When they got back to the convenience store, Gu Fei’s mom was sitting by the front counter, in low spirits. Normally she would call out, “Ah, Jiang Cheng, you’re here!” whenever she saw him, but today she only threw the two of them a brief glance and then went back to staring into space.
“Have you eaten?” Gu Fei asked her.
“Yeah,” she replied weakly. “Took Er-Miao to get some kimbap. She insisted on eating that cold stuff… My stomach still hurts.”
“You should go home.” Gu Fei put a hand to her forehead to check her temperature. “Feels like you have a bit of a fever.”
“I don’t.” She stood up, grabbed her purse from under the counter, and walked toward the door. “Stop worrying about me. I’m tired of it, even if you aren’t.”
“Bye, Auntie,” Jiang Cheng said, watching her walk off. He turned to Gu Fei. “What’s going on with your mom?”
“She acts out like that sometimes.” Gu Fei sat down, opened the register, and checked the cash. “She’s probably in a sour mood because her new boyfriend hit her yesterday.”
“…The one with the motorcycle from last time?”
“Dunno.” Gu Fei’s eyebrows knitted together. “If it happens again, I’m going to go take care of the guy myself.”
Jiang Cheng sat down beside him and didn’t say anything.
“You can’t get through to her with words. I’ve tried talking to her hundreds of times, if not a thousand.” Gu Fei pulled his phone out and started swiping at random. “I think she needs to see a therapist, but she’d refuse for sure. Not to mention…it’s not like we have any reliable professionals here.”
Jiang Cheng took the phone from him and grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently and rhythmically.
In this run-down city, anyone who saw a therapist would be deemed a crazy person in the eyes of everyone around them—especially in the steelworks neighborhood. Gu Fei’s mom probably had the same thought. Seeing a shrink was as good as admitting she was crazy.
“She asked me yesterday if I’d have left her alone by now if it wasn’t for Gu Miao,” Gu Fei said.
“Would you?” Jiang Cheng turned to him.
“Yeah,” Gu Fei replied. “She’s a grown adult. Everyone can choose their own path to walk.”
Jiang Cheng didn’t say anything more; he felt lost.
“You should go take a nap,” said Gu Fei. “Or else you won’t make it through the afternoon.”
“And you?” Jiang Cheng asked.
“You want us to squeeze together on that little cot?” Gu Fei chuckled. “I don’t need to nap. I’m not tired.”
Gu Fei must’ve recently changed the bedclothes on the little bed in the back room. The duvet cover, the pillow cover, and the sheets all smelled fresh and full of sunlight. Jiang Cheng collapsed on the mattress and clutched the covers. He fell asleep in less than two minutes.
When Gu Fei woke him, he hugged the covers in his arms and refused to get up. “Ahhhh. Sleeeepy…”
“You skipping class, then?” Gu Fei asked.
Jiang Cheng buried his face into the covers. “No.”
“Then, get up?” Gu Fei asked again.
“Sleepy.”
“Then skip class?”
“No.” Jiang Cheng kept on recycling his answer.
“Then, let’s do it?”
“…Do what?” Jiang Cheng blinked.
“Me, do you.” Gu Fei braced his hand on the mattress and tugged on Jiang Cheng’s waistband. “Since we don’t have anywhere to be, and you don’t want to get up.”
Jiang Cheng turned and stared at him. “Holy shit.”
Gu Fei didn’t say anything, just lifted his shirt halfway off his body in a single movement.
“Hey! Hey, hey, hey…” Suddenly, Jiang Cheng was wide awake. He bolted up and jumped right off the bed. “Control yourself! We have to get to school.”
“Not sleepy anymore?” Gu Fei pulled his shirt back down.
“Not sleepy anymore. I’m gonna go wash my face!” Jiang Cheng raced out to the courtyard.
✦ ✦ ✦
The afternoon self-study periods had been canceled. Lao-Xu stood at the front of the class and gave a very earnest ten-minute speech encouraging them to rise above the harsh blow of having their self-study period replaced by various core subjects. The speech had little effect.
Lao-Lu, whose class took over the first self-study period, couldn’t help interrupting Lao-Xu. “Mr. Xu, there’s no point saying all this! Look at these little rascals! Go get some rest—my class is starting! You’ve taken up half the period already!”
Reluctantly, Lao-Xu ceded his spot, but not before a final appeal: “There’s less than a year left, everyone! You’ve already wasted two and a half years! You have to summon the energy to fight with all you’ve got for this last stretch!”
“WAKE UP!” Lao-Lu barked in English as he walked up, followed by a hard slap to the lectern. “Commencing class!”
Jiang Cheng had been paying attention the whole time, but even he was startled by the sudden noise; Gu Fei, who had been spacing out beside him, dropped his phone on the ground from the fright.
“At least take pity on your Xu-zong!” Lao-Lu said. “His lips are chafing from nagging you day after day like this! Senior students at other schools would lose ten, even twenty pounds preparing for these exams, but just look at yourselves! Nice and plump, every one of you! I’ll need to get a pork scale from the market just to weigh you!”
Jiang Cheng shot a glance at Gu Fei.
“Don’t look at me,” Gu Fei told him quietly. “I stay in great shape.”
Jiang Cheng stifled his laughter.
“You’ve lost weight, though,” Gu Fei added. “You’re visibly thinner. Let’s go weigh you this evening—I can see at least a ten-pound difference.”
“Sure.” Jiang Cheng gave him a smile.
✦ ✦ ✦
They went to a pharmacy after school. As Gu Fei stepped onto the scale, he said, “I’ve been the same weight for the past three years.”
“Do you always weigh yourself here?” Jiang Cheng asked.
“Mm.” Gu Fei nodded.
Jiang Cheng hesitated for a beat, then turned to the pharmacy staff. “Dajie, is your scale working properly?”
“Sure is—it’s new!” the woman said. “We replaced it just a couple months ago. It’s pretty accurate.”
“Oh.” Jiang Cheng stepped onto the scale, then blinked in shock. “Holy…what the shit…? I haven’t lost any weight?”
Gu Fei took away the backpack in Jiang Cheng’s hands and said, “You might as well carry me along with it.”
Jiang Cheng cracked up. “I can’t lift you.” He checked the number on the scale again. “I’m lighter than you now. We were probably about the same before?”
“Probably,” Gu Fei said, pinching Jiang Cheng’s waist. “You probably need some extra nutrition in your diet.”
“You’re exaggerating.” Jiang Cheng stepped off. “I’ve never needed to supplement my diet ahead of tests before. I used to toil every day when I was preparing for my high school entrance exam, and my mom…never supplemented my diet. I told you, I’m not that delicate.”
“High school entrance exams aren’t as stressful.” Gu Fei pulled out his phone to start researching as they walked out. “Besides, you’ve been too careless with what you’re eating these days. Let’s not eat out for dinner from now on.”
“Will we eat in the store, then?” asked Jiang Cheng.
“Mm-hmm.” Gu Fei nodded solemnly. “No eating breakfast outside either. All those dough fritters and fried pancakes aren’t healthy.”
“Are you gonna make me breakfast, then?” Jiang Cheng laughed.
Gu Fei nodded again. “Mm.”
“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Jiang Cheng leaned in to peer at his screen.
“Healthy recipes.” Gu Fei pointed at the screen. “Check this out: ‘One Nutritional Breakfast a Day.’”
“What, you’re gonna make it?” Jiang Cheng looked at him skeptically. “Even Li Yan cooks better than you do.”
“Then let Li Yan cook for you.”
“Fuck off.” Jiang Cheng glanced at him sideways. “I’m really not that delicate.”
“I refuse to fuck off.” Gu Fei grinned and put his phone away.