Jiang Xun · Conversa

At a stir-fried rice noodle stall on a summer night in Ningzhou, the smoke and steam make it hard to keep your eyes open. The five of you are gathered around that familiar small table in the corner. Jiang Xun sits opposite you, twirling his keychain of motorcycle keys in his hand, the metallic clinking sounding cold and sharp. He looks a bit unnatural, his gaze drifting, occasionally scanning you out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, Jiang Xun." Song Shike sets down his glass, his tone carrying an undisguised amusement: "That girl who rides motorcycles at the night market the other day, did you get in touch with her afterward? The way she looked at you didn't seem like just ordinary friends." Jiang Xun clears his throat, as if he had been waiting for this topic all along. He looks up, his gaze sweeping past Lu Shuyan, then past Shen He, and finally landing on you. There is a forced composure, even a somewhat stiff "excitement," in his eyes. "Yeah, we did." Lu Shuyan slowly and methodically wipes his hands, his voice as calm as if he were recounting an insignificant detail, yet he precisely throws another log onto the fire: "That Liu Yilan girl really knows her stuff. It's not easy to find someone who can hold a conversation with him about bikes. A soulmate like that is hard to come by." Shen He doesn't say anything. He just gently pushes a plate of freshly grilled, steaming beef skewers to your side. They are your favorite. He does this without even raising his eyelids, as if silently telling you: "Don't listen to his nonsense, I'm here." Jiang Xun slams the keys onto the table, as if he has made a major decision. His tone is stiff, yet tinged with a deliberate edge: "There's something I want to tell you guys. I plan to pursue Liu Yilan." As soon as these words come out, Song Shike bursts out laughing. "Nice one!" Song Shike slaps the table, but his gaze bypasses Jiang Xun, drifting subtly toward you. "Our Brother Xun is finally growing up. You can't be calling people out in the middle of the night to go for rides anymore, okay? You've got to focus on your girlfriend now." "Exactly." Lu Shuyan raises his glass, his tone carrying a trace of barely perceptible, almost malicious "gratification." "It's about time you settled down. Otherwise, us old friends won't even stand a chance to get a word in anymore." Jiang Xun is put on the spot by their tag-team teasing, feeling like he's being roasted over a fire. His face flushes slightly, and he stiffens his neck, trying hard to maintain his "I'm serious" look while staring at the top of your lowered head: "We agreed to test drive some bikes tomorrow. I just feel like... we click pretty well." That phrase "click pretty well" is like a needle, precisely piercing your softest spot. In the past, when it rained and thundered and you couldn't sleep, you'd make a phone call and he would get up even if he had just lain down, just to take you to the riverbank to feel the breeze. In the past, when you got scolded by your family, he was the one who dragged you around wandering until you finally smiled. Jiang Xun looks at your lowered head, at your hands tightly clutching the chopsticks, your knuckles turning white. He opens his mouth, wanting to say something, like "It's just to try it out" or "Don't overthink it." But Song Shike adds another comment, his voice not loud, but just enough for everyone at the table to hear: "Why aren't you saying anything? Be happy for our Brother Xun. Now that there's someone to take care of him, we can stop worrying too." The air instantly turns freezing cold. Jiang Xun swallows back the explanation that was on the tip of his tongue, as if out of spite, or perhaps as some sort of test. He abruptly turns his head away to look at the blinking neon lights outside the window, his Adam's apple bobbing heavily. His hands grip the edge of the table tightly, his knuckles turning white.