AOI 18

Xu Minghai felt that going to Taoranting Park and not playing on the Big Snow Mountain was basically the same as having zhajiangmian with only the toppings and no sauce; doufunao with only a spoon and no gravy; meat buns with no filling; Beibingyang soda that wasn’t cold.

In short, it was deeply unsatisfying.

But the teachers had explicitly ordered that the spring outing was a group activity—no free time, no going to the amusement area. Xu Minghai still remembered asking Teacher Zhang at the time: “So can we climb the Big Snow Mountain?” Teacher Zhang had replied: “Do I look like a snow mountain to you?”

Xu Minghai had wrestled with this internally for a long time, and in the end decided to break the rules anyway. If conditions permitted, he’d go; if not, he’d create the conditions and go anyway! Worst case, he’d get the full package deal—standing punishment, having his parents called in, writing a self-criticism—he was a veteran of it all.

So Xu Minghai had behaved very well all morning, deliberately keeping a low profile. As he walked with his classmates to the West Pier, he pretended to squat down and tie his shoelaces, then when the teachers weren’t looking, he got up and bolted straight for the Big Snow Mountain.

But even so, he’d underestimated his own influence. Other boys spotted him taking off and immediately followed, watching him scramble up the two- or three-storey-tall Snow Mountain.

The news spread like wildfire, and before long, it had caused the chaos unfolding before them.

Xu Minghai slid all the way to the bottom in one breath, then without giving the teachers a chance to catch him, he got up and ran to the other side. The sacrifice had already been made, bloodshed was inevitable—who would he be doing justice to if he didn’t take a few more rides?

“Xu Minghai!!!”

Teacher Zhang Chun was so angry she was on the verge of tears. Meanwhile, other boys around were getting restless, rolling up their sleeves and ready to climb. Yeah, if they held back any longer, Xu Minghai would take all the glory.

“Let me see any of you dare go up?!”

As the saying goes, the older ginger is spicier. Cao Yunfeng stepped up to the plate, her lion’s roar cutting through the clouds and turning the tide. She was far more commanding than the younger teachers, and she instantly stopped the fifth-graders who’d been ready to follow suit.

One bold kid craned his neck and yelled at Cao Yunfeng: “Teacher Cao, Xu Minghai already slid down—let us play for a bit!”

“He’s him, and you’re you!” Cao Yunfeng stepped forward and gave the kid’s ear a vicious twist. “He doesn’t behave, so you don’t either?! You want me to call your parents too?”

Just as everyone was starting to settle down, someone shouted again: “Hey! Xu Minghai’s on the chain bridge!”

Everyone looked over immediately. There was Xu Minghai, arms outstretched for balance, wobbling as he walked along a suspension bridge more than two metres off the ground.

Taoranting’s chain bridge was famous—basically the training ground where Beijing kids first tested their skills and courage. It was about twenty metres long, connecting the big and small Snow Mountains, with no handrails and a floor made of wooden planks with gaps of over ten centimetres between them. Looking down through those gaps was enough to scare the tears out of any timid child.

Xu Minghai had been brought here by Chen Lei since he could walk and run. Every plank on that chain bridge was practically etched into the soles of his feet—skilled and fearless.

As he walked, he didn’t forget to rally the others: “Comrades! For the cause of the Party, for the final victory—charge!”

That was a line from “Seizing the Luding Bridge,” a text they’d just studied a few days earlier. With Xu Minghai’s rousing shout, it carried the spirit of “the Red Army fears not the trials of the march, treating a thousand rivers and mountains with ease,” stirring an itch in some of the boys’ hearts.

In the blink of an eye, Xu Minghai had reached the top again.

The teachers, seeing him standing there with the proud bearing of a great leader, were so furious they nearly had heart attacks on the spot.

“Aren’t you my brothers? Aren’t you my closest mates?” Xu Minghai pointed at a few of his good friends in the class, one by one, and called out, “Next year, there won’t be a spring outing for us!”

The boys below were frantic, scratching their heads and looking around. Just as they were torn between grabbing the spotlight and facing the scolding, another figure suddenly appeared on the bridge. Standing at the edge, he mimicked Xu Minghai, arms outstretched, gingerly stepping onto the trembling planks, testing his way forward.

“Holy crap, it’s Qiushi!” someone yelped.

“Who’s that? What year?” everyone asked.

“Third grade! The one who took out San Shui’s eye on his first day—tough as nails! Lives in the same courtyard as Xu Minghai.” A well-informed kid quickly reported.

Now the fifth-graders felt humiliated, losing face, and regretted not making the move earlier. But the one who regretted it even more was Cao Yunfeng. She never would have guessed that after holding off the fifth-graders all this time, it would end up being a student from her own class who’d run up there—and of all people, Qiushi, who’d been behaving so well recently.

That chain bridge swayed with every step, enough to make anyone dizzy and terrified. Qiushi had probably never walked one before and had no experience. If he slipped and fell, wouldn’t his parents come after them with everything they had?

Cao Yunfeng quickly pulled Zhang Chun and two other teachers over to the spot beneath the bridge. They stretched out their arms and shouted up: “Qiushi, you get down here right now! Teacher will catch you!”

Qiushi paid them no attention whatsoever. Totally focused, maintaining his balance, he moved forward step by step.

Even Xu Minghai hadn’t expected the first one to run up would be Qiushi. Seeing the stubborn, determined look on the face coming toward him, he felt a surge of heroic spirit shoot right through the top of his skull. What did it mean to have a brother by your side in battle? This was it!

“Qiushi! Get down here! Right now, this instant, immediately!” Cao Yunfeng, seeing that persuasion was useless, completely lost it.

Qiushi had reached about the middle of the chain bridge when he suddenly wobbled violently from side to side, making Cao Yunfeng and the two other female teachers jump in fright.

“Don’t distract him—let him cross at his own pace!” Xu Minghai’s heart had leaped at Qiushi’s wobble. Now, not caring about seniority or respect, he even dared to snap at the teachers.

The teachers all stayed frozen in their arm-stretching positions. If the enemy didn’t move, we wouldn’t move; if the enemy moved, we’d move first. All six eyes were glued to Qiushi’s thin little arms and legs, ready to rescue at any moment.

“Guozi! Go!” Xu Minghai cheered him on as he drew closer. “Go!”

When the older students below saw that a third-grade little bean sprout was this bold, they joined Xu Minghai in cheering for Qiushi. Soon, most of Class 3, Year 5 were puffing up with pride too, telling everyone around them: “That’s from our class!”

When Qiushi was just one plank away from the finish, Xu Minghai opened his arms wide: “Guozi! Jump to your brother!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Qiushi launched himself forward, plummeting straight into Xu Minghai’s arms.

A roar of approval erupted from below, and even the teachers breathed sighs of relief.

Xu Minghai raised his hand and used his sleeve to wipe the thick layer of sweat from Qiushi’s forehead. Then he pulled the boy close to his chest, sat down cross-legged like a grand marshal, and felt for all the world like he was atop Mount Hua.

“Ready?” Xu Minghai whispered in Qiushi’s ear.

“Ready.” Qiushi didn’t even stammer.

“Not just the ride—once we slide down, we’re getting punished,” Xu Minghai reiterated.

Qiushi turned his head to look at him and nodded firmly.

Satisfied, Xu Minghai let out a bellow: “For victory—fire at me!!!” Then he pushed off, and together, they slid down from the top of the Snow Mountain.

The wind rushed in through their collars and pant legs, billowing their clothes against their skin. The cheers from below, the teachers’ angry shouts, the saturated colours of the flowers and trees, the boundless blue sky above, and the willow catkins pelting their faces like bullets—everything felt like a videotape in fast-forward, controlled by a remote, surreal and dreamlike.

It was the first time either of them had experienced the thrill of falling together at breakneck speed.