The sky this summer was exceptionally blue. In this often-gray city, there are always a few days in the year perfect for looking up at the sky.
As the sun set, a crescent moon would appear simultaneously in the southern sky. It looked white and tender, with a kind of delicate posture that Lin Song found endearing.
Lin Song had always loved summer vacation. The break was long enough, a full two months. At the beginning of every summer, he would set a small goal for himself: to finish all his summer homework within two weeks.
During those long holidays, he never found the sweltering heat unbearable. Even at the height of summer, the water of the Han River was cool and refreshing. In the evening, the people swimming in the river were like dumplings being dropped into a pot, covering both banks.
Lin Song didn’t have to run that far to the Han River; there were ponds everywhere near his home. He would grab an inner tube from a car tire, find a shady spot, and slip into the water, soaking for the better part of an afternoon.
He would wake at dawn and run to Zhongshan Park with his soccer ball. The leather ball would get soaked with dew from the lawn, making it feel especially heavy.
By the time Lin Song was in the third grade, he could already do a kip-up. He was selected for an amateur track and field team and had to train at the Xinhua Road Stadium during the summer vacation. Back then, Lin Song was scrawny, and every training session exhausted him. The meals at his home were simple, usually just rice and vegetables; they could only have fish once every few weeks.
Lin Song decided he couldn’t continue with running. So, without asking his coach for permission, he simply stopped showing up for practice.
One time, the coach brought the team to Zhongshan Park to train and ran into Lin Song, who was playing soccer there.
“Hey, Lin Song, why haven’t you been coming to practice?”
“Uh… I forgot.”
“Come on, train with us.”
“Okay, sure.”
At the coach’s request, Lin Song had no choice but to put his soccer ball aside and join the team’s running drills.
This round of training didn’t last long either before Lin Song deserted again. He was the youngest and frailest member of the team. During practice, trying to keep up with the other members was pure agony for him.
After that, whenever Lin Song went to Zhongshan Park to play soccer, he would be extra cautious. If he saw any members of the track team, he would keep his distance.
He never ran into his coach again.
Jingwu Road Elementary School was located in a small alley off to the side, not on Jingwu Road proper. Because their school had the words “Jingwu” (Martial Prowess) in its name, the kids from there had an air of bravado whenever they encountered kids from Jianghan North Road Elementary. Their slogan was: “The Dare-to-Die Squad of Jingwu Road never falls behind!”
Lin Song still remembered how his teacher’s homework assignments were endless transcription exercises. It seemed the teacher intended to use the tip of a pen to flatten the arrogance of the “Dare-to-Die Squad.”
After school, Lin Song would go to a classmate’s house to do homework. This was a study group arranged by the teacher to help kids who were struggling academically. His mother always said his handwriting was like a ghost’s scribbles, so he learned to imitate her signature to sign off on his own homework. He always finished his assignments as quickly as possible so he would have time to run around and play like a little phantom.
During one of these study sessions, a more worldly-wise classmate told them that the eunuchs on TV had their “wieners” cut off. At the time, Lin Song didn’t believe such nonsense, thinking they were just making up scary stories.
There was no school on Wednesday afternoons. The teacher assigned a new task: use the afternoon to catch sparrows. Catching sparrows was something Lin Song loved to do.
In a metal box under the leg of his bed, Lin Song’s older brother had a full container of folded paper “bullets.” His brother owned a slingshot made from a thick piece of wire.
The rubber bands on the slingshot had been secretly cut by Lin Song from the long rubber gloves his mother wore to work. He cut one strip from each glove so that she wouldn’t easily notice.
Of course, his mother knew he had cut her gloves, but she never said anything about it.
His brother never let Lin Song play with the slingshot.
Lin Song didn’t have his own slingshot, and he didn’t know where his brother hid it. He had secretly rummaged through his brother’s schoolbag several times but never found it.
Now, with the teacher’s assignment to catch sparrows, Lin Song had a legitimate reason. He requested to use his brother’s slingshot to complete the assignment. His brother hesitated for a moment but still lent it to him.
Lin Song also asked for half a box of ammunition. His brother hesitated again before finally pouring a small half-box of paper “bullets” into Lin Song’s schoolbag.
Shooting sparrows was a skill. Although Lin Song now had the slingshot, he used up all the paper “bullets” in his bag without hitting so much as a single feather. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t hit them.
Lin Song picked up a small stone from the corner of the wall by the breakfast shop, placed it in the leather pouch of the slingshot’s bands, pulled them back as far as they would go, and, aiming at the sky, shot the stone into the air.