An hour and twenty on the road.
By the time the six of them got off at Sheshan Station — the subway stop nearest Happy Valley — it was seven in the evening. Xu Ye suggested eating first, given how long they’d be inside. It was New Year’s Eve; they were going to be in there a while.
So the six of them headed into Baolehui Mall next to the station and sat down at a Sichuan place.
“Hi, here’s our menu.”
Xu Ye took it and passed it to Chen Qingqing, who passed it straight on to Zhang Ruowei beside her. Zhang Ruowei ticked off two dishes she liked and was about to hand the menu to Jiang Yu and Shen Xinyi, but both shook their heads — anything was fine.
Zhang Ruowei’s eyes glinted. She smiled and handed the menu to Qin Zhiwei. “Qin Zhiwei, why don’t you order?”
“Me?” He looked flustered. “What if I pick something you all don’t like?”
She smiled. “That’s fine. As long as Shen Xinyi likes it.”
Qin Zhiwei’s face went red on the spot.
Zhang Ruowei prodded, on purpose. “Qin Zhiwei, why are you blushing?”
Xu Ye was not, of course, about to sit and watch his friend get worked over by Zhang Ruowei. He reached over, clapped a hand on Qin Zhiwei’s shoulder, and explained on his behalf. “He’s not blushing. That’s just the wax he put on to keep the cold off.” [TL: 防冷涂的蜡 — a stock line from Zhao Benshan’s 2001 Spring Festival Gala sketch Selling Crutches*, in which a con artist explains away an inconvenient fact with a piece of obvious nonsense. It has since become shorthand for a transparently absurd cover story.]*
“Please.”
Qin Zhiwei quickly handed the menu back to Xu Ye, kept his head down, and didn’t dare say another word. Under the table, Shen Xinyi discreetly pinched Zhang Ruowei on the thigh.
Xu Ye ticked off a few dishes, called the server over, and handed the menu back.
While they were waiting, a WeChat came through from his mother-in-law — asking if he was with Chen Qingqing.
He raised his phone, took a group photo of the six of them, sent it to Jiang Meilin, and added a line: “About to eat. We’re all going to see in the new year together tonight.”
Jiang Meilin: “Good. Big crowds tonight — be careful.”
Jiang Meilin: “Do you have enough money on you?”
Xu Ye: “Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty.”
Jiang Meilin: “All right, you go and enjoy yourselves. That’s all.”
Xu Ye: “OK~”
Chen Qingqing had already noticed Xu Ye was chatting with her mother. But the moment she saw him turn the screen off, she looked away, pretending she hadn’t seen a thing.
The food came and the six of them worked through dinner in about half an hour. Coming out of the restaurant, Jiang Yu was already complaining about how spicy it had been. Zhang Ruowei said her mouth was swelling up.
Xu Ye, Chen Qingqing, and Qin Zhiwei were all from Jiangzhou; their tolerance was naturally on the stronger side.
Shen Xinyi could take her heat too, which made a nice contrast against her quiet, retiring nature. Seeing Zhang Ruowei and Jiang Yu with their mouths bright red, she asked, “Do you want me to go and get you something to drink?”
Xu Ye reached over and pinched Qin Zhiwei. Qin Zhiwei had learned by now — he jumped straight in. “I’ll go. What does everyone want?”
“Anything’s fine.”
“Water. Right now I just want water.”
Xu Ye said, “Six bottles of water and six bubble teas, then. We’ve all got bags anyway.”
Qin Zhiwei nodded and headed off.
A good quarter of an hour went by before he came back with the bubble teas and the water, already explaining in a rush. “There were so many people, I was queueing forever.”
Xu Ye put two bottles of water in his own bag, then gave the bubble teas a shake and handed one to Chen Qingqing.
The six of them left the mall and headed for the bus stop. Happy Valley ran a dedicated shuttle line that took people over for free.
Xu Ye took a couple of sips of his bubble tea, watched Qin Zhiwei trailing dopily along behind Shen Xinyi, and started coaching him, thoroughly entertained. “Zhiwei. Did you know you can actually read a woman’s social habits off what she likes to drink?”
“Huh?” Qin Zhiwei was lost.
Xu Ye laughed. “For instance. Girls who drink bubble tea have a lot of best friends.”
“Women who drink red wine have a lot of lovers.”
“Women who drink baijiu have a lot of stories.”
Qin Zhiwei chewed it over and decided it sounded plausible. He was about to respond when Zhang Ruowei, up ahead, finished a mouthful of water and held up her bottle. “So what about someone like me? Someone who likes water?”
“A lot of pee.”
“Hahahaha—”
Jiang Yu, walking alongside, doubled over laughing on the spot, close to tears. Even Shen Xinyi couldn’t keep it in.
Zhang Ruowei shot Xu Ye a flat look. “What are you laughing at? What are you all laughing at? How is your bar for a joke this low?”
Chen Qingqing quietly pinched the back of Xu Ye’s hand, then looked up at him with a “threatening” expression.
The look meant: Stop with this nonsense — Zhang Ruowei’s actually going to get angry.
Xu Ye shook his head and smiled, indicating that Zhang Ruowei could take a joke like this, then quickly mimed zipping his mouth shut to show he wouldn’t say anything more.
Only then did Chen Qingqing look away.
They took the shuttle in to Happy Valley. The moment they were through, Qin Zhiwei let out a gasp. “Oh my god. So many people.”
For New Year’s Eve, “a sea of heads” wouldn’t have been overstating it.
The vast majority were college students. Plenty of couples too.
While Chen Qingqing was distracted looking out at the crowd, Xu Ye quietly took hold of her hand and murmured, “It’s this crowded. I have to hold on to you — can’t have you getting lost.”
She didn’t pull away. His hand was warm, and once he was holding hers, hers warmed up too. Besides, with a crowd this thick, being held on to like that made her feel safer.
Happy Valley was divided into seven zones, each with its own rides. But with tonight’s crowd, the queues would run an hour or two easily. The park itself was worth looking at, though, so Xu Ye suggested following the route on the park map and joining a queue whenever they came across something that wasn’t busy.
Everyone agreed. The six of them fell in with the crowd and moved on, and at nine they finally got onto their first ride — Gumu Youlong, which was, in effect, a roller coaster. [TL: 谷木游龙, “Valley Wood Roaming Dragon” — Happy Valley Shanghai’s wooden coaster.]
Xu Ye and Chen Qingqing took the third row.
Zhang Ruowei and Jiang Yu, the fourth.
Qin Zhiwei and Shen Xinyi, the fifth.
As the coaster began to pull away, Chen Qingqing tightened her grip on Xu Ye’s hand of her own accord. He turned, saw how serious her face had gone, and said quickly, with a laugh, “It’s fine. If you’re scared, just close your eyes.”
She closed them without hesitation.
The three girls in the row behind, though — Zhang Ruowei, Jiang Yu, Shen Xinyi — were all lit up with excitement. Of the four of them back there, the most nervous, of all people, was Qin Zhiwei. It was his first time at an amusement park, and very much his first time on anything this intense. As the coaster crept slowly up toward the crest, he felt his heart come right up into his throat.
He was trying hard to hold himself together. He did not want a repeat of last time — getting so frightened he shouted for his mother.
But fear, as a rule, doesn’t take instruction.
At the top, along with a shriek from the front row, the coaster snapped forward and plunged. Qin Zhiwei felt his soul come loose from his body. He tore his throat open shouting, and what came out sounded less like a scream than a howl of grief: “AAAH — I’M DYING, I’M DYING!”
Xu Ye shook his head. That is genuinely humiliating.
(End of Chapter 170)