Jiang Cheng was sitting in a KFC in the middle of nowhere when his phone rang. He glanced at the unknown number and picked up.
“Hello?”
A middle-aged man’s voice boomed through the receiver. “Jiang Cheng?”
Jiang Cheng held the phone away from his ears. “Yes.”
“I’m your daddy,” the man said.
“…Oh.” Jiang Cheng answered. This exchange was somehow amusing to him, and he couldn’t help but laugh.
The man laughed along with him for a second before continuing, “My name is Li Baoguo. You know that, right?”
“Yeah.” Jiang Cheng took a sip of coke.
“Has your train arrived yet?” Li Baoguo asked.
“Yeah.” Jiang Cheng glanced down at his watch. Two hours ago.
“Do you have the address? I don’t have a car to pick you up, just take a cab over and I’ll meet you out by the main road,” said Li Baoguo.
“Okay.”
He had better luck this time; he was able to hail a cab right away. The driver had the heat on full blast, and it was so warm that Jiang Cheng felt a little feverish. The driver was chatty, but Jiang Cheng just leaned against the window and stared outside quietly. After a few false starts, the driver finally gave up and turned on the radio.
Jiang Cheng was trying his best to get a good look at the city, but night had descended and the streetlamps didn’t do much in the way of illumination. Besides, watching snowflakes dance in the halo of the lights made him a little dizzy.
He closed his eyes.
And then he quickly opened them again. What was wrong with him? How lame. He was acting like a sissy.
When the taxi finally brought him to his destination, Jiang Cheng got out with his suitcase and stood on the side of the street.
There was nobody there.
Not even a shadow of “your daddy” Li Baoguo, who’d promised to meet him out by the main road. Fighting the irritation in his heart and the pain of his wind-blown face, Jiang Cheng pulled out his phone and called Li Baoguo.
The call rang for a long time before Li Baoguo picked up. “Agh, this hand sucks… Yeah?”
“I’m out here on the main road.” Hearing the noise from the other end, though, Jiang Cheng had the sudden urge to hang up and look for a hotel instead.
“Huh?! You’re here already?” Li Baoguo exclaimed loudly. “I’m here, I’m already here, I’m coming out right now.”
That so-called “right now” was right about five minutes. Just as Jiang Cheng was reaching out with one hand to flag a cab, dragging his suitcase along with the other, a man wearing an ushanka hat ran up and pushed his arm down.
“Jiang Cheng, right?” he shouted.
Jiang Cheng was silent. He saw the apartment building Li Baoguo had run out from. It was right next to where he’d been waiting.
Right now?
When he noticed heads poking out from a second-floor window looking in their direction, he almost wanted to keep his mouth shut forever.
“I was over at a friend’s place. Let’s go.” Li Baoguo patted his shoulder. “Come on, let’s go home… You look taller than the photos, huh.”
Jiang Cheng kept his eyes down, glued to the muddy road, as he followed.
“Hey.” Li Baoguo slapped his back a couple of times for good measure. “How many years has it been now? Gotta be more than ten, eh? I finally got to see my son! I should take a good look.”
Li Baoguo peered round in front of Jiang Cheng and stared straight into his face.
Jiang Cheng pulled up the face mask he’d left scrunched up on his chin, fixing it over his nose. In that instant, he suddenly felt hollowed out. Even the air around him was charged with a sense of wandering aimlessness.