A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

Lin Shubai opened his eyes on Sunday morning.

There were more than ten unread messages on the screen, all from Liu Yang, starting at 6:08 a.m., one every three to five minutes, like a countdown to a time bomb.

First: "Shubai, Shubai, Shubai! Are you up yet? I need to tell you something."

Article 2: "The arcade behind the school, the one we went to last time called 'Starlight Paradise,' has new machines! Apparently, they're old machines imported from America!"

Article 3: "The boss said it was some kind of 'retro game machine,' with mechanical puppets, fortune-telling machines, pinball machines, peep shows, and even wind-up toy machines!"

The fourth to the last item are descriptions of various machines, filled with Liu Yang's signature exclamations such as "It's so retro" and "You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't come."

Lin Shubai glanced at the time—9:12. He turned over, stared at the ceiling for three seconds, and then replied with a single word: "Okay."

The phone rang almost instantly; it was Liu Yang calling. "You're finally awake!!! I need to tell you about that machine—"

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Shubai said, "I understand. See you at the arcade entrance later." Then he hung up the phone, placed his phone face down next to his pillow, and sat up.

After changing my clothes—a light gray hoodie, jeans, and white canvas shoes—I stood in front of the mirror before leaving. My hair had gotten a bit long; I'll have to get it cut sometime when I have time.

After going downstairs, Su Wan was already waiting downstairs; it was clear that Liu Yang had also called Su Wan.

Su Wan walked ahead, her pace neither fast nor slow. "Liu Yang said that the machine was retro, with things like mechanical puppets, fortune-telling machines, and peep shows. I was skeptical."

"You can only believe half of what he says."

The bus headed towards the school. The street scenes flashed by outside the window. Su Wan looked out and asked, "What did your mother say about the Peking University thing?"

"I'm quite happy. But I still need to keep studying."

Su Wan nodded. "Auntie is right. If you get carried away by this and miss the cutoff score for the college entrance exam by just one point, Peking University won't accept you. That would be a huge joke."

The bus arrived at the stop, and the two got off and walked towards the street behind the school. There weren't many people on the street on Sunday, and most of the shops were closed, with only a few snack shops and stationery stores still open.

The sign for "Starlight Paradise" is at the end of the street, and a person wearing a black windbreaker is standing at the entrance, looking down at his phone.

"Liu Yang!" Su Wan called out.

Liu Yang suddenly raised his head and waved to Lin Shubai and the others.

Three people pushed open the door and went in.

The arcade was a bit darker than the last time I was there, with the lights turned a warm yellow, probably to match the atmosphere of the old-fashioned machines. At 10 a.m., there weren't many people, only a few junior high school students gathered around a fighting game machine.

But the row against the wall has indeed changed.

These weren't your average arcade machines; they were seven or eight wooden machines of varying sizes, the tallest being taller than a person and the shortest only waist-high. They were carved with patterns of vines, flowers, and unidentified animals, looking as if they had been taken from an old photograph from a hundred years ago.

Liu Yang rushed to the front of the machine, plopped down on it like a cat guarding its food: "Look! This! A fortune-telling machine!"

Lin Shubai walked over and looked down at the machine. A piece of glass was embedded in the top of the wooden cabinet, behind which was a female doll dressed in a gypsy dress. In front of her was a crystal ball with a small lamp inside, emitting an orange-red light.

The instruction card reads: "After inserting a coin, the machine will print a fortune slip, circa 1930."

Liu Yang inserted a coin, and a squeaking sound came from the machine. Then, a narrow strip of paper with jagged edges was ejected from a small opening at the bottom.

Liu Yang picked up the note and read it aloud: "'You will have a delicious lunch today.' What kind of lousy divination is this? I could figure it out with my toes. I really will have lunch today."

Su Wan snatched the note from his hand, glanced at it, folded it expressionlessly, and stuffed it into her pocket: "Keep it, just in case it's right."

The second device is a peep show. It's a wooden cabinet with two small round holes in the front, like a telescope. The instruction card reads: "After inserting a coin, you can view a 3D picture inside. Made around 1925."

Liu Yang inserted the coin, put his eyes close to the hole, and after a few seconds, he exclaimed "Wow!"

"What did you see?"

"A city! Three-dimensional! Just like the real thing! And there are words on it—'1928'!"

Lin Shubai also inserted a coin. He peered inside and saw a three-dimensional world—streets, cars, pedestrians, skyscrapers. Everything was old, yet lifelike. The pictures flipped through page after page, like a silent movie.

The third machine is a pinball machine, which is purely mechanical. It has a wooden tabletop and a glass cover, inside which are densely packed nails, ball tracks, and small baffles. Players need to pull a lever to launch the pins up, letting them roll down the nails and land in different slots to score points.

Liu Yang played three times, but his highest score was less than 100. Su Wan played once and scored 240 points.

"Have you played this before?" Liu Yang asked curiously.

"No, but the principle is similar to playing claw machines—make sure you're aiming carefully before you make your move," Su Wan clapped her hands and gave her spot to Lin Shubai.

Lin Shubai stood in front of the pinball machine, took a coin out of his pocket, and inserted it.

He pulled the lever, halfway up, then let go. The marble bounced up, hit the first row of nails, bounced to the left, hit the second row of nails, and bounced to the right, making a clanging sound from the machine.

The marble rolled all the way and finally landed in a slot in the middle. Score: 60 points.

The fourth machine is a wind-up toy machine. It's not coin-operated; you wind it up manually. Inside the glass cabinet is a row of metal toys—a walking tin duck, a somersaulting acrobat, and a horse pulling a carriage. Each time you play, you need to insert a coin, then take the corresponding wind-up key from the side of the cabinet, turn it a few times, place it on the table, and watch them move on their own.

Liu Yang chose the duck. He inserted the wind-up key into the hole on the duck's back, turned it three times, and placed it on the table. The duck began to walk, waddling and stretching its neck, just like a real duck. It walked about twenty steps, then stopped in place and didn't move.

"It's too short"

"That's how wind-up toys work; the more times you wind them, the more steps they take."

The last one is a mechanical puppet. It is encased in a glass case and has a small stage inside. On the stage stands a mechanical puppet dressed in 19th-century clothing—a man wearing a top hat, holding a cane. The puppet's joints are made of metal, its face is painted with expressions, and its eyes are glass beads that reflect light slightly under the lights.

Next to the machine is a yellowed instruction card that reads in both Chinese and English: "After inserting a coin, the mechanical puppet will perform a dance. Circa 1920."

Su Wan also came over to take a look. She bent over, her nose almost touching the glass cover, and stared at the doll for several seconds.

"These eyes look alive."

Liu Yang had already taken out a handful of game coins from his pocket and stuffed one into the coin box.

The machine emitted a buzzing mechanical sound, like the winding of an old clock. Then the mechanical puppet moved. Its head slowly turned, its arms rose, its cane drew a circle in the air, and then its whole body began to spin.

Lin Shubai was watching from behind, but he wasn't looking at the mechanical puppet; he was looking at the words in his mind.

【Trigger Keywords】

[Mechanical puppet + old-fashioned clock sound]

[Hugo Cabrit's Invention (Brian Selznick)]