A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

On Sunday morning, February 20th, at 9:30 a.m., Lin Shubai and Su Wan stood at the entrance of "Star Dream Paradise".

It's called the "entrance," but it's actually a huge archway with a row of colorful balloons hanging on it. At the top of the archway stands a cartoon lion with its mouth open, looking like it's yawning. There are five or six people queuing at the ticket window, mostly parents with children.

This is a newly opened amusement park. Liu Yang was originally going to come, but something came up and he couldn't make it, so it was Lin Shubai and Su Wan who came instead.

The ticket inspector was a young woman wearing a uniform with a lion pattern. She took the ticket from Su Wan's hand. "Two people?"

"Yes."

The two walked in. The amusement park was bigger than Lin Shubai had imagined. In the distance, there was a red roller coaster track that twisted and turned high in the air, with screams coming from it that could be heard from a distance.

Su Wan paused for a moment and looked up at the roller coaster.

"You don't actually want to sit in that one, do you?"

"I'm not going to come to an amusement park and ride the roller coaster." Su Wan said, starting to walk in that direction.

Lin Shubai followed her, walking on her right. There were more people in the amusement park than he had imagined, mostly parents with children, and a few couples walking past them hand in hand.

When we got to the bottom of the roller coaster, the line had already snaked around two bends.

Are you scared?

"I'm not afraid."

"real?"

"Yes, I did sit there."

A hint of surprise flashed in Su Wan's eyes. "When did you sit there? How come I didn't know?"

Lin Shubai paused. He had done it in his past life. When he was in college, he went to an amusement park with his roommate and rode a roller coaster. After they got off, his roommate threw up, but he didn't. However, his legs were weak for ten minutes.

"...on TV."

Su Wan stared at him for two seconds. "You watch TV and ride roller coasters?"

"I've seen others ride it; the principle is the same."

"So, if you eat while watching TV, will you get full?"

Lin Shubai decided to shut up.

After moving forward in line for about fifteen minutes, it was finally their turn. The staff member, a young man wearing a baseball cap, pointed to the seats with a blank expression, "Put your backpack in the basket below, and take out your phone."

As the safety bar came down, Su Wan grabbed Lin Shubai's arm and said, "If you're scared, you can shout it out."

"I'm not afraid."

"Then don't laugh at me when I shout it."

The train began its ascent, clicking and clattering as the chains pulled the carriages uphill to the highest point. The pace was slow, like an old snail, and Su Wan gripped the rails tighter and tighter.

The train reached its highest point and stopped for a second.

In that instant, Lin Shubai saw the entire amusement park—colorful little houses, a carousel, a Ferris wheel in the distance, and a hazy city skyline in the far distance, and then that was it.

"ah------"

About two minutes later—or maybe two lifetimes later—the train slowed down and slid back to the starting point.

Su Wan did not move when the safety lever popped up.

"arrive."

"I know."

"Then aren't you getting off the bus?"

"Wait a minute, my legs are shaking."

Lin Shubai turned to look at her. Su Wan's face was slightly flushed, whether from the cold or from shouting, he didn't know. Her hair was a mess from the wind. She glared at him, "What are you looking at? Aren't you shivering?"

Lin Shubai stood up, took a couple of steps, and his legs did feel a little weak, but he said, "I'm not shaking, my legs are quite steady."

"You're rather stubborn."

Su Wan finally stood up, and the two continued walking. As they passed a shooting game stall, a middle-aged man wearing an apron waved to them, "Young man, come and try! Ten yuan for ten shots, hit eight and get a big plush toy!"

The stall was filled with various plush toys, the largest of which was a brown bear about half a person's height, and the smallest was a set of keychains.

Su Wan stopped and glanced at the brown bear.

"You want it?" Lin Shubai asked.

"No, I'm just looking," Su Wan said, but she didn't move her feet.

Lin Shubai took out ten yuan from his pocket and handed it to the uncle. The uncle took the money, handed over the gun, pointed to the swaying targets, and said, "Shoot the bullseye in the middle, just hit it."

Lin Shubai raised his gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

Missed the target.

Come again.

It still missed the target.

Again.

This time, he finally hit one, but not the bullseye; it was the edge of the target. The uncle said expressionlessly, "The edge doesn't count." Lin Shubai thought that this rule might have just been invented by him.

After firing ten shots, I hit two. The uncle took a keychain from the stall and handed it to me, saying, "Participation prize."

Lin Shubai took the keychain; it was a small bear, about the size of a palm, with a silly expression. He looked at it, then turned and handed it to Su Wan.

"for you."

Su Wan took the keychain, looked at the silly little bear, and hung it directly on the zipper of her canvas bag.

The two continued walking and passed a haunted house. The entrance was a black hole with a skull hanging above it, and a sign next to it read, "Terrifying Maze, Enter at Your Own Risk."

Su Wan paused at the cave entrance and glanced inside.

"are you going?"

"Do you dare?"

"What wouldn't I dare to do..."

Before Lin Shubai could finish speaking, Su Wan had already gone inside. He had no choice but to follow. It was very dark inside, with only a few purple lights illuminating the way. There were fake spider webs and plastic skulls hanging on the walls. Compared to the escape rooms Lin Shubai had played in his previous life, this level of scare was practically zero. With such props, there wasn't even a dummy that suddenly popped out. It was more like a cozy stroll.

Then, a staff member dressed in a white robe and wearing a pale ghost mask suddenly hung upside down from a hidden compartment in the ceiling, about half a meter away from Su Wan's face, and at the same time let out a low roar squeezed out from his throat.

"Ugh————"

Su Wan's body stiffened abruptly, then, "Ah!!!!!!!!!"

Then Su Wan grabbed his hand directly, her five fingers tightly gripping his palm, her nails digging into the back of his hand, the force so great it felt like she was going to crush his bones. Lin Shubai looked down and saw that her hand was a size smaller than his, but her strength was ridiculously great.

Lin Shubai didn't say anything more. He squeezed her hand in return and led her forward. Her hand was very cold, with distinct knuckles. When he held it in his hand, it felt like a piece of ice.

The exit of the haunted house finally appeared: a curtain with the words "Exit" printed on it in glowing light.

Su Wan lifted the curtain and stepped outside; the sunlight was so bright that she squinted.

She stood on the steps at the exit, took a deep breath, and then looked down at her hands, which were still clenched tightly. Su Wan quickly let go, as if she had been burned.

"Is your hand alright?" she asked, her tone returning to its usual cadence, but the tips of her ears were so red they looked like they were about to bleed.

Lin Shubai raised his hand and looked at it. There were several red marks on the back of his hand, fingernail marks, so clear that they looked like they were engraved.

"It's nothing, it's just that you might have a phobia of writing in the future."

"Then I'll write it for you."

"Your handwriting is worse than mine."

"Then I'll massage it for you."

The air was silent for a second. Su Wan was stunned after saying those words. Then she quickly turned around, took two steps forward, and created some distance between herself and Su Wan.