A First Love Story 1
At sixteen, life is always filled with dreams and a spirit of adventure. Xia Duoduo was no different. Before meeting Tong Xiaofei, her adventures mostly involved unabashedly sleeping through Chinese class or daydreaming about time travel during physics lessons. But once Tong Xiaofei became her deskmate, her adventures took a new turn.
To escape homework and the scolding of adults, Tong Xiaofei suggested, “Why don’t we just leave?” Without assignments or textbooks, Tong Xiaofei and Xia Duoduo boarded a train to Suzhou.
Xia Duoduo liked Suzhou. The two-hour journey brought them to a city just as the rain began to fall. Standing in front of a shabby little inn with mud everywhere, Tong Xiaofei pretended to bargain with the innkeeper.
Seeing that they were just kids, the old landlady offered them two single rooms for 30 yuan each. The so-called single rooms were small compartments divided by wooden boards, with barely enough space to turn around besides the narrow bed.
From the wooden walls came a knocking sound. Tong Xiaofei asked, “How is it on your side? Mine is so small.” The unimpeded sound in her ear made Xia Duoduo feel a bit more at ease.
Tong Xiaofei had an endless supply of corny jokes, which, even after traveling 1463 kilometers, kept coming, filling the long stretches of empty time. Xia Duoduo realized for the first time that time could stretch on so long! No endless homework, no vocabulary to memorize, and no nagging parents or stern teachers. After Suzhou, they went to Beijing, visiting all the big and small attractions.
They arrived in Dalian in March. The mornings were still cold, with the horizon dimly white under a gloomy sky. Suddenly, there was a rumble of distant thunder, and rain started pouring down. Tong Xiaofei pulled Xia Duoduo under a red shop awning. The rain continued, but the shop opened for business.
“Why are you standing outside getting drenched? Come in quickly!” called a middle-aged lady. The shop was warm, a small tailor’s shop, with a fragrant pot of soup steaming on the stove. Her son had just woken up, groggily and curiously looking at Xia Duoduo and Tong Xiaofei. The lady handed them some dry clothes to change into and then served them two bowls of steaming noodles.
“Where are your parents? Did you sneak out to play?”
Seeing their hesitant silence, the lady stopped asking. She went about her business, washing and ironing clothes, urging her son to get up and wash. “Did you memorize the ancient poems yesterday?” Xia Duoduo kept her head down, eating the noodles. She realized that parents everywhere are just as nagging. Is this what love is?
After bidding farewell to the middle-aged lady, they arrived at the square. The sunlight was faint, and for the first time, Xia Duoduo found the pigeons walking under the large fountain to be so captivating.
Tong Xiaofei was jumping up and down on a stone post nearby, his thin silhouette blending into the sunlight, his slightly wrinkled shirt telling of their long journey. Xia Duoduo looked up and softly said, “Let’s go home!”
This 2251-kilometer elopement was merely a youthful rebellion. Perhaps there were many indescribable grievances, or maybe there was too much unavoidable pressure, but the wings of a sixteen-year-old must endure the tempering of bitterness and pain to grow strong.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
