Chapter 24

After waiting a few minutes, the shopkeeper brought out the chilled loquats—a hefty bag weighing five or six pounds. Huang Qi and Sha Zhouyin thanked him repeatedly and gifted the shopkeeper a handful of loquats in return.

Back at the construction site’s dormitory, the workers had just finished their lunch break and were getting ready to start work again. Huang Qi handed out some icy loquats to everyone to help cool off. Naturally, their coworkers couldn’t resist poking fun at them, telling Sha Zhouyin to stay inside and keep the young lady company—there was no need for him to work this afternoon. Chasing after a wife was much more important than earning a few hours’ wages!

But with so many people, even a mountain of loquats quickly dwindled. After everyone had their share, only twenty or thirty remained. Huang Qi took half of those and split them with Xiao Ying. Sha Zhouyin said, “Keep more for yourself. Your grandfather went to a lot of trouble to have these sent to you from so far away—it’s not easy to get them.”

“It’s fine, there’s still plenty left. Honestly, what I miss isn’t the loquats themselves, but that taste of home, those childhood memories. Just a single bite is enough for nostalgia—it’s not about quantity.” She put the rest of the loquats back in the bag and tied it up. “I’ll save some to bring back to the dorm so my classmates can try them.”

The two of them sat alone in the dormitory. Huang Qi asked, “Xiao Ying, do you have to work on Saturdays too? Maybe I should go back first. If I stay here, you can’t get your work done…”

Sha Zhouyin, head lowered, peeled a loquat. “It’s all right. We get paid for what we do, and a day or half a day doesn’t matter.” He finished peeling the loquat, leaving a little skin at the bottom so it could be held without getting sticky, and handed it to her. “Here.”

Huang Qi’s heart melted with sweetness, though she protested, “You should eat too. I’m not helpless—I can peel them myself.”

He started peeling another. “Sure, you can peel. You always just gnaw at them straight away, skin and pit and all. You chew around, suck out the juice, and spit it out—what a way to ruin a good loquat.”

“Don’t keep bringing up my childhood embarrassments. I know how to peel now.” She refused to back down, grabbing a loquat and hastily peeling the skin off. Although it didn’t look as neat as his—rather like a dog had gnawed it—she held it up. “See? Not bad at all. And stop peeling them for me, or I’ll start peeling them for you!” With that, she thrust the loquat at his mouth.

Sha Zhouyin tried dodging left and right, but couldn’t escape, and ended up with the loquat juice smeared on his face. He had no choice but to open his mouth and eat it. “All right, all right, I give in. Let’s each peel our own.”

Huang Qi drew her hand back. The warmth and dampness just now—was that Xiao Ying’s tongue? Or his lips?

Her fingertips still burned as if scorched. Without thinking, she popped her finger into her mouth, only to realize a moment later there was no real burn—Xiao Ying had just licked there… She quickly pulled her finger out, but her ears were already flushing with heat.

She stole a glance at Xiao Ying—he didn’t seem to notice, his head bent low as he focused on peeling another loquat, face so lowered that she couldn’t see his expression. Huang Qi felt a small pang of disappointment.

After eating two loquats, she noticed Xiao Ying picking only the paler, unripe ones—especially the last one, which was still slightly green. She watched as he put it in his mouth, his face momentarily twisting at the taste. “Xiao Ying, don’t you mind the sourness? There are plenty of ripe ones. The unripe ones will ripen in a few days.”

“I like the sour ones now,” he said, forcing himself to chew the green loquat. “Loquats are supposed to be sour. That’s what makes them taste like loquats.”

The logic was truly baffling.

They hadn’t eaten many when a dorm mate brought in a brisk-looking middle-aged worker to find Sha Zhouyin. The man looked anxious and spoke as soon as he entered, “Shao Sha, are you free this afternoon? The design company just called—the client’s changed their requirements for the building again, so the blueprints have been revised. Can you go with me? I’d like you to double-check things.” Only after his rush of words did he notice a stranger in the room. “Oh, you have company?”

Sha Zhouyin stood up. “Why are they changing the design after work has started? Is it a big change?”

“They say it’s just the interior, structure’s the same. But I worry it’ll be a repeat of last time—when we got the plans, they weren’t what we’d been told. You know the blueprints inside out and pay attention to detail, so please come with me. You know how those designers are—I’m not good at dealing with them, always get talked in circles. And don’t start with that ‘I’m too young, people won’t listen to me’ excuse. Next time something needs a leader, I’ll take care of it—deal?”

Seeing Sha Zhouyin hesitate, Huang Qi tugged his sleeve. “Xiao Ying, I should get going too—it’s been a while. If you have things to do, go ahead. I’ll head back to school and come find you in a few days. I’m almost done with my senior year, not many classes left, so I have plenty of time.”

Sha Zhouyin nodded, turning to the foreman, “What time do we need to go?”

“They said three o’clock. If we leave at two forty, we’ll get there on time.”

“There’s still a while. I’ll walk my friend back, then I’ll be right back. I’ll find you when it’s time.”

Huang Qi said, “No need, it’s not far. I can go by myself.”

But Sha Zhouyin took out the bundle of books and clothes her parents had sent her, stored under the bed. “This is a lot to carry. Weren’t you just complaining about your heels hurting? Let me walk you. We’ve got time.”

In truth, a few books and clothes—maybe ten pounds—was nothing to Huang Qi. She could swap out the office water cooler single-handed, and tossing a five-kilo shot put ten meters was child’s play. Still, she was reluctant to part with Xiao Ying after only a few hours together, so she let him come. “Walk me to the bus stop, then. The bus goes straight to school, and my bike’s parked by the campus gate.”

Coming over, she’d walked more than half an hour empty-handed. Going back, carrying things, it felt as if time flew. In the blink of an eye, they’d reached the bus stop. Buses came every three to five minutes—so efficient it was almost annoying.

Standing under the bus sign, they looked at each other, both a little reluctant to part. Suddenly, Huang Qi remembered something and took out her phone. “Xiao Ying, what’s your number? I’ll text you when I get back.”

“I…” He hesitated. “I don’t have a phone yet. Write your number down for me, and I’ll call you.”

A little disappointed, Huang Qi pulled out a notepad and wrote her numbers down. “Make sure you call me when you have time. Here’s my cell, and here’s the dorm phone.”

Back in her dorm, Tian Yujia was surfing BBS forums, Yun Lei had just finished washing her hair, and Feng Xidi, as always, was out working. Seeing Huang Qi return, Yun Lei frowned, “I went to my boyfriend’s dorm today. Xiao Xu was in all afternoon—you weren’t with him?”

“I told you, I went to see someone about something.” Huang Qi smiled, holding up her bag. “My grandfather grows loquats at home—pure, sweet, and organic. Try some.”

Tian Yujia cheered and came over, noticing the bundle in her hand. “So you went out to pick up a package from home? You’re glowing just from getting a package—you even changed clothes and did your makeup?”

Huang Qi put the package on the table and started unpacking. “What else? Did you think I conjured these things out of thin air?”

Inside were just her old books and clothes. Tian Yujia shook her head, stroking her chin. “Something’s off—definitely off! Did you bump into a handsome delivery guy? No, you wouldn’t have dressed up in advance for that…”

Huang Qi shoved a loquat into her arms. “Just eat!”

All afternoon, the “City Lord Huang” couldn’t help glancing at her phone again and again. She had the ringer and vibration on, and she knew Xiao Ying was busy, that he’d have to go to the corner shop to call her from the public phone, and that they’d only been apart a few hours. But somehow, it felt longer than the two years they’d already been separated. As the old saying goes, a day apart feels like three autumns. She and Xiao Ying had been apart for four hours—it already felt like half a year.

In the evening, just as she forced herself to stop looking at her phone, an unfamiliar number appeared on the screen: 13810190327. It looked oddly familiar, so she picked up.

“Xiao Qi, it’s me.”

The moment she heard his voice, she couldn’t stop smiling, her grin nearly reaching her ears.

“Xiao Qi, I’ve been busy all afternoon. Sorry it’s taken me so long to call…”

Yes, it had been a long time—seven hours, in fact.

“It’s inconvenient to use the payphone at the corner shop, so I just went out and bought a phone. I’m busier now anyway—time I had one. This is my number. Coincidentally, the middle four digits are my birthday, and the last four are yours. Easy to remember, right?”

As if there could be such a coincidence! He must have gone to a lot of trouble to get that number. No wonder it looked familiar at first glance. Overflowing with happiness, Huang Qi still pretended to be modest. “You’re so busy during the day, don’t worry about calling. Just text me once you’re back in the dorm at night—no need to disturb anyone.”

“Okay,” he paused, “I just… wanted to hear your voice.”

Huang Qi blushed. “What’s so nice about my voice? You all used to tease me for singing like a drake.”

He chuckled softly. “Xiao Qi, when I got back just now, I noticed you left a book at my place. Are you free tomorrow? We have Sunday off—I could bring it to you?”

Teacher Ding’s package had been so tightly wrapped it took ages to open—there was no way a book had fallen out. Huang Qi couldn’t help but laugh to herself but played along. “Sure! I’m free. I’ll give you a tour of the campus. Just take the same bus I did today—get off at the south gate, call me two stops before and I’ll come meet you.”