Enlistment

The sun broke through during the latter half of the ride. Midsummer heat was fierce even in the morning; the road and the air dried in an instant, as if flipping a switch. Han Qingyu was still carrying his big black umbrella on his back, but he deliberately slowed his cycling pace. He figured arriving before nine-thirty would be plenty early. He had set out so early before because he was worried that if he reached the county town too late, Wen Jifei might happen to have gone into the city to see his father. Now that he had plenty of time, Han Qingyu knew that even if the guy intended to visit the city, there was no way he would wake up this early during school break—back when school was in session, he had still shown up late every few days. As Han Qingyu's closest classmate and friend over these four years of high school, Wen Jifei had attended middle school in the city. Back then, his parents were still together. Later on, his father made money in business, took up with a mistress, and his parents divorced. His mother brought him back to the county to attend high school. That was how he and Han Qingyu had come to know each other. After that, through an introduction by relatives, his mother remarried a cadre from the County Agricultural Bureau. Wen Jifei happily attended the wedding banquet, but he didn't want to move in with them, so he began living on his own. Naturally, whether it was his dad or his mom, both sides still looked after his living expenses, meals, and schooling, and both gave him spending money. He wasn't the sentimental type either, drifting along in his carefree, heedless way... neither diligent nor a scoundrel, neither exceptionally good nor bad. At nine-twenty, the county seat, Nanmen Village. Wen Jifei lived here, in an old compound left behind by his grandfather. When the old man was alive, he had reportedly been the most famous barber in the county. "Plague Chicken... Plague-Chicken Fei! Where are you?!" There were always comrades in this world saddled with unfortunate names that came naturally bundled with nicknames, inescapable from childhood into adulthood wherever they went. Such was the case with Wen Jifei. The two nicknames combined to paint a double image, both static and dynamic: A sickly, broody hen suddenly flapping its wings in a desperate, noisy struggle to take flight. As for the man himself, he had long grown used to it and couldn't care less. Propping one foot against the old compound wall of rammed yellow mud, Han Qingyu didn't rush to dismount upon arrival, first calling out twice at the gate. No reply. "Wen Jifei!" He raised his voice, shouting the full name. Still no reply. He sure sleeps like a corpse. Just as Han Qingyu was getting ready to dismount and climb over the wall, a bicycle bell trilled from an alley off to the side: ding-a-ling... "Here! Over here!" Wen Jifei came drifting around the corner on his bike, slinging an army-green satchel across his shoulder and sporting a fake camo military cap he had picked up heaven-knew-where. "Good thing you shouted right when you did, Qingzi," he panted as he pulled up. "Otherwise, we probably would've missed each other today." "Oh? Where are you off to?" Han Qingyu thought to himself: Wonders never cease. You actually woke up this early. Wen Jifei swung off the bicycle and pulled out his keys to unlock the gate. "I was just heading out the door to find you at your place." "Heading to my place? For me?" Han Qingyu asked. "That's quite a trip. What's going on?" "Something big, of course." A trace of smugness showed on Wen Jifei's face. He smiled and pushed open the courtyard gate. "Good thing you're here. Saves me the trip... Come on in." With that, he gave his bicycle a tug and shoved it forward; the riderless heavy-duty bike rolled briskly on its own before wedging to a stop between two old yellow bamboos in the yard. Han Qingyu rode in after him and parked. ...... Clatter. Inside, Wen Jifei pulled two bottles of orange soda straight from his satchel, popped the caps with his teeth, and set them on the table. "Here, let's toast with soda instead of wine." "..." Han Qingyu wondered aloud, "What's this all about? You're not going to tell me they miscalculated your Gaokao score, that you actually got more than 230, and you got admitted?" "Get lost. Miscalculated? Would a miscalculation even bridge that gap? I lost several hundred points just on the questions I left blank." Wen Jifei scratched his head awkwardly. "Still, 230... 230 really isn't my true level. My luck on the multiple-choice English questions was just lousy this time." Han Qingyu smiled. "Fair enough. With better luck, you might have scraped together another twenty points." "...Screw you." Wen Jifei cursed, sat down, and looked at Han Qingyu. First, he put on a coyly mysterious grin, then switched to a serious, solemn expression. "Brother, I'm joining the army." With that, he snapped off a crisp, stylish salute. It was copied from foreign movies and hopelessly non-standard. Han Qingyu was speechless. "Bet you didn't see that coming!" Wen Jifei gloated. "Look, didn't I score... 230? Forty points lower than last year. I guess both of them realized that when it comes to studying and taking exams, I'm a lost cause. A few days ago, my old man came back, pulled some strings, and landed me this enlistment quota." "That's great. Serving in the military is a good path." Considering that Wen Jifei's service wouldn't be the same kind as his own, and with his family's connections, securing a post at a state institution after his discharge wouldn't be difficult either, Han Qingyu felt genuinely happy for him. "Right? That's what I think too. Carrying a rifle in the army—it's something I dreamed about as a kid. But I didn't let on at first; I pretended to be unwilling for two whole days..." Grinning, Wen Jifei reached back into his satchel and fished around. This time, he pulled out a stack of cash and placed it on the table. "Here's a thousand yuan. I threw a fit and squeezed it out of my old man. Told him if he didn't pay up, I wouldn't go. "I won't give you any mushy talk. Take the money. Use three hundred over the break to hire a university student for proper English tutoring, and use the rest to repeat the year and take the exam again. You'll definitely get in." Having said his piece, he shoved the money forward in front of Han Qingyu, tossing the empty satchel onto the tabletop in the same motion. It turned out the bag had held only those two bottles of soda and a thousand yuan. A surge of mixed emotions washed over Han Qingyu; he sat frozen in place. "Consider it a loan... Ah, don't worry, this amount really isn't much to my old man." Assuming Han Qingyu was too embarrassed to take it, Wen Jifei urged him on. "Even that younger stepmother of mine is walking around the city with a cellular phone now. For his own flesh and blood to ask for a thousand yuan is hardly unreasonable." Hearing this, Han Qingyu nodded with a smile, reaching for the orange soda without touching the money. Seeing him like that, Wen Jifei immediately grew irritated. "Take it! Damn it, why are you being so polite with me? I already told you it's a loan. It's not like I don't know your family's situation. "Besides, my mom is bound to give me some cash to take along... Once I'm in the army, I probably won't have much to spend on anyway. "Wait, what's with you? You haven't lost heart, have you, Qingzi? Don't do that. You're good at math, physics, and chemistry, and you work hard. You have a real shot, Qingzi. "Don't lose heart, Qingzi..." As he spoke, he tried to shove the cash into his hands. Han Qingyu caught the money, pressed it back onto the tabletop, and looked up with an easy smile. "Hey, do you know why I rushed over to see you first thing this morning?" "Oh, right. Why did you come?" "I came today to tell you something." Gently sliding the money back across the table, Han Qingyu said slowly, "Your brother here... is also joining the army." "Huh? How... what's this about?!" Wen Jifei froze in bewilderment. "You're... not taking the exam anymore?" "Not taking it. My mind's made up." Han Qingyu pushed the money back in front of him and explained, "Enlisting is a good way forward too, isn't it? Opportunities like this don't come easily. If I pass it up and fail after repeating another year, that ship will have sailed for good." "I suppose there's logic in that." Wen Jifei gave it some serious thought. "How did you manage this?" "Luck. Just happened to run into military leaders." "Tsk, seriously?!" "Yeah. In short, there's nothing left for me to hesitate over. But what about you? If you enlist, what about that girl from the city? What will you do?" Han Qingyu brushed it off and neatly changed the subject, bringing up the girl Wen Jifei had carried a crush on since middle school. "Didn't you say you two promised to go to college together? Are you giving up on waiting around her campus?" "Don't even bring it up." Wen Jifei's expression slumped, and he sighed. "She's not like us. Last year she got into a regular tier-one university and didn't even want to go; this year she finally got her wish and made it into Yueda... In a place like that, unless I haul a styrofoam box over to sell popsicles outside the gate, I doubt I'd ever get near her." After moping for about five seconds, he declared, "Still, I've thought it through. Since going to college and marrying her won't work, returning as a general to marry her sounds pretty good too." Han Qingyu: "..." "By the way," Wen Jifei went on, overflowing with ambition from across the table, "do you know which military region you're heading to? Say, could the two of us end up in the same unit? Haha." "...No." Han Qingyu paused to gather his thoughts, speaking earnestly without sounding overly bleak. "Word is, I'm heading to the frontier, and there might be some danger..." In the end, he spoke the words he had prepared, entrusting the care of his family to Wen Jifei. Wen Jifei thought it over, then said dismissively, "Who are you trying to scare? It's not like there's a war going on. Even if there was, that wouldn't be half bad—if I went to the front lines, I could rack up merits and get promoted to general that much faster." Han Qingyu said, "I'm just talking about a worst-case scenario. If, just if..." "Fine, fine, fine. If that worst case ever happens, I'll be Uncle and Auntie's own flesh-and-blood son... Bah, you dragged me right into your gutter. 'Worst case' my ass—there won't be any worst case." Wen Jifei worked himself up, then settled down, tilting his head back in sudden wistfulness. "Sigh. Why don't you ask your commanders for me, Qingzi? I want to go to the frontier too. Going to the frontier is what makes soldiering worthwhile..." Han Qingyu said, "Screw you."