A Literary Life Starting from the First Year of High School

March 11th, Saturday, 8:30 AM.

Lin Shubai was woken up by the ringing of the phone.

"Are you up yet?" Su Wan's voice came through the receiver, with the sound of a television in the background, which sounded like some kind of morning news.

"Get up now." Lin Shubai turned over and switched the phone to his other ear. He actually wanted to sleep a little longer, but Su Wan's tone made him realize that refusing was pointless.

"I want to go to the mall to buy a pair of shoes today, will you come with me?"

"Buying shoes?"

"My old white pair came unglued. The sole almost flew off after running a few steps during PE class. Come with me to buy a new pair. See you downstairs at 9:30. Don't be late."

The phone hangs up.

He rolled over, lay there for another five minutes, and then sat up.

After getting dressed, he pushed open the door and went out. In the living room, Wang Xiulan was wiping the TV cabinet, and Lin Jianguo was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper. Hearing the noise, he looked up.

"Going out today?"

"Okay, I'll accompany Su Wan to the mall."

Wang Xiulan turned her head from beside the TV cabinet and glanced at him, but didn't say anything. Lin Jianguo had already turned his gaze back to the newspaper. Lin Shubai sometimes felt that his father's newspaper was an all-powerful social shield. He would read the newspaper when he didn't want to talk, and he would also read the newspaper when he didn't know what to say. Even when Wang Xiulan scolded him, he would hold the newspaper up a little to cover his face.

After breakfast, he changed into a light gray sweatshirt and went out.

The two met downstairs.

"Where can I buy it?" Lin Shubai asked.

"There's a shopping mall on Nanjing Road, and I want to buy a pair of white sneakers."

"Didn't you say white gets dirty easily?"

"But I look good in white."

Lin Shubai felt that the logic was complete and stopped talking.

......

The Nanjing Road pedestrian street was busier than usual on Saturday. Several vendors selling balloons were on the roadside, holding large handfuls of colorful balloons that swayed in the wind. A child tugged at his mother's hand, pointed at the balloons, and shouted, "I want the red one!"

Su Wan glanced at the child and continued walking forward.

Once inside the mall, Su Wan had a clear goal and headed straight for a certain brand's store. The store didn't have many styles of sneakers, so she circled the shelves twice, picked up three pairs, and tried them on at the shoe-trying bench.

The first pair was white with a touch of pink embellishment. She put them on, stood up, and looked at herself in the mirror from left to right.

"How is it?"

"It's alright." He hadn't actually watched much; his mind was still preoccupied with the plot of "Hugo."

"What do you mean by 'okay'?"

"It's not ugly."

Su Wan glared at him, took off her shoes and put on a second pair, which was all white with a matte leather upper.

"What about these two?"

Lin Shubai took a serious look this time, "They look better than the last pair."

Su Wan nodded and changed into another pair.

This time, she didn't say anything but glanced at Lin Shubai, who immediately realized, "The previous pair looked better."

Su Wan looked down and said, "Then the second pair."

Then he turned to the shop assistant next to him and said, "Size 36, thank you."

She paid, put the old shoes in a bag, and put on the new shoes immediately; the whole process took no more than fifteen minutes.

"That's it? Aren't you going to shop anymore?"

"Is there anything else you need to do?"

"no."

Su Wan stuffed the old shoe bag into her canvas bag. "Let's go then, I'll treat you to pan-fried dumplings."

As the two came out of the mall, Su Wan suddenly stopped, pointed across the street, and said, "Look over there."

Lin Shubai looked in the direction she pointed and saw a little girl squatting by a flower bed in the open space next to the side entrance of the mall.

She was all alone, without any adults with her.

Su Wan had already walked that way, and Lin Shubai followed.

The little girl was about four or five years old. She had two little pigtails, wore a thin pink jacket, and squatted by the flower bed with her head down, her hands wrapped around her knees, and her shoulders trembling slightly.

Su Wan squatted down. "Little sister, why are you here all alone?"

The little girl looked up, her eyes red, tears still clinging to her eyelashes, and her nose red, as if she had been crying for quite some time.

"Mom...Mom is gone." Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, trembling with sobs.

Su Wan turned her head and glanced at Lin Shubai. The look was brief, but Lin Shubai understood—she was saying "I'm lost."

Lin Shubai squatted down, trying to make his voice sound as calm as possible: "Don't be afraid, we'll help you find your mother. What's your name?"

"Nian Nian".

"Niannian, do you remember where Mommy was just now?"

Niannian thought for a moment, then pointed towards the side entrance of the mall, "Mom is over there... I saw a balloon, so I ran out... and then Mom disappeared."

Lin Shubai took out a tissue from his pocket and handed it to Niannian. Niannian took the tissue and wiped her face haphazardly, wiping her nose and eyes together. After wiping, her nose became even redder.

Lin Shubai stood up and looked around. There weren't many people in the square, and no one seemed to be looking for the child. He frowned and quickly calculated in his mind—if he stood still and waited, he didn't know how long he would have to wait, and the mother probably didn't even know that her child had run in this direction.

"Go to the information desk and make an announcement." This was the quickest solution Lin Shubai could think of. The mall's announcements covered all areas, so no matter where her mother was, she could hear them.

"Niannian, shall we take you back to find your mother now?"

Niannian looked at her hand, then at Lin Shubai, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and grasped Su Wan's fingers.

The three of them entered the mall. Lin Shubai vaguely remembered that the service desk was on the left side of the entrance. He walked quickly ahead, glancing back every now and then to make sure Su Wan and Niannian were following.

The service desk is located next to the atrium on the first floor. It is a semi-circular counter with a uniformed staff member sitting inside.

Lin Shubai walked over, trying to keep his speech calm: "Hello, this child has gotten separated from his mother. Could you please make an announcement over the loudspeaker?"

The staff member looked up, glanced at Lin Shubai, then at Niannian, whom Su Wan was holding hands with. Her expression immediately became serious. She stood up from behind the counter, walked up to Niannian, and said in a gentle voice, "Little girl, what's your name?"

"Niannian." Niannian's voice was still very soft, but it was clearer than it had been outside.

"Niannian, do you know what Mommy's name is?"

Niannian thought for a moment and said, "Mom's name is...Mom."

The staff member smiled, didn't ask any further questions, and stood up to say to Lin Shubai, "Please wait here for a moment. I'll make an announcement right away. If the child's mother hears the announcement, she'll come to the service desk."

She turned and walked behind the counter, picked up the microphone, pressed a few buttons, and spoke into it. Her voice echoed through the mall's public address system, "Dear customers, this is the first-floor service desk. A little girl named Niannian is waiting for her mother at the service desk. Niannian is wearing a pink coat and has two little braids. Please come to the first-floor service desk as soon as you hear this announcement. Niannian is waiting for you. I'll repeat that..."

The announcement came on twice. The staff member put down the microphone, took a paper cup from behind the counter, filled a cup with warm water from the water dispenser, and handed it to Niannian. "Niannian, drink some water first. Mom will be here soon."

Niannian took the paper cup and drank it in small sips with both hands. A little water leaked from the corner of her mouth and dripped down her chin onto her pink coat. Su Wan squatted down and took out a tissue from her pocket to wipe it for her.

About three or four minutes later, hurried footsteps came from the end of the corridor.

A woman ran out from around the corner, her hair disheveled and her face full of anxiety. Her gaze swept across the lobby, landed on the service counter, and then locked onto Niannian.

"Nian Nian!"

She ran over, stumbled, and almost fell. When she reached the service counter, she knelt down—her knees hitting the floor tiles with a dull thud—and pulled Niannian into her arms.

"Where did you run off to... How many times has Mom told you not to run around..." The woman's voice was broken, a mixture of sobs and reproach, tears streaming down her face and dripping onto Niannian's pink coat.

Niannian was a little breathless from being hugged so tightly, and patted the woman's shoulder with her little hand: "Mommy, I'm sorry, I saw a balloon and wanted to chase it to show you..."

The woman released her, cupped Niannian's face in her hands, looked at her daughter's face with red eyes, her lips moved several times, her fingers trembled, and she wiped the tear stains on Niannian's face with her thumbs again and again, but the more she wiped, the more stained the tears became.

Niannian stretched out her little hand and imitated her mother's action, wiping the woman's face haphazardly. "Mommy, don't cry."

The woman smiled, but her tears fell even more profusely.

A staff member handed her a pack of tissues. The woman took it, pulled out a tissue, wiped her face, stood up, hugged Niannian, turned to Lin Shubai and Su Wan, and bowed deeply.

"Thank you so much, thank you so much."

"You're welcome, you're welcome. It's good that we found it."

The woman straightened up and lifted Niannian up. Niannian nestled on her mother's shoulder, her little hands wrapped around her mother's neck. She stopped crying and curiously looked at Lin Shubai and Su Wan.

"Niannian, say thank you to your older brother and sister." The woman tilted her head.

Niannian lifted her face from her mother's shoulder, whispered "Thank you, brother and sister," and then buried her face back down.

The woman smiled, took out a business card from her bag and handed it to her. "I'm a teacher in the Chinese Department at Fudan University. My surname is Gu. Thank you so much for today. If you need any help in the future, please be sure to contact me. I will definitely help if I can."

Lin Shubai took the business card, which read "Gu Mingyi, Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Fudan University," followed by her email address and office phone number.

"Thank you, Teacher Gu."

【Trigger Keywords】

[Linguist + Daughter]

[The Story of Your Life (Ted Chiang)]

[The eponymous collection, "The Story of Your Life," has been unlocked.]