The Scorching Sun - 7

 Fang Zhuo started wondering why it was that every time she found herself with nowhere to go, she ran into Yan Lie.

She wasn't sure whether to chalk it up to this city being a small place, or to the strange workings of fate.

Seeing her listless state, Yan Lie let out a short laugh. "What a coincidence."

He was dressed in the simplest shorts and T-shirt, a plastic bag dangling from his hand. Obviously out on a late-night snack run.

"Come on."

Fang Zhuo: "Treating me to another meal?"

"Treating you to a place to sleep." Yan Lie waved her over. "My place is nearby. Nobody's home. If you're not scared, come with me."

Fang Zhuo thought to herself: she was someone who'd registered with both the God of Poverty and the God of Bad Luck. What was there left to be scared of? She picked up her bag and followed.

The night roads were quiet. Yan Lie's oversized slippers slapped against the ground in a steady, rhythmic beat.

He fished a bottle of drink from his bag and offered it to her. She politely shook her head.

"How'd you end up here?" Yan Lie asked. "This isn't the way back to school."

"I got lost," Fang Zhuo said vaguely.

"Just like last time?"

A muffled "Mm" was her answer.

"So does that make me your lucky star?" Yan Lie pointed down the quiet lane washed in orange light, and turned to face her with a grin. "Passive pathfinding mode, activated whenever you get lost. Target destination acquired. Your navigator, Lie Lie, at your service."

Fang Zhuo lifted her eyes, looking flatly at the long shadow trailing behind him. "Then I'd rather not run into you."

"Whether you run into me or not doesn't affect your ability to get lost," Yan Lie said. "If I hadn't looking for you, you'd be sleeping on the street again."

Fang Zhuo tilted her head slightly, puzzled. "Why were you looking for me?"

Yan Lie froze. A flicker of chagrin crossed his eyes, tinged with a bit of confusion, but it was quickly veiled by his lowering eyelids.

He hadn't been looking for her. Not exactly.

He'd simply checked and found that the buses back from Li Village ran very infrequently. By the time Fang Zhuo got back to the city, if her luck was bad, she might miss the last bus to school.

Bored at home alone, he'd gone out to game with Zhao Jiayou for a bit. After his roommate went back for dinner, he'd just wandered the streets. And before he knew it, he'd somehow, inexplicably, found his way to the bus station. So he just sat in a little shop nearby, watching the figures and the traffic across the street.

But when the last bus of the night pulled in at the stop, he still hadn't seen Fang Zhuo get off.

Yan Lie had laughed at himself for worrying over nothing. Maybe she'd decided to stay the night there. She never said she was coming back. He'd turned on his flashlight to head home, never expecting to find this stranded stray soul halfway down the road.

Yan Lie masked it with a grin. "No. I was just messing with you. You actually bought that?"

Fang Zhuo was quiet for a moment. "...Do I look stupid to you?"

Yan Lie let out a low chuckle but said nothing more.

He didn't press her on why she was out here stranded. And that, more than anything, let Fang Zhuo breathe a little easier.

Yan Lie's house wasn't actually close. They walked for nearly an hour before reaching the door.

Halfway there, Fang Zhuo was already thinking to herself: this guy must have been bitten dumb by mosquitoes. What is he even doing wandering around in the middle of the night?

 

Up ahead, Yan Lie pulled out his keys and gestured for Fang Zhuo to come over.

The lights flicked on, illuminating a bright, tastefully decorated interior.

Fang Zhuo only swept a cursory glance around, not looking closely at any details. She walked to the living room and sat down, prim and proper, on the sofa.

Yan Lie's house didn't have a prepared guest room, but the sofa was big enough. He brought out a clean blanket and laid it on the couch, pointed out where the bathroom was, and, seeing she wasn't entirely at ease, tactfully retreated to the master bedroom to give her space.

Fang Zhuo sat stiffly for a while, moving her bag over to the coffee table.

She'd already slept on the bus, so she wasn't remotely sleepy now, might as well pull out her workbook and grind through this week's assigned worksheets.

Yan Lie wasn't used to having someone else in the apartment. He already had trouble sleeping, and now, with Fang Zhuo out there, it was even harder. He lay awake late into the night. Seeing light still seeping through the crack under his door, he got up to use the bathroom, only to find that she was doing homework.

This diligent classmate didn't turn off the living room light until two or three in the morning. Yan Lie, hazy with half-sleep, noted this and thought Fang Zhuo's energy was truly formidable. The reserves she absorbed during the day could power her until that late.

The next morning, Yan Lie was woken by the sound of a door opening and closing. The other person had tried to be quiet, but Yan Lie still jolted up with the phantom sensation of a cold sweat.

It took him two seconds to recall the events of the night before. He strode out of his room barefoot.

The living room was almost untouched, just as cold and tidy as always. Hanging from the front door handle was a clear plastic bag, a glance told him it held soy milk and steamed buns.

Yan Lie pulled the door open. Fang Zhuo was outside, waiting for the elevator.

He raked a hand through his messy hair. "Where are you going?"

"Back to school?" Fang Zhuo answered.

"I'm going back too." Yan Lie said. "Eat breakfast first, then we'll head back together. Do you even know the way?"

The question was frankly insulting. Fang Zhuo hesitated, but still turned and came back inside.

Yan Lie quickly got himself together, ate breakfast, then went downstairs to get his bicycle and pedaled his deskmate back to school. 

In the back seat, Fang Zhuo felt the sunlight today was especially harsh and glaring. Her head kept swimming dizzily, so she lowered it and rested against Yan Lie's back.

They'd set out early. When they reached the school, there were hardly any people inside.

Fang Zhuo's mind was foggy. The moment she got to the classroom, she burrowed straight into her seat and started grinding through problems. Yan Lie had wanted to chat with her to pass the time, but seeing her complete lack of enthusiasm, he gave up and played games on his phone off to the side.

Students started trickling in. The classroom buzzed with noise for a while before settling back into quiet.

They'd barely gotten through one self-study period that afternoon when the homeroom teacher walked in, a lesson plan folder tucked under her arm. She delivered the usual weekly pep talk, then told the class officers to organize a cleaning session.

The sports meet and the Mid-Autumn Festival break were both coming up. The senior-year faculty had decided to get the hallways, restrooms, and other common areas cleaned up in advance. That way, when the time came, the students on duty could just do a quick once-over and head home early.

The students rose to rearrange desks and chairs, clearing the space.

Fang Zhuo had drawn the lot for mopping, assigned to the hallway. She waited until the sweeping crew had finished their pass, then slowly fetched the clean mop and got to work.

The homeroom teacher pulled the sports rep aside to go over some details, and returned to inspect the progress. Seeing Fang Zhuo's brisk, efficient figure, she nodded with satisfaction, and said to the gaggle of grinning, slouching boys nearby, “There, look at Fang Zhuo. That’s how you mop a floor. What you’re doing is just skimming the surface. One look and I can just tell none of you do chores at home.”

Zhao Jiayou protested, "Teacher, that's not fair. Our form might not be standard, but we've got strength! We scrubbed off all those ancient grimes!"

Shen Musi hollered in support, "Yeah! Teacher, you're playing favorites!"

"You two talk the most, but your cleaning is always half-baked.” The teacher clicked her tongue. "Listen, I'm not saying you have to match Fang Zhuo's standard, but at least don't be worlds apart, alright?"

They were all still laughing and joking when Fang Zhuo suddenly staggered back a step, hit the wall, and collapsed forward.

Zhao Jiayou caught the movement from the corner of his eye, he yelled in alarm, "Fang Zhuo!"

The crowd immediately rushed over.

Their homeroom teacher propped her up, calling her name several times, but Fang Zhuo didn't respond. She'd lost consciousness. The teacher's voice went sharp with urgency: "Carry her to the infirmary, now!"

Zhao Jiayou was a beat too slow. He'd just crouched down, ready to lift her onto his back, when Yan Lie materialized from some corner, pulled Fang Zhuo's arm around his shoulder, hoisted her onto his back, and ran after the teacher toward the infirmary.

· · ·

Fang Zhuo's dreams were long and chaotic.

She seemed to be back outside Ye Yuncheng's old house, silently watching the person inside through the window. Just like when she was small, standing in a corner of the yard, quietly watching the old woman bent intently over her knitting.

Her grandmother didn't like her.

Fang Zhuo had known this fact very early on.

The old woman always kept her eyes lowered, passing by her in silence. Her gaze rarely lingered on Fang Zhuo, and smiles rarely on her lips.

She loved to knit. She knitted so many clothes, and gave them away to other people. When Fang Zhuo tried to talk to her, to cling to her, to get close, the old woman always said: I'm busy. Go play somewhere else.

So Fang Zhuo could only sit nearby and watch her.

Back then, Fang Zhuo was still small, and noisy. Maybe she really was unlikable. Rejected by the only adult in her life, she began to grow curious about her other family members. Whenever she asked such questions, her grandmother's responses felt shallow, even for dismissals. She told Fang Zhuo no meant no, she had no other family.

Ignored throughout those brash, reckless years of childhood, Fang Zhuo once tried running away from home, hoping to test what her grandmother truly felt about her.

Perhaps children’s tricks always seem especially childish to adults. Or perhaps her grandmother was certain she had nowhere else to go. The little girl waited alone in a field not far from home until late into the night, but the old woman never came looking for her.

In the darkness, the courtyard lights glowed for a while, then went out deep into the night. Cicadas shrilled, loud and relentless. But the doors and windows remained tightly shut.

Having had reality made painfully clear to her, and tormented beyond endurance by mosquito bites, she finally trudged back in defeat.

After that, Fang Zhuo's rebellious phase began. She started skipping school.

When that lean, wiry old woman found out, she grabbed Fang Zhuo's schoolbag and hurled it straight into the flooded paddy field outside. Stern and cold, she told Fang Zhuo: If you don't want to study, then don't. From now on, you can be like those other people, working the fields. Grow up, get married early, have kids, and stay in this place your whole life!

Fang Zhuo was terrified. Even though she couldn't fully grasp the meaning of those words at the time.

She fished her schoolbag out of the paddy and took it to the river to wash. From that point on, she learned to be sensible. She learned she shouldn't go begging for other people's affection.

She was so heartbroken. Even now, looking back, she could still remember the hot, salty tears soaking into her pillow.

But it had also broken the rebellious bones inside her, made her forget all those useless comparisons, and set her on the right path.

That was the first time she understood what reality was.

Reality was an unbearable weight, a high wall toppling down on you.

A future with no choices. A rootless wandering with nothing to lean on.

In those days, Fang Zhuo often lay in the grassy field behind the house, basking in the sunlight, dappled and broken by the leaves overhead. She let the slow, lonely forest breeze wash over her, pondering through all the tangled questions of adolescence alone.

Once the sun sank behind the western hills, she'd hoist a basket of fresh grass onto her back and head home to feed the rabbits.

That road home was always so, so long. It always took Fang Zhuo forever to walk it.

The setting sun cast the tangled woods into hazy, overlapping shadows. At the path's end, a dim yellow lamp glowed, like a single, vast spark on the distant horizon.

She kept making her way through the woods for what felt like an eternity, until it seemed the next day’s sun was about to rise and cast light over the silent, desolate road.

Golden light would pierce through the thick layers of cloud, illuminating the path ahead and behind her.

Looking up at the brightening sky, Fang Zhuo furrowed her brow. The dream world blurred, and her drifting consciousness finally reeled back by the sweep of light across her eyelids.

She opened her eyes. Through a hazy mist, she made out a tall figure sitting with his back to the light.

She blinked hard. When her vision cleared, she found herself lying on a small white bed. A gentle golden ray of setting sun was slanting through the window, falling across her face.

It was that last fading beam of daylight that had woken her.

Yan Lie, without even turning around, reached back and tugged the curtain shut, blocking out the light. "I've got eyes in the back of my head," he said. "Impressive, right?"

Fang Zhuo: "..."

"Fang Zhuo."

Still too disoriented to gather herself, Fang Zhuo heard Yan Lie say her name as he turned around, his tone suddenly earnest.

Fang Zhuo's throat itched. She swallowed hard and rasped out, "What?"

Yan Lie opened his mouth as if hesitating over his words. Then, putting on an almost convincing look of seriousness, he said, “You know, you talk in your sleep.”

Fang Zhuo was completely taken in by his earnest expression. A flicker of nervousness crossed her face. "What did I say?"

"Inverse trigonometry functions," Yan Lie said.

Fang Zhuo's entire train of thought was derailed into another dimension. She said reflexively, "You're making that up. That's not even on this year's exam."

"Whoa, you caught me." Yan Lie laughed, tucking in a corner of the blanket at her feet. "Rest a bit more. The doctor said you're overtired. If you still feel unwell after, we'll have to take you to the hospital."

Fang Zhuo made a muffled sound of assent. She lifted a hand to wipe her face and felt an unusual dampness there. Before she could puzzle it out, Yan Lie handed her a banana. "Want one?"

She felt like she'd been doing hard labor the entire time she was dreaming. Weak and drained, she took it without argument.

She leaned against the headboard eating her banana. Yan Lie played on his phone off to the side.

Fang Zhuo's gaze drifted over. "What are you playing?"

"A little game." Yan Lie shook his hand. "Want to try?"

Fang Zhuo didn't refuse. Yan Lie sat down next to her with his phone and showed her how the controls worked.

Bright colors, cheerful background music, paired with straightforward rules. Though it was only a very simple puzzle game, Fang Zhuo played two rounds with patience. She asked, "How is something like this made?"

Yan Lie didn't quite know how to explain. "You need artists, developers, programmers, testers... a whole team to make something like this."

Fang Zhuo nodded, understanding only part of it. She handed his phone back, then just sat there, staring into space, lost in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Yan Lie asked.

"Going to college," Fang Zhuo said quietly.

Yan Lie asked, curious, "Which college do you want to go to?"

Fang Zhuo shook her head. "I don't know."

"Then what do you want to study?" Yan Lie glanced at his phone. "Computer science? Game programming?"

"I don't know." Fang Zhuo blinked slowly, her gaze unfocused. "I want to know more things. That's why I want to go to college."

Yan Lie was defeated by the sheer force of her thirst for knowledge. He laughed. "Fair enough. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Well, college is the window to knowledge."

Fang Zhuo didn't argue. She made a sound of agreement.

Yan Lie actually felt a bit sheepish at how obediently she accepted that. He'd just been making it up off the top of his head. But on second thought, he decided he hadn't said anything wrong.

Two minutes later, Fang Zhuo wiped her face and climbed off the infirmary bed.

"Rebooted already? That speed beats ninety-nine percent of users nationwide." Yan Lie took in her newly refreshed state with some wonder. "Where are you going?"

"Back to study," Fang Zhuo said.

Yan Lie was taken aback. "Do you like studying that much?"

"I don't."

"Me neither," Yan Lie said. "Then why are you in such a rush to get back?"

Fang Zhuo bent to fold the blanket. A faint, ironic smile touched her lips. "What else am I supposed to do? Find somewhere to cry?"

At that, Yan Lie shot her an odd look. When Fang Zhuo glanced back, he'd already turned away as if nothing had happened.

He stuffed his phone in his pocket. "I'll walk you back to the classroom."

---

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