Chapter 43

Xu Ze’s third visit came a week later; this time he and Ye Yunhua entered from the back garden, because guests had already arrived, and going through the main gate would have disturbed them.

“Play in the garden?” Ye Yunhua asked Xu Ze.

Xu Ze nodded. Ye Yunhua crouched down in front of him: “Be good, and I’ll buy you a Toy Car when we go home today.”

She knew Xu Ze was quiet, but even the quietest child would grow bored spending an afternoon alone in the garden. Xu Ze hadn’t had a new Toy in a long time; on their first two visits here, whenever they passed the living room, Ye Yunhua could see his gaze linger on the expensive toys piled beside the sofa.

After Xu Ze nodded again, Ye Yunhua stood up and went to the kitchen.

Xiao Pan wasn’t there today — he hadn’t come to bully Xu Ze. Xu Ze stood in the garden for a few minutes, then pulled open the garden gate and went out.

From a distance he could already see Lu Heyang sitting on the swing frame, apparently reading a book. Xu Ze ran a few steps closer, his hands gripping the railing, and made no sound until Lu Heyang looked up and noticed him.

Lu Heyang blinked, not with delight, but with a hint of grievance: “I’ve been waiting for you every day.”

He climbed down from the swing frame and walked over to the fence. Xu Ze met his eyes for a few seconds, then silently took a piece of Chocolate from his pocket and offered it to him — an apology for staying away so long.

“Thank you.” Lu Heyang smiled. Though he didn’t especially like Chocolate, he unwrapped it at once, broke it in two, and gave Xu Ze the larger half.

Chewing the Chocolate, Lu Heyang stuck out his tongue to show Xu Ze the brown‑stained tip. Xu Ze thought for a moment, then stuck out his own tongue, and both of them burst out laughing. Xu Ze’s eyes curved; his smile wasn’t stiff and formal like the first two times — he looked truly happy.

“Want to see this?” Lu Heyang opened the Comic Book full of robots and asked.

Xu Ze nodded; in truth his gaze had already been captured, and his head had drifted unconsciously closer to rest against the railing. Lu Heyang slowly turned the pages for him; their faces pressed together on either side of the fence, and in Lu Heyang’s peripheral vision Xu Ze’s long eyelashes fluttered, blinking as he studied the Comic Book with utter concentration.

“I want to sleep.” Lu Heyang yawned. “You can have the book. Keep me company, okay?”

Xu Ze took the book and nodded. Lu Heyang went back to the swing frame and lay down. He didn’t think he could fall asleep — it was so bright outside, and he’d never slept anywhere but his own room — he was just a little tired.

The afternoon sun warmed him; a few steps away, Xu Ze leaned against the railing, absorbed in the Comic Book. One moment Lu Heyang was thinking, “I won’t fall asleep,” and the next he closed his eyes and dropped off almost instantly.

More than half an hour later, Xu Ze finished the Comic Book. Lu Heyang was still asleep. Xu Ze saw someone come out of the house and walk toward them, so he crouched down and hid beside the low wall beneath the railing, only his eyes peeking out.

He heard the person say, a little surprised, “How did he fall asleep here?”

Then Lu Heyang was picked up; his chin rested on the nanny’s shoulder as he drowsily half‑opened his eyes. Lu Heyang saw Xu Ze hiding there, waved a hand at him, and said something.

He didn’t make a sound, but Xu Ze knew Lu Heyang was still saying, “We have to see each other again.”

Xu Ze nodded, tucked the book into a gap in the railing, and turned to walk back.

After that, Xu Ze grew adept at heading straight for the back‑garden gate every time. Though Xiao Pan once reported him to his grandmother, saying Xu Ze kept running off to play, his grandmother — utterly confident in the security of the residential area and utterly confident in Xu Ze himself — merely reminded Xu Ze not to go too far and not to disturb the neighbours.

Lu Heyang always waited for him punctually, never failing to bring Xu Ze candy or snacks, show him Comic Books, and share Toys with him. Lu Heyang never asked why Xu Ze never spoke, nor pried into Xu Ze’s background; the two of them drew close naturally, and even though a fence always stood between them, it never hindered their friendship in the least.

To Lu Heyang, his two good friends — the mischievous He Wei and the aloof Gu Yunchi — had become friends because their elders moved in the same circles. But Xu Ze was different: he had appeared on a perfectly ordinary afternoon, like a drifting leaf or a passing cloud, with no warning and no introductory preamble, a mute and novel guest who had wandered into his life by chance.

They maintained a pure, unadulterated, mysterious friendship, free of any taint or entanglement of interest.

“I have to go.” Lu Heyang gently tugged the hair of Xu Ze, who was bent over the Comic Book in concentration. “Want me to give you the Comic Book?”

Xu Ze looked up. Lu Heyang often said “I have to go” at a certain point, but Xu Ze didn’t know where Lu Heyang was going or what he was doing; it seemed like a fixed outing on his schedule.

Xu Ze handed the Comic Book back to him, shook his head, and smiled.

“You don’t have to smile for me,” Lu Heyang said. He felt Xu Ze didn’t really like smiling.

Every time, Lu Heyang would offer to give Xu Ze the Comic Book or a Toy; every time, Xu Ze would shake his head and refuse. But he was pleased by Lu Heyang’s kindness, so he smiled — yet Lu Heyang always told him he didn’t need to.

It might have been an illusion — though seven‑year‑old Xu Ze didn’t yet know this feeling was called an “illusion” — but he noticed Lu Heyang would often repeat certain phrases and certain actions. Things Xu Ze remembered clearly, Lu Heyang seemed to have no awareness or memory of, repeating them over and over. For instance, when they parted Lu Heyang would say he’d show Xu Ze a certain Comic Book next time, yet when next time came, he brought the very one Xu Ze had already seen — in fact Xu Ze had seen it at least three times, because Lu Heyang always seemed to forget Xu Ze had seen it, and so would bring it out again and again, each time saying, “This one’s the best, you have to read it carefully.”

Xu Ze never said he’d already read it; he thought Lu Heyang must really like that one, and wanted him to read it a few more times too.

“Going now.” Lu Heyang stuffed every last Lollipop and bit of Chocolate left in his pocket into Xu Ze’s hands, then gathered up his Comic Book and Toy, and just as he did every time, stepping backward all the while, he waved at Xu Ze: “We have to meet again, okay.”

Xu Ze hugged the snacks and nodded at him.

It was an ordinary parting; they agreed they would see each other again, but neither of them imagined it would be the last time they ever did.

“Xu Ze, is it?” As soon as he arrived today, the Hostess set down her teacup from the sofa and said to him, “Play in the living room today, keep him company.”

“Him” meant Xiao Pan.

Xiao Pan sat amid a pile of Toys, sticking out his tongue at Xu Ze with a gloating smile.

Ye Yunhua led Xu Ze to the sofa: “Then you’ll play here today. Be good, and don’t break this older brother’s Toys.”

She knew Xu Ze didn’t like Xiao Pan, but here they had to follow orders. Just as the Hostess didn’t want other children in the house, so Xu Ze had to stay alone in the garden every time, whether it was cloudy or sunny. And today Xiao Pan wanted Xu Ze to play with him, so Xu Ze had to stay in the living room.

The lower you were, the fewer choices you had.

Xu Ze sat in a corner, holding a very, very small car — he was afraid of breaking Xiao Pan’s Toys, so he’d taken the smallest one. Xiao Pan, having finally caught Xu Ze this time, was immensely pleased with himself; he imitated the hero of a spy film rolling across the carpet, then raised his toy gun and fired rubber pellets at Xu Ze, or steered a remote‑control car to bump against Xu Ze’s legs — in short, he never let Xu Ze have a moment’s peace.

Time passed bit by bit. Xu Ze looked out the window and thought Lu Heyang was probably waiting for him; it had been almost a week since they’d seen each other.

Xu Ze set the small car on the floor, stood up, and while Xiao Pan was still searching for his next attacking Toy, slipped out through the side door of the living room into the garden. He jogged all the way, opened the gate, and quickened his steps toward Lu Heyang’s house — but before he’d run past the third house, someone called him back.

Turning around, Xu Ze saw his grandmother, the Hostess, and Xiao Pan standing there. Xiao Pan was wailing at the top of his lungs.