I was absentminded the whole day thinking of the reunion dinner with Stone after so many years.   I cracked my knuckles, waiting for school to be over, waiting for the time to pass, second by second.

          We had arranged to meet in the evening for dinner and drinks.  The appointed place was the same old restaurant that we frequented seven years ago.  For the first few years after Stone left, I and Fei Ge would still go back to that restaurant for meals and would always talk about Stone as if we had lost a precious little brother and worry over him.

          But as each year passed, this guy seemed as though he had disappeared from our lives.  Then I and Fei Ge did not show any interest in going to that restaurant so as to avoid feeling depressed and finally, we totally stopped going there anymore.

          This restaurant was famous for ‘Crossing Bridge Noodles’ and the dish was authentic there.  During the weekends, people would be waiting in long queues to savor this noodle.  The boss of this restaurant was a short man with a little beard.  He usually had a stick of cigarette stuck in the gap of his ear and would be busy all day long.  Two years ago, this man had passed away due to lung cancer and the business had plummeted which almost resulted in the restaurant falling into the hands of outsiders. 

          (Crossing Bridge Noodles is a famous rice noodle soup from Yunnan province.  The boiling hot soup is served in an earthen pot whilst the ingredients are served separately.  Once the ingredients are added into the boiling soup, the food cooks quickly in just a few minutes and it is ready to be eaten.)

          These two years, the boss's daughter took over the business and the old place was renovated.  The taste of the soup had changed, maybe because we had grown up or we had consumed too many delicacies, our taste buds had become discerning and the original taste was not there anymore. 

          Perhaps the problem was not the taste of the noodles but the original threesome that sat around the table drinking the soup with their head bowed and at the same time, having their tongues burned by the blistering hot soup.  It was as if people were reluctantly forced to admit they were getting old and therefore had lost the taste of food.

          Fortunately, Stone eventually came back and finally the three of us could sit around the table again.

 

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          Today, I and Jiang Li did not interact and our exchange was practically nil.  The whole day I was bored and slept.  Several times, he deliberately passed by my side but I treated him as invisible and continued with my sleep.  After sleeping for the whole day, my neck ached. 

          But Dong Zi seemed to be working hard, desperately clinging to Jiang Li asking questions.  He played basketball very well and during the last session of activities, the two of them played together and came back sweating all over, talking and laughing.  My heart felt at ease.

          While I was waiting eagerly for school to be dismissed, Jiang Li carrying a ball walked passed outside the window and within my line of sight.  The 18-year-old boy smiled slightly at others and glanced at me with indifferent eyes like sharp knives.  His eyes were like dark, deep pools, intensely charming that would make any 18-year-old girl's heart palpitate with excitement.

          Unfortunately, I am already 24 years old.

          When I was 18 years old, once I did have such a sweet dream.  Exchanging glances with a handsome juvenile through the window and feeling elated.  The one second that our eyes meet was enough to reminisce a thousand times over. 

          I was already old so I would not be affected by a young man's eyes.  After meeting Jiang Li's eyes, I casually lowered my head and started to play with my phone. 

          I wrote a text message to Kang Zixian:  I met an old friend of many years.  Will be back later.

          After I had written the message, I hesitated.  I always felt that the way we were getting along was a bit strange.  We were actually strangers.  All of a sudden, like a rocket that had ascended to the sky, we were staying together and every night if any of us were late to return, we would text each other……..it felt weird.

          I was about to delete the message when my fingers did not listen to my heart, sent out the message.

          I was looking at the message and felt annoyed when he replied:  No alcohol

          I held my phone and stared at the screen for a long time feeling awkward.  After I broke up with Fu Chen, I resumed my life of a free bird with no one to control me.  According to Fei Ge's mother, I and Fei Ge are like two wild monkeys from the jungle who are unable to stand or sit properly.  Sooner or later, one day a hunter will shoot us and we will fall flat on the grass.

          I felt the dryness in my mouth.  I did not know whether Fei Ge had met a hunter but I think I had met mine and I was being eyed by a hunter.

          I had no mood to reply to Kang Zixian because at that moment, the school bell rang and the school day had finally ended.

          I grabbed my bag and flew out of the classroom.  Although sometimes I feel that I had aged and could not compare with my younger days but at the moment of flying away from the campus, I found I still had the rebellious feeling of the past.

          In the past, I and Fei Ge were bored, so bored that we would compete with each other to see who would be the first to reach the school gate.  

          Fei Ge's legs were long, her athlete's muscles were well developed and I always lose to her.  When I reached the school gates I would always see her there grinning at me exactly like a silly big sister.

         

          Stone was in the restaurant waiting for me and when I arrived, he was sitting in the window seat where we usually loved to sit.  His pair of eyes were looking all around, revealing complex excitement. 

          He was like regaining a long lost childhood gift, happy but cautious for fear of losing it again.

          I also understood this feeling.

          I sat down and Stone timidly looked at me with his eyes fixed.  Suddenly he held out his hands to cover mine and his voice shook slightly.  "Lao Da, I'm not dreaming, am I?"

          This guy was in a trance and pointing at his face with his finger, he said eagerly.  "Lao Da, hit me, hit me……use a little more force!"

          I felt touched and funny.  I did not go easy on him and waving my hand in front of him I gave him a slap on his forehead.  Using a fierce tone to cover my own surging emotions, I said.  "For seven years, you have not been beaten by us…….how come you did not make any progress? ….You owe me that.  After you came back, you did not even look for Fei Ge and me, are you trying to rebel?"

          After my scolding, Stone felt ashamed and separated by the steam from the bowl of soup, he lowered his head. 

          "Lao Da……I know you will be angry with me.  That year, I knew I caused trouble for both of you.  I am very sorry……."

          "Don’t mention the past, you are our brother.  Yes, we were angry……angry at you for acting like a fool because of that slut…….ai…….let's not talk about it."

          "….."

          "I and Fei Ge understand why these few years you did not look for us and presumably it was also because of that slap Fei Ge gave you.  Ai…..all of us were so young then.  You were so foolish and it was useless to shout at you, useless to scold you and that was the only way.  What can we do then?  You had called us your boss for so long and we can’t bear to see you go the wrong way……  Being a boss is not easy…….."

          Stone's eyes had turned red and my voice was choking.

          "I grew up with Fei Ge wearing crotchless pants.  When she was 15 years old, she was cut by pieces of glass that were lying on the road and needed ten stitches but she did not even cry.  But when you left, an adult like her cried so much and she kept on saying she was the one who made you so angry that you left.  After giving you that slap, Fei Ge regretted for the last seven years."

          That rare scene finally gave rise to Stone's tears.  He sucked his nose and removed his black box rimmed glasses to wipe his tears.  I carefully looked at him and noticed that the scar on his forehead was very light.  It was not easy to detect if you did not purposely look for it but the trace was still there, silently speaking of those crazy years. 

          Then Stone truthfully confessed.

          "Lao Da, I have never been angry with the both of you.......I had never ever been angry.  I only felt so sorry to you……that time, after you have said those ruthless words, I regretted…. ah, my heart really regretted!  I was certain you wouldn’t want me anymore……."

          I roughly rubbed Stone's curly hair and quietly and sadly I said.  "…….Silly Stone, you were our brother......"

          Stone stared at me then nodded and once again his eyes turned red.

          I and Stone talked about our life during those seven years while drinking wine.  Stone said that year he had left urgently and his father refused to let him contact us.  He did not write to us and this dragged on until finally when he had the courage to contact us, he could no longer find us.

          He became a teacher and taught in several countries these few years.  Now his vision and his way of thinking are also different.  His tense relationship with his father had also eased and due to his father's old age, he decided to return home.  But for the time being, he still did not want to take over the family business and so he had found a fairly easy job as a teacher in a high school.  In his spare time, he was also working as a music DJ and his life could be considered as smooth sailing.

          But all this while he had been thinking of me and Fei Ge.  He was not interested in the game of women's volleyball but once in a foreign country, his former girlfriend was watching an international game of volleyball and he was leisurely keeping her company watching the game with her when suddenly the screen showed Jiang Ge Fei as the second setter.  His heart jumped and the potato chips in his hands scattered all over the floor.

          After seeing Fei Ge whom he thought he would never see again in his life, Stone said he could not describe the feelings that he felt at that time.  He felt like he saw both of us at the same time, the fate of the three of us together again.

          Fei Ge was already a well-known excellent volleyball player and Stone was uncertain whether she would still remember him.  So he had been extremely nervous and apprehensive and hesitated to personally go to the stadium to waylay her. 

          But he could not waylay her. 

          Stone had seen Fei Ge play in two games, one was in London and the other time was in Osaka.  The first time when Fei Ge played in London, he had injured his leg and was at home.  The second time, he flew to Osaka with his lame legs still on crutches to see her play live.  Stone said that at the court he had watched Fei Ge's dynamic and vigorous game.  His feelings of sadness, gratitude and lost, all surged from his heart as he watched Fei Ge played the winning game.  Stone had also cheered her on, shouting.  "Lao Da, go for it!"

          When the word 'Lao Da' came out of his mouth, he felt that time did not change anything, the Boss had always been the best.

          I and Stone were drunk.  When we were toasting each other, I called Fei Ge on the phone and told her to buy a few more bottles of wine to drink with us.  This reunion should also include her. 

          Fei Ge celebrated and toasted with us through the phone.  The three of us drank and tears sprung from our eyes. 

          We were very happy.

          Stone was not surprised that I joined the police force.

          He drunkenly patted my shoulder.  "Lao Da, all these times you had been very handsome, had been……."

          I laughed and drank with him while talking nonsense.

          I could never hold my drink well.   I would easily get drunk when I drink too much red wine and Stone was also the same.  Unable to help himself, he drank and so did I.  When I was about to pass out, my phone rang. 

          In a daze, I picked up the call and with my last trace of clear consciousness, I heard a low resonant voice on the other end.  I knew who the caller was and squinting my eyes, I mumbled.  "He, he, he……he,he,he…..I drank too much.  I want to go home…….he, he, he."

          I giggled into the phone.

          "Where are you?"  The voice on the other end sounded unhappy.

          I vaguely gave the address and then went to sleep on the table.

          The noodle shop boss obviously had a headache when faced with drunk people like us.  She anxiously urged us to pay the bill and leave but I waved my hand at her and said. "Someone is coming to pick us up.  We will pay the bill later."         

          The boss looked at us helplessly and she walked away with a frown.

          Stone sitting opposite me was fast asleep with his hair in a mess like a chicken's nest.

          I also went back to sleep on the table, waiting for Kang Zixian to arrive.  As a result, while I was still in a daze I went back to sleep.  The phone in my pocket sounded again and I fumbled around for it until I finally found it.  This time, I was really, really drunk. 

          As I lay on the table weakly, I picked up the call and the other side was silent for a long time. 

          Feeling annoyed, I opened my mouth and shouted.  "When are you coming?"  I belched.  "Didn’t I tell you, Hing Wah Road, Noodle Shop?"  I belched again.  Straining to keep my eyes opened, I reminded him.  "Quickly come over, I want to go back to sleep."

          I hung up the phone and together with Stone, we went back to sleep like dead pigs.