It was 11 p.m.
Liang Jiajia still hadn't gone to sleep. She opened Douyin and watched her video one more time.
Her bamboo weaving video had over 150,000 likes now, and her English teaching video had also gained some more likes, now over 4,000.
She went to find that video filmed in the library again. That Douyin user filmed all kinds of random things. Out of all their videos, that library one had the most likes, around 18,000.
Liang Jiajia felt a little disappointed, but scrolling and filming Douyin videos can be addictive.
Because she had one video with so many likes, people would click on her other videos too. Over the past couple days she had tried filming some other things, but those got even fewer likes, just a paltry amount.
There were only two classes per week. Tomorrow was Friday. She wouldn't have class again until Tuesday of next week. Liang Jiajia felt she must be crazy, she was actually looking forward to English class.
Or maybe she could contact the teacher tomorrow and see what she was up to. She looked at the teacher's WeChat, where she didn't say much. It seemed so lonely...
Meanwhile, Xiao Qi took the bus home.
She had already reached her 20,000 step goal for the day. Her feet were sore and she couldn't walk anymore.
She took the public bus instead of calling a taxi, since she didn't even know where to stand to hail a taxi. But she was quite used to taking the bus. She found the stop she needed that would take her to the inpatient department at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.
The late night bus had fewer people, so she could righteously sit in a seat.
Leaning against the window, feeling the breeze.
Xiao Qi also felt she must be crazy. Just now she had spent over 10,000 yuan without even blinking an eye or trembling.
Spending money really was addictive.
The wind blew her hair into disarray. She fished a hair tie out of her pocket and tied her hair back.
She had thought there weren't many people, but when the bus arrived at the Provincial Government Station, suddenly a large group surged on.
They spoke in thick rural accents, with booming voices. Some carried lunch boxes, some carried sacks, some carried rods.
In Lvshan City, the ten villages speak fifteen dialects between them. They can't understand each other, and intermarriage is the only way to resolve communication barriers. The other way is making everyone learn Standard Mandarin.
Xiao Qi's maternal grandmother's village speaks an entirely different dialect from her paternal grandmother's side. But thanks to her mother, she could understand both.
This group that boarded spoke a dialect Xiao Qi could understand three or four sentences of. It sounded a little like the dialect spoken in her maternal grandmother's village. It seemed like they were planning a wedding, but then the groom had an accident riding his motorbike and was hit by a truck.
The bride was still waiting to get married, but now the wedding was off. They had all gone to the hospital. This group was on the way to the government office, wanting to find someone to help with the situation. The truck driver that hit the groom had fled the scene. The groom had lost his father at a young age, and his only family was his old mother who had struggled to raise him. And now that he was finally getting married, he ended up in the hospital.
But from what Xiao Qi gathered from their tone, these ordinary common folk didn't even know who to find to help. They were like headless flies, all fellow villagers who had come along out of pity for the orphan and his widowed mother.
With such a major incident occurring, the bride's family hadn't even shown up.
The bride also wasn't making a sound, because apparently her legs were badly injured too and would require amputation.
Xiao Qi listened to bits and pieces of their conversation all the way until the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital stop. By the time they arrived, she had pretty much pieced together the entire story.
She was very familiar with the hospital and had heard too many sad stories. She felt numb to it now, didn't dare think too much about it, and didn't want to think too much about it.
She followed this group into the hospital without speaking to them. She saw them head straight for the nurses' station on the first floor, so the patient was probably in the first floor ward.
Xiao Qi went back down to her dormitory basement. It was very late now.
Compared to the noisy mess upstairs, downstairs was like another world, peaceful and quiet.
When she entered, she saw a light at the far end of the hallway. Silhouetted in the light was an upright figure sitting there.
It was Lin Min.
Seeing him made Xiao Qi remember the reward she had received the other day. It was because she had brought "positive energy" to the "blackened youth", reducing his negative emotions.
But now looking at Brother Lin Min, he seemed totally fine and normal. Where was this so-called "blackening"?
"Good evening, Brother Lin Min," Xiao Qi greeted him. Then she noticed the hallway light seemed to have been replaced with a brighter bulb.
"Brother Lin Min, did you change the light? It's so much brighter now, thanks!"
Lin Min just nodded casually.
During the day, he had heard his mother mention that the neighbor girl had brought them a huge bag of vegetables.
The new day brought the usual routine for his parents ‒ his dad finished work then went out drinking and gambling, his mom nagging and complaining as usual. His sister was making a fuss as usual, demanding new clothes while his mom said as usual there was no money. The only difference was the addition of the bag of vegetables someone had sent over.
Normally Lin Min would study outside if he could, but for some reason when he saw the table lamp at the neighbor's dinner table, he chose to study at home in the dining room instead.
He also replaced the hallway light with a higher wattage bulb, making the whole basement passage brighter. Even the dark greasy stains on the walls seemed clearer.
But seeing the smile and thanks from the girl in front of him for making it brighter made it all worthwhile.
The brighter light let him see her smile especially clearly. She had a gorgeous smile, with straight white teeth that reminded him of sunshine pouring in through the window, bright and cheering him inexplicably.
"Good evening. I heard you went to a high school reunion? Was it fun?" Lin Min asked casually, as if just recalling it. He had heard from her aunt that she went out and thought back to the scene he witnessed last time, so he couldn't help but ask.
"It was great, we're all going our separate ways so it was nice to get together," Xiao Qi replied. Then she went back to her room to wash up and get ready for bed after the rather long, tiring day.
She washed her face, then soaked her feet in hot water ‒ her aunt had suggested it would help with her sore legs the past couple days.
She was too lazy to carry water inside, so she just soaked her feet at the dining table. It was a little scalding initially, but she soon got used to it. It did feel rather comfortable.
Lin Min continued prepping his lesson next door. He would occasionally glance up at the girl not far away, head lowered looking at her phone. Her small, fair feet soaking in a big red basin.
She wore an old nightgown. At the back of her head was a little pigtail tied up.
She had only intended to soak her feet briefly, but then she picked up her phone which kept buzzing nonstop.
Class monitor Li Changhai had added her to their high school class WeChat group. People kept talking in the chat so her phone kept vibrating.
No one seemed to have noticed she joined. The group had existed for a while already.
"Fuck, fuck, I must have been blind for three years of high school. We had a campus belle in our class, she sat up front and had a domineering aura two meters tall."
"Hearing that song again, my goosebumps still haven't gone away. What should I do, what should I do? Looks like I won't be able to eat meat for the next three months ‒ even if I do it'll be tasteless."
"I'll be reminiscing in that private room for the next three days."
"What should I do, I feel like I've fallen in love."
"Class monitor, did you record a video? You must send it to me. I need to save a copy."
So many animated emojis.
Xiao Qi thought for a moment then sent: Class monitor, how much was the gathering last night? I'll transfer it to you.
Then the chat suddenly fell silent.
The class monitor responded: 147.
Xiao Qi sent a red envelope [online money transfer]: 147, thanks class monitor.
Then she sent another random red envelope for 200 yuan, writing: Hello everyone, I'm Xiao Qi. Please give me lots of guidance.
It was 11 p.m.
Liang Jiajia still hadn't gone to sleep. She opened Douyin and watched her video one more time.
Her bamboo weaving video had over 150,000 likes now, and her English teaching video had also gained some more likes, now over 4,000.
She went to find that video filmed in the library again. That Douyin user filmed all kinds of random things. Out of all their videos, that library one had the most likes, around 18,000.
Liang Jiajia felt a little disappointed, but scrolling and filming Douyin videos can be addictive.
Because she had one video with so many likes, people would click on her other videos too. Over the past couple days she had tried filming some other things, but those got even fewer likes, just a paltry amount.
There were only two classes per week. Tomorrow was Friday. She wouldn't have class again until Tuesday of next week. Liang Jiajia felt she must be crazy, she was actually looking forward to English class.
Or maybe she could contact the teacher tomorrow and see what she was up to. She looked at the teacher's WeChat, where she didn't say much. It seemed so lonely...
Meanwhile, Xiao Qi took the bus home.
She had already reached her 20,000 step goal for the day. Her feet were sore and she couldn't walk anymore.
She took the public bus instead of calling a taxi, since she didn't even know where to stand to hail a taxi. But she was quite used to taking the bus. She found the stop she needed that would take her to the inpatient department at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.
The late night bus had fewer people, so she could righteously sit in a seat.
Leaning against the window, feeling the breeze.
Xiao Qi also felt she must be crazy. Just now she had spent over 10,000 yuan without even blinking an eye or trembling.
Spending money really was addictive.
The wind blew her hair into disarray. She fished a hair tie out of her pocket and tied her hair back.
She had thought there weren't many people, but when the bus arrived at the Provincial Government Station, suddenly a large group surged on.
They spoke in thick rural accents, with booming voices. Some carried lunch boxes, some carried sacks, some carried rods.
In Lvshan City, the ten villages speak fifteen dialects between them. They can't understand each other, and intermarriage is the only way to resolve communication barriers. The other way is making everyone learn Standard Mandarin.
Xiao Qi's maternal grandmother's village speaks an entirely different dialect from her paternal grandmother's side. But thanks to her mother, she could understand both.
This group that boarded spoke a dialect Xiao Qi could understand three or four sentences of. It sounded a little like the dialect spoken in her maternal grandmother's village. It seemed like they were planning a wedding, but then the groom had an accident riding his motorbike and was hit by a truck.
The bride was still waiting to get married, but now the wedding was off. They had all gone to the hospital. This group was on the way to the government office, wanting to find someone to help with the situation. The truck driver that hit the groom had fled the scene. The groom had lost his father at a young age, and his only family was his old mother who had struggled to raise him. And now that he was finally getting married, he ended up in the hospital.
But from what Xiao Qi gathered from their tone, these ordinary common folk didn't even know who to find to help. They were like headless flies, all fellow villagers who had come along out of pity for the orphan and his widowed mother.
With such a major incident occurring, the bride's family hadn't even shown up.
The bride also wasn't making a sound, because apparently her legs were badly injured too and would require amputation.
Xiao Qi listened to bits and pieces of their conversation all the way until the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital stop. By the time they arrived, she had pretty much pieced together the entire story.
She was very familiar with the hospital and had heard too many sad stories. She felt numb to it now, didn't dare think too much about it, and didn't want to think too much about it.
She followed this group into the hospital without speaking to them. She saw them head straight for the nurses' station on the first floor, so the patient was probably in the first floor ward.
Xiao Qi went back down to her dormitory basement. It was very late now.
Compared to the noisy mess upstairs, downstairs was like another world, peaceful and quiet.
When she entered, she saw a light at the far end of the hallway. Silhouetted in the light was an upright figure sitting there.
It was Lin Min.
Seeing him made Xiao Qi remember the reward she had received the other day. It was because she had brought "positive energy" to the "blackened youth", reducing his negative emotions.
But now looking at Brother Lin Min, he seemed totally fine and normal. Where was this so-called "blackening"?
"Good evening, Brother Lin Min," Xiao Qi greeted him. Then she noticed the hallway light seemed to have been replaced with a brighter bulb.
"Brother Lin Min, did you change the light? It's so much brighter now, thanks!"
Lin Min just nodded casually.
During the day, he had heard his mother mention that the neighbor girl had brought them a huge bag of vegetables.
The new day brought the usual routine for his parents ‒ his dad finished work then went out drinking and gambling, his mom nagging and complaining as usual. His sister was making a fuss as usual, demanding new clothes while his mom said as usual there was no money. The only difference was the addition of the bag of vegetables someone had sent over.
Normally Lin Min would study outside if he could, but for some reason when he saw the table lamp at the neighbor's dinner table, he chose to study at home in the dining room instead.
He also replaced the hallway light with a higher wattage bulb, making the whole basement passage brighter. Even the dark greasy stains on the walls seemed clearer.
But seeing the smile and thanks from the girl in front of him for making it brighter made it all worthwhile.
The brighter light let him see her smile especially clearly. She had a gorgeous smile, with straight white teeth that reminded him of sunshine pouring in through the window, bright and cheering him inexplicably.
"Good evening. I heard you went to a high school reunion? Was it fun?" Lin Min asked casually, as if just recalling it. He had heard from her aunt that she went out and thought back to the scene he witnessed last time, so he couldn't help but ask.
"It was great, we're all going our separate ways so it was nice to get together," Xiao Qi replied. Then she went back to her room to wash up and get ready for bed after the rather long, tiring day.
She washed her face, then soaked her feet in hot water ‒ her aunt had suggested it would help with her sore legs the past couple days.
She was too lazy to carry water inside, so she just soaked her feet at the dining table. It was a little scalding initially, but she soon got used to it. It did feel rather comfortable.
Lin Min continued prepping his lesson next door. He would occasionally glance up at the girl not far away, head lowered looking at her phone. Her small, fair feet soaking in a big red basin.
She wore an old nightgown. At the back of her head was a little pigtail tied up.
She had only intended to soak her feet briefly, but then she picked up her phone which kept buzzing nonstop.
Class monitor Li Changhai had added her to their high school class WeChat group. People kept talking in the chat so her phone kept vibrating.
No one seemed to have noticed she joined. The group had existed for a while already.
"Fuck, fuck, I must have been blind for three years of high school. We had a campus belle in our class, she sat up front and had a domineering aura two meters tall."
"Hearing that song again, my goosebumps still haven't gone away. What should I do, what should I do? Looks like I won't be able to eat meat for the next three months ‒ even if I do it'll be tasteless."
"I'll be reminiscing in that private room for the next three days."
"What should I do, I feel like I've fallen in love."
"Class monitor, did you record a video? You must send it to me. I need to save a copy."
So many animated emojis.
Xiao Qi thought for a moment then sent: Class monitor, how much was the gathering last night? I'll transfer it to you.
Then the chat suddenly fell silent.
The class monitor responded: 147.
Xiao Qi sent a red envelope [online money transfer]: 147, thanks class monitor.
Then she sent another random red envelope for 200 yuan, writing: Hello everyone, I'm Xiao Qi. Please give me lots of guidance.
