After school.
Jiang Yu didn't go home.
He stood at the school gate, looking toward the western sky.
The setting sun dyed the entire street a pale orange.
"Do you know where his house is?"
Shen Zhiwei stood behind him.
"No."
"Then how are you going to get there?"
Jiang Yu was silent for a moment.
"I know."
He didn't look at the map.
He didn't check his phone.
He simply followed his memory, walking forward one step at a time.
He had taken that route many times.
Lin Zi'an's family owned a stationery shop.
Before exams, they used to go buy mechanical pencils together.
Lin Zi'an had even complained once:
"I have to help watch the store after school every day. I'm so sick of it."
Jiang Yu remembered that clearly.
Because that day, Lin Zi'an had bought him a bottle of Coke.
Twenty minutes later.
The two of them stopped in front of an old shop.
The sign read:
Hongwen Stationery Shop.
Jiang Yu froze.
The shop was still there.
The glass door still looked the same.
Even the chipped rocking horse by the entrance was still there.
But...
Beneath the sign.
There was an extra line of text.
Run by a husband and wife for thirty years.
There was no "family of four."
There were no children at all.
It was as if this shop.
Had always belonged only to the husband and wife.
Jiang Yu pushed the door open.
The wind chime above it gave a clear, tinkling sound.
"Welcome."
A middle-aged woman looked up.
She wore reading glasses.
Her smile was gentle.
Exactly the same as in Jiang Yu's memory.
"What can I get you, young man?"
Jiang Yu's throat went dry.
"Ma'am..."
"Yes?"
"Is Lin Zi'an here?"
Her smile.
Stopped.
The woman froze for a second.
Then she looked confused.
"I'm sorry."
"Did you come to the wrong place?"
"There's no one named Lin Zi'an in our family."
Jiang Yu didn't answer.
His gaze slowly shifted to the side.
In the corner.
There was a basketball.
Nike.
Worn smooth with age.
Written across its surface in white marker were the letters:
KZA
Those were Lin Zi'an's initials in English.
Jiang Yu recognized them.
Because he had been the one to write them for Lin Zi'an.
"Ma'am."
Jiang Yu pointed at the basketball.
"This ball..."
The woman turned to look.
She smiled.
"Oh, that was my husband's from when he used to play basketball."
"He never had the heart to throw it away."
Jiang Yu said nothing.
He knew.
It wasn't.
"Honey."
A man's voice came from the back of the shop.
"Is someone there?"
"A student is buying something."
A middle-aged man came out.
When he saw Jiang Yu.
He smiled and nodded.
"Go ahead and look around. Make yourself at home."
Jiang Yu looked at him.
Lin Zi'an looked very much like his father.
His nose.
His eyes.
The curve of his mouth when he smiled.
All of it was the same.
And yet.
There wasn't the slightest emotion in the man's eyes beyond that of a stranger.
He truly didn't know Jiang Yu.
He didn't even remember.
That he had a son.
Jiang Yu bought a black ballpoint pen.
When it was time to pay.
The woman opened the register.
Beside it lay a yellowed family photo.
There were only the husband and wife.
No children.
No Lin Zi'an.
Jiang Yu stared at the photograph.
For a long time, he didn't look away.
"What's wrong?"
The woman asked with a smile.
"I'm fine."
Jiang Yu lowered his head.
He placed the money on the counter.
Just then.
The telephone in the shop rang.
The woman picked it up.
"Hello?"
She chatted for a few seconds with a smile.
Then suddenly stopped.
Her eyes went blank for an instant.
"Wait."
She turned around.
And instinctively called out:
"Zi..."
Her voice cut off.
She froze too.
"That's strange."
She rubbed her temples.
"Was I just about to call someone?"
Her husband said with a laugh:
"You must be exhausted lately."
The woman nodded.
"Maybe."
The person on the other end was still talking.
But she kept staring at the half-open wooden door at the back of the shop.
As if there.
Someone should have been sitting on a little stool.
Doing his homework.
After leaving the stationery shop.
Jiang Yu didn't say a word.
Shen Zhiwei walked beside him.
The setting sun stretched their shadows long.
"Go ahead and cry."
She spoke suddenly.
Jiang Yu shook his head.
"I'm not."
"You're lying again."
Jiang Yu stopped walking.
For the first time.
He didn't argue.
He only lowered his head.
Looking at the ballpoint pen in his hand.
It was Lin Zi'an's favorite brand.
Back then.
He always used to say:
"This one writes the best."
Jiang Yu suddenly smiled.
It was an ugly smile.
"I remember."
"I remember everything."
"But I'm the only one who remembers."
The tears.
Finally fell.
It wasn't a breakdown.
They simply flowed silently.
Like someone who had held it in for a very, very long time.
Finally admitting that he was truly hurting.
Shen Zhiwei stood beside him.
She didn't comfort him.
She didn't touch him either.
She simply stayed with him.
A long time passed.
Only then did Jiang Yu speak.
"What do you like to eat?"
Shen Zhiwei froze.
"Why are you suddenly asking that?"
"I don't know."
Jiang Yu wiped away his tears.
"I just want to know."
Shen Zhiwei thought for a long time.
So long that the sun was almost down.
She said softly:
"I..."
"I don't think I like sweet things."
"You don't think?"
"Yeah."
She smiled faintly.
"But I forgot."
Jiang Yu nodded.
The two of them walked to a convenience store.
He bought a vanilla ice cream.
Then a black coffee.
When they came out.
He handed the ice cream to Shen Zhiwei.
They both froze.
The ice cream passed straight through her hand.
And fell to the ground.
Shen Zhiwei looked down at the melting ice cream.
Then whispered:
"Before..."
"I think I really liked vanilla."
Jiang Yu froze.
"You remembered?"
Shen Zhiwei didn't answer.
She only stared at the ice cream slowly melting.
Her eyes reddened.
"So this is what it looks like."
Just then.
The glass door of the convenience store reflected their figures.
Jiang Yu looked toward the reflection.
The next second.
His breath stopped.
In the glass.
There was only him.
Shen Zhiwei's reflection was gone.
And more terrifying still.
Standing behind his reflection.
Was another person.
Wearing a high school uniform.
Smiling and waving at him.
Jiang Yu's pupils contracted.
That face.
It was Lin Zi'an.
But when he whipped around.
There was no one behind him.
Only the wind chime above the convenience store door.
It chimed softly once.
End of Chapter Seven