Chapter 17: P. Sunset Lingxiao

The first week of summer vacation was uneventful. Professor Wang held a few meetings and brought Ning Yixiao along each time. Later, he also included another student from the computer science department, Feng Cheng, who was in the same year as Ning Yixiao but a different class.

Ning Yixiao felt he looked somewhat familiar, but for a moment, he couldn’t place who he resembled. The original trio had become two, then returned to three. It felt as if things had changed, yet nothing had changed at all; everyone seemed to implicitly accept Su Hui’s disappearance, leaving only Ning Yixiao with a lump in his throat.

During the seventeen days of Su Hui’s absence, Ning Yixiao tried calling him and sending messages, but they all fell into a void. He had an innate trauma regarding sudden disappearances, yet he was helpless. He could only subconsciously check their nearly empty chat box, stare at the kitten doll’s heart before bed, and even trek to that red factory based on memory on nights when his long, agonizing work finally ended.

But he couldn’t find him.

It wasn’t until the eighteenth day that Ning Yixiao discovered a missed call from Su Hui. He had been writing code in a lab where the air conditioning had broken down; he often lost track of time while working. When he finally opened his phone and noticed, he called back, but the line wouldn’t connect.

It felt like a cruel joke. Ning Yixiao stared at the name “Su Hui” on the call log when a graduate student senior he had met a few times walked in.

“Yixiao? You’re here, I thought you went to eat,” the senior said. “Someone is looking for you outside; I think they’re from another department.”

“Looking for me?” Ning Yixiao stood up. “Is it a guy?”

The senior smiled. “Yeah, I thought you were in the dorms, so I pointed him in that direction. I didn’t expect you to still be working during lunch hour.”

“Thank you, Senior.” Ning Yixiao didn’t say much and grabbed his phone, leaving immediately.

At first, he was hesitant, not entirely sure the person was who he hoped, but gradually his pace quickened. He ended up running along the tree-lined path toward the dorms, eyes scanning the area. Fortunately, in a small rock garden behind the dorms, Ning Yixiao caught a glimpse of a figure who looked like Su Hui.

Calming his racing heart, he walked toward Su Hui with a feigned sense of composure. As he drew closer, he heard Su Hui humming a light, cheerful tune.

Su Hui was crouching before a cluster of vibrant green shrubs, wearing a water-blue top and a white bucket hat. Bathed in the setting sun, he was stroking the plain leaves with great tenderness. Tiny specks of dust danced in the light, and Su Hui himself seemed to be glowing.

The sound of a lighter clicked—open, then closed—repeating over and over. He stood up, and white smoke swirled around his cheeks.

Ning Yixiao stood behind him, wanting to startle him, so he spoke up. “Long time no see.”

Su Hui was genuinely spooked; his shoulders jumped, and he whirled around, his already large eyes widening further. The image reminded Ning Yixiao of a blue butterfly he had seen downstairs a few days ago.

“Smoking in secret again,” Ning Yixiao chuckled, walking up to him.

Su Hui had a long, thin cigarette between his index and middle fingers, looking as if it had just been lit. He leaned against the rockery, as he always leaned against something—it was as if he would collapse at any moment if he didn’t have support.

“I haven’t even taken a puff yet,” Su Hui said, looking up with a childlike tone.

He hadn’t expected Ning Yixiao to appear. He stared for a moment, feeling that it was real, not an illusion. He felt uncomfortable—perhaps he had been locked away too long and wasn’t used to the daily routine of being in the sunlight, or perhaps he wasn’t used to Ning Yixiao appearing before him just like this: a coincidence that required no waiting, someone he could actually find.

Su Hui blinked, and suddenly Ning Yixiao reached out and deftly snatched the cigarette from his hand. Thinking Ning Yixiao was going to throw it away, Su Hui reflexively said, “That’s a waste.”

But Ning Yixiao drew his hand back and put the cigarette in his own mouth, taking a drag and exhaling smoke. His movements were fluid; it didn’t look like his first time. It didn’t match his image as a model student at all.

“It even has a flavor capsule,” Ning Yixiao said, the corners of his mouth curling up through the mist.

Su Hui could almost imagine Ning Yixiao’s teeth piercing the menthol bead.

“What’s wrong with flavor capsules?” he asked, looking up.

Ning Yixiao removed the cigarette and held it between his fingers. “Only kids smoke those.”

“Then what do you smoke?” Su Hui asked.

Ning Yixiao’s gaze drifted into the distance, as if remembering something, then he glanced at the black cigarette box in Su Hui’s hand. “Not something as expensive as Marlboro. A few dollars a pack, white boxes—I think they were called Jiaozi.”

Su Hui laughed. “That’s a strange name. Sounds like a cigarette for girls.”

“It certainly wasn’t mine,” Ning Yixiao said in a deep voice. “I stole them from my mom. She liked to hide them in her pillow. I’d only ever take one at a time. Her memory wasn’t great; she never noticed.”

Su Hui was sensitive; he picked up on something in his lowered gaze.

“What do they taste like?”

“Like orange peel—very faint, with a hint of mold. Maybe they’d been sitting there too long. Mom couldn’t bear to smoke them.” Ning Yixiao forced a smile. “By the way, where have you been? You haven’t been coming to the group meetings.”

He changed the subject again, like a hedgehog.

Su Hui deftly took the cigarette back, took a puff, and exhaled a very imperfect smoke ring in the sunlight. “At home.”

Ning Yixiao raised an eyebrow, as if asking, Just like that?

Su Hui smiled and nodded.

Ning Yixiao didn’t press him. His phone vibrated, and he looked down to check the message. “Have you eaten?” he asked casually while typing a reply.

“Yeah, had a little bit.”

Ning Yixiao looked up and lifted his phone. “The reading and movie club is meeting at the track soon. Do you want to go?”

As evening approached, Su Hui stubbed out his cigarette and nodded with a smile. “Sure.”

Side by side, they walked through the shaded path. Ning Yixiao noticed that Su Hui’s gait was slightly off, as if his knees were injured, but he didn’t ask—he just quietly accompanied him toward the track.

By the time night fell and they arrived on the lawn, a circle of people had already formed. Someone had placed a spotlight in the center, casting a soft, yellow glow—it was like a bonfire party without the bonfire.

As soon as Ning Yixiao walked over, he was noticed, and everyone stopped to greet him. Su Hui watched Ning Yixiao’s profile. At that moment, Su Hui saw him shed the aura he had when he was alone with him—a feeling Su Hui couldn’t quite describe.

Now, he donned a face full of approachable smiles, dealing with the crowd and their overlapping voices with ease. Ning Yixiao’s brilliance lay in how effortlessly he could shift.

“Oh, right, I brought Su Hui, too.” Ning Yixiao, already seated, turned to look at Su Hui and introduced him to the others.

Unexpectedly, a boy diagonally across from him raised his hand high, the spotlight illuminating his face. “It’s the hottie from our department! Su Hui, come over here!”

Su Hui glanced at the boy, then instinctively looked toward Ning Yixiao, but he couldn’t read the calm expression on his face, so he nodded and walked toward his classmates with a smile. And just like that, they sat at opposite ends of the circle, their thoughts hidden beneath the laughter of the crowd.

Su Hui didn’t know the boy next to him, but the boy mentioned he was famous in the department. Su Hui figured it probably wasn’t for anything good, so he just smiled and brushed it off. Fortunately, the boy was humorous, and a few jokes about the department head made Su Hui laugh.

Su Hui was a good listener. When listening to others, he would subconsciously hug his knees, tilt his head, and show a bright, earnest, and adorable expression. Ning Yixiao took all of this in, even while he kept laughing and chatting with the others.

A tall girl arrived late, struggling to carry a large cardboard box. Su Hui saw Ning Yixiao stand up to help her, taking the box, and heard a girl nearby shout, “Great, we have cherries!” Then he saw the taut lines of Ning Yixiao’s forearms as he exerted effort.

Su Hui looked away, turning his gaze toward the spotlight. Staring into it caused all sorts of strange hallucinations.

The girl’s mother had sent her two large boxes of cherries, and she was generous enough to bring one for everyone. The cherries were so fresh they seemed just picked, still attached to little stems and leaves. Everyone received a small handful.

“These cherries are huge.”

“Yeah! They’re so sweet, thanks Miaomiao!”

“Don’t mention it, eat up!”

Ning Yixiao listened to the conversation around him, occasionally chiming in. The group began discussing what ice-breaker games to play. When a team member asked for his opinion, Ning Yixiao merely suggested, “Keep it light. Let the girls suggest something.”

“How about Truth or Dare?”

“Or a three-legged race? Whoever loses has to… perform a talent!”

“So cliché!”

“But it would be funny if we actually did it, trust me!”

“But what if we don’t have a talent?”

“Then… tell a story about something that left a deep impression on you?”

They chatted excitedly, and in just this short time, Ning Yixiao turned his head and keenly noticed that Su Hui had disappeared.

“Yixiao, I just wrote this down, draw one.” The girl next to him handed over a bunch of paper scraps.

“I’m going to take a call first.” Ning Yixiao stood up and left the crowd.

Trusting his intuition, he searched around. He passed the campus pharmacy, went in to buy something, and finally found him in the dark pavilion, behind a screen of climbing, bright-red trumpet creepers.

Su Hui was sitting loosely in the pavilion, hunched over, whispering to something.

“I’m very nice to you, don’t be afraid of me, I’m not a bad person…”

Ning Yixiao walked closer, hearing him more clearly and seeing the soft smile on his face. He was crouching in front of a stray dog, petting its head.

“It was you last time, too, right? Remember me?”

“How was your day? Are you hungry? I have cherries.” Su Hui said, pulling a cherry from his pocket, pitting it with his fingers, and offering it to the dog.

But the dog didn’t seem interested in fruit; it only sniffed, wagged its tail, and backed away slightly. Su Hui tried a few more times, but the dog still wouldn’t take it, so he popped it into his own mouth. “…This one’s a bit sour.”

Seeing his nose wrinkle because of the sourness, Ning Yixiao thought he looked incredibly cute. He didn’t notice Su Hui looking up, catching him “peeping” for so long.

Caught on the spot, Ning Yixiao pretended nothing was wrong, brushing aside the hanging vines and stepping into the pavilion. “Why’d you sneak away?”

Su Hui was honest. “That classmate kept asking why I stopped coming to class.”

“You didn’t want to answer?” Ning Yixiao asked.

“I didn’t figure out how to lie,” Su Hui said, slowly popping another cherry into his mouth, but he seemed in a good mood. “I took too much medicine; my brain is all clogged up.”

Ning Yixiao stared at the little sickling. The streetlights outside the pavilion slanted in, illuminating the red juice staining his fingertips and the corners of his mouth. It looked sweet.

Music drifted from nearby—a beautiful a cappella melody. The lyrics were diluted by the summer night breeze; only a few ambiguous words about love could be heard, as if it were love, or perhaps not—it was unclear.

“They’re playing games. If you lose, you have to perform a talent or tell a memorable story. Looks like someone already lost,” Ning Yixiao said, sitting down next to Su Hui.

Su Hui turned his head with a smile. “What games are they playing?”

“A three-legged race?” Ning Yixiao wasn’t sure which one they had settled on. “Something like that.”

Compared to being crowded by a noisy mob, Su Hui preferred being found by someone when he had vanished into the crowd. And since that person was Ning Yixiao, the pleasure only swelled.

He laughed and turned to Ning Yixiao. “There are only two of us. How about we play Rock, Paper, Scissors?”

Ning Yixiao nodded in agreement, but he hadn’t expected the game to end faster than he imagined. As soon as he threw rock, he saw Su Hui excitedly show scissors.

Su Hui’s expression changed, like a flower wilting instantly. Ning Yixiao laughed. “Best two out of three.”

Su Hui nodded immediately, saying, “My luck has always been bad.”

It sounded like he was making excuses for himself, but when Ning Yixiao threw rock again on the second round, trying to throw the match, Su Hui actually chose scissors yet again. He had no choice but to believe him.

Having lost two rounds straight with no room for a comeback, Su Hui leaned back against the bench, giving up. “Figures. I knew it.”

“So, you have to accept your punishment?” Ning Yixiao raised an eyebrow. “Perform a talent.”

Su Hui was silent for a moment, then suddenly started laughing.

“What are you laughing at?” Ning Yixiao studied him.

Su Hui stood up and leaned in closer. “I remembered I actually do have a talent.” Saying this, he took another cherry from his pocket, but didn’t eat it; instead, he picked off the stem.

“I can tie a knot in a cherry stem,” Su Hui said, the stem in his mouth, his voice muffled. “With my tongue.”

He pressed his lips shut.

Inappropriately, Ning Yixiao remembered the tongue piercing Su Hui had shown him earlier. He remembered the juice staining his lips when he bit the cherry, and he associated it with his soft mouth, his palate, his white teeth, the tip of his tongue curling back, and the small hole remaining on his tongue.

He suddenly wanted to know what that felt like to touch—with or without the piercing, held between his index and middle fingers, or exploring inside.

“Done.”

The muffled voice pulled Ning Yixiao back to reality.

While he was dazed, Su Hui had successfully completed his “talent show” and, looking quite satisfied, spat the knotted cherry stem into his palm, holding it out right before Ning Yixiao’s eyes. “Look.”

The center of the bent cherry stem was tied in a knot, shaped like Cupid’s arrow of love.

Su Hui’s voice was softer than the summer night breeze, like a Lingxiao flower about to bloom, drifting onto Ning Yixiao’s heart. “How’s that for a talent? Pretty impressive, right?”

Ning Yixiao used a smile to mask his difficulty in calming down, along with the vivid, lingering afterimage in his mind.

“Really impressive.”