It Seems There is Light

Winter Holiday

The final exams lasted for three days.

The allocation of examination rooms in Affiliated High School had never been very regular, and was very chaotic, probably randomly assigned by the system.

Shi An took his exam on the seventh floor.

He absolutely hated the sport of climbing stairs.

Yan Liang would be taking the test on the sixth floor. When Shi An went up to the fourth floor, he saw him waiting at the top of the stairs. The two met and climbed up together.

Yan Liang liked to skip the step when climbing stairs. With a long leg, he could go up one level in a few steps.

It was only when he walked with Shi An that he would straddle one step at a time, wandering from the far left to the far right, swaying between stairs.

Time always flew during exams, and in the blink of an eye, it was the third day.

The last subject, English, was finished at 12 noon.

When the papers were handed in, a series of cheers erupted from the building.

Shi An slowly and carefully tidied up his desk, putting his things in his arms. He was about to go out when he turned his head and saw Yan Liang smiling at him from the window.

The sun was shining at noon, and the pale light was warm on Yan Liang’s body. Many trees were planted in front of the school building, and the leaves glowed in the light, spreading behind Yan Liang with a twinkle.

“Why are you here?” Shi An was a little surprised, but the words were still very light.

“Are you going back to the classroom now to pack up your things?” Yan Liang asked him, “Go home when you’re done, I’m hungry.”

“En.” Shi An nodded. Only then did he notice that Yan Liang was holding two jump ropes.

Ten minutes later, he saw what jump ropes could do.

After they both carried the storage box for books1 downstairs, Yan Liang removed one of the handles from the jump rope, tied the rope to the storage box, held the other handle, and dragged the storage box like walking a dog.

“I’ll help you pull the box,” Yan Liang tied Shi An’s box too, holding the two handles together, “You just recovered, don’t bother with it.”

The wheels of the storage box dragged and rattled on the concrete floor. The students who were painfully carrying the storage box on the side of the road turned their heads to look at Yan Liang, their eyes staring straight.

The benefits of day students were reflected. When the boarding students hurried back to the dormitory to move things, Yan Liang and Shi An had already left the school.

“Bus?” Shi An asked Yan Liang.

Because of the large number of boarding students, many parents drove their cars to move their luggage, so the school entrance was very congested.

“Let’s walk,” Yan Liang dragged the two cases, “I haven’t dragged enough, I want to drag them a little longer.”

Shi An: “…”

The books were in the storage box, so there was basically nothing in the bag. Shi An carried his own bag and held Yan Liang’s bag in his arms.

After the school gate was farther away, the crowd gradually lessened. Yan Liang used the rope to pull the two storage boxes, causing passers-by to turn their head to look at him and smile.

Yan Liang was slender and straight, with a brisk and unrestrained pace, full of youthful air, and even the action of dragging the bookcase didn’t look silly.

Probably so.

Shi An couldn’t stand it anymore. He returned the bag to Yan Liang; he expressionlessly took the handle and dragged the storage box with him.

Yan Liang seemed to be in a particularly good mood, humming a song in his mouth.

“So happy?” Shi An asked him.

“I’m going to have fun for the first winter break since I started high school,” Yan Liang responded.

“You were in a bad mood a while ago.” Shi An remembered the time of New Year’s Day.

He and Yan Liang were in different classes, and hadn’t done much together since New Year’s Day. His memory was still somewhat stuck in the past half a month.

During that time, Yan Liang didn’t seem to be in a good mood and always seemed a little irritable. This kind of emotion was rarely seen in Yan Liang, who was always gentle.

“…” Yan Liang didn’t want to recall those days that even he couldn’t understand his own mood, and only replied, “Men, there are always a few days a month…”

Shi An: “…”

When he thought of those few days of annoyance, Yan Liang felt a blockage in his heart. In addition to that, he also felt very ridiculous.

After thinking about it carefully, the origin of the emotion was from a WeChat from Ling Yue, who told him that Shi An seemed to be in love.

He had been entangled for a long time about this, and in the end he didn’t quite figure out what he was entangled with.

What was this all about?!

He could only assume that he was too familiar with Shi An’s interpersonal circle, so familiar that it had almost become a part of his life, and when there was the sudden appearance of people or things outside his perception, he would have an instinctive exclusion.

As they talked, they turned into the Nanxing Bridge with their storage box in tow.

The noon sun shone on the water and glass shards swayed in the river. The street lamp stood quietly on the side of the road, warmed by the sun.

“Shi An, my mother is home, will you go say hello to her?”

“Sure.” Shi An nodded.

They dragged their storage box into Yan Liang’s restaurant. At a glance, they saw Xie Fei sitting behind the counter holding her phone and watching a movie.

“Mom,” Yan Liang called out to her in a long voice, “I’m home.”

“Ah, baby is back, mom missed you so much.” Xie Fei’s eyes were glued to the screen, but she spoke with great emotion.

“…You have to look up at me, then I’ll believe it.”

“What’s so good about you? Haven’t I seen you enough?”

Yan Liang: “…”

Xie Fei worked as a medical record manager at an eye hospital in the city next door. It only took more than an hour to go back and forth, but there were staff quarters there. After Yan Liang entered middle school, she went home less often.

“…Xiao An is here, do you want to watch it?” Before Yan Liang’s voice fell, Xie Fei lifted her head up and smiled, “Xiao An is here! Jiang jie has gone to practice Chan Qi2, let’s eat at our house at noon today, Aunt Fei will make it for you.”

“Aunt Fei.” Shi An smiled gently.

Xie Fei walked over and took his school bag, talking in a warm voice, “Xiao An was hospitalized some time ago? Has your health gotten better?”

She turned her head and stared at Yan Liang: “Xiao An is in good health now, so you won’t help him carry his things.”

As he said, Xie Fei looked down at the storage boxes that Yan Liang was dragging with a jump rope and said, “You haven’t eaten enough? Can you move it properly? You even use a rope to pull, silly.”

Yan Liang: “…”

At the end, she turned her hand to take the handle from Shi An’s hand and laughed, “Why don’t you ask Yan Liang help you pull it? It’s hard to pull so far.”

Yan Liang: “…”

Xie Fei turned around and went into the kitchen. Yan Liang’s mouth slumped as he bent down to meet Shi An’s ear, and whispered, “Look, parent.”

His low, pleasant teenage voice tickled Shi An’s ears, and his knuckles couldn’t stop curling.

Xie Fei peeked out from the kitchen again: “What bad things are you saying about me?”

Yan Liang: “Ying.”3

Once Xie Fei left, Yan Liang put away his feigned aggrieved expression and rolled his eyes.

Shi An wanted to laugh, but still said, “You guys eat, I’m going back.”

“Eh? Not together?” Yan Liang pulled him, “Didn’t Auntie go to the meditation? You eat by yourself? Ancestor, don’t eat carelessly, let’s eat together.”

Shi An stayed behind and ate with the three members of the Yan family.

Shi An couldn’t eat too much and was so full that he couldn’t even breathe, and there was still a small mountain of food in his bowl.

Yan Zhao and Xie Fei fought with their chopsticks, and whatever Yan Zhao put in, Xie Fei grabbed it too.

In the end, it was Yan Liang who took the food out of Shi An’s bowl.

 

 

Jiang Yuan went to practice Chan Qi, and Ling Yue went home to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Shi An was too lazy to toss on his own, so he simply closed the shop.

In less than a week, Shi An finished his winter vacation homework.

Jiang Yuan didn’t manage to finish the seven day Chan Qi meditation; she came back on the fifth day.

“Why are you back so early?” Shi An took her luggage and brought her a glass of water, “It’s only the fifth day.”

Jiang Yuan looked a little pale and waved her hand: “I’m old, I can’t walk far, I can’t live with my old age.”

Shi An couldn’t stop frowning at this.

“What are you talking about,” Shi An said warmly, “You are young.”

Jiang Yuan was amused by him and smiled.

“I have to go upstairs to rest, I’m getting really old, getting tired easily.” Jiang Yuan spoke warmly and slowly. Her voice was mellow and soft, and her words were soft and long.

Shi An couldn’t stop feeling a little uncomfortable in his heart, so he hurriedly asked her to go upstairs to rest.

It had been cloudy for the past few days. The weather was getting colder and colder, and it was getting closer to Chinese New Year.

The taste of the New Year was getting heavier and heavier. The alley was filled with a peaceful and cheerful atmosphere, with warm lanterns reaching to the sky in the night and festive tunes playing on the stereo.

Shi An’s family didn’t have the habit of buying New Year’s goods; Jiang Yuan was too old to go to the supermarket, and Shi An was a boy, born to hate things like shopping.

Shi An had hypoglycemic, so he had been keeping candies at home since a long time ago. He simply took out these candies for the New Year.

Shi An read books every day, finished his homework and helped the children in the alley to get some firecrackers. The days pass quickly, and Chinese New Year would be here in the blink of an eye.

The Yan family and Jiang Yuan had been neighbors for many years, and before Shi An moved to Qingjiu Alley, Jiang Yuan was the only elderly person who spent New Year on her own.

Yan Zhao and Xie Fei always brought Yan Liang to accompany Jiang Yuan to watch the Spring Festival and have New Year’s Eve dinner, so that Jiang Yuan could have a lively time.

Then it became a habit. There were not many people in the two families so they simply got together every year to spend New Year’s Eve.

At five in the evening, Yan Zhao and Xie Fei came over with the ingredients, shouting that they wanted to eat hot pot.

With Yan Zhao around, there was no need to worry about dinner.

Jiang Yuan had been somewhat lethargic in recent years, taking a nap at 12:00 noon and sleeping until 4:00 or 5:00.

Today was a big cloudy day, it was almost completely dark after five o’clock, so it was dark and dreary that you had to turn on the lights in the house.

Yan Liang was caught in the kitchen to help with work, and Shi An was sitting in the living room reading a book.

Before six o’clock, Yan Zhao set up a table in the living room.

“Come on, come on, come to eat!!!” Xie Fei called them, “Hurry up, hurry up to watch the Spring Festival Gala.”

Shi An called Jiang Yuan out, and five people gathered around the table to eat hot pot, with a dense steam rising from the pot and the smell of food wafting all over the room.

Several adults chatted while eating, only Shi An and Yan Liang buried their heads and ate very seriously.

The meal dawdled until 7:30. Xie Fei eagerly put the table away and turned on the TV to wait for the Spring Festival Gala. Several adults sat in front of the TV with cushions while Yan Liang and Shi An sat on the large sofa in the back.

Yan Liang sat cross-legged, holding his cheeks. Shi An sat hugging his knees, chin resting on his knees.

Today was New Year’s Eve. Shi An cleaned the house again and didn’t take a nap at noon. He wasn’t particularly interested in the Spring Festival Gala, so he looked sleepy.

Just after nine o’clock, it was a bit hard for Shi An’s to keep his eyes open.

As soon as the skit came out, several adults in front of him started laughing, Yan Liang was also laughing, Shi An couldn’t catch where the laughing point was.

Yan Liang turned his head to look at Shi An, and saw that he was slightly tilting his head back on the sofa, as if he was a little sleepy. His long eyelashes were blinking tiredly.

The heating was turned on in the room, Shi An’s face was smothered by the heat, and his lips seemed rosy. Yan Liang looked at Shi An’s slightly curled eyelashes and inexplicably felt his heart being gently scratched.

Every time Shi An looked like this, his heart felt soft. When he was a child, Shi An was a child who was easy to love. Even though Yan Liang was the same age as him, he always wanted to protect him as if he was his younger brother.

After growing older, Yan Liang saw more of the always calm and composed Shi An. By contrast, Shi An in other states became more and more precious.

Yan Liang gently shook him: “Shi An, are you sleepy? Do you want to go back to your room and take a nap?”

Shi An’s eyes were getting more and more moist as he became sleepy, his face was rarely confused.

“Waiting for 0’clock.”4 Shi An said as he shook his head left and right. He rarely made such large movements, so that when he shook his head, he became more and more like a child.

“Okay, you can go to sleep for a while, and I’ll get you up for New Year when it’s almost time?”

Shi An tilted his head slightly, as if he was thinking.

In the end, he didn’t go to sleep.

In the old generation’s concept, the year must be crossed, the Spring Festival Gala must be watched, he didn’t want to give Jiang Yuan any regret.

 

 

1

literally it’s book box, but really it’s just storage box

2

Chan Qi – The seven days of intensive closed-door practice undergone by Chan Master Tianhui of the Qing Dynasty. In Shaolin Monastery, the meditation retreat is done in 7 sevens- that is seven weeks, or 49 days, the number of days the Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree. Basically, a Chan Buddhist (Zen) meditation retreat. But I think, Jiang Yuan’s only going there for seven days

3

嘤 is an onomatopoeic word which sounds like someone busts out crying.

4

the line here was crossing the new year, so I changed it to 0’clock since that’s what the sentence means