Once Young - CH 1.6

Brother Xiaochuan and the others went to the primary school in our Denghua Hutong, called Denghua Primary School. My father and Uncle Qin went to the primary school there. Not only them, but those who have studied in Denghua Hutong are almost all alumni of Denghua Primary School. Auntie Wang in the primary school has been watching the door since my dad went to school. My dad called her Auntie Wan, and when I was in school, she was still called Auntie Wang.

The earliest Denghua Primary School was the ancestral hall of a large family. After the liberation, the house was nationalized and turned into a primary school. The classrooms were originally a few large brick houses for memorial tablets, and there are legends about haunted places. Later, there were more and, the blue-brick house was demolished, and a three-story building was built on the spot, so Brother Xiaochuan and Qin Qian studied at night for a year. Denghua Elementary School is the highest point in our Hutong. Everyone uses it as a landmark. When giving directions, they say, “I haven’t reached the elementary shhol yet!” or “Just go ahead after the elementary school!”

However, the Denghua Primary School with a history of several decades no longer exists. Because the children born in the 2000s are much less than those born in the 1980s, the primary school could not recruit students, so it was merged into the famous middle school nearby. Like most Beijingers, my primary school’s alma mater disappeared.

Brother Xiaochuan and Qin Qian gathered on the third-floor platform at the top of Denghua Elementary School. Qin Chuan and I moved a small bench and sat at the gate of the courtyard with the children who did not go to school. From there I could see the sharp iron fence surrounding the top of the elementary school building, but no matter how hard I stretched my neck and stood on tiptoe, I couldn’t see the figure on the platform, and I could only hear the changed key on the loudspeaker broadcast.

Just as I was looking around and looking, Qin Chuan suddenly stood up: “I saw my sister!”

“Where? Where?” The children gathered around him.

“It’s on the top of the building! My sister is standing in the third row!” Qin Chuan pointed in a serious manner.

Everyone huddle together, some said that they saw it, some said they didn’t.

I was standing behind Qin Chuan and couldn’t see the third row at all. He must have lied to show off. Seeing him shaking his head, I couldn’t be more angry: “Not at all!”

Qin Chuan turned his head and glared at me: “Yes! You are the only one who can’t see it!”

When I was young, I was thin and small. Qin Chuan always called me small. People around me laughed, and my face flushed with anger: “You lie! Bed-wetting ghost!”

Everyone laughed even harder. Qin Chuan likes to wet the bed, and his wet mattress was still hanging out in the yard last night!

“Little one!” Qin Chuan roared.

“Bed-wetting ghost!” I showed no weakness.

“Little guy!”

“Bedwetter!”

“Little guy!”

“Emperor Qin Shihuang!”

I finally used my trump card. This was Qin Chuan’s killer. Sure enough, he stopped saying a word, but when I made a face at him, he directly shot and hit me…