Evening Stars Chapter 24
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 24
Xu Nanheng cupped his hands together with palms facing up, as if he were about to sincerely thank McDonald's for blessing him with food.
Fang Shiyou couldn't help but laugh. He placed the bag in Xu Nanheng's hands and said, “I was in a bit of a rush when I bought it. I didn't know what you liked, so I just ordered a combo meal.”
“Thank you,” Xu Nanheng said, looking up at him earnestly. “Really, I…… I'm not very good at saying those ceremonial, no, not ceremonial, I mean formal. I'm not very good at saying formal words, I just……”
“I understand,” Fang Shiyou cut him off. “I understand what you're trying to say.”
Then he gave a small smile, his hands awkwardly fidgeting as if he didn't know where to put them. He was indeed a little nervous, and it was the nervousness that made him interrupt Xu Nanheng. He was slightly worried that Xu Nanheng might say something he couldn't handle hearing.
Dr. Fang patted his pocket, only to realize he'd worn a coat without any. He stiffly tugged at the hem of his coat and said, “Eat while it's still hot. I'll, uh…… head to the consultation room to write some notes.”
“Huh?” Xu Nanheng asked. “You're not eating with me?”
“I already ate,” Fang Shiyou replied.
With that, he turned around and left, closing the door behind him. Xu Nanheng sat inside, still a little dazed.
How to put it…… Xu Nanheng had just finished class, and it had run late, so he was quite hungry. The hamburger in his hand was still warm, giving off a familiar scent.
Scents tended to linger in the brain for a long time. When one smelled the same scent again, memories tied to it would resurface. The smell of firecrackers brought back childhood Spring Festivals, and the smell of cooking reminded one of the buoyant footsteps on the walk home from school.
One of the benefits of chain restaurants was their consistent flavors. The McDonald's in Beijing tasted exactly like this, and in an instant, it pulled Xu Nanheng's memory back to Beijing.
He recalled eating McDonald's meals late at night while studying relentlessly for his teacher certification exams. He also remembered when he was much, much younger, in elementary school maybe, when he was stuck on one page of arithmetic for an hour, and his grandpa bought McDonald's, secretly telling him to stop writing and come eat something.
He figured Fang Shiyou probably saw him as a younger brother.
Thinking that way, Xu Nanheng felt it was quite reasonable. He unwrapped the hamburger's paper. By then, his hunger wasn't so sharp anymore. He took a bite and chewed slowly. He noticed that the combo Dr. Fang had bought even came with a small toy.
If Fang Shiyou thought of him as a younger brother, then many of his actions became easier to understand. Xu Nanheng felt much more at ease after coming to this conclusion. He might joke around a lot and did not seem reliable, but he could still control himself. If this whole thing turned out to be just him misinterpreting things, it would be unbearably awkward later, so awkward they might not even stay friends.
He left the small toy on Fang Shiyou's desk, then went to the consultation room to say a quick goodbye before heading back to the school.
During the evening self-study period that day, the students left once they finished their homework. After they dispersed, Xu Nanheng didn't go upstairs, but stayed in the classroom to grade papers.
The weather had turned colder. Two classrooms had pipes connected from the kitchen boiler for heating, but for safety reasons, Principal Sonam stopped adding fuel once she left for the night. Xu Nanheng relied on the residual warmth in the room to finish grading.
By the time he was done, the pipes had gone cold. He clenched his fists. His fingers were stiff from the chill. Standing up, he rolled his neck a few times until it cracked, exhaled slowly, and went upstairs to sleep.
The weather has been so frigid recently that he could no longer manage to take a basin bath in the corner bathroom. That weekend, before Fang Shiyou headed into the county, Xu Nanheng borrowed his bathroom to take a proper shower.
Fang Shiyou told him he'd already spoken to the nurses, so Xu Nanheng could come over to use the bathroom anytime. That solved one of his more practical problems. Soon after, the National Day holidays arrived.
During holidays, the number of tourists increased, and so did the number of patient in the county hospital, including those needing oxygen for altitude sickness or being treated for falls and sprains. The small hospital, however, stayed fairly quiet, since the tunnel workers were all on break.
The snow began to fall in the early morning of October 2nd.
Xu Nanheng woke up at 3:50 AM, freezing.
When he opened his eyes, snow was already blowing into his dorm room. For a moment, he thought he'd somehow transported, especially when he sat up wrapped in his blanket, reached for his phone, and found there was no signal. A chill ran down his spine as he actually started wondering what a math teacher could even do in an infinite flow novel.
Thankfully, after switching airplane mode on and off a few times, his phone grudgingly displayed one bar of signal and connected to the internet.
The real problem was that the lock on his dorm door had been kicked broken by Zhou Yang, and Xu Nanheng had never bothered to get it fixed. He'd just been wedging a chair behind the door to keep it shut. But this time, the wind was too strong. It had slammed the door open and pushed the chair back against the desk, causing the books on it to flutter open, with several falling to the floor.
Outside, it was pitch-dark. The flag in the schoolyard whipped violently in the wind.
At this moment, in this place, on the Southern Tibetan Plateau, Fang Shiyou seemed to be the only person he could turn to.
However, asking for help at 3:50 AM was a bit much. Xu Nanheng quickly put on his thick jacket and pants to pick up the books. After putting them back on the desk, he immediately pushed the chair against the door to brace it. He looked around but didn't have any heavy objects nearby to pile onto the chair to weigh down the door, so he simply sat down on the chair himself.
With the chair pressed against the door and him leaning against the chair, the door finally stay still. Xu Nanheng let out a breath and took out his phone. It was already four o'clock.
The wind on the Southern Tibetan Plateau was like the Himalayas breathing, and who could withstand the breath of such a giant? Xu Nanheng held his phone, remaining silent and still. He could still feel the biting cold air seeping through the cracks in the door.
He wasn't wearing socks, and the wind cut at his ankles like a knife. This truly gave Young Master Xu from Beijing a proper introduction to the Southern Tibetan Plateau. Usually, snow didn't fall in the Southern Tibet until mid-October, but this year, the plateau was acting like a mischievous Samoyed encountered on the street — ‘Oh? This person looks afraid of dogs. Let me rush up and sniff them!’
Xu Nanheng looked back at the deformed and broken door lock. It was exactly because he knew himself too well that he'd bought a Polaroid instead of a regular camera. He knew his own procrastination, knew he'd only get photos printed the minute before he needed them for an album.
Just like this lock. He sighed inwardly. If he'd fixed it earlier, none of this would've happened.
It was past four now. Xu Nanheng thought maybe he should just bring his quilt over and make do on the chair until morning. But even as the thought crossed his mind, his fingers opened Fang Shiyou's chat window.
He just wanted to vent a little. Even though he knew Fang Shiyou was in the county and there was nothing he could actually do right now, he just wanted to say something.
Tonight, with a fierce snowstorm raging, the Southern Tibetan Plateau, known as ‘the Jiangnan of Tibet Autonomous Region,’ emphasized the prefix ‘Tibet Autonomous Region’ in ‘Jiangnan.’
He didn't know how long that little sending circle would keep spinning before the message went through. His head rested against the door. About thirty seconds later, Fang Shiyou received his WeChat message:
I should've fixed the door lock earlier.
Xu Nanheng didn't look at his phone after hitting send. The dorm room floor was a mess, with scratch paper and pens blown everywhere. The wind leaking in was just too cold, so he simply pulled his knees up, put his feet on the chair, and wrapped his arms around his legs.
The sight was utterly pitiful. If he struck a match, it could've made anyone watching tear up. But Xu Nanheng himself didn't feel too miserable. He was just annoyed at his own procrastination. It was only a door lock. He could've easily fixed it on any weekend.
He didn't know when the storm would stop, nor what he should do in the meantime. The light switch was right by the door. He pressed it twice, but the light didn't come on, meaning the power was likely out.
Fang Shiyou had warned him that the area sometimes lost power or water, so he should keep bottled water stored and his power bank charged.
Outside, the storm still howled, like a midnight carnival unique to the Southern Tibetan Plateau.
Xu Nanheng figured this must be what low-level wind shear felt like. The door behind him trembled, and then…… bang, bang. Something hit it. He froze. Had the wind taken human form and become a spirit?
“Teacher Xu!”
Xu Nanheng was stunned. It could talk?
After the initial shock, he realized the voice was very familiar. If he hadn't heard wrong, it might be Fang Shiyou.
Realizing this, he moved the chair forward slightly, but he didn't stand up, mostly because he wasn't entirely sure. For all he knew, the wind might've scrambled his brain and made him hear things.
The door opened a crack, just wide enough for a fist to fit through. Xu Nanheng looked up through the gap and saw Fang Shiyou, head slightly lowered, breath coming fast. White mist was puffing from his lips as he gazed at Xu Nanheng.
“Teacher Xu,” Fang Shiyou said, “you…… still haven't fixed the door lock, have you?”
“I……” Xu Nanheng pressed his lips together. “No.”
Fang Shiyou closed his eyes briefly, sighed, and said, “Let me in.”
“Okay.” Xu Nanheng stood up.
Fang Shiyou's phone flashlight was on. Once he stepped inside, he held the door shut for Xu Nanheng and said, “Pack two thick jackets, bring your laptop, phone, and charger, then come with me.”
“Huh?” Xu Nanheng was confused. “Where are we going? Wait, weren't you supposed to be in the county this week? Why are you back?”
“The snow got heavy. Dr. Yang's car broke down and wouldn't start. He was afraid that if the snow continued to pile up, he wouldn't be able to make it back to the county town even after it stopped. So he called me in the middle of the night and asked me to pick him up.” Fang Shiyou paused, then added, “I was actually going to tell you that if it got too cold at school, you could stay at the hospital during the holiday. I just didn't expect the snow to come this soon.”
The snow had arrived so suddenly that no one had time to react. It had started while everyone was asleep. Many local Tibetans woke from their dreams to cover their yaks with blankets.
Xu Nanheng was wearing a down jacket, but Fang Shiyou told him to add a sweater underneath. In his haste, he grabbed a black turtleneck. He was about to dig out a few more layers and his pajamas when Fang Shiyou, holding the door shut, stopped him. “Just go like this. You can wear mine when we get there. Just take your computer and the essentials.”
“Oh.” Xu Nanheng turned back to his desk, picked up his backpack from the floor, and stuffed his laptop, charger, and other things inside.
In the end, Fang Shiyou told him to go out first. Then he dragged the entire desk across the floor and wedged it tightly against the door before climbing out through the window himself and closing it behind him.
Time was tight. With snow this heavy, it would accumulate quickly, and the mountain roads would become completely impassable.
“Dr. Yang.” Xu Nanheng greeted him from the passenger seat.
Yang Gao glanced at him, then at Fang Shiyou behind the wheel, grinning. “Teacher Xu, our Dr. Fang's pretty reliable, isn't he?”
Fang Shiyou clicked his tongue against his teeth, warning his colleague not to talk nonsense.
Xu Nanheng nodded. “Absolutely. He's saved my life again. My benefactor.”
Yang Gao chuckled, about to make another cheeky remark when the car jolted sharply. Startled, he grabbed the handhold. Xu Nanheng flinched too, his body swaying with the impact. Fang Shiyou asked quietly, “You didn't hit anything, did you?”
“No,” Xu Nanheng answered.