When the birthday event came to a close, Chu Jian’s mom, without any prompting, urged everyone to leave first while Chu Jian went to find Jian Bianlin. Xiao Yu led Chu Jian backstage, where many staff were busily, yet also relaxedly, doing the wrap-up work. Someone was even yelling loudly, asking where they should all go for the post-event celebration.
The door to the dressing room was pushed open, so Chu Jian slipped herself inside.
Jian Bianlin had already removed his make-up and outfit. Wearing a down jacket, with his back to the mirror of the dressing table, he was taking sip after sip of warm water. When he saw Chu Jian step inside, he stopped.
Chu Jian walked over to him, a thermal jar in her hands. “I brought some fried yuanxiao[1][glutinous rice balls] for you.”
Oh, right. Today was the Lantern Festival. He had forgotten.
“I made them myself. They’re fried,” Chu Jian told him quietly. Picking one up and then stabbing it with a chopstick, she stuffed it into his mouth. “Say that it tastes good.”
“……” It was too big. He chewed for a dozen or so seconds before he was able to swallow the entire thing. “It tastes good.”
“What flavour was it?”
“Sesame.”
She stuffed another one into his mouth.
“What flavour?”
“Brown sugar…”
She wanted to stuff another one but he grabbed her hand. “Let me have a drink of water… to take a break.”
Chu Jian detected that his fingers were like ice. She reckoned that he had been chilled when he was dancing or doing the interactive portion of the program or something along those lines, so setting down the thermal jar and chopsticks, she huffed a couple of warm breaths onto her palms, then wrapped his hands in her own.
When her palms first contacted the backs of his hands, he instinctively tried to pull away. “They’re too cold. They’ll make you cold.”
Chu Jian did not speak as she closed her hands around his and, while she was at it, rolled her eyes at him. “Melodramatic.”
“……”
“I talked to Xu Jing on the phone earlier.”
Out of habit, Jian Bianlin creased his brows, not uttering anything.
“I told him not to contact me anymore. You’re too petty and will get mad.” Chu Jian liked seeing him jealous. Observing his eyes and expression carefully, she asked in a low voice, “He said, during that time when your dad had that work injury, he saw you at the school. Was it that day when you made me so mad I ran away?”
Jian Bianlin searched his mind, then nodded.
“That day, you told him that you and I have been together for a few years already?” Chu Jian leaned in close to him. “You big liar. Just who have you been together with for a few years?”
“……”
“Are you going to eat any more?” Chu Jian nudged the thermal jar forward.
Jian Bianlin was actually thinking, she must not have eaten dinner yet, either, and if he stayed here and ate too many fried yuanxiao, it would end up delaying when he would be able to take her to have dinner.
Jian Bianlin: “How about if I eat one, you say who I am? Address me.”
Chu Jian: “……”
He brought his lips close and brushed them against her soft ones… His lips were moist and supple. His tongue stroked inside her mouth for a while, but then, after thinking briefly, he decided that he still wanted to hear her address him. So, he pulled the thermal jar to himself and really did begin to eat again.
Chu Jian: “… You’ve honestly forgotten what day it is today?”
Jian Bianlin’s hand paused. He answered, “I haven’t forgotten.”
How could he forget? Anything that concerned her, he would never forget.
Today was the anniversary of their first meeting.
The very first time he met her was also on the day of the Lantern Festival.
More than twenty years ago, his dad had brought him to knock on the doors of all the neighbours to introduce themselves. In not-very-good Mandarin, his dad explained that they had just moved in and were taking advantage of the Lantern Festival to wish all the neighbours a happy holiday, as, after all, “a far-away relative is not as good as a near neighbor”…
The first door they had knocked on was Chu Jian’s home, but unfortunately, Chu Jian’s mom had been frying yuanxiao at the time. The sound of the oil and frying had been too loud, so no one had heard the knocking. Afterward, they had circled back again to finish up at Chu Jian’s door.
Jian Bianlin still remembered, when the door opened, Chu Jian’s mom had looked particularly beautiful. Smiling cheerfully, she listened to all that they had to say, especially when Jian Bianlin’s dad tactfully explained that there was no woman in their household and hence he, as a single dad, could only, by himself, bring the child along with him to this place. Immediately, Chu Jian’s mom warmly pulled the father and son pair inside. She brought Jian Bianlin over to sit beside Chu Jian and then called Chu Jian’s dad out from the kitchen, where he had been doing some chores. The three adults exchanged pleasantries and chatted casually. Chu Jian’s mom even deliberately slowed her speech down slightly to accommodate Jian Bianlin’s dad’s not-so-good Mandarin skills.
Chu Jian was hugging her pink plastic bowl, warily eyeing Jian Bianlin. “What’s your name?”
He told her in Cantonese, “Gim Binlam [Cantonese pronunciation of Jian Bianlin].”
“……” Chu Jian did not understand.
Her eyes were fixed on that plate of fried yuanxiao. Just that afternoon, Mommy had promised her that if Chu Jian could find and eat one of the three yuanxiao that had red bean paste filling, Mommy would make a new dress for Chu Jian’s dolly.
Noiselessly, Chu Jian stabbed open one with her chopsticks. Nope. She tossed it into the bowl in front of Jian Bianlin. She stabbed another one open. Nope, still not. Tossed it over there again.
Pretending he wanted to eat them.
So, before long, half the yuanxiao on the plate were gone, all of them in Jian Bianlin’s bowl.
“Thank you for your help.” Chu Jian had finally found one with red bean paste filling and was smiling so very delightedly.
Since he was young, Jian Bianlin’s practice was that he should not leave leftover food. Silently, he buried his head and ate away, grumbling in his mind, This little girl is so annoying. I don’t ever want to see her again…
This was the very beginning, but it was not the ending.
Do you still remember the dreams of our youth? They are like a flower that shall never wither[2].
[1]元宵. Yuanxiao are a “dumpling,” usually sweet, rolled (not wrapped) into a ball formed from glutinous rice flour. A filling is first formed into a sphere and then dropped into glutinous rice flour where it is shaken and rocked back and forth until it forms a ball covered in the
flour. Fillings can include sesame, red bean paste, almond, etc. and are a traditional food of
the Lantern Festival (which is the fifteenth day of the new lunar year). Yuanxiao can be eaten fried or not fried.
[2] This line is taken from the song 《爱的代价》The Price of Love, with music and lyrics composed by 李宗盛 Jonathan Lee. It was originally sung by 张艾嘉 Sylvia Chang.
