The Alley Was Always This Long – Chapter 72
by Little PandaDependence
“Tao Tianran, you’re sweating.”
[Who says love is selfless and asks for nothing in return. It turns out when you fall in love with someone, you long to empty half of your own soul, then tear out half of hers to fill it.]
Cheng Xiang felt her head swimming.
For some reason, she thought of the phoenix tree over her bedroom roof. As summer drew near, it had grown lush and leafy, casting a massive canopy like a giant umbrella over her and Tao Tianran.
The afternoon sunlight seemed stored within, and when the night breeze blew, it shook down, mingling with the starlight of the vast sky.
It showered all over Tao Tianran. In a thin, soft voice, Cheng Xiang said, “Tao Tianran, you’re sweating.”
“Mm.”
With one hand pressed against Tao Tianran’s shoulder, Cheng Xiang moved her other hand forward very slowly. At first she had not dared to, but then she could not help but look down at that place. For some reason, she wanted to watch the process unfold, and then she felt a fine layer of goosebumps rise on her forearm, her entire soul shivering.
Her eyes grew hot and prickling, gradually clouding over with a layer of mist.
A frown creased Tao Tianran’s cool, pale brow, and Cheng Xiang felt a sudden pressure around her wrist.
Cheng Xiang asked softly, “Is it uncomfortable?”
“No,” Tao Tianran opened her eyes, casting a glance downward.
Then she tilted her head. A single tear rolled from the corner of her eye, falling onto Cheng Xiang’s pillowcase and was fully absorbed by the cotton.
Cheng Xiang felt as though her own heart had turned into that pillowcase, absorbing Tao Tianran’s solitary tear until it grew heavy and swollen. She wanted to ask why Tao Tianran was crying, yet at the same time, she felt she understood.
The tip of her nose reddened slightly, but she did not stop; instead, her pace quickened.
Tao Tianran’s dark, glossy hair rustled against the pillowcase with a soft friction. Within her heart, she felt both tenderness and jealousy.
Inexplicably, what was she jealous of?
She was jealous of a stray breeze that had once brushed past Tao Tianran.
Jealous of a ray of evening sun that had once shone on the corner of Tao Tianran’s forehead.
With her cheeks flushed with color, Tao Tianran looked much younger than usual. Inexplicably, Cheng Xiang grew jealous of Tao Tianran’s high school classmates as well.
Jealous of the school desks. The camphor trees. The red-granular synthetic track. And the bronze hands of the clock tower.
As broken syllables spilled from Tao Tianran’s throat, she slid her fingers inside, filling the void.
The warm yellow pendant light on the ceiling hung right beside the trunk of the phoenix tree. Cheng Xiang squinted slightly in the light, whispering, “Tao Tianran.”
“I wish I’d met you sooner.”
Tao Tianran’s sigh sounded as if it were submerged beneath water. “You knew me a long time ago…”
“It’s not enough,” Cheng Xiang said. “Still not enough.”
She did not even know what was not enough—whether it was the length of time they had known each other or the current depth of their intimacy. She only felt as if she had transformed into a small, ravenous beast, endlessly demanding more from deeper inside, until the bedsheets became a total mess.
Her gaze unfocused, Tao Tianran opened her eyes. For some reason, she found herself thinking of the snail in the ditch outside her grandmother’s house again.
The mossy ditch after the rain had seemed so empty; she had stared at it for so long that she had forgotten that being filled up felt like this.
Only when Cheng Xiang finally came to a stop did Tao Tianran open her arms to her.
“Wa—wait,” Cheng Xiang stammered, still trying to catch her breath. “Let me wash my hands first. You… this…”
It was all over Cheng Xiang’s wrists as well.
“Don’t,” Tao Tianran said softly, still holding her arms open to Cheng Xiang like that.
Cheng Xiang’s heart softened completely. For some reason, she felt that Tao Tianran was very dependent on her at this moment; this was the first time Tao Tianran had shown her dependence.
She nestled herself into Tao Tianran’s embrace, tightly holding her.
Tao Tianran hugged Cheng Xiang’s slender back in return, closing her eyes to steady her breathing. The sound of the night wind rustling the leaves of the phoenix tree above the roof sounded like a soft, steady rain, like the endless showers of her childhood falling into that damp, mossy ditch.
Cheng Xiang murmured softly, “I love you.”
Tao Tianran buried her face in the side of Cheng Xiang’s neck. “Say it again.”
Cheng Xiang could not tell if it was sweat or their mingled hair that tickled the side of her neck. She did not realize those were actually Tao Tianran’s tears. She simply held her close, pressing her head against Tao Tianran’s as she spoke: “I love you. Before, I always felt we hadn’t known each other long enough to say a word as heavy as ‘love.’ I could only bring myself to say I liked you—that I liked you so, so much, and didn’t know what to do with myself.”
“But,” she kissed the corner of Tao Tianran’s forehead, “I have to say ‘I love you’ now. I can’t think of any word more fitting than ‘love.'”
Tao Tianran kept her face buried in the crook of her neck.
“What about you?” Cheng Xiang asked. Actually, she shouldn’t have asked this; it made her seem too calculative, and her posture wasn’t chic or elegant enough.
Who says love is selfless and asks for nothing in return. It turns out that when you fall in love with someone, you long to empty half of your own soul, then tear out half of hers to fill it.
Say you love me.
Love me with your whole body and soul.
Buried in the crook of Cheng Xiang’s neck, Tao Tianran said with a slight nasality in her voice, “I love you.”
Cheng Xiang let out a breath and pulled Tao Tianran up to sit.
They sat opposite each other with their legs bent, Cheng Xiang’s hands resting on either side of Tao Tianran’s waist. She could not tell that Tao Tianran had just cried; her entire face was flushed crimson, and her usually immaculate black hair clung to her forehead.
She pressed her forehead against Tao Tianran’s: “How much do you love me?”
“And you?”
Cheng Xiang thought for a moment. “Like this phoenix tree.”
“What do you mean?”
“Even if one day you really make me sad, I will swallow it into my stomach and grow it into rings of annual growth, and continue to love you next spring.”
Tao Tianran gently rubbed her face, then gave it a soft pinch.
“And what about you?” Cheng Xiang said in a tiny voice. “Don’t try to get out of answering.”
The two of them were actually sitting right on a damp patch of the bedsheets. Tao Tianran shifted slightly to the side, pulling over the corner of the quilt to cover that area.
“I just…” Tao Tianran’s usually clear and refreshing voice was slightly hoarse now, “…don’t know how to say it.”
Cheng Xiang blinked. “Like how your body told me?”
Tao Tianran gave Cheng Xiang’s shoulder a swat.
Cheng Xiang laughed, rubbing her shoulder. “Alright, alright, I’ll let you off the hook.”
Suddenly, a loud, bustling voice rang out from the courtyard: “Xiao Xiang!”
“Oh gosh!” Cheng Xiang was so startled she nearly tumbled off the bed.
Scrambling out of bed, she barely managed to push the door back shut just as Director Ma had pushed it open a crack.
Because she had been absolutely sure there would be no one in the courtyard tonight, she had not even locked the door.
Director Ma was startled on the other side of the door. “What are you doing?”
“I just got back! I’m changing my clothes!” Cheng Xiang leaned her weight heavily against the door. She had not had time to put on anything, and her entire body was flushed red like a boiled shrimp.
“Oh, come on, as if this is any different from when I used to bathe you as a kid!” Director Ma’s booming voice resounded through the door. “Is there any inch of your body I haven’t seen? And let’s be honest, with that little flat chest of yours, you’re barely any different from when you were a toddler.”
Tao Tianran sat on the edge of the bed, completely bare. She extended a long, slender leg and brushed her toes against Cheng Xiang’s lower back.
The tickling sensation made Cheng Xiang shriek, “Mom!”
“Fine, fine, I won’t look, alright? Get dressed and come out quickly. I brought you something delicious.”
After Director Ma walked away from the door, Cheng Xiang turned around and grabbed Tao Tianran’s ankle: “I’ve realized you are actually quite bad.”
Tao Tianran merely arched an eyebrow.
Cheng Xiang knelt on the bed, picking up a shirt from the side to wrap around Tao Tianran: “Are you really not afraid of my mom suddenly bursting in, hm?”
“Weren’t you holding the door?”
Tao Tianran thought to herself that she had actually lived through this exact scenario in her previous timeline.
So… she had some experience.
Mm, no need to panic.
Cheng Xiang called to her, “Put your arms out,” and lowered her head to carefully button up the front of her shirt.
Director Ma’s voice rang out again from the courtyard: “Xiao Xiang!”
“Coming!” Cheng Xiang opened her arms to give Tao Tianran a quick hug. “I’ll go deal with things out there.”
“And me?”
Cheng Xiang gave her a sidelong glance.
“I understand. I’ll…” She leaned close to Cheng Xiang’s ear, breathing the last two words directly into it like a whisper: “…stay hidden.”
Cheng Xiang’s heart was tickled as if scratched by a cat’s paw. She jumped off the bed and rubbed her ear again.
“Xiao Xiang!”
“Coming!” Cheng Xiang thought to herself that she was indeed her real mother. She grabbed a tissue to wipe her hands, sighed, and stepped out of the bedroom: “Coming, coming, coming!”
“Hurry up! Look what we brought back for you.”
Cheng Xiang walked over to take a look. “Oh, Donkey Rolls1.”
“Heh, you haven’t had these in years, have you? Give them a try.”
“Let me wash my hands first.”
Cheng Xiang faced the mirror, quickly smoothing her hair.
Only then did she stroll back with an air of nonchalance, picking up a piece of Donkey Roll and popping it into her mouth. “Why are you guys back so suddenly?”
“Oh, you remember your dad’s old classmate, Uncle Ding? Well, their little Pekingese suddenly came down with gastroenteritis. Their housekeeper called him, so he had to rush back immediately. That put an end to our mahjong game.”
The Donkey Roll lodged right in Cheng Xiang’s throat, making her choke. She raised a hand and patted her chest.
She could not bear to hear the word “gastroenteritis” anymore. It triggered her.
“Well, since the mahjong game is off, you guys should get some sleep.”
“You’re not eating any more?”
“Yeah, I had dinner before coming back.”
“Who did you eat with? Where? What did you have?”
This rapid barrage of the three questions of the soul2 made Cheng Xiang’s temples throb. Her hands were already sore and she lacked energy, so she made up a quick excuse on the spot: “I was just working overtime. I grabbed a quick bite with a colleague.”
“Sigh,” Director Ma lamented. “I can’t fall asleep. I lost money just now and hoped to win it back in a few more rounds.”
She called to Cheng Xiang: “Why don’t we have a mother-daughter chat?”
“…about what?”
“Let’s start from when I was pregnant with you. Back then, when I was carrying you…”
Why don’t you start from the origin of humanity while you’re at it? Cheng Xiang thought.
“Mom, Mom, Mom, stop,” Cheng Xiang cut her off. “How much did you lose?”
“Almost a thousand.”
“Be more precise.”
“Nine hundred and eighty.”
Cheng Xiang gritted her teeth. “I’ll cover it.”
“Really?” Director Ma beamed, her face lighting up instantly. “Oh, but I’d feel so bad. You don’t even make that much a month.”
“It’s fine.” Cheng Xiang felt as if she was really bleeding cash for this cover-up. “Now you can go straight to sleep.”
“Then I’ll go take a shower first.”
Cheng Xiang slipped back into the bedroom. Tao Tianran had already put her trousers back on and was sitting on the edge of the bed, her hands pressing against the mattress. Cheng Xiang hurried over. “My mom went to take a shower and my dad is in his room. This is your chance to slip out.”
Tao Tianran said, “I’m not fully dressed yet.”
“What’s not dressed?”
“My hair,” Tao Tianran replied with a trace of languor.
Cheng Xiang tilted her head and saw that a long strand of Tao Tianran’s hair was still caught inside her collar. With a secret smile, she used both hands to pull Tao Tianran’s long hair out of her shirt.
She took Tao Tianran’s hand: “Let’s go.”
Tao Tianran asked, “What about the bedsheets?”
“Oh, right.” Cheng Xiang leaned down and bumped her forehead gently against Tao Tianran’s, mimicking her tone. “What about the bedsheets?”
Tao Tianran gave her a sidelong glance.
Cheng Xiang laughed. “I’ll figure something out.”
She led Tao Tianran by the hand, slipping through the moonlit courtyard of the old siheyuan3.
She pushed open the wooden gate, and Tao Tianran stepped outside. “I’m leaving then.”
“Mm, drive carefully.” Cheng Xiang waved her hand.
Closing the wooden gate, she knew she should head back to her room immediately. Yet she stood there for a while, her hands clasped behind her back, leaning against the door in a daze.
It was as if tonight had been too full, and she needed a lot of time to digest it all.
Listening to the rushing water from the shower room, she bit her lip, then once more pushed the gate open a crack.
In the soft blend of moonlight and lamplight, Tao Tianran was indeed still standing by the streetlamp right outside her home. Head down, she was tapping away on her phone. Hearing the sound, she raised her eyes.
Cheng Xiang poked her head out through the gap. “What are you doing?”
Tao Tianran lowered her head again, her slender finger giving the screen a light tap. The phone in Cheng Xiang’s pocket vibrated. She pulled it out to check.
TTR: 【I’m hungry.】
Leaning against the doorframe, Cheng Xiang tapped out a reply: 【I’ll take you to eat malatang, okay?】
Tao Tianran lifted her eyes, nodded under the streetlamp, her lips parting: “Okay.”
Cheng Xiang didn’t know how many heart-softening moments she had tonight. She glanced back once more at the shower room where the sound of water was dying down, quietly slipped out, and ran to Tao Tianran’s side: “Actually, I’m hungry too.”
“You just ate,” Tao Tianran said. “I heard you.”
“Just a single Donkey Roll.”
With her hands behind her back, she walked slowly beside Tao Tianran.
As they turned the corner of the alley, she parted her lips: “It’s just to the left… huh?”
But she saw that Tao Tianran had already turned left.
She asked Tao Tianran: “How did you know to go left?”
Tao Tianran lightly fluttered her long eyelashes: “I guessed.”
By the time the little malatang stall came into view, Tao Tianran thought to herself: I’m finally back here again.
This malatang stall was not far from Cheng Xiang’s home; she had been here several times before.
Cheng Xiang walked over with practiced familiarity to greet her: “Auntie Liu.”
“Xiangzi, out so late?”
“Yeah, I brought a friend along.”
Cheng Xiang brought over a small plastic stool, wiped it with a tissue, and only then let Tao Tianran sit down. She asked her, “What are you having?”
She whispered close to Tao Tianran’s ear, “You should probably stay away from the meatballs and things like that—they have too much starch. Shh, keep it down, don’t let Auntie Liu hear me. We’re neighbors after all; my mom would beat me. Just stick to things like shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots.”
Tao Tianran leaned in as well, with the same whispering volume: “But I’m hungry.”
Cheng Xiang lowered her head, a dimple appearing on one side of her face as she smiled.
“Then do you want noodles or rice vermicelli? Let’s go with noodles.” She gave Tao Tianran a knowing wink, silently implying that the rice vermicelli here had glue added to it. Raising her voice, she called out, “Auntie Liu, please boil a bowl of noodles.”
She scalded a bowl with hot water for Tao Tianran, then sat on a small stool to the side with her chin in her hands.
The freshly boiled noodles were scooped with a strainer into a stainless steel bowl placed in front of Tao Tianran. Cheng Xiang rubbed a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks together to smooth out any splinters and handed them over.
Tao Tianran asked, “Aren’t you eating?”
“I won’t eat.” Cheng Xiang rubbed her stomach. Although she had clearly felt hungry earlier, now she felt the Donkey Roll she’d swallowed playing tricks: “It’s a bit hard to digest.”
She sat with her chin propped in her hands, watching Tao Tianran eat: “Hey, be careful. Blow on it, blow on it… careful, it’s hot, hot, hot…”
Tao Tianran gave her a sidelong glance.
She smiled and made a zipping motion along her lips.
Well, inheriting from her biological mother, the Neighborhood Committee Director, she was indeed a bit long-winded.
She stopped talking and simply watched Tao Tianran eat in silence.
Tao Tianran was truly hungry; though she didn’t usually have much of an appetite, she quickly finished most of the bowl of noodles.
The red tent commonly used by the malatang stall in winter had already been packed away. A single lightbulb without a shade hung from a wire, shining so brightly it made one’s nose itch.
Cheng Xiang quietly glanced at Auntie Liu, who was busy nearby, then reached out to tuck a stray lock of hair falling by Tao Tianran’s cheek back behind her ear.
Her fingertips grazed skin as delicate as white porcelain.
Tao Tianran glanced at her.
“What is it?” she asked in a low voice. “What are you thinking?”
“I was thinking…” Tao Tianran put her chopsticks down for a moment and leaned close to her ear.
Cheng Xiang’s ears gradually turned red. Lowering her gaze, she looked at Tao Tianran’s hand resting on the edge of the table, staring at the plain silver band on her pinky. Tao Tianran had a habit: whenever her desires in that department were aroused, she would press her thumb against her pinky ring and spin it gently.
For instance, right now, as she sat by this street-food stall full of the bustle of daily life, she was describing the earlier process in detail right into Cheng Xiang’s ear.
Cheng Xiang had not expected Tao Tianran to be so bold. Nor had she expected that hearing the process described in words would make her heart race even faster than witnessing it with her own eyes. Words left so much room for the imagination, allowing her mind to fill in every single detail her eyes had missed.
Tao Tianran had also not expected herself to say such things.
She was no longer holding back. She had waited for too long, suppressed herself for too long.
All the way until she sent Tao Tianran off and returned home, Cheng Xiang’s ears were still burning hot.
She double-locked her door, leaned her back against it, and squatted down, hugging her knees. She didn’t know why she had to make such a movement, but if she didn’t, the feeling of her heart pounding against her ribs beat by beat would have been unbearable.
Resting her head on her knees, she suddenly felt hungry again. She stood up, opened a drawer, pulled out that bag of White Rabbit Cream Candy flavored potato chips, and removed the sealing clip.
To welcome Tao Tianran, she had tidied her room. Now, standing by her desk, she rested one hand on the edge of the desk while the other absentmindedly stuffed potato chips into her mouth, piece by piece.
The phone in her pocket vibrated. Cheng Xiang sucked her fingers and pulled it out.
A WeChat message arrived from Tao Tianran. She had snapped a photo of the moon through her car window on her way home, typing to ask: 【Doesn’t it look like the streetlamp in my neighborhood?】
Cheng Xiang typed a reply with her candy-scented fingers: 【It is the streetlamp in your neighborhood, looking like a moon from old times.】
That night, Cheng Xiang did not change the bedsheets. She simply curled up on her side and fell asleep, feeling as though she were sleeping beside a river.
The next day, she woke up very early and quietly walked out of the bedroom clutching the bedsheets.
This is… quite a mess. Should she hand-wash them before throwing them into the washing machine?
Just as she was scrubbing them over a washbasin in the bathroom, Director Ma walked in rubbing her eyes half-asleep, startled: “Why are you up so early washing bedsheets?”
“I…” Cheng Xiang was a bit dazed, her mind failing to react quickly enough.
Director Ma’s gaze gradually shifted from confusion to sudden realization.
Cheng Xiang braced herself. She had also been thinking about how to explain this to Director Ma; if her mother exposed her, she would just admit it.
To her utter shock, Director Ma clapped her hands together, then leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper: “Don’t be embarrassed, I’m your own mother. Just tell me the truth… did you wet the bed?”
Cheng Xiang: …
“I kept telling you that job of yours is no good, working overtime every day, it’s so exhausting. Look at you, you’ve got a kidney deficiency, don’t you?” Director Ma knitted her brows. “Should I take you to get a couple of Chinese herbal medicine prescriptions?”
“Alright, alright, alright.” Cheng Xiang used the back of her wet hands to push Director Ma out. “Just leave it alone.”
Inside a conference room at Kunpu.
After the meeting wrapped up, Yi Yu curled her knuckles and tapped the conference table, keeping Tao Tianran behind.
She asked, “Teacher Tao, why did you keep avoiding my gaze during the meeting?”
Honestly, it’s just because the visual impact of you dancing the capybara dance in cartoon onesie pajamas is too strong, Tao Tianran thought.
I have a bit of trouble looking directly at you.
Of course, Tao Tianran did not say that aloud. She simply asked, “Is something the matter?”
“Oh, yes, there is,” Yi Yu said. “President Qiao from Jianshi Law Firm—you were the one who handed her your card last time, right? She contacted the company. Surprised, Teacher Tao? The designer she specified this time isn’t you. Guess who?”
“Yu Yusheng.”
“Whoa.” Yi Yu raised an eyebrow. “Impressive, you actually guessed it. Here’s my thought: Shianne doesn’t have as much experience handling cases solo as you do, and this client’s tier is quite high. Would you mind acting as an assistant to help keep an eye on things?”
“No trouble.” Tao Tianran closed her laptop and walked out of the conference room.
In the afternoon, Yu Yusheng entered her office to discuss a design proposal they were collaborating on.
At the end, she cast a glance at Yu Yusheng.
Yu Yusheng curled the corners of her lips: “What is it?”
Tao Tianran shook her head: “Nothing.”
After work, she drove downstairs to Cheng Xiang’s company. Cheng Xiang had already come down, waiting on the curb with a canvas bag on her back.
She pulled the car smoothly to the side of the road. The moment Cheng Xiang climbed into the passenger seat, she held up two rice balls like Doraemon showing off his gadgets: “Orleans chicken or tuna salad? Which one do you want?”
“Either is fine.”
“Then let’s do rock-paper-scissors.” Cheng Xiang set her backpack down and smoothed out the ends of her hair. “Since we’re going to buy cola later, I didn’t buy water. I didn’t expect the new movie to be so popular; the only tickets available were for 7:20 PM, so we didn’t even have time for dinner.”
“Rock, paper, scissors—shoot!”
“Ha, I won!” Cheng Xiang grinned. “Then I’ll take the tuna one. Do you want to eat your rice ball now? I’ll open it for you.”
“Later.”
“Later might not be great,” Cheng Xiang began to fret again. “I had the clerk heat it up in the microwave, won’t it get cold again in a bit? That’s bad for your stomach, you know.”
She pulled the red tear strip down the center of the rice ball, peeled the plastic wrap back on both sides, and held it to Tao Tianran’s mouth: “Just open up.”
Tao Tianran leaned down to take a bite, and she handed over a tissue.
The newly released movie was indeed a huge hit. It told the story of a wedding planner who was forced to transition into a funeral director, slowly discovering the true meaning of life.
Tao Tianran’s mind wandered a bit.
Qiao Zhiji really did come looking for Yu Yusheng.
Even though she had helped nudge this matter along, now that the time had actually come, the unease in her heart grew gradually.
She had saved Cheng Xiang, and now she wanted to save Yu Yusheng. Would things truly go as smoothly as she hoped?
Between Cheng Xiang and Yu Yusheng, there had only been one body, while the other wandered as a spirit. If in this timeline she wanted both Cheng Xiang and Yu Yusheng to be safe and sound, could that be achieved?
Would it break the conservation of energy? Would it ruin this timeline she had found with so much difficulty?
Would they… enter a new cycle once more?
Tao Tianran slowly massaged her fingers, finding herself apprehensive about everything she currently possessed.
Her fear originated from the unknown, and from uncertainty.
Cheng Xiang quietly stole a glance out of the corner of her eye.
This movie isn’t even that good, so why is she staring at the screen so intently? She hasn’t even turned her gaze over this way once.
Is watching a movie really just for the sake of watching a movie?
Cheng Xiang called out in a whisper: “Tao Tianran.”
Tao Tianran turned her eyes over.
“Do you think it’s any good?”
In the dim glow of the silver screen, Tao Tianran mouthed back: “It’s alright.”
Cheng Xiang grinned, continuing to whisper: “Do you want some popcorn?”
The popcorn bucket was placed on the armrest between them. Tao Tianran’s slender fingers reached inside, and Cheng Xiang’s hand followed, catching Tao Tianran’s hand.
The popcorn fell back. She turned her palm upward, her fingers slipping one by one into the gaps between Cheng Xiang’s fingers.
Their fingertips, having just touched popcorn, were a little sticky. This was a popcorn-flavored hand-holding.
Once the movie ended, Cheng Xiang headed to the restroom. She took her sweet time washing her hands, watching the crowd file past before looking at her own reflection in the mirror, pursing her lips.
She wanted to kiss.
After having done it with Tao Tianran, she wanted to kiss like an addict.
In fact, whether it was kissing or hugging, she just desperately craved the touch and temperature of her skin. Cheng Xiang looked around the restroom—the blowers were whirring, and the tissues in the metal trash can were almost overflowing.
Sigh, even if she stalled until everyone was gone, kissing in a cinema restroom wouldn’t be very good, right?
By the time she dawdled out of the restroom, the departing crowd had indeed mostly cleared out.
Tao Tianran stood waiting for her by the empty ticket gate: “Downstairs?”
“Yeah, okay.”
“The elevator is this way.”
The cinema was on the fourth floor, and a sightseeing elevator carried them straight down to the outdoors on the first floor, where a convenience store glowed with a warm white light.
Cheng Xiang suddenly said, “Wait a moment,” and dashed toward the convenience store.
Tao Tianran walked to the front of the convenience store in her high heels, just as Cheng Xiang came out carrying a bag of White Rabbit Cream Candy flavored potato chips.
She waved her hand, asking Tao Tianran: “Want some?”
Tao Tianran shook her head.
“I’ll eat it then,” Cheng Xiang muttered, tearing open the bag, pinching a chip, and stuffing it into her mouth.
Then she crooked her finger at Tao Tianran: “Can you step a bit closer?”
“A bit more.”
Until the two of them moved to a corner untouched by the convenience store’s light, where a smoke tree burst with large patches of pink, Cheng Xiang said in a soft voice, “Tao Tianran, I want to kiss you.”
Before Tao Tianran could respond, she leaned in and kissed her.
A boring and childish feeling, comparable to the popcorn movie they’d just watched.
Cheng Xiang just thought: having held hands with the flavor of popcorn and shared a kiss with the flavor of cream candy, could they just go on being sweet like this forever?
Coincidentally, two other moviegoers who had delayed their departure walked out of the elevator.
Cheng Xiang kept her eyes closed, her thick eyelashes trembling softly.
She didn’t want to end this somewhat boring and childish kiss, which nevertheless carried a special meaning in her heart.
But, it wouldn’t be very good to be seen.
Just as she was about to pull away, Tao Tianran gently pulled her by the waist.
Today she was wearing a thin, hooded, long-sleeved T-shirt. With a flick of her slender fingers, Tao Tianran pulled up the large hood to cover her entire face, and hid her own face inside the brim of the hood as well.
The two people behind them passed by at a distance, completely unaware.
They kissed, hidden inside Cheng Xiang’s hood. Slender, rose-pink petals of the smoke tree fell across their shoulders like a gentle shower of rouge rain4, keeping them safely hidden in their own private universe, kissing as if there would never be an end.
Footnotes
- A traditional Beijing sweet pastry made of glutinous rice and red bean paste, rolled in roasted soybean flour.
- Humorous Chinese internet slang referring to a rapid barrage of three basic, direct, and often probing questions.
- A traditional Chinese courtyard residence.
- A poetic metaphor for falling pink petals, representing a delicate, romantic, and uniquely feminine atmosphere.
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