Chapter 21

Crabs & Rabbits

You’re two lovers, and your families don’t agree to it, so you’re running away to elope?

The comic convention in Shanghai was held in mid July. Pang Qian always remembered what Gu Mingxi said, and she didn’t tell Pang Shuisheng that Sun Mingfang and Jian Zhe couldn’t go. She excitedly prepared a point and shoot camera (lit. an idiot’s camera) and bought two rolls of film. She also prepared a thick, hardcover book to get autographs from the authors.

Seeing how enthusiastic Pang Qian was, Pang Shuisheng suddenly realized that she was already 14 years old. This could be considered her first time traveling. It would let her and her friends widen their horizons.

Pang Shuisheng and Jin Ai’hus were just ordinary factory workers. Their salaries weren’t high, and they weren’t that aware of what it took to raise a child. So ever since she was younger, Pang Qian didn’t have many opportunities to go out into the world.

Pang Qian has probably gone traveling twice. Once was when she was 8 years old, during summer break. Pang Shuisheng went to Nanjing and Wuxi for a business trip, and he also brought Pang Qian along to play. They took a coach bus there and back.

At the time, there weren’t highways in place, so it was 10 hours each way by bus. Pang Qian got motion sickness and vomited a big mess.

When they arrived, Pang Shuisheng brought Pang Qian out to play. It just so happened that Lake Taihu had flooded that day. The water flowed out onto the sh.o.r.e, and it was nearly to Pang Qian’s knees. It was quite an eye opening experience for her. She ate some Nanjing salted duck and Wuxi spare ribs. When they were going home, Pang Qian even asked her dad to buy two servings of the ribs to bring back as a gift to Gu Mingxi.

After that vacation, Pang Qian talked to Gu Mingxi about it for several months. Every time they did anything, she’d said, “When I went to Nanjing, blah blah blah,” or “When I was in Wuxi, blah blah blah…” Gu Mingxi never cut her off, listening to her over and over again. It wasn’t until about half a year later when Pang Qian decided herself that it wasn’t so interesting, so she stopped.

The next time she went traveling, she was 10 years old. She went with Jin Ai’hua and her grandparents to her grandma’s hometown. After Grandma moved to E City and got married, she’d never gone back to her hometown. She’d gotten homesick, and after hearing that her younger brother had pa.s.sed away, she really wanted to visit. Jin Ai’hua immediately requested time off from work, and brought Pang Qian, who was on summer break at the time, along as she accompanied her elderly parents home.

It was a small and old village located in the south. They had to take a sleeper bus for one day and night to get there. Pang Qian vomited again and got very dizzy. They spent more than a week in the countryside. Pang Qian spoke a different dialect to the children there, so they couldn’t talk or play together. Every day, she just sat there doing nothing. She could only play with the small dog at her relatives’ place.

After that trip, Pang Qian didn’t have anything to tell Gu Mingxi. Gu Mingxi asked her if it was fun, and she shook her head, “It was so boring.”

In comparison, Gu Mingxi had slightly more travel experience than Pang Qian. Before his injury, Li Han had taken him to visit her parents in the northern province every two years. They had to take a long distance sleeper train. After his injury, Li Han still took advantage of her vacation time to take Gu Mingxi traveling.

Gu Mingxi had been to Jinan, climbed Mount Tai, and had also gone to Shanghai, Nanjing, Jinggangshan, Putou… He’d ridden a plane, taken a s.h.i.+p, been on a train and coach bus. Regarding that, Pang Qian was always angry. She’d ask her parents, “How come Gu Mingxi can go traveling with Auntie Li, but when you guys go traveling, you never take me!”

Pang Shuisheng had no way to tell Pang Qian that Gu Mingxi could go on those trips because Gu Guoxiang had given up his vacation days. He was an engineer at the factory. If he said he wasn’t going to go, and instead let his wife take his son, who would dare say anything about it?

So in front of Gu Mingxi, Pang Qian was just a little b.u.mpkin. She hadn’t even ridden a train before. She went on and on about Shanghai this and Shanghai that, but she didn’t even know which direction Shanghai was from E City.

Pang Shuisheng encouraged Pang Qian to buy her train ticket on her own. He felt that her knowledge pool was really too shallow. She ought to experience more of the world.

Pang Qian had no clue about how to go about buying a train ticket. She didn’t even know which way to go to get to the train station. But she also didn’t dare to let her dad buy the tickets either, because she only needed two tickets. Asking her dad to help would be a big mistake.

And so, Pang Qian just invited Gu Mingxi along with her to the train station.

The two of them took the public bus to their destination. It was summer break, so people were coming and going. It was very busy. Pang Qian didn’t even know which way was north. In the end, it was still Gu Mingxi who followed the signs and found the ticket counter.

Even when they lined up to purchase the tickets, Pang Qian stuck closely to Gu Mingxi, and ridiculously pulled onto the tail of his s.h.i.+rt.

Gu Mingxi said towards the ticket counter, “Two tickets to Shanghai for the morning of August 16th.”

“There are no more seats for the morning. There are seats in the afternoon, 2:30.”

“What about the morning of the 17th?”

“There are also no more seats.”

“Then I’ll take the afternoon on the 16th. Two tickets.” After a moment, he said, “Auntie, can I also buy tickets from Shanghai back to E City for the afternoon of the 18th?”

“Sure.”

“Then I’ll also buy two return tickets.”

“Is 3 PM on the 18th okay?”

“Yes.”

“That’s four tickets total, 128 dollars.”

Gu Mingxi turned to see the muddleheaded Pang Qian. “Pang Pang, pay for it.”

Pang Qian quickly pulled out the money and handed it over, then she accepted the change and the train tickets.

They walked out of the train station, and she looked down at the four train tickets in her hands. She suddenly said with realization, “So that’s how you buy train tickets.”

Gu Mingxi was silent as he watched Pang Qian looking around curiously. He suddenly felt that here was a typical crab, walking out sideways from its nest. Once she leaves home, her courage probably wasn’t even as big as a rabbit.

On the day that they set off, Gu Mingxi’s concerns became a reality. Pang Shuisheng and Li Han kept telling Pang Qian to take good care of Gu Mingxi, and she had agreed very well. But once they got to the train station, she was just like a scrooge, tagging along behind Gu Mingxi.

Entering the station, getting bags checked through security, finding the waiting area, checking tickets on the train, finding their seat… Gu Mingxi truly felt that if Pang Qian were left on her own, she probably wouldn’t have been able to take care of it all.

It was Friday and the train car was packed. Pang Qian naturally sat at the window. She propped herself against the window, staring outside.

Gu Mingxi had already become the focus of all the traveler’s attentions. They all watching him quietly, with probing eyes. As usual, he didn’t care much. But it was a bit uncomfortable when people stared at you, so he turned to look at Pang Qian.

She was wearing a red short sleeved t-s.h.i.+rt, at the recommendation of Pang Shuisheng. He said that it was an eye catching color, so she’d be easier to find when she got lost. Her ponytail was tied with a wide, red hair tie. She continually stared out the window, as if watching some kind of shadow puppet show.

When the train started moving, Pang Qian’s face clearly showed her surprise. Then, she quietly calmed down, leaning against Gu Mingxi’s side like a good little rabbit.

It took three hours by train to get from E City to Shanghai. After awhile, that new, exciting feeling faded for Pang Qian. She pulled out a comic book from her backpack, along with a pack of Lonely G.o.ds (potato twists). With some crinkling, she pulled open the package, eating as she read.

Of course, she didn’t forget to occasionally feed Gu Mingxi some snacks. This action was too intimate. He soon felt the even more surprised gazes of the pa.s.sengers around him, and his face burned up.

After the train had traveled for half an hour, the grandmother of the elderly couple sitting across from them couldn’t help but ask Pang Qian, “Little Miss, where are you two going?”

Pang Qian lifted her head to look at her, her comic and snacks still in hands. She answered honestly, “Shanghai.”

“Just the two of you? What are you doing in Shanghai?”

Pang Qian was about to answer when Gu Mingxi opened his mouth, “Our parents are working in Shanghai. We’re going there for summer vacation.”

“Oh…” The old woman seemed to realize, “You two are siblings?”

Gu Mingxi nodded, “Mm.”

“How old are you two?”

“We’re in high school,” Gu Mingxi answered calmly. “My younger sister just looks small, but she’s already gotten her resident ID card (you get this at age 16).”

The grandmother looked at Pang Qian suspiciously. Pang Qian’s lips still had some crumbs on them. With her timid looking eyes and face, no matter how you looked at it, she still seemed very young.

After a moment of silence, the old grandmother asked Gu Mingxi, “Student, what happened to your two arms?”

Gu Mingxi was wearing a white and grey plaid s.h.i.+rt, two empty short sleeves hanging on his sides. The nothingness at his cuffs made people really want to ask about it. He smiled slightly and answered simply, “When I was younger, I accidentally got electrocuted by a transformer.”

“Ah… What a shame for such a pretty boy.” The old grandmother’s tone was filled with sympathy and pity. Pang Qian became irritable and pouted. She stuffed her comic and not yet finished bag of snacks back into her backpack. Her actions were very big and noisy. Then she put her head down on the table and slept.

With her head resting on her arm, she heard Gu Mingxi politely say to the grandmothers, “My sister is like that, very willful.”

You’re the willful one! Pang Qian vented in her mind.

“Little girls are always like that,” the grandmother said. “You should tell your parents not to spoil her like that. When she gets older and joins society, looks for a boyfriend or a job, she will suffer from it.”

Gu Mingxi said with a laughing tone, “I know.”

Then the grandmother started to talk about her daughter-in-law. About how headstrong, unreasonable, and immature she was. Gu Mingxi didn’t interrupt her at all. After about 20 minutes of talking, Pang Qian, in her drowsy state, heard Gu Mingxi say, “Grandmother, actually, my sister is very obedient and pleasant. She’s just a bit immature now, but when she grows up, she will definitely be a very good girl.”

Pang Qian had been pretending to sleep the whole time. Her arms had already gotten a bit numb. She didn’t know why, but after hearing Gu Mingxi say that, her eyes grew a little damp.

Pang Qian “woke up” for the latter part of the journey. She finished a bag of dried fish, a bottle of fruit milk, and a stick of sausage.

Gu Mingxi watched stunned as she pulled out snack after snack from her backpack, eating until she was full. Finally, Pang Qian asked Gu Mingxi if he wanted to drink some water. On such a hot day, he hadn’t drunk anything for several hours already. His lips were visibly dry.

Gu Mingxi licked his lips. He really was very thirsty, there was no denying that. So he drank half a bottle of water from Pang Qian’s hands.

The train arrived to the Shanghai station right on time. It was evening when Gu Mingxi and Pang Qian walked out of the station with their backpacks on.

Shanghai was a bustling metropolis. The sun was setting then, and the sky was getting dark. Then the street lights and neon lights lit up one after another. Pang Qian stood at the exit of the station, looking at the crowds of people, the rows of tall buildings, the heavy stream of traffic on the road. She finally started to feel shocked, and she was also a bit scared.

She really was still young. What she’d imagined and the reality of it all were two completely different things. Her whole person stuck right next to Gu Mingxi, as if afraid that they’d get separated. Her left hand had a death grip on his s.h.i.+rt hem.

At the time, adults rarely had cellphones, let alone children having them. Gu Mingxi had a big cell phone though. Even Pang Shuisheng only had a pager. Pang Qian didn’t dare think about what she would do if she were to get separated from Gu Mingxi.

Gu Mingxi could see the panic in her eyes. He looked at her and said seriously, “Pang Pang, this is Shanghai, not E City. Listen to me. If the two of us get separated by accident, just stay where you are and don’t move. I’ll definitely find you, okay?”

Pang Qian lifted her head to look at him, and then gave a slight nod.

Gu Mingxi smiled and said, “Let’s go. Let’s figure out where we’re staying tonight first. Didn’t your dad say that he’d ask someone to help us find a dorm to stay?”

Pang Qian nodded, then violently shook her head. “No, there’s just the two of us. If the uncle finds out, then he’ll definitely tell my dad. Then I’m done for!”

Gu Mingxi thought the same. But the two of them didn’t have identification cards yet, so how were they to rent a place to stay?

He thought for a moment, and still thought that staying in a dorm would be the best. He told Pang Qian to call that uncle, but she wouldn’t agree even if her life were on the line. “I don’t want to call him. Gu Mingxi, you were the one who said we shouldn’t tell my dad.”

Gu Mingxi frowned. “If you don’t contact him, then wouldn’t your dad still find out? And he’d be more worried this way.”

Pang Qian rolled her eyes. “Fine, I”ll call him and tell him that that our cla.s.smate has a relative that helped us prepare a guesthouse, so we won’t need to meet with him!”

Gu Mingxi was speechless for a moment. “Then where are we going to stay tonight?”

Pang Qian scratched her head, then as if to show she were clever, she said, “As long as we have money, why can’t we find a place to stay.”

Gu Mingxi was defeated.

Pang Qian went to a public phone booth and called Pang Shuisheng’s friend in Shanghai. She lied and said that she and her friends had already found a place to stay. After that call, she also called back home to let her parents know they were safe. Gu Mingxi also braced himself and told Li Han that he was safe and everything was going well.

After he hung up, Gu Mingxi looked over towards the train station. Actually, there were a lot of small hotels and guesthouses around.

He knew that this kind of place was very unsafe, but he also couldn’t beat Pang Qian’s stubbornness. Just then, a middle aged woman holding pictures of a guesthouse approached them. “Little brother and sister, need a place to stay? We have hot water, a TV, and air conditioning. 80 dollars a night. Want to take a look? If you like it, you can stay. If you don’t, then I’ll bring you guys back here.”

She pretended she didn’t see Gu Mingxi’s missing arms. She just saw two distracted kids and quickly went to grab Pang Qian’s hand. “Let’s go, let’s go. It’s already dark out. There’s a car to take you there. It’s very close, just around the way.”

Pang Qian was already following her. Gu Mingxi cried out anxiously, “Pang Pang! Stop!”

Pang Qian turned around to look at him, a bit scared. She wanted to get away from the woman’s hold. The woman laughed out loud and let go of her hand. “Auntie’s not a bad person, I won’t harm you. From the looks of you two, you probably won’t be able to find a place to stay. Do you have your identification cards yet?”

Gu Mingxi was silent. He decided that this woman was just trying to make people stay at her hotel, and she wasn’t like a human trafficker or something. It was true that they didn’t have identification cards, so it was a bit tempting.

At that moment, Pang Qian, who’d been silent all along, suddenly burst out in tears. She ran over to Gu Mingxi and stuck close to him, her body trembling with fear. “Gu Mingxi…”

Gu Mingxi, “…”

The middle aged woman was dumbfounded. “Aiyo, I knew it. With just one look, you can tell! You’re two lovers, and your families don’t agree to it, so you’re running away to elope? Ah… You two are too young for that. Hurry and follow Auntie to stay somewhere for the night. Don’t keep strolling around on the street. I’ll take just 50 dollars for the night. Tomorrow, you should hurry back home. The grownups must surely be worried to death.”

Pang Qian continued whimpering. Gu Mingxi saw the sky darkening, and felt that he would soon cry too.

—

Sitting in the van that clanked and rattled as soon as it started, Pang Qian was already so tense that she couldn’t say anything. She sat in the back row with Gu Mingxi. Aside from the middle aged woman, there were three others who’d been pulled over to stay in their guesthouse.

After being on the crowded road for 10 minutes, the van turned into a small alley and finally stopped. Pang Qian and Gu Mingxi got off the van and followed the middle aged woman into a shabby looking hostel.

When they reached the counter, the middle aged woman greeted them. She checked them in brought them up to their room. When they arrived, she kindly reminded Gu Mingxi, “The room doesn’t have covers (meaning condoms). If you need them, you’ll have to buy them on your own.”

Gu Mingxi’s face turned sour. He’d already decided not to respond anymore. Pang Qian blinked and asked curiously, “What covers?”

The middle aged woman shot her a look and couldn’t help but sigh. “Ah… Really a sin. Such a young, little girl, ah…”