When He Zhao reached out to take Xie Yu's hand, Xie Yu squeezed back out of habit. He didn't dodge or hesitate.
The sky gradually grew darker.
All they could see was red. The ground was covered with remaining fragments of the fireworks, and lanterns filled the street, glimmering.
They walked side by side for a while. On the way, they passed a stall selling sweets. He Zhao looked twice, his hand tightening as he pulled Xie Yu towards the stall. "Shall ge buy some sweets for you?"
Some female tourists surrounded the stand.
The syrup was orange-yellow and translucent, glistening under the light from the streetlamps behind them. The shopkeeper was an old hand at this and in two or three strokes he drew a dragon with fangs bared and brandishing its claws.
Cheers rose from the crowd.
"How childish." Xie Yu didn't want to squeeze into the line. "How old are you?"
He Zhao lifted a hand and pointed at one of the sweets. He said loudly, "Sir, this one."
He Zhao used to carry lollipops with him to help him quit smoking. Then he got used to it. Even though he no longer ate them often, when he went to the convenience store at school he would get two and put them in the pocket of his uniform, just in case.
After he had grown friendlier with the class, Xu Qingqing and the others got braver and would occasionally come over to ask for sweets. "Zhao-ge, do you still have sweets?"
At the time, He Zhao had been 'mired in video games' and unable to extricate himself. He still firmly held the position of 'bottom-of-the-year student' whom no one could budge no matter how badly they did in the exams. He held onto his phone and didn't bother with them. "Wait a while. I'm at an important part."
Xie Yu had just woken up. Still lying on his side, he reached for He Zhao's pocket.
Xu Qingqing had frozen for a moment. When she came back to herself, she raised a hand to indicate, "I want the strawberry one!"
Xie Yu said, somewhat impatiently, 'Mm.'
He Zhao's game had ended quickly, but he had situational awareness and pretended he hadn't yet finished.
......
After reminiscing this far, Xie Yu looked down at the sweet in his hand, thought for a while, then bent down and tasted it.
It was cloyingly sweet.
The two of them were very close and the picture drawn in cane sugar was about half a palm's width long.
He Zhao bent down and bit down on the other side.
Several old-fashioned, resonant chimes rang out from a distance.
The moment the bells sounded, the lights on both sides of the street lit up again.
All along the path they had taken here, extending forward. The whole temple festival was thoroughly illuminated by the lanterns' light.
They left the area and walked a little further to the shopping street.
Xie Yu wanted to bring something back for Madam Gu. He picked a shop, but didn't find anything after looking through things for a while. There were many varieties of scarves on the wall, but ones that suited Madam Gu were few and far in between.
He Zhao, on the other hand, picked something. "What about this one? Old He should be very happy with this. Straightforward, but not simple. Classic, but fashionable."
