2013
I hope that by her next birthday, Chi Xiaoman will still be by my side.
October 6, 2013. Happiness Road, Xiangshui Alley, Underground Parking Garage No. 5. In the dark, Chen Tong clasped her hands together and, facing a huge cake that was nearly poking her in the face, made her third wish at twenty-three.
Maybe it was because she had so rarely ever truly wanted something this badly.
Or maybe it was because the two breaths she could hear desperately being held beside her sounded too tense.
Chen Tong was very greedy and deliberately dragged out the moment, repeating the third wish three times.
Then she slowly opened her eyes.
She saw colored candlelight swaying. Before lighting them, Chi Xiaoman had mysteriously refused to let her look, saying these were the popular colored candles lately; when they were lit, the flames would show several colors, vivid and dazzling, very much like neon.
But they were expensive. In 2013, when a roujiamo cost only three yuan, one of these colored candles cost ten. Yet according to Lang Lang, when Chi Xiaoman bought it, she had barely hesitated; when she paid, she even looked a little happy. Because she thought Chen Tong would like it.
Because this was the first birthday she was spending with her.
On Happiness Road, in front of that moved-over old blue sofa, under the small window sealed with colored tape, inside Lang Lang’s DV.
The candlelight, disguised as neon, swayed gently. Behind the shifting colors, Chi Xiaoman’s plump, youthful face glowed bright and alive. Seeing that Chen Tong had finally opened her eyes, she lifted her chin cheerfully, then sang several lines of Happy Birthday together with Lang Lang. After that, she grinned and said eagerly,
“Chen Tong, Chen Tong, blow out the candle!”
As she spoke, Chi Xiaoman even pushed the whole big cake a little closer to her. “Hurry up and blow it out. If the birthday wish gets sent back before you do, it won’t count!”
Lang Lang stood off to the side with the DV, claiming she had once done very professional wedding photography in her early years.
So she volunteered her services, moving around very elaborately in the garage where the lights were off and only the candles were burning. After she finished a very dramatic-looking close-up shot of the colored candle, she objected to Chi Xiaoman’s claim. “Don’t listen to her. She just wants to eat the cake faster!”
“As if!” Chi Xiaoman retorted indignantly toward the DV lens, then wrinkled her nose and looked at Chen Tong through the colored blur.
She seemed a little embarrassed.
The hand holding the cake wobbled, and the halo of light at the corners of her eyes dimmed slightly too.
“I just want Sister Chen Tong to try it and see if it’s delicious.”
“Tch—” Lang Lang angled the DV at Chi Xiaoman’s face and snapped a shot. “All day it’s Sister Chen Tong this, Sister Chen Tong that; one sentence has a hundred Sister Chen Tongs in it—”
“You’re not allowed to steal the spotlight today!” Chi Xiaoman shoved the lens away without politeness, then looked back at Chen Tong in the dim light and said softly, “Sister Chen Tong, blow out the candle already.”
“Okay.”
Chen Tong smiled with curved eyes.
Under the gaze of two pairs of eyes and one camera, she blew out the colored candle.
“Yay—”
The two people who had been on the verge of quarrelling just a moment ago suddenly cheered because she had blown it out.
The two of them were like the strongest pair of bubbles in a jar of bubble gum, able to blow up countless happy, spirited bubbles at any moment. The two bubbles squeezed together and, in perfect tacit understanding, sang her a birthday song they had adapted with some bizarre little tune.
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Chen Tong, Chen Tong—”
Chen Tong laughed so hard she could barely breathe.
But she still held it in and didn’t hide.
She listened all the way through as the two of them sang that strange birthday song again from beginning to end.
Only after the birthday song had been sung, loudly and forcefully, did Lang Lang run over to turn on the lights.
Chi Xiaoman carefully set down the big cake she’d been holding, then came over and, very shyly and very softly, gave Chen Tong a hug. She had been working part-time at a dessert shop lately, so now she smelled like a chocolate cake stretching out its arms to hold her.
“Chen Tong, happy twenty-third birthday.”
Chen Tong hugged her back and said gently, “Thank you, Xiaoman.”
After turning on the lights, Lang Lang came over and let out a surprised “Eh,” as if she found them both annoying. “What’s going on with you two? I turned around and you were already hugging?”
“What do you mean what’s going on?” Chi Xiaoman muttered. “Obviously we’re in love.”
But they didn’t keep hugging in front of Lang Lang for too long. Lang Lang had already walked up to the cake, looking a little sneaky.
Chi Xiaoman immediately became wary, let go of Chen Tong, and moved to shield the cake. “What do you want?”
“I’m telling you, we’re not doing anything wasteful like that.”
“I just want to take a picture,” Lang Lang argued reasonably. “Chi Xiaoman, come over here. Let me take a close-up of the big cake I bought for you—”
“As if.” Chi Xiaoman didn’t believe her at all and lifted the cake, clutching it in front of herself while dodging Lang Lang.
So Lang Lang chased after her. “Chi Xiaoman! I’m begging you, I really just want a close-up!”
The two of them suddenly began circling around the room, like two running lambs.
After a few steps, Lang Lang put her hands on her hips, panting. “Damn, how can you run this well?”
Chen Tong watched with a smile from the side.
When the two of them were finally tired out, they stood on opposite sides of the old sofa, staring at each other with suspicion and distance.
Chen Tong felt it was necessary to break the stalemate, so she said, “Let’s take a group photo.”
At once, both of them looked over at her. The force they’d been gathering as if they intended to fight to the bitter end suddenly slipped away because of that one sentence; both of them looked a little dazed.
“I just think today is very happy,” Chen Tong said, her eyes curving. “And after all this time, we’ve never taken a photo together.”
After she spoke, the two of them looked at her for a moment.
Then they exchanged a glance over the old sofa.
Neither said anything, as if they had decisively agreed to a truce.
Chi Xiaoman went around one side of the sofa, carrying the cake, and came over very naturally to stand beside Chen Tong. She nodded obediently. “Okay.”
“Perfect, this one can take photos too.” Lang Lang also came over with the DV, standing on Chen Tong’s other side. After fiddling with it for a moment, she naturally lifted it. “Come on, one, two, three, look at the camera—”
These two really had amazing execution.
Before Chen Tong had even reacted, she was already surrounded by the two smiling people and a sweet, creamy cake.
In her surprise, she instinctively looked toward the lens.
Click—
The photo froze.
Chen Tong blinked dazedly.
She didn’t get to see the photo.
“Again,” Chi Xiaoman said with a smile. “Let the cake stand in the middle.”
“Sure.” Lang Lang swiftly changed positions, walking over to Chi Xiaoman’s side. She held up the DV, adjusted the angle and her smile, and again said briskly, “Come on, three, two, one, look at the camera—”
Chi Xiaoman, eyes crescent-shaped as she held the cake, also took that moment to pretend she hadn’t said anything. With a stiff face, she reminded Chen Tong, “Sister Chen Tong, smile.”
By now, Chen Tong had gotten used to these two people’s habit of immediately doing whatever was said, and she had even been affected by it. So when taking the second photo, she reacted in time, trained herself to face the camera, and smiled.
Click—
The second photo froze.
Lang Lang lowered the DV to check it, then suddenly said, “No, I need to stand in the middle too.”
As soon as she said that, without waiting for Chi Xiaoman or Chen Tong to react, she squeezed herself between them on her own.
She shoved the DV into Chen Tong’s hands.
“Told you, this is photo mode now. Just press the shutter.”
After saying that, Lang Lang spread her arms on her own and firmly wrapped both of them into a hug, grinning. “My turn now. Both of you smile for me.”
She looked so thin most of the time, and her body was always having little problems; she didn’t go out to get any sun, so Chi Xiaoman always said Lang Lang looked like a grain of white rice hiding in its nest. But her arms were really strong.
Chi Xiaoman was suddenly pulled in so hard she nearly lost her footing. She complained, “Lang Lang, you almost squished my cake flat!” But the next second, seeing Chen Tong holding the DV, she quickly steadied the cake and posed, flashing all eight teeth into the lens with a textbook smile. “Happy enough for you?”
Chen Tong was also held tightly around the shoulders by Lang Lang, pressed close to her. Closer than her usual social distance with anyone except Chi Xiaoman.
But maybe because this night really was very happy, and because she could feel how warm Lang Lang’s hand was as it held her, she didn’t feel uncomfortable. She only looked to the side and, after seeing the two faces both nearly stiff from smiling, couldn’t help squinting and laughing.
“Then I’m taking the picture,” Chen Tong said softly.
“Okay.” Chi Xiaoman answered immediately.
“Quick, quick,” Lang Lang said, still keeping her smile in place, her voice drifting over like silk. “My cheeks are about to cramp.”
“Okay.”
Chen Tong agreed, and after counting down three, two, one, she smiled and pressed the button on the DV.
No response.
The room fell silent.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
“Is it done yet?” Chi Xiaoman didn’t dare move. She asked quietly.
Lang Lang’s smile froze. “Chen Tong, did you switch it back to video mode?”
“Huh?”
Chen Tong hurriedly took the DV down to look; she found that she really had accidentally set it to video mode and felt terribly embarrassed. “Sorry, I pressed the wrong thing by accident.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Chi Xiaoman immediately comforted her in a soft voice. “It’s just that this DV is too hard to use.”
Lang Lang rolled her eyes with a smile that didn’t quite reach her face.
“Then I’ll try again.” Chen Tong adjusted the DV back to photo mode and lifted it once more. Through the little screen that had turned toward her, she saw three oversized heads and really couldn’t hold back her laughter; she laughed so hard her hand almost couldn’t hold the DV steady, and she couldn’t help asking, “Do you want to rest a bit first—”
“Ah—”
“Sure—”
Both of them answered at the same time.
They also seemed to let go of something at the same time, instantly grimacing and rubbing at their faces.
Chen Tong laughed.
She set the DV down on the table beside them.
As she put it down, she accidentally pressed the button again.
But she didn’t have time to care.
Because Chi Xiaoman had stared at the cake for a long while and suddenly pouted at her, holding up one finger.
“Sister Chen Tong.”
“I want to cut off the chocolate that says birthday and eat it first, can I?”
Chen Tong quickly went to cut the cake for her.
Thus the DV left on the table lit up a blinking red light all by itself behind them, quietly recording this ordinary and noisy night—
The underground garage was packed with old furniture. The walls were covered in movie posters Chi Xiaoman had brought back from the cinema; flickering car lights kept shining in through that small window and became the exclusive neon of this black-and-white silent film.
Chi Xiaoman was wearing a pointy birthday hat that came with the cake. She crouched eagerly beside the cake, glancing at it once and then up at Chen Tong, looking uncertain.
Her ears were red.
In a very small, very shy voice, she said, “Sister Chen Tong, I want to eat a bigger piece.”
Lang Lang was wearing another pointy green birthday hat, with the string tied under her chin. Her golden corn-silk curls had already faded to just below her ears. Hearing Chi Xiaoman say that, she clicked her tongue, then lifted her chin in envy and lamented her own allergy-prone constitution. “Damn, it smells so good.”
Chen Tong was surrounded by the two of them, cutting the big cake on the small table. She wore thick glasses for nearsightedness, and on her head was the paper crown reserved for the birthday girl. Focused and serious, she cut Chi Xiaoman a big slice.
When she picked it up, the cake trembled precariously on the paper plate.
Lang Lang let out an envious “Wow.”
Then, after turning her head, she noticed the little red light blinking on the DV. “Hey, it’s still recording?”
As soon as she said that, Chi Xiaoman and Chen Tong both looked toward the lens. The two of them were in the middle of carefully completing the ceremonial transfer of the little cake mountain.
Seeing the tiny red light blinking on the camera, both of them looked confused at the same time.
“Ladies, the two leads.”
Lang Lang suddenly said,
“Smile already. Don’t make ugly faces at the camera.”
In the end, all three of them laughed together.
The red light went out.
With a whoosh, the screen blacked out, fulfilling its sacred mission for the night.
Half an hour later.
Lang Lang walked over and picked up the DV from the small table. “Out of battery.”
She closed the little screen. “Perfect timing; the cake’s finished, and I should head back.”
Then she looked up.
She glanced at Chi Xiaoman, who was still working hard on the cake, and at Chen Tong beside her, holding paper napkins and preparing to wipe her mouth. Her tone was generous. “I won’t get in the way of whatever you two are doing, okay?”
Chi Xiaoman paused mid-bite.
She looked up, still muddle-headed from the unfinished cake mountain, at Lang Lang.
“How do you know we were planning to go to bed early tonight?”
Lang Lang clicked her tongue. “I’m leaving.”
She lazily lifted the half-closed garage door.
Then she slipped outside, yawned, and waved at them over her shoulder.
“See you tomorrow.”
Chi Xiaoman didn’t really understand. She blinked her eyelashes and went back to eating cake. After a few bites, she turned to Chen Tong and asked in confusion, “Sister Chen Tong, don’t you think Lang Lang looked really weird just now?”
Chen Tong looked at her for a long time before saying, “Maybe it’s because if she stayed, she wouldn’t get any cake.”
“That’s true.”
Thinking of that, Chi Xiaoman felt sorry for her again. In Chi Xiaoman’s eyes, birthday cake was the tastiest thing in the world. Sometimes she thought that if someone had grown up never eating birthday cake, how hard that life must have been.
“But allergies can’t be helped,” Chi Xiaoman said, then buried her head back into the cake in front of her. “Sister Chen Tong, do you want to go shower first? I’ll go after I finish.”
It was already very late.
They could only take turns showering.
Chi Xiaoman always let Chen Tong go first.
“Okay.” Maybe because she saw that Chi Xiaoman was still eating cake, Chen Tong didn’t choose to rock-paper-scissors with her. She looked at her for a while, used her finger to wipe away a bit of cream that had accidentally gotten on her face, and then took her clothes into the bathroom.
The patter of water came from inside.
Chi Xiaoman pricked up her ears and listened for a while; after confirming Chen Tong wouldn’t come out any time soon, she quietly turned around, took out the small gift box she had hidden in the sofa’s inner seam, and opened it carefully. When she saw the silver necklace inside, she let out a little “heh-heh” laugh.
But she didn’t dare laugh too loudly.
She was afraid Chen Tong would hear.
Chi Xiaoman rubbed at her smile-stiffened face.
She put the necklace back, hid the box again, and planned to give Chen Tong a surprise later.
It was the first time she was celebrating Chen Tong’s birthday, and Chi Xiaoman didn’t know what gift to give. But she felt that at the very least, it had to be something they wouldn’t normally buy; like a cushion, lip balm, or a glasses cloth—things Chen Tong would use in daily life. Once Chi Xiaoman learned about them, she would immediately dig money out of her savings jar to buy them for her. After all, once the tuition for her final year was paid, she didn’t need to save tuition money anymore.
Birthday gifts, after all.
They should be a little more expensive.
—That was what Chi Xiaoman told Lang Lang.
So she chose a necklace.
Although the current Chi Xiaoman still couldn’t afford an expensive necklace, this one had a very beautiful crescent moon pendant.
That day, Chi Xiaoman and Lang Lang leaned over the counter together, staring wide-eyed and studying it for a long time, listening as the sales assistant smiled and said, “This is a custom piece. You can have the moon shape from the night someone was born customized for you; it’s the most unique gift. It’s great for a lover or a friend.”
A long time later, Chi Xiaoman would know that this was a scam, because when she compared it in her boredom, she found that there was nothing on that moon pendant that could prove it was the moon from the second day of the ninth lunar month in 1990.
But on this night, she was still very, very happy because of it.
So she ate many pieces of cake.
By the time Chen Tong had finished showering and came out, Chi Xiaoman was still rubbing her face and giggling foolishly at the bare paper plate.
Chen Tong’s steps paused behind her.
“How are you this happy?”
Chi Xiaoman shook her head.
She covered her mouth tightly.
But because she was afraid her eyes would give her away, she didn’t turn around to look at Chen Tong. “Nothing, nothing!”
Chen Tong looked at her from behind for a while.
Maybe because she had just showered, her body still carried damp traces of water, along with the scent of body wash spreading through the air like mist.
Chi Xiaoman sniffed and felt that even the air smelled much nicer now, but she was too embarrassed to say so. She just lowered her head and urged her on.
“Sister Chen Tong, hurry and get into bed. It’s cold at night.”
She still hadn’t turned around.
Chen Tong hesitated for a moment. “Okay, I’ll dry my hair first.”
“Okay.” Chi Xiaoman nodded.
Chen Tong said nothing more and went to dry her hair.
Chi Xiaoman let out a breath, then dutifully cleaned up the mess in the room.
Halfway through, Chen Tong finished drying her hair and came to call her, wanting to help tidy up. “Actually, we can clean it tomorrow too.”
“No, Sister Chen Tong.” Chi Xiaoman refused, pulling Chen Tong’s clean hands away and continuing to tidy up on her own. She explained, “If we don’t clean these cake plates properly, bugs will come at night.”
Saying that, she also worried that if Chen Tong stayed standing there, she might discover the necklace, so she used her elbow to push Chen Tong back into the bedroom.
“Go on, go on. The birthday girl is supposed to stay in bed and not do dirty work!”
Chen Tong had no choice and was pushed into the bedroom.
She still wanted to come back over.
Chi Xiaoman stood in front of the invisible wall, holding out a very cold, flat palm.
“No.”
Then she pretended to lock the door.
“I’m locking you in now. You’re not allowed out.”
Chen Tong had no choice.
So she cooperatively stood inside the doorway and watched her, saying, “Then you should come to bed early too.”
“Okay.”
Chi Xiaoman nodded, and after quickly tidying everything up, grabbed her clothes and rushed into the bathroom. Thinking of the little box hidden in the sofa, she was afraid Chen Tong might discover it while she showered, so she nervously hung the T-shirt and underwear she had taken off right at the bathroom entrance.
After she realized it.
She shyly and sneakily pulled the smaller piece back inside.
To make a show of it, Chi Xiaoman called loudly to Chen Tong, “Sister Chen Tong, you’re not allowed out of the bedroom. Wait for me; I’m coming right away!”
Chen Tong made no sound.
She should have agreed.
Chi Xiaoman felt much more at ease. While washing herself with soap bubbles, she thought of how Chen Tong would smile with her eyes narrowed when she received the necklace, and she became very happy. She even hummed a song in broken fragments.
Also afraid of wasting time and letting the second day of the ninth lunar month pass by,
Chi Xiaoman finished showering very quickly.
She hastily blow-dried her hair until it was half dry, then found the little box hidden in the sofa and bounced into their bedroom.
As usual,
she very formally knocked three times on the invisible door, kept her head lowered, staring at the moisture on the floor, and said,
“Chen Tong, Chen Tong, I’m coming in.”
“Okay.” Chen Tong’s voice drifted out, soft as a bubble.
Chi Xiaoman then put her hands behind her back.
With her chin lifted, she walked in, but after only two steps she let out a surprised “Eh.”
“Sister Chen Tong, why are you lying in my bed?”
In the bedroom, a small bedside lamp was lit. The two single beds were still placed separately on either side of the wall. Everything looked normal; the only strange thing was that Chen Tong seemed to be lying on the wrong side.
But when she saw that Chen Tong had already climbed in, and had even put on the pajamas she had bought her not long ago, with the blanket pulled up tightly around her.
Chi Xiaoman felt a little puzzled, though she also tried hard to think of a way to get Chen Tong to accept her gift. So she asked with a grin, “Is it because my blanket feels more comfortable?”
Chen Tong smiled in the warm yellow light. “Mm, yes.”
“Then you should just wrap up and sleep well.” Chi Xiaoman naturally slipped into the other empty quilt, yawned, and clutched the little box containing the necklace tightly in her hand. “Tonight, let the comfortable blanket sleep with the birthday girl.”
Chen Tong didn’t speak.
Chi Xiaoman also stayed silent.
She was figuring out how to give the gift naturally, without showing off, and make Chen Tong feel that she was probably a pretty good girlfriend—someone who had specially found the moon from the day she was born to have it customized for her, and who, during the whole process of customization, ran over every morning to ask about it and got looked down on by the clerk.
Thinking of being looked down on,
Chi Xiaoman puffed up her cheeks.
Then she viciously thought: once I have money in the future, I’m going to buy the entire moon for all of the lunar September of 1990! And I’m specifically not letting that clerk take my order!
“Xiaoman.” Chen Tong suddenly called her.
“Ah?” Chi Xiaoman pulled herself out of her thoughts.
She focused on the Chen Tong across from the bed. “What is it, Sister Chen Tong?”
The small window with colored tape on it was later found by Chi Xiaoman to have a large curtain cut down from fabric, which she then personally sewed with a few little red goldfish. She even specially made a little sliding rail and stuck it on.
So sometimes.
Sometimes they could see neon; sometimes they could see a few little goldfish swimming around.
Today it was goldfish.
The red little goldfish swam around in their line of sight. Chen Tong lay on her side and looked at her softly in the light. “Can I sleep with you tonight?”
Chi Xiaoman froze.
In fact, she didn’t know why she froze. Maybe because she still hadn’t figured out how to give the gift, maybe because she was caught in Chen Tong’s gaze, or maybe because she had suddenly thought that being in love probably meant sleeping together sooner or later.
So she nodded rather stiffly.
“Okay.”
She agreed.
Then she tucked the little box holding the necklace farther behind her.
With the same hand and foot, awkward and constrained, she made room on the small single bed and said,
“You come over here, Sister Chen Tong.”
Her tone was a little stiff.
Chi Xiaoman herself didn’t know what was wrong with her. Maybe the little box hadn’t been hidden properly, and she was uneasy.
Chen Tong slowly took off her glasses.
She sat up from the bed and looked at her for a while, smiling, as if she also didn’t want her to keep staring while she walked over. So she smiled and slowly said, “Xiaoman, can you close your eyes?”
“Hm?”
Chi Xiaoman blinked her eyelashes, still smiling. “Shouldn’t only the birthday girl close her eyes?”
Chen Tong looked at her with a smile. “Then can the birthday girl ask you to close yours?”
“Sure, sure.”
Chi Xiaoman agreed very obediently.
She also closed her eyes very obediently.
The room fell quiet.
She scratched at the edge of the little box with her finger and suddenly felt a little thirsty. She wanted to say, “Or maybe I should come down and have a sip of water first,” but Chen Tong was already making the sound of getting off the bed, so she had no choice but to keep her mouth shut.
One second.
Two seconds.
Chen Tong crossed the distance between the two small beds.
Chi Xiaoman was afraid that if she came out from under the quilt all at once, she would get cold.
So she immediately lifted the blanket.
And wrapped her up.
Successfully wrapping Chen Tong inside the quilt.
When she touched Chen Tong’s somewhat cool shoulder, Chi Xiaoman had originally wanted to ask, “Aren’t you cold?”
But she didn’t get the chance to say it, and didn’t get the chance to open her eyes either.
Because Chen Tong had already squeezed herself all the way into the quilt and pressed close to her, her breath falling onto her ear.
Then, after keeping her eyes closed for a while, she suddenly and quietly pressed her lips to her neck.
The softest spot.
On an autumn night, a woman’s lips were cool and soft, brushing over her pulse like a feather before drifting away.
Chi Xiaoman suddenly went still.
They had been together for so long, and every time she kissed her girlfriend, she would freeze like a wooden puppet with its spring removed and not dare move. Besides... besides, kissing the neck, and only brushing it once before drifting away, seemed different from kissing the cheek or the mouth.
After thinking it over and over, she felt that Chen Tong had probably just brushed against her by accident. So she hid deeper into the quilt, her eyelashes trembling in embarrassment. “Sister Chen Tong, you... you...?”
“Mm.” Chen Tong asked softly, “What about me?”
Chi Xiaoman’s ears were red at the tips.
Chen Tong didn’t ask further.
She seemed to be smiling, or maybe not.
Then she leaned in again and kissed her once more. This time, it was her chin. Her lips were wet, soft.
Chi Xiaoman felt ticklish and wanted to laugh.
But the next second, the woman’s lips landed on her ear again. Her ear burned hot, while the woman’s lips were cool.
Yet that made Chi Xiaoman’s back tense up.
The little box she was gripping in her hand accidentally fell through the gap between the beds.
She didn’t even manage to pick it up.
Maybe it was too close.
Chi Xiaoman didn’t really dare move.
After Chen Tong’s approaching breath fell at her throat, her whole body was unable to move, like a zombie sealed with a talisman, instantly pressing back against the wall behind her.
“Xiaoman.”
Chen Tong’s voice was by her ear, very light. “You can open your eyes and look at me now.”
Chi Xiaoman didn’t open them.
She shrank her shoulders in a soft little curl, her face red, becoming a very shy rubber doll that was about to melt.
She didn’t speak.
So Chen Tong looked at her for a while, as if finding her reaction very interesting.
Then she laughed.
And after that, she said softly and gently, “If you still don’t open your eyes, I’m going to keep kissing you.”
Chi Xiaoman immediately opened her eyes obediently.
Under the red little goldfish, she saw Chen Tong’s soft, sweet gaze. It was so close, like melted syrup, as if it wanted to glue her in.
She didn’t dare move.
She kept her chin lowered.
And still didn’t make a sound.
Chen Tong, on the other hand, seemed very generous. She looked at her, kept looking at her, her gaze serious, as if they weren’t squeezed onto the same little bed at all, but standing opposite each other under neon lights on an open grassland.
For a long time.
She reached out, looked into Chi Xiaoman’s eyes, and touched Chi Xiaoman’s face affectionately.
In the light and shadow, she curved her eyes at her and said,
“Xiaoman, you’re so beautiful.”
Chi Xiaoman lowered her eyelashes in embarrassment.
Her breathing was slow, yet she very much wanted to say—Sister Chen Tong, you’re beautiful too.
But for some reason, what came out instead was,
“Chen Tong~Tong~Tong~Tong~Tong~Tong~”
She herself was shocked.
But Chen Tong laughed.
Her laughter was like many bubbles, floating up in their bedroom, drifting over the three little red goldfish.
Drifting over the magazine ad for a new phone stuck on the bedside cabinet, drifting over the old last-century poster pasted to the wall, drifting over the narrow little window, drifting over the neon that belonged only to them.
Chen Tong kissed the center of Chi Xiaoman’s heart.
Chi Xiaoman widened her eyes.
She felt her heart melting like a block of snow at a rate of many square centimeters per second.
Chen Tong found her lips again from above and stole away her completely melted heart.
Chi Xiaoman lost her heart and turned into a soft, hollow piece of rubber candy.
All she could do was think, blankly—
Oh no, where did the necklace go.
[Author’s Note]
On time with Little Neon for the forty-fifth day [glasses][glasses]
(Because this chapter is sweet in 2013, the sunglasses are being swapped for glasses again.)