Xing Xiang Park

“You don’t recall anything?” Li Lin’s doll-like face turned aggressive as soon as she heard Bai Chen’s questions. She gritted her teeth and glared fiercely at him as though he had demolished her house.

“Recall what? I don’t recall ever doing anything to you. Is it because of my academic record?”

Bai Chen looked puzzled. Though he was a 30-year-old man, he had never come close to deciphering women’s minds. This was because he had been imprisoned since he was 18 years old for possessing 200,000 amphetamine pills.

“You really are disgusting. I can’t stand you. Just you wait, one day I’ll make sure you cry like a baby like when you bullied me back in kindergarten!” Li Lin glared at him with a savage look on her face as if she was going to breathe fire. She then turned her face away abruptly and left without even looking back.

Bai Chen, whose expression had been perplexed, came to a sudden realisation, “Kindergarten? Could she be that chubby girl?”

He seemed to remember that there was one time in kindergarten when he took snacks from a chubby girl for himself. She cried like a baby. He did not really remember her name though, because it was a long time ago.

“So, it was her. Looks like she chose to go to this school just to get revenge against me. What a weird person.” Bai Chen did not know whether to laugh or cry. He had never imagined that Li Lin was that girl, let alone her specifically choosing to attend the same school just to get back at him.

“Never mind, I’ll just buy her some snacks later to apologise.” He decided to shelve this matter for now. Bai Chen resumed his hunt for cat food, especially the cheap one, as he did not have much cash.

In a day, Bai Chen received only 50 yuan from his parents for daily expenditures. After buying himself lunch, he was left with 40 yuan, which was enough money to buy cat food.

Bai Chen swept his gaze swiftly across the array of cat food on display, trying to scan for a big and cheap one. He had no idea how many cats were at Xing Xiang Park, so buying a big bag would be a better bet.

Then his eyes fell on one huge bag from a certified number-one brand in the industry. The price of this whole bag, which weighed 1.5 kilograms, was 30 yuan.

Bai Chen made up his mind at once. He reached out both hands to take the bag, finding it quite heavy in the process, though not so much that he could not handle it. The boy then walked to the counter to check out.

There were several people queuing. This Hu Yang Supermarket only had two check-out counters, and neither was free. Both counters were occupied with shoppers who were waiting to pay.

Bai Chen chose the counter with three people in the queue. He stood there patiently waiting. The boy did not seem to notice that a girl, whose height was at his chest level, had walked over to wait in line behind him.

“Nasty person, what are you buying that cat food for?” The girl was none other than Li Lin. The basket in her hand contained a medium-sized cat food bag and crispy snacks. She looked at the huge packet of cat food in Bai Chen’s hands with curiosity.

Bai Chen turned around to look at her and smile faintly. “Of course, I’m buying this for stray cats at the park. Care to join?”

“You… you wish!” Li Lin sulked at Bai Chen with disgust. She hated his smile. The girl quickly turned away and walked over to the other counter.

Bai Chen blinked rapidly. He could feel that this girl truly hated his guts, but that could not be helped, because he really did take her snacks in kindergarten. He retracted his gaze and kept on waiting in line.

Not long after, his turn approached. Bai Chen put the bag onto the counter. An aunty in a supermarket uniform spun the bag around to look for a barcode. She pressed the machine to scan.

A ‘beep’ rang out once.

“30 yuan, young man,” the lady said with a service smile.

Bai Chen took out his 30 yuan and handed it over to the aunty. She accepted his payment, keyed in the amount, and gave him the receipt.

The boy took the receipt and a huge plastic bag with the cat food inside and walked out.

Bai Chen put his bag inside the front basket of his bike, hopped on, and sped to Xing Xiang Park.

The park and the supermarket were quite near one another. The distance itself was merely half a kilometre, and both were quite close to the Qing Sheng Business District where his house was located.

Bai Chen took only a brief moment to arrive. He parked his bicycle under a tree and opened the Mission 2 window. When he saw a green arrow pointing towards a certain direction, Bai Chen walked with the cat food bag in his arms to where it directed.

Xing Xiang Park was extremely sizable. The centre of it had a square-shaped murky pond, with some trees on the side. There were also long benches here and there.

Many people were lounging in the park. Some were picnicking with their families. Some were jogging to break some sweat. And some were just sitting there, taking in the fresh air.

Though Bai Chen did not look at anyone in particular, he still could not help but sweep his gaze around with nostalgia. It had been 12 years since he had last come here. The last sight he had of the park was when the prisoner transport vehicle journeyed past while making its way towards Beijing Central Prison.

End of Chapter 9