“It is currently 6 AM in Beijing.”

The next morning, Gu Hai was awakened by the sound of a weather announcement from his newly purchased old-school cell phone. He would normally get up at 5 o'clock every morning, but last night, he had tossed and turned the entire time in bed and did not get a good night's sleep. He was out looking for a rental at the night market until midnight. When he had finally found a place to stay, the sound of crickets kept him awake. It was close to dawn when he finally succ.u.mbed to sleep.

However, Gu Hai was filled with excitement and delight today. He jumped out of his wooden-crooked single bed, put on his 30 yuan sneakers, and washed himself for a bit, before he went out riding his secondhand bike.

He felt very refreshed and happy as he rode away.

Meanwhile, Bai Luo Yin's state of mind was the complete opposite.

This particular morning, he woke up with a splitting headache and an upset stomach.. His memories of the previous night were blurry. He could not remember how he managed to get home. He only remembered that he was out eating barbeque. He also remembered that he b.u.mped into Gu Hai and they chatted for a while. However, he could not recall what happened during the rest of the night.

Bai Luo Yin glanced at the clock – it was already past 6 AM. He knew that he was would definitely be late to school again.

After eating a bowl of beancurd at Aunt Zou’s breakfast stall, Bai Luo Yin's upset stomach finally settled as he got his appet.i.te back. And while he was paying, he asked Aunt Zou, "Auntie, do you know how to wash blood stains off of clothes?”

Bai Luo Yin had a.s.sumed that any woman would know how to do this.

“Just soak it in cold water for a while and rub it a few times with sulfur soap. If you really can’t wash it off, then give it to me and I will wash it for you.”

“There's no need to. I can wash it myself.”

Bai Luo Yin paid for his meal, and instead of heading off to school, he went home. He took out Gu Hai's uniform and soaked it in a basin of cold water. He then continued on his way to school.

He hadn’t walked far yet when he ran into Gu Hai who was riding a bicycle.

Gu Hai’s bicycle did not have any bells, but the frame creaked loudly as he rode it; the noise was quite noticeable. The brake was also defective, but fortunately Gu Hai was able to use his long legs to halt his bike to a full stop smoothly in front of Bai Luo Yin.

“Come, bro [1] will take you to school.”

Bai Luo Yin simply ignored Gu Hai and continued to walk ahead.

“Your bike is really lousy. If I ride with you, it will definitely collapse!”

“You’re walking, but you can still look down on someone who’s riding a bike?”

Although Gu Hai was riding a bicycle, he maintained the same walking speed as Bai Luo Yin.'s pace

They were two people traveling on the same path – one was walking while the other was riding a bicycle; even if the other was annoyingly noisy and fooling around, one would still feel obligated to start a conversation. Nevertheless, Bai Luo Yin kept his silence for some time. Unconsciously, however, he glanced at Gu Hai and realized that Gu Hai had been staring at him the entire time.

“How can you ride a bike looking sideways instead of looking at front?" Bai Luo Yin warned him.

Gu Hai’ smiled, “The front view is not as beautiful as my side view!”

Bai Luo Yin pretended not to hear him.

“So, your family also lives around here?”

“Right!” Gu Hai said as if it was the truth. “I've always lived in this area.”

“Then, why haven't I ever met you before?”

“This is the first time I'm late to school. I'm sure that on a normal day, you're not even up yet when I've started riding!".

“I am familiar with everyone in this neighbourhood. What's your father’s name?”

Gu Hai deliberately changed the subject.

“Why don't you ask me why I'm late today?”

Bai Luo Yin's mind was like a clear mirror. He clearly knew the answer, yet he still feigned ignorance.

“How would I know?”

“You drank too much last night. I carried you on my back all the way to your front door. You held onto me so tight, not wanting to let me go at all. You didn’t even want to go inside your house when we've arrived.”

“Can you be even more thick-skinned than this?” Bai Luo Yin gave Gu Hai a look of disgust. “Even if I were to hug someone, I won't hug you!”

“You can say this now. But who was the one crying and whining last night, spilling all of his past, sentimental secrets? I was innocently eating the meat skewers, when you suddenly threw yourself at me, calling out ‘Hui-er, Hui-er’ [2]. It gave me gooseb.u.mps……”

Bai Luo Yin had a slight recollection of the words that he said to Gu Hai last night. But now that he think about it again, he felt strange and uneasy. Those secrets were buried in the deepest corner of his heart, so why did he carelessly blurt them out to such an untrustworthy person?

“Last night, a drunken guy wanted to pee, but he had yet to pull his pants down. He was lucky that I was there to pull them down on time, or else his crotch would still be wet until this morning!"

Bai Luo Yin started to cuss inwardly as Gu Hai continued on with his ramblings.

“I told him that I didn't need to pee, but this guy insisted that I take off my pants to compare whose thing is bigger. Bai Luo Yin, tell me, don't you think that this guy is really shameless?”

On the surface, Gu Hai was definitely mocking Bai Luo Yin. At the same time, however, Bai Luo Yin's charming and innocent expressions while drunk were stuck in his mind. And the more he think about it, the more amused he feels. Pretty soon, he bursted out laughing.

Gu Hai's laughter annoyed Bai Luo Yin so much that he rushed towards him. Gu Hai noticed and tried to accelerate. Unfortunately for Gu Hai, his bike was old and defective. Hence before Gu Hai was able to gain any speed, Bai Luo Yin had managed to grab onto the backseat.

Gu Hai felt the increased weight as Bai Luo Yin jumped onto the back of his bicycle.

“Just now, when I asked you nicely to get on the bike, you refused. So, I have to insult you first  to make you listen to me before you get on the bike. huh?….. AH!! … You dare to hit me sneakily?!”

Gu Hai turned his head around and saw that Bai Luo Yin’s back was facing him.

“Eh… Why are you facing backwards?”

“I'm not in the mood to look at you.”

Gu Hai peddled steadily down the road. The bicycle seats were narrow and it could barely fit two people sitting back to back. Still, they sat in a kappa posture and pa.s.sed by street after street. This was the first time Bai Luo Yin could enjoy the scenery along his way to school. In the past, he was always in a hurry, so he never got the chance to appreciate the crisp, morning air.

“Hey, so you carried me back home last night?”

Gu Hai smiled faintly, “So, you finally remembered?”

“I'm just guessing.”

“I carried you home twice already. When will you carry me home, too?”

“Don’t you have legs?”

“You have legs too, so why do I have to carry you?”

“You're the one who carried me. So, why are you asking me?"

Gu Hai glanced down for a moment. With his hands on the handlebars, he made a sudden u-turn and ran over some rocks when he slowed down. As a result, the bicycle jolted very hard as if it would fall apart. One could only imagine how it felt for Bai Luo Yin who was sitting on the back seat.

Bai Luo Yin avoided falling off the bicycle by holding firmly onto the rear frame. At first, he had thought that the pavement was originally uneven, but he soon realized that the b.u.mps were only getting worse. It turned out that Gu Hai was purposely riding on the uneven road instead of the smoother counterpart. There's obviously a smoother road beside, yet this person refused to use it!

“Do you even know how to ride a bike properly?”

“This is the highest level of cycling. I’m working out in the front, while you're getting a special ma.s.sage treatment on the back. This is a natural way to improve your health!”

Bai Lu Yin jabbed Gu Hai with his elbow, right at Gu Hai’s waist. It tingled – it's almost like Bai Luo Yin had uncovered his trigger point. Gu Hai took a deep breath; his waist burned hotly at the spot where he was jobbed. As he continued to ponder over this strange feeling, he concluded that it felt good, in a way/it actually didn't feel that bad.

Today’s weather is truly a different kind of sunny.

Translator Note:

[1] The term "Bro" that Gu Hai used refers to himself as a friend, and not as a brother in the sense of siblings.

[2] When Bai Luoyin was calling "Hui er, Hui er" (慧兒、慧兒), it refers to his ex-girlfriend's name, s.h.i.+ Hui (石慧).

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