THE SKY was so clear that there was not even a wisp of a cloud. Sun and shade were quite bright and hot. On the calendar it was marked as a red-letter day. Make no mistake about it, this was a good day; the park was filled with couples strolling in tight embrace, as if fearful that their partners might run away.
Several unattached fellows, feeling ill at ease, sighed lengthily.
"This weather is really boring."
"Now if I had a dame in my arms ¡K"
"The strange thing is that we're not any worse-looking than Old Bo, but he's having a love affair and we're not."
The one called Old Bo merely laughed.
"Old Bo, hasn't your brother-in-law written a letter to tell your wife?"
Old Bo shook his head and said, "Even that brother-in-law of mine doesn't know anything."
"Does her family know?"
"Whose?"
"Jiaxuan's family."
Old Bo shook his head again and then paused for a moment.
"Her elder brother sees me a trustworthy 'big brother'."
"Too bad for him. Maybe her brother thinks you're impotent. He's really too naive if he'd go so far as to calmly hand over his younger sister to be looked after by a man.
Lighting a cigarette, Old Bo sat down on a chair. He felt that his friends did not quite understand him, so he blew out a milky-white puff of smoke and started chattering.
"My thing with Jiaxuan is not just by chance ¡K"
He thought it was nauseating to bring up words like love and romance; consequently, he always used the word "thing" as a substitute.
"As far as that 'thing' is concerned, "I'm not the least bit casual. My attitude is not like that fellow Wiener's.1 Wiener's romance is ¡K"
Someone interrupted him.
"I know, I know. Don't waste your time. Hurry up and go find your happiness. Someone is waiting for you."
The fellow saying this pulled a face and let out a protracted sigh.
"Pardon me," Old Bo said as he donned his hat and left. There was no wind at all; his entire body was gently warmed by the sun.
Old Bo stuck his right hand into his pocket and considered where to go with Jiaxuan today. The reception room of her school was not a place where they could spend much time; moreover, on a fine day like this it wouldn't do not to go outside for a stroll. But where to go? Every time the two of them met they were faced with the same difficult problem.
"Where shall we go?" he asked.
"Wherever you want to go."
"Go number one or go number two?"
Her laughter sounded like the ringing of an electric bell. As Old Bo thought, he scratched his head—grayish-white flakes fell from his hair.
"Is Chengnan Park all right? It has flowering crabapples."
"OK."
"Why is it that you never come up with any ideas?"
"I think you're always right about everything. I'll do whatever you say."
So Chengnan Park it was. |