The summer of 2003 felt unusually long.
By the time summer began, the trees seemed to have burst into full bloom overnight, turning the ancient city into a lush, green paradise. Yet the streets remained empty. Though the SARS outbreak had been brought under control, schools and workplaces were still closed as a precaution. Students were required to report their temperatures to their homeroom teachers every day.
That summer, the biggest event was Zhang Qi's admission to the high school of his prestigious school.
The news spread like wildfire through at least three hutongs. After all, for the past decade, Zhang Qi had been the prime example used by parents to discipline their children, often saying, “Why can’t you be more like Zhang Qi and focus on your studies?”
Who would’ve thought that after a little over a month of review, he would win first prize in a math competition?
The high school’s competition class immediately took him in. That class consistently sent students to top universities like Peking University and Tsinghua University. With SARS causing school closures and the postponement of the high school entrance exams, many third-year middle school students were worried about their uncertain futures, but Zhang Qi had already received his acceptance letter.
Aunt Han, Zhang Qi’s mother, instantly became the local education expert, with neighbors inviting her over for advice on how to educate their children. She was so overwhelmed that she spent half a month eating dinner at other people’s houses. When she finally had a quiet evening at home, she grabbed Yu Dong Ge and Jin Ning to vent: “Do you think I don’t know what my Zhang Qi is like? I have no special method of educating him—I have no idea how he suddenly had this breakthrough.”
“What did I say?” Shao Hua chuckled from behind, sipping his tea. “After surviving a great ordeal, blessings follow.”
“Your mouth!” Yu Dong Ge glared at him.
“No, no,” he quickly retreated, “no offense, no offense.”
This development had a significant impact on Shao Xue. Zheng Su Nian's high school was a rival to Zhang Qi’s, with both schools regularly vying for top spots. One of her friends had already been admitted, and now another was assured a place, leaving her, still in her second year, wondering if she could create her own miracle in the upcoming year.
“I just don’t get it!” Shao Xue fumed to the two boys. “Logically, only the top five students in our class can get into your schools, which means out of forty students, only five make it—that’s an eighth of the class! So how come out of the three kids from our hutong, two of you got in?”
“You’re working with too small of a sample size,” Zhang Qi responded.
“Stop teasing her.” Zheng Su Nian found the whole situation amusing and laughed for a long while, irritating Shao Xue even more. “Hey, I heard that Qiao Mu's school got locked down.”
“Another lockdown?” Zhang Qi was surprised. “Is there a suspected case at the art school too?”
“Not exactly, but many universities are closing.”
“Sigh,” Zhang Qi sighed deeply, “when will this SARS outbreak finally end?”
The three fell into a quiet silence.
Outside the gate, a few people stood here and there.
The iron gate was shut tight, separating couples on either side like the mythical lovers Niulang and Zhinu. A few bold ones whispered sweet nothings through the bars, making Fu Qiao Mu blush.
Dou Si Yuan cleared his throat, trying to break the awkward silence.
“Your school has quite the... artistic atmosphere.”
He hadn’t even stepped inside the gate and was already making such observations based on the sight of a few couples flirting across the barrier. Dou Si Yuan truly was something. Fu Qiao Mu attempted to argue but eventually gave up, falling silent.
“Any confirmed cases?”
“No,” Fu Qiao Mu shook her head, “but many students have gone home. The dorms aren’t closed, but we’re not allowed to leave campus.”
“Is the food in the cafeteria edible?”
“What kind of question is that?” she laughed, “we always ate in the cafeteria.”
“Alright then.” He sighed and passed a bag through the gate bars. “I bought you some snacks and some Banlangen. If you need anything else, just call me, and I’ll bring it to you.”
“There’s everything we need on campus, you don’t have to worry.”
“Just take it while I’m still willing to bring you stuff. There’s no need to be polite in times like these.”
Fu Qiao Mu looked down for a moment, then hugged the plastic bag to her chest. She watched his figure disappear from sight, then turned her gaze to the couple still lost in their own world, watching them intently.
“What are you staring at?” the boy noticed Dou Si Yuan’s gaze and stopped, clearly annoyed.
“I’m just watching. Go ahead, don’t mind me,” Dou Si Yuan said innocently and, without further ado, hopped on his bike and sped away.
Back in the dorm, Fu Qiao Mu’s roommates immediately snatched the bag from her hands and began rifling through it. The girls divided up the chips, dried fruit, and chocolate. In the end, they uncovered a cell phone.
“Qiao Mu!” the dorm leader shrieked, “He gave you a cell phone?”
Fu Qiao Mu was stunned and quickly grabbed the red Nokia. It took her a while to power it on, and when it finally did, loud startup music filled the room.
There was only one number saved in the phone. She stared at it, and then a message popped up on the screen:
Let me know if you run out of credit—your school doesn’t sell phone cards.
It was from Dou Si Yuan.
She grabbed the phone and ran out of the dorm. The early summer sun made her break out in a sweat, but Dou Si Yuan was long gone.
Fu Qiao Mu looked forlornly at the couple by the gate, who were still engrossed in each other. The boy noticed her staring again, annoyed once more.
“What are you looking at now?”
“I’m just watching,” Fu Qiao Mu murmured absentmindedly, “carry on.”
On May 15th, the first seven patients were discharged after recovering from SARS.
On May 22nd, 80,000 third-year high school students returned to campus to begin reviewing for their college entrance exams.
On June 8th, the region recorded its first day of zero new SARS cases.
On June 24th, Shao Xue carefully reviewed the list of SARS-affected areas and breathed a long sigh of relief.
The six-month-long battle with SARS had finally come to an end, fading away like it had never happened. Life gradually returned to normal, and the scars of that crisis disappeared so quickly that it was as if it had never occurred at all.
Yet, unbeknownst to many, that summer quietly altered the fate of many lives.
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