“Fan Xia, Fan Xia, get down here!”

The voice grew closer, almost right next to his ear, strangely familiar, and clanging—clanging—clanging. The noise drowned out the music in his dream. The two men, back turned to him, stopped dancing and squinted sideways at him…

Reluctantly, Fan Xia opened his eyes, only to panic. Ning Xiaobei’s face was pressed against the glass beneath where he leaned. His face burned with anger, hands pounding on the window. Those long, narrow eyes seemed pulled wide with strings, almost comically alarmed.

“Driver, hurry up and go!”

Fan Xia gasped and shouted at the driver.

It wasn’t departure time yet, and the driver ignored him as if he were crazy.

“Xiaobei, let’s go up and pull him down.”

The words jolted him fully awake. Ning Xiaobei grinned fiercely and stepped onto the bus steps by the door.

“B-bo-boss… calm down! Let’s talk!”

Fan Xia draped the scarf over himself, leaving only his head visible; like some innocent heroine in an old TV drama. Ning Xiaobei approached, head lowered, hands raised, stepping closer and closer, leaving him speechless.

“Ah, trying to run? Now you want to talk nicely? Too late! You can’t escape now!”

Ning Xiaobei grabbed his arm and pulled, “Come back with me, now!”

“I’m not going back with you. You go back yourself, don’t worry about me.”

“I think you’re dreaming. Come on!”

The two of them shoved and pushed, tangled together like a seesaw, one standing up as the other sat down.

In the end, Fan Xia simply started acting shameless. He flopped onto the seat and wriggled around like a caterpillar, while Ning Xiaobei, furious, kicked at his butt and thighs.

Ding Zheyang stood beside the seats, anxious like an ant on a hot pan. He wanted to help but had no idea where to start, and ended up getting kicked a few times as collateral damage. Two large shoe prints were stamped onto his spotless white school track pants, purely undeserved misfortune.

“Hey, you two young comrades, the bus is about to leave. Are you riding or not?”

The ticket lady, with a head of tight curls and an orange silk scarf wrapped around her neck, stood with her hands on her hips. Her eyebrows arched sharply, like a female spy in an old movie, as she glared at them and spoke in Mandarin tinged with the local dialect.

And just like that, what was supposed to be a solo long-distance trip somehow turned into a group of three.

At dusk, in the small-town station, after three beep beep beep horn blasts, the bus full of passengers set off toward the island in the East China Sea.

It wasn’t until the bus drove onto the ferry, and they sat in the cabin watching the yellowish, dark-tinted waves rolling endlessly outside, that Ding Zheyang finally realized— this was the sea! This was the last bus of the day! They couldn’t go back!

“What do we do? Can they turn the ferry around? If we don’t get back to school, won’t the teachers notice?”

“They’ll definitely notice… Why don’t you just jump off now and swim back?”

Fan Xia sniffled as he spoke.

The big wool scarf had already been confiscated by Ning Xiaobei.

Once the bus boarded the ferry, all passengers had to get off — people and vehicles crossed separately. They could only get back on the bus after docking.

Out at sea, the wind was strong and the air heavy with dampness. Even sitting in the cabin, they shivered from the cold. Ning Xiaobei had only had his IV drip that morning and was still weak; even wrapped in the scarf, his teeth chattered audibly.

“Fan Xia, just you wait… Tomorrow we’re taking the earliest bus back. You just wait, I’m going to deal with you when we get back.”

Sitting on the creaking plastic bench, Ning Xiaobei glared at Fan Xia through gritted teeth.

When he first heard the bus was heading to Chongming Island, he had even worried a little; thinking something serious had happened at Fan Xia’s stepmother’s home, forcing him to rush back.

Turns out, it was nothing of the sort. Fan Xia had just blindly bought a ticket. Which meant if this bus had been heading to Henan instead, they’d probably already be on the highway by now.

And after all that time on the bus, no matter how much he coaxed, pleaded, said every nice word he could, or tried every trick in the book, the kid’s mouth stayed shut like a clam; completely impossible to pry open. Push him too far, and he’d just shut his eyes and pretend to sleep, even throwing in a couple of exaggerated snores, seriously infuriating.

Ning Xiaobei and Fan Xia kept butting heads the entire way. Watching everything unfold, Ding Zheyang clicked his tongue to himself, thinking. Isn’t this exactly what my dad and mom look like when they’re having a spat?

The wind was strong out at sea that day, and traveling against the current, it took over an hour to reach the island. With nowhere to go after arriving, they had no choice but to stay on the bus all the way to the final stop.

The terminal was set beside a stretch of field ridges. In the distance, a stray bark or two could be heard, though it was impossible to tell from where.

The eerily quiet parking lot felt like it was welcoming home late-returning children. Once the last bus was confirmed to have entered the depot, the lights in the waiting hall went out first, then the dispatch office, and finally the entire station went dark. Only a single red warning light outside the duty room flickered on and off, like a lighthouse at sea, reminding them that this was still part of civilized society… at least there was electricity.

The three boys stood in the empty countryside. The night wind swept fallen leaves along the ground, spinning them into little whirlwinds that slapped against their faces like quick smacks.

“10:30…”

Fan Xia pulled out his phone to check the time. The cold, monochrome screen lit up his face; even his nose had turned red from the cold.

“What do we do? We’re done for, we’re going to freeze to death out here.”

Ding Zheyang was on the verge of tears.

No matter how unlucky things had gotten for him before, it had never come to starving or freezing to death in the cold wind.

“What are you whining for? I’ve been here before. Walk a bit and we’ll reach the town center. There are hotels and guesthouses there.”

Fan Xia sneezed loudly, sniffed, and spoke.

“We’re students. Without ID, we can’t stay at hotels.”

As expected from someone whose family ran a travel agency, Ding Zheyang knew the industry rules well.

“Don’t be dumb. Students aren’t allowed in internet cafés either, so why are they always full of students?”

Fan Xia let out a cold laugh.

“This isn’t some deserted island. Take a few steps and you’ll find shops everywhere. As long as it doesn’t rain, we’ll be fine!”

Walking ahead to lead the way, Fan Xia turned back to reassure them.

Before he even finished speaking, a sudden clap of thunder split the sky. Out in the open fields, a streak of silver-purple lightning tore across the heavens, lighting up half the night in a bluish glow.

Then, as if the heavens were mocking him, raindrops the size of beans came pouring down. In an instant, the three of them. just stepping onto the road, were drenched like soaked chickens.

What do they mean by when the roof leaks, it happens to rain all night, and when the boat leaks, it just meets a headwind? They were experiencing all of it at once!

“Fan Xia!”

Ning Xiaobei finally snapped. He lunged onto Fan Xia’s back and grabbed him hard by the neck. “Just go to hell, you!”

……………… 

Author’s Note:

It’s not a deserted island! Chongming Island is actually a popular tourist destination now. Because of the pandemic, Shanghai residents who couldn’t travel across provinces would, on weekends and holidays, either be on the island or on their way there. But back then, it really was quite desolate.

====================

• 1
  common expression meaning a beloved daughter who brings warmth and comfort
• 2
  蟹啊蟹啊: Mimics Chongming/Shanghainese-accented speech; represents a strong local dialect that sounds rustic or unfashionable.
• 3
  No. 76 Special Service Department was an espionage organization established during the China’s War of Resistance