Chapter 21: The Pretentious Maiden and the Bonds of Brotherhood

January 12th, the twelfth day of the first lunar month, corresponding to February 9th, 1987.

The heavens seemed to be in a foul mood, weeping in a relentless, chilly drizzle accompanied by a biting northern wind—it was freezing cold.

Before dawn, Li Heng was shaken from his sleep by Tian Run'e. "Manzai, the roosters have crowed for the third time. It’s time to get up."

There were no watches or alarm clocks in the house. Li Jianguo’s only mechanical watch had broken long ago, and there was never enough money to fix it. If one needed to hit the road early, they had to rely on the roosters' crowing and the color of the sky to gauge the time.

Li Heng, who had stayed up late writing, was still dazed. His eyelids fluttered open and shut, his body feeling as heavy and limp as if paralyzed; he had absolutely no desire to move. But he knew he had to. In these times, there was only one bus from the town to Shao City, and he had to catch it. Otherwise, he would have to transfer three times, which was not only exhausting but also risky, as the routes were notorious for pickpockets and highwaymen.

Many seasoned travelers often warned the villagers: some drivers were unscrupulous, colluding with local gangs. Often, after passing Qijiang Town, they would stop at a secluded stretch of hilly road to let thugs board the bus and rob the passengers blind.

Even as a man reborn, Li Heng felt powerless against the harsh realities of this era and had no choice but to rush for the early bus. It was said the driver was a veteran of the Vietnam War, a man of integrity, and that passengers on his bus were rarely bothered. His reputation had slowly spread, and he was held in high regard.

By the time Li Heng finished washing up, Zhang Zhiyong had already arrived with his backpack. That saved some trouble; otherwise, going to the Zhangs' door to call for him might have resulted in being chased by dogs. Or worse, accidentally stumbling upon his fool of a father dating some unsavory woman behind a locust tree or in the bushes. This was no exaggeration. When it came to scandalous affairs, the nearby villages had a "Trinity of Scoundrels," and Zhang Zhiyong’s father was indisputably ranked first—even the local man who had an affair with his own daughter-in-law couldn't make the cut. After all, the "Trinity" were at least honest about their philandering and never harmed decent folk, often bragging about their exploits openly. The man surnamed Liang, however, was simply base and despicable.

Li Heng tucked various jars and containers handed to him by Comrade Tian Run'e into his bag, all filled with food, including his favorite preserved meat. Naturally, there were mostly pickled dishes—sour peppers, sour long beans, and pickled radishes.

Li Heng asked Zhang Zhiyong, "Just you? What about Yang Yingwen? Is she really not coming with us?"

At the mention of her, Zhang Zhiyong turned indignant, his face twisted with annoyance. "Coming? Like hell she is! I went to call her just now, and her mother said she left yesterday afternoon. The nerve of her, leaving without even telling us!"

Li Heng thought for a moment and, based on his past life’s experience, concluded, "She probably stayed at Xiao Han's place last night."

It was ironic. Yang Yingwen was arrogant and self-centered in her studies, yet she was a coward who was deathly afraid of ghosts. And, as luck would have it, the road from Shangwan Village to town passed by two large graveyards. One of them was an old execution ground where people of all ages and all manner of deaths were buried—those who had hanged themselves, those executed by firing squad, those beheaded, as well as women who died in childbirth and children who passed prematurely. It was terrifying just to think about, and those without a stout heart dared not pass by at night.

After carefully checking his bag to ensure his books and manuscripts were all there, Li Heng turned to bid farewell to Li Jianguo and Tian Run'e. "Dad, Mom, I’m leaving. Don't see me off; it’s freezing out, and Dad, your health isn't great—go back inside and rest."

"Alright! Walk slowly and watch the road. If you see strangers, give them a wide berth," the couple promised, though they still walked him to the edge of the village.

Their warnings were not unfounded. In these times, with no side businesses to pursue, villagers rarely left their homes after dinner during the off-season, at most visiting neighbors for a chat. Those traveling in the middle of the night were likely one of two types: people in desperate need, or those with malicious intent.

Zhang Zhiyong shook his leg and blustered, "Uncle Li, Aunt Tian, don't worry. I’ve got a knife. If any idiot dares to provoke us brothers, I’ll stab him a bloody hole and make him beg for his life!"

Tian Run'e and Li Jianguo were long accustomed to this fool’s erratic behavior and simply smiled, too tired to even try to talk him out of it.

About three miles outside Shangwan Village, they reached Temple Street. It wasn't a street for the living. The area was surrounded by craggy mountains, with no signs of human life for six hundred meters in either direction, save for a small temple tucked under a massive boulder—a rock as wide as a basketball court, dedicated to the Goddess of Three Lives. Behind the rock lay an endless graveyard.

Upon reaching this spot, accompanied by the chilling caw of crows, Li and Zhang, who had been chatting and laughing, suddenly fell silent. Exchanging a look, Li Heng skillfully fished a box of matches from his pocket. After a tense, scratchy struggle, he finally lit one.

Zhang Zhiyong didn't hesitate, quickly extending a bundle of straw he’d been carrying under his arm to the flame, igniting it.

Li Heng put away the matches and asked the customary question: "Ready?"

Zhang Zhiyong adjusted his pack and held up the flaming torch. "Ready!"

Illuminated by the red glow, Li Heng gave the order: "Run!"

At the word, they both bolted, heads down, sprinting blindly forward. They didn't look at the dirt graves on either side of the road, and even if they heard noises behind them, they refused to turn back. They pushed themselves to charge through the eerie mountain pass in one breath.

In truth, they had only developed the courage to travel at night during their first year of middle school. Back then, they were constantly robbed of their living expenses by Liu Shuiwen and his brother. With no money to buy food and unable to stomach plain rice, what could they do? They had to steel their nerves and run home after evening study sessions to get supplies. Over time, their courage grew, and their families got used to it, eventually stopping the practice of seeing them off. To be blunt, the elders were more afraid of that cursed place than the boys were—it was unclear who would be seeing whom off!

Halfway through, Li Heng suddenly asked, "Old Yong, you scared?"

Zhang Zhiyong puffed out his chest. "Scared of what? I’ve got a knife!"

Li Heng teased him, "Try blowing out the torch."

"Why?" Zhang Zhiyong asked, confused.

"Just blow!"

Zhang Zhiyong dutifully blew on the torch.

Li Heng asked, "Did you see a bunch of hairy mouths blowing along with you?"

"Damn you!!!"

Zhang Zhiyong, his nerves already stretched to the breaking point, felt a chill run down his spine. Gritting his teeth, he sped up and overtook Li Heng.

Li Heng laughed heartily, quickening his pace to run alongside him. "Sing the national anthem."

"Sing!"

"Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves, let our flesh and blood..."

This was their signature song, a testament to their brotherhood. Whenever their fear reached its peak, they would belt it out at the top of their lungs. The singing was earth-shaking, echoing through the darkness—one could only wonder if their "little friends" on either side of the road were scared to death.

In this nostalgic scene, Li Heng traversed the daunting mountain road and arrived in town.

The sky had not yet fully lightened, and the dim light cast long, indistinct shadows over the houses lining the street. Early vendors had already set up stalls, selling steamed buns and dumplings. Seeing passersby, they would shout, "Kid, want some breakfast? Fresh out of the steamer!" The slogans were neither new nor clever, but they caught whoever they could.

The bus station, located on the west side of the town, was small and dilapidated, its walls covered in "Serve the People" slogans. Only a few buses came and went each day. The public restroom was perpetually flooded with foul water; one had to have the resolve of someone facing death to enter it, so most people preferred to head into the hills behind the station.

"Kid, where are you headed?"

Before they even reached the entrance, the bus conductor ran over to solicit passengers, his enthusiasm so intense that saliva practically sprayed onto their faces.

Li Heng moved aside unobtrusively and asked, "Shao City. Are there any seats left?"

"Yes! Plenty, get on!" The conductor grabbed his arm, as enthusiastic as ever.

Li Heng had thought he was early, but once he boarded, he realized he had been naive. The conductor was clearly lying; it had been decades since he’d taken a bus, and he had forgotten the tricks of the trade. A quick glance showed at least thirty people on the bus. All the good seats were taken, leaving only three lonely spots in the very back.

Unexpectedly, he spotted several familiar faces—classmates from the same batch who had been admitted to Shao City No. 1 Middle School.

For instance, Xiao Feng sat in the second-to-last row. Despite sharing a surname with Xiao Han, they had nothing to do with each other. She was thin and came from the direction of the Shiqiaopu Gold Mine. She was the one closest to Yang Yingwen in academic ranking; during one midterm exam, she had trailed Yang Yingwen by only a single point, nearly cutting off Yang's "dragon vein" to the top spot in the school. She had always been a top student, a figure who commanded respect even at Shao City No. 1. If his memory served him right, she had gone on to Tsinghua University, though he didn't know the specifics after that as they hadn't kept in touch.

Seeing Li Heng board, the usually reticent Xiao Feng shot him a glance. Clearly, she too had heard the rumors of his philandering during the winter break. Receiving her gaze, Li Heng greeted her naturally. "Good morning, Comrade Xiao Feng."

Xiao Feng was a woman of few words and didn't reply, but her eyes remained on him.

"Heh, Li Heng, you're truly a legend. Your exploits could be written into the century's top one hundred cases."

The one who spoke up in her stead was another familiar face, Yang Cheng, sitting next to her. He was a short, chubby boy who had been a top-five student throughout middle school. For some reason, his grades had slipped in high school, and squeezing into the top 100 had become his new goal.

Li Heng stopped in front of him, lowered his head, and extended a fist. "Are you praising me, or do you want a beating?"

Yang Cheng shrank his neck. "Heaven and earth as my witness, I am praising you with absolute sincerity!"

Li Heng withdrew his fist and nodded with satisfaction. "As expected, outstanding people share the same vision."

Just as he had anticipated, Yang Yingwen hadn't left yesterday after all. She was sitting in the very back with Xiao Han, chatting with the people in front of them. Of course, that Yang girl was devious—he wouldn't waste ink on her; she hadn't even called them when she left.

Xiao Han was wearing a red jacket today. Her eyes were bright and profound, her fine, straight hair gathered over her smooth, white neck, accented by pink silk hairpins and earrings—she was as beautiful as ever. Or rather, she was naturally stunning, a girl who looked beautiful in anything she wore.

Seeing Li Heng walking straight toward her, Xiao Han suddenly mustered her courage, lifted her right hand slightly, and smiled. "Hi! Li Heng..."

Just then, the conductor at the front shouted, "We're leaving! Please have your small change ready, time to collect fares."

It was a kindness from the driver and conductor; they tried not to collect fares halfway to avoid tipping off pickpockets about where passengers kept their wallets. The conductor's shout interrupted, and Li Heng missed Xiao Han's small gesture and didn't hear her greeting.

He took a long stride, flopped into the window seat in the back row, and let out a long sigh of relief. Walking such a long mountain path had been exhausting!

Xiao Han sat frozen for a moment, then lifted her left hand to quietly tug at her right sleeve, feeling disappointed in herself and pinching the back of her right hand. She comforted herself inwardly: *No one noticed, right? It's fine. I'm still that aloof, cool girl.*

Zhang Zhiyong had always suffered from a fear of beautiful women. Seeing his best friend take the window seat, he stood in the aisle, too nervous to sit next to Xiao Han.

Li Heng feigned ignorance to his best friend's frantic eye-signaling and closed his eyes to rest.

Left with no choice, Zhang Zhiyong played his trump card. "A meal of stir-fry."

Li Heng was unmoved, continuing to tease him.

Zhang Zhiyong raised the stakes. "Two meals. Don't push your luck."

Li Heng opened his eyes and said languidly, "Plus a pound of spicy dried seaweed."

In these times, eating spicy dried seaweed in Shao City was a sign of status; it cost a yuan a pound—it was obscenely expensive! He wondered why those greedy merchants priced it so high—perhaps because of the difficulty of transport?

Zhang Zhiyong’s heart bled, but he endured it. "Deal!"

Having witnessed the "plastic" brotherhood throughout, Yang Yingwen finally spoke up once they had swapped seats. "Li Heng, Zhang Zhiyong, why are you only arriving now? The bus is about to leave."

Li Heng and Zhang Zhiyong, who had been at odds moments before, were now perfectly in sync. Both turned their heads to look out the window, ignoring her completely.