Deyonna

Translator: Deyonna First Encounter When Shen Baoshan first formally met Li Chishu during their university days, his impression toward the person couldn't exactly be called good. It was only much, much later—so long after that it felt as though he had lived through two entire lifetimes in a daze—that Shen Baoshan looked back on those early days and finally, belatedly, realized the truth: from the very beginning, that kid Li Chishu had worn two entirely different faces, one for him and one for everyone else. The whole thing traced back to this first meeting in his memory. It was late September. Military training at Jian¹ University had just come to an end, and the weather in Hechuan was starting to cool down. ¹Jian University — "建大 (Jiàn Dà)" is an abbreviation. "建 (Jiàn)" stands for "建设/建筑" (construction/architecture), and "大 (Dà)" is short for "大学" (university). In real-life Chinese contexts, this abbreviation usually refers to exi...

Translator: Deyonna Shen Baoshan took Li Chishu’s class notes from grades 10 to 12 and shared them in their community group, ultimately selling the various subjects collectively for around 10,000 yuan. The first thing Li Chishu did with the money was to buy two very beautiful bouquets of flowers for his parents’ graves. The second thing he did was to buy Shen Baoshan a fountain pen. He felt that Shen Baoshan lacked nothing, and the only thing that could replace a disposable item with something long-lasting was a pen. Buying Shen Baoshan a fountain pen made the gift he gave seem to have more meaning and usefulness for Shen Baoshan. Then Li Chishu bought himself a second-hand smartphone with a camera function. His old handy phone had been used from junior high school all the way to senior high school, and almost all its functions, other than making calls and sending messages, were practically useless. By buying a new second-hand phone, he could also take photos of Shen Baoshan and use Sh...

Translator: Deyonna On the first day of the Lunar New Year in 2024, I finished counting Li Chishi’s birthday gifts in the morning. Later, I placed them under the two-meter-tall Christmas tree that I had purchased last Christmas. Li Chishu truly adored the Christmas tree and had once decorated it with various pendants that Jiang Chi and others had brought back from abroad for us. After Christmas, I suggested taking down the Christmas tree and buying a new one next year, and Li Chishu did not object at the time. As I was climbing up the ladder to take down the pendants from above, Li Chishu suddenly poked his head out from the tearoom on the first floor and said, "Shen Baoshan?" I turned my head and looked down to find his figure. "What’s the matter?" Li Chishu pretended to ponder for a while. "The Chinese almanac says it’s not auspicious for groundbreaking. Earth is related to trees, so..." I squinted my eyes slightly as Li Chishu’s confidence began to wave...

Translator: Deyonna I pushed Li Chishu forward all the way, held his shoulder, and slowly opened the door, turning on the lights from behind. When the pendant light in the room lit up, Li Chishu’s footsteps paused at the doorway. I heard him take a shallow breath, then it seemed as if he had forgotten how to breathe. I have to admit that the piano room my mom arranged for me is indeed not small. Inside, two grand pianos are placed side by side. One is for the family teacher to use, which has been left there since I entered senior high school. Next to the pianos are two wooden cabinets specially made by a master craftsman in traditional handicrafts, commissioned by my mother, to display all the trophies and awards I have accumulated since I was young, both prestigious and not so prestigious, a jumble of them all have a dedicated spot. Outside the floor-to-ceiling window is the backyard garden of the house, and the other two walls are adorned with my photographs, each one framed in a spe...

Translator: Deyonna I will forever remember the look in Li Chishu's eyes when he first stepped into the piano room on the third floor. That day was the end of the month after the college entrance exam, and the school allowed the senior high school students to choose the day to come back to school to pick up their printed transcripts. I checked my scores online. Li Chishu and I were only three points apart, so getting into the same university or even the same major was not a big problem. After we each got our transcripts from our respective classes, the only thing we needed to discuss was what time to go home tonight - both classes had privately organized graduation parties, and we planned to have dinner first, and then there would be other activities after dinner. Li Chishu and I were not in the same class, and we were going to different locations. "They said... after dinner, we're going to KTV." Li Chishu was twirling a gardenia that he had gotten from somewhere in h...

Translator: Deyonna His head was tilting, bobbing back and forth. This reminded me of when he had told me that when he was a child, in the winter mornings when he attended kindergarten, his mother would wake him up to dress himself. He would then secretly doze off in bed while waiting for his mother to prepare breakfast. "The clothes were so thick and heavy, I was a little over 3 years old then, and once I put them on I couldn't even bend my hands. I'd just sit on the quilt, like a penguin," he said. When his mother finished making breakfast and returned, she would reach under his armpits to lift him up into her arms, carrying him over to eat while gently coaxing her Xiaobao to wake up. I placed the milk and bowl on the table, then sat down on the bedside, reaching across Li Chishu's armpits to embrace him. He rested his head on my shoulder, as I patted his back gently, calling out, "Xiaobao...time to get up. He murmured incoherently. I leaned in closer, cont...