"ICE CREAM, ice cream for sale! Chocolate ice cream, banana ice cream, all kinds of sorbet—come try a scoop!"
A girl wearing a pair of bunny ears waved a wooden sign, cheerfully trying to catch the attention of passersby—by the looks of her, a student working a summer job. Her face was young and lively, cheeks ruddy in the sun. Her lips were as glossy as a syrup-coated cherry on a cheesecake. Even the two pimples on her forehead couldn't diminish her cuteness.
She was surrounded by a gaggle of kids in yellow sun bonnets, chirping at her like a flock of sparrows.
"Ma'am! Strawberry, please!"
"Me first! I want three!"
"Xiao-jiejie, can I touch your bunny ears?"
Miss Bunny Ears flashed her smile at all of them, but Xue Meng noticed she gave everyone who called her Xiao-jiejie a generous scoop and handed them their ice cream first, whereas everyone who called her Ma'am was made to wait till the very end, only to receive a noticeably smaller portion.
Xue Meng and the candle dragon watched from nearby. The dragon licked its lips. "I want ice cream too. Two scoops—one matcha, one chocolate."
"Get real. I'm not buying you any," Xue Meng said impatiently. "Plus, remember, we're in the game. She can't see us, and we can't eat ice cream. Got it?"
The little dragon rolled its eyes, sorely affronted. "I was just saying."
Xue Meng ignored it, scrutinizing the crowd. "Looks like a spring trip organized by the preschool. Look for Mo Ran."
They spotted him soon enough. Mo Ran's family was poor, and he was a scruffy-looking kid, so he didn't have many friends. As expected, he didn't crowd around the cart like the rest of his classmates. He could buy a whole week's worth of breakfast for the price of that ice cream. No way would he waste the money on something that would melt away in minutes.
Mo Ran sat alone in the shade of a tree, staring at his classmates. He wanted to taste the ice cream so badly he unconsciously licked his lips, then bit down on his bottom lip to hide the movement. Actually, he looked just like the candle dragon. Xue Meng stifled a snort of laughter.
Embarrassed, the dragon snapped, "What are you laughing at? How dare!"
Mo Ran had no ice cream, no friends, and only a pathetic assortment of snacks in his bag. He sat dolefully beneath the tree. Come noon, he gnawed on a stale piece of bread and scattered the crumbs by the tree's roots. He stared raptly at the ants marching in lines to share the tiny morsels with their comrades.
"Don't push, there's plenty for everyone," he murmured, hugging his knees as he watched his ant friends. He was so bored he started giving them names.
"Brad Pitt, that piece is too heavy, I don't think you'll be able to lift it. Wanna find a smaller one?"
"Jimmy Fallon, wait your turn—Leonardo DiCaprio saw that crumb first. Don't bully your juniors… Oh wait, actually, you guys are the same age, aren't you?"
He was in his own little world, oblivious to the bustle around him. Xue Meng and the dragon sat on either side of him, two translucent forms. But it seemed like none of the three figures under the tree were actually there. Everyone at school—his classmates, his teachers—seemed to look straight through him.
Mo Ran didn't get upset or cry over this. After all, he was having a great time with his ant buddies. About the time Mo Ran was in preschool, a craze for the space opera Star Warts was sweeping the country. Apparently, the little boy had gotten caught up in it too. "Princess Leia, you don't have to fight over that. Here, I have more bread."
"Uh, R2-D2, don't get lost. The ant hill's this way…"
His intense focus on his play began to draw the attention of other children. The chubbiest kid in the class lurched over to him, round cheeks trembling. As soon as he heard Mo Ran talking to "R2-D2," the kid's eyes widened. "Whatcha doing? Who're you talking to?"
Mo Ran threw up a hand to block his way. "Watch out, you're about to step on the Millennium Falcon."
The other kid gaped at him.
Pointing at the ants, Mo Ran introduced them with a grin. "See, that one's Brad Pitt, that's Jimmy Fallon, and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Justin Timberlake, and this one with the big nose is Han Solo…"
The chubby kid looked concerned. "Do you have a fever? Ants don't have noses."
"I'm good, I feel fine," Mo Ran answered patiently. "Ants do have noses, you just have to look really carefully. And—do you see that one, with the bit of red? That's Britney Spears."
"Then…who are you?" the kid asked, a note of fear creeping into his voice.
Mo Ran pondered for a moment, then said decisively, "I'm Darth Vader."
Xue Meng and the little dragon were losing it. Xue Meng threw an invisible arm over the boy's shoulder, tears of mirth streaming down his face. "Oh my god, you're actually the best, kiddo—after we're done with this job, I'm gonna find Mo Ran in real life and become his friend for real."
The candle dragon, too, was wheezing with laughter. "Then you'll end up as a super powerful Sith Lord too!"
Unfortunately, the other kid didn't find Mo Ran interesting at all. Rather, he thought he might be touched in the head. He threw him one last wary glance, then jogged away with his shoulders hunched like a squat, lumbering tank. He was moving so fast he stumbled over a pebble; after hoisting up his pants, he continued shuffling away from Mo Ran as quick as he could.
A few minutes later, Mo Ran was suddenly inspired to build a park for the ants.
Xue Meng sat next to him and watched as he fashioned a bridge from a twig and a sunshade from a leaf. He piled pebbles into a tiny fence. Still, he was unsatisfied. He carved a hollow into the dirt, one not too deep, then dusted his hands and set out toward a little creek in the woods next to the playground.
"What's he doing?" the little dragon asked, perplexed. It peered down at Mo Ran's ant park.
Xue Meng looked at the hole. "I think he wants to make a lake for the ants."
"Doesn't he know the water will just seep into the dirt?"
This time, Xue Meng was the one to roll his eyes. "Seriously? He's in preschool. He's not even six."
As they grumbled back and forth, Xue Meng glimpsed another child walking by on the gravel trail. He blinked, then jabbed the little dragon with his elbow, looking stricken. "Quick! What time is it? To the second!"
The jab sent the little dragon flying in a somersault. "The hell are you doing?!" it snarled. "Use your words! Can I at least get a please?"
"Now!" Xue Meng looked like he'd seen a ghost. "Check the time! This is the boss fight!"
"Huh? What bo—" The candle dragon choked as it followed Xue Meng's line of sight. "Ahh! Fuck!"
Both of them began frantically patting themselves down for a watch or anything they could use to tell the time.
The dragon wailed piteously, "What are the chances of Chu Wanning being here?"
"Didn't you say they're like a buy one, get one shampoo deal? Why are you acting so surprised?!" Unable to find a watch or a phone, Xue Meng was growing increasingly frantic.
"I take it back!" the dragon howled. "They're not a two-pack of shampoo—at least you can cut those apart after you get home! These two are like the Oreo filling and cookie!"
Regardless of what exactly the right analogy was, as the young Chu Wanning walked past the tree, he couldn't help taking notice of the curious arrangement of twigs, pebbles, and leaves, as well as the incomplete little hollow in the ground. He paused, then slowly approached the deserted tree (Xue Meng and the candle dragon didn't count). The canopy cast a soft shadow over his fair skin. He gazed down silently at the ant park, then looked around.
No one was nearby. Had the project been abandoned?
Chu Wanning pondered for a moment. Then—in his crisp white button-up shirt, pale-blue overalls, and his Italian leather shoes—he crouched down in the dirt. Unaware of Xue Meng and the little dragon's inaudible protests, he began fiddling with the half-built park Mo Ran had left behind.
"We're screwed," said Xue Meng.
"We're so fucking screwed," said the dragon.
"The Chu Wanning route still got triggered," the two said in unison.
When Mo Ran reappeared with a plastic bottle full of water from the creek, he was taken aback to find an unexpected visitor next to his precious park.
"Stop!"
The young Chu Wanning jumped in surprise. Eyes widening like a startled kitten, he stared at the kid rushing toward him.
"I wasn't…" Chu Wanning was still holding a twig in one hand. Embarrassed, he looked down at the park, then looked back up. "I was just…"
The grimy little kid nervously shielded his ant park behind him. "I swear I have a building permit."
Chu Wanning blinked.
"You can't tear it down," little Mo Ran insisted.
"I wasn't planning to."
Mo Ran gave him a quizzical look.
"I think it's really cool. Can I play with you?" Chu Wanning asked, shy.
And that was that. Chu Wanning suggested they replace the walls Mo Ran had piled up with pebbles with ones made of twigs. Both agreed this was an excellent idea. Chu Wanning found some suitable twigs in a pile of leaves. Mo Ran drove them into the soft, spongy dirt at even intervals. Together, they replaced the wall. After lining the hollow in the dirt with a plastic bag, they poured in the creek water to finish the man-made lake.
Chu Wanning had picked up a handful of haitang petals from who knew where, which he scattered over the lake's surface. He even placed a few little ants onto the petals so that they could enjoy a perfumed boat ride.
Mo Ran was a bit too enthusiastic excavating the lake and splashed mud onto Chu Wanning's expensive clothes. But Chu Wanning didn't care at all. It turned out he had quite a lot in common with this scrawny, grimy kid whom he'd just met.
The two played joyfully, with no thought given to the stains on their clothes, the mud on their hands, or the sweat on their faces. All that mattered were those two pairs of eyes shining bright as stars, and the park for ants rising up under their hands like a dream come true.
At last the sun began to set. It was time for the preschoolers to go home. Chu Wanning, on the other hand, had come to the park with his father. He could stay as long as he liked.
"Finish the tower for me, okay?" Mo Ran said as the rest of the class streamed toward the bus. He stood reluctantly.
Chu Wanning's little face was usually hard to read, but this made him smile. "Okay. When I'm done, I'll get my daddy to take a picture of it."
"Remember to show me next time."
"Mn, I will."
Mo Ran blinked, then gasped as it hit him. "Ah! W-we played together so long, but I didn't even ask you your name!"
Chu Wanning froze, then grinned, his face lighting up. "Yeah… I forgot too."
Mo Ran started to laugh. "It feels like we've known each other forever."
Chu Wanning pressed his lips together without saying anything, but his eyes curved in a smile.
"I'm Mo Ran. I'm in Pre-K at Drunken Fish Elementary." Mo Ran hesitated, then stuck out one mud-encrusted hand, like a businessman making a deal on TV. He quickly checked himself, pulling back his hand and wiping it on his shirt, then presented it to Chu Wanning again. "Nice to meet you," he said, grinning.
Without a moment's hesitation, Chu Wanning took the kid's grimy little paw. His soft black hair fluttered in the breeze. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Chu Wanning."
"You know, suddenly, I think they're pretty good together," the little dragon mumbled.
"You don't say," Xue Meng replied, feeling a headache coming on. "It's making me a little emotional, actually…"
"No—you can't get emotional; you're being brainwashed!" the dragon cried. "We have to do our part for the greater good of genetic engineering!"
"That's right!" Xue Meng looked like he'd been slapped awake. "We know where and when Chu Wanning will show up now," he said, a fresh determination in his voice. "Start this part over again from the beginning—this time, we'll be prepared! We'll definitely prevent the Chu Wanning route from triggering!"