Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Instead of sleeping last night, Zhang Zian conceived countless ways to say goodbye, from crying with his head tucked in to long lyrical narratives. He finally chose the most common way, which was as bland as when leaving home to go to college or work. If things weren’t going well outside, he could come back home at any time. It was as bland as if all this is true.
“Is your luggage heavy? Would you like me to take you to the station?” His mother looked at the suitcase. She was like this as well last night, desperately trying to stuff things inside but worrying that it might be too heavy.
“No, it’s not heavy. Besides, I’m rolling it anyways, not carrying it. It’s fine,” he said with indifference, “No need to take me there, your customers will come soon. I can do it myself.”
His parents asked if he left anything behind, be it his wallet or mobile phone. They reminded him that the station was crowded, and he should bring his luggage when he went to the bathroom so that it wouldn’t be stolen…
This wasn’t the first time he had left home for a long time. Since the beginning of college, this process has been repeated countless times. The difference was probably, “Don’t forget to bring your train ticket”. After all, he was now entering the station with his ID card and therefore didn’t need a ticket.
No matter what they said, he promised them one by one. However, he didn’t hear a single word but merely stared at their faces in a way that made him want to cry.
Once all the preparations were complete, his parents told him a few more things like “Go and be nice to the girl over there, don’t be too stingy” or something similar.
He walked to the door, holding the luggage lever, and put his other hand on the doorknob door. He held it tightly without pushing too hard.
After a short while, he turned abruptly, “Why shouldn’t I leave? Like Mom said, the company can’t do without me anyway, and I should be fine delaying two more days.”
The several new members nearby silently lowered their heads, and the gray parrot was so disheartened it buried its head in its wings as discouragement. Before they came, they were full of confidence and determined that the strength of the whole team would definitely pull him out of the dream. After their arrival, they weren’t so confident anymore.
Even if he didn’t do as planned, they couldn’t blame him and would understand his choice.
It may have been that his father helped his mother think about the situation last night. His mother laughed and simply said, “You’re such a grown adult already and you still can’t leave home? Are you still crying when leaving us? Go. You will be back again in less than three months.”
She walked over, wiped his tears with the corner of her sleeve, and murmured, “You’ve grown so fast. So many years have passed in the blink of an eye, and now I can barely reach you without tiptoeing …”
His father also said earnestly, “Everything your mother said yesterday was just out of anger. Good men can thrive anywhere. Go out and see the world while you’re still young. Why stay at home all day? Go, it is time to go.”
Zhang Zian stood still for a few seconds, raised his hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and said with a smile, “Okay, then I’m going.”
“Go. Be careful on the road, don’t drop or lose your things, and watch out for cars.”
They took the trouble to remind him once again of what he needed to be careful about. With that, they opened the door for him to leave the store.
Zhang Zian held up the birdcage with one hand and pulled the suitcase with his other hand, with the little monkey sitting on it. The cats who couldn’t be brought out of the shop yesterday also took the first opportunity and left.
The weather was wonderful. It wasn’t a cloudless sunny day or a cloudy and rainy day, but cloudy weather with moderate light and suitable temperature. It seemed as though someone had arranged for the weather to be like this especially for his departure.
His parents stood side by side at the door and only re-entered the shop after seeing him leave.
He took a few steps out of the store, took a deep breath, let go of the hand holding the suitcase, and turned to wave them farewell.
“Goodbye!”
They also smiled and waved to him.
He waved for about five seconds, then slowly put down his hands. He picked up his suitcase again, held his chest up, and strode toward the station.
Slam!
After he went a little farther, he heard the store door close. Even though the sounds of people passing by and of the cars around were noisy, he still could hear it so clearly that even his heart even jumped a little.
He couldn’t help but stop and stay still.
He had a feeling that he was at the crossroads of a journey. If he turned back now, he could still make it in time.
Three cats, a bird, and a little monkey, waiting silently for his choice.
A blue-gray cat squatting on the wall beside the road was also waiting.
A police car came towards him slowly. There was a folding wheelchair in the compartment. A girl in a light blue dress sat on the back seat. The policewoman sitting next to her saw the pet shop sign, pointed to it and asked the girl, “You mean, this is where your home is?”
When the police car passed by Zhang Zian, the girl saw him pulling the suitcase, and hurriedly slammed on the window glass to get the car to stop. She wanted to open her mouth but couldn’t speak. It took a few seconds for the policewoman to figure out what she wanted. She ordered the driver to reverse the vehicle.
The little girl with twin tails noticed that he was in a daze like he was about to go away for a long time. She hesitated for a while and intended to slip past him, not wanting to disturb him. After all, they had just known each other for two to three days, and her mother often told her that she should not bother adults when they are dealing with something or else they would become rather upset.
The girl had a pale face from not getting enough sunlight for a long time. She wore large-frame thick-bottomed glasses and held a cat in her arms. She walked next to the wall as if she was a thief. Her eyes fell on the “cat wash” sign in front of the pet shop but didn’t notice his presence.
Two boys with dark eye bags seemed to have just left the Internet cafe after an overnight session. With disheveled hair, they begged their grandparents over the mobile phone to tell their classmates to help them deal with the teacher ‘s roll call. After they finished the call, they discussed where to have breakfast and then headed back to their dormitory for some catch-up sleep.
The two of them didn’t pay attention to Zhang Zian but were instead attracted by the little monkey on the suitcase, and each one made a face to make fun of it when passing by.
“Sleep early tonight and come to work tomorrow.”
Zhang Zian said without thinking it through.
The two boys looked at each other with confused expressions and felt deeply scolded; was this man mad? They decided to ignore him and walk away.
‘Yes, I have to work tomorrow as well. After such a long rest, I can’t just sit back and eat, or else my family’s pet store will be confiscated.’
He took a few more steps and continued to move forward. It was a bit stiff at first as if he was a machine lacking lubricating oil, but his movement gradually became smoother.
The elves were very pleased with his choice but not as happy as they expected.
The bus stop was empty, and he didn’t care whether the seat was clean or not. He sat down with his elbows on his knees and stared down at his feet.
The bus came in, stopped, opened, closed, and left.
He didn’t get in. He seemed to have been waiting for someone.
Suddenly, everything around him was frozen, as if a pause button was pressed.
Such a strange phenomenon did not set off any alarms in front of his calm eyes.
A flamboyant Chinese costume wobbled and appeared on the edge of his field of vision, then stopped abruptly.
He then heard Zhuang Xiaodie’s voice around him.
“You did all this just to say ‘Goodbye’?”
