Amidst a Snowstorm of Love | Chapter 8 | Someone in His Heart | Novela.app

Back in her room, Yin Guo took a shower, changed into her pajamas, and dove into bed. She wanted to discuss the possibility of renting the apartment with Zheng Yi, but her friend hadn't replied yet. Calculating the time back home, she figured she’d have to wait another half hour. As she waited, her eyelids began to grow heavy. Propped up against the headboard, she forced herself to stay awake by scrolling through her phone. After refreshing her feed, a dozen new posts appeared on her Moments. she liked them one by one. Suddenly, her finger froze on the screen. There was a short post: **Wu Suowei:** Xiao Yang-ye has someone in his heart. The name was Wu Wei; she remembered adding him just a while ago. That "Yang"? Lin Yiyang? ...Thank goodness she hadn't liked it yet. She had been a split second away. In that moment of distraction, Yin Guo accidentally kicked the TV remote off the duvet. She instinctively sat up straight, and the pillow behind her brushed against her ear. It stung sharply. She touched it; it felt swollen, right where the zipper of his sleeve had caught her. She climbed out of bed, shuffled into her slippers, and rummaged through her suitcase for the ever-reliable Erythromycin ointment. As she twisted the small cap off, her hand slipped, and it fell into the depths of her suitcase. After a long, frustrating search for the cap that yielded nothing, she gave up, squeezed out a bit of ointment, and dabbed it onto her ear. By the time she got back into bed, Zheng Yi had come back to life. **Zheng Yi:** I think it’s a great idea. You’re already familiar with them now, and they seem like good people. Even though school dorms are safer, they’re expensive. It’s good for your cousin to get some real-world experience by renting an apartment. Yin Guo steered the conversation back to the logistics. **Xiao Guo:** If I move there, I’ll have to find a new pool hall. **Zheng Yi:** What are you worried about? Isn't that Wu Wei guy competing? He’ll definitely be training, so he can recommend a place for you. True. Zheng Yi said she had errands to run and signed off. With no one left to talk to, Yin Guo’s thoughts drifted back to that post. She couldn't help but look at it again. Under Wu Wei’s post, there was only one visible comment. **Lin:** Delete it. She can see it. It really was about Lin Yiyang. Was he pining for a girl? She wondered. A minute later, Yin Guo refreshed out of curiosity. It was gone. Cleaned away, as if it had never existed. She didn't know how many people had seen it, but she was one of them, and now she had to pretend she hadn't seen a thing. It felt... awkward to have a stranger's private feelings exposed to her like that. Yin Guo leaned there, flipping her phone over and over in her hands. No wonder he was so much more relaxed with her cousin but kept his words to a minimum with her. He had someone he liked; he was keeping his distance. She suddenly wanted to tell her friend: *Did you know? Lin Yiyang has someone he likes.* But she stopped herself. Why even bring it up? *** Lin Yiyang was on the subway. Aside from him, the carriage held only two Black teenagers who were chatting excitedly. He admired their natural ability to hype themselves up; their body language was incredibly expressive. Lin Yiyang looked down at his phone. He needed a signal to check if Wu Wei had deleted the post and to tell the kid to watch his mouth. He also checked his watch. He usually wore it on his right wrist and had once cracked the glass casing. At the time, he’d considered switching it to his left, but after a few days of feeling awkward, he’d given up on the idea. Lin Yiyang unbuckled the metal strap and took it off. He had realized belatedly after Yin Guo entered the hotel that his watch might have scratched her ear. The train pulled into the station. The two teenagers hopped off. Lin Yiyang immediately checked his feed. It was deleted. Good. As the subway doors hissed shut, he opened his chat with Yin Guo. **Lin:** Did I hurt your ear? **Red Fish:** No, not at all. **Red Fish:** It just brushed against it. **Lin:** [Coffee emoji] **Red Fish:** [Happy face emoji] Lin Yiyang stared at the exchange. He couldn't see anything wrong with it. But it seemed he really wasn't good at talking to girls. After just a few sentences, it always devolved into ending the conversation with emojis. He moved his watch to his left wrist, looked at their chat again, and pondered. He didn't know what else to say. Assuming she should be sleeping by now, he tucked the phone into his trouser pocket. Back at Wu Wei’s apartment. In his cramped room, Wu Wei had spread a yoga mat by the bed. He was propped up on his hands, doing cardio. Sweat dripped from his face; he was at his most exhausted. Lin Yiyang entered, stripped off his heavy winter coat, and tossed it onto Wu Wei. The latter collapsed, flat on the mat. "I had two minutes left. You sure picked your moment." The coat was damp with melted snow. Wu Wei picked it up carefully, observing Lin Yiyang’s expression. He looked okay? That was good. "What I posted earlier... I did it on purpose," Wu Wei said. Lin Yiyang shot him a warning glance. He pulled open a drawer, looking for quarters. "What, doing laundry now?" Lin Yiyang didn't confirm or deny. He grabbed the coins, found an empty paper bag by the bed, gathered his dirty clothes, and stuffed them inside. He snatched a zippered track jacket from the bed, threw it on, and headed for the door with the bag. "I’m not finished," Wu Wei called out. "Are you interested in the little beauty or not?" Lin Yiyang looked at him. "You are, aren't you? You’ve fallen for her. It was inevitable." The sound of the closing door cut Wu Wei off. Down in the apartment’s laundry room, the two sisters who shared the apartment with Wu Wei were there. They were chatting and laughing, and they greeted Lin Yiyang, saying their goodbyes since they were moving out tomorrow. Lin Yiyang responded politely, fed five quarters into the machine, loaded his clothes, and set the timer. The wash began. The sisters left. It was quiet here; waiting wasn't so bad. He chose a chair in the middle, sat back against the wall, and saw a new post from Yin Guo. It was a shared link about donating desks and chairs to a primary school. Still awake? **Lin:** Not asleep yet? **Red Fish:** ...Insomnia. **Lin:** Jet lag? **Red Fish:** I’ve been here over ten days; the jet lag is long gone. Maybe the ramen was too good? **Lin:** That place is just average. Mostly, the ramen shop was right under Wu Wei’s apartment. He and Wu Wei were regulars, so it had been the most convenient place to drag her. **Red Fish:** It was great. At least I left satisfied. **Lin:** Tonight’s chicken broth wasn't as good as the traditional pork. **Red Fish:** I couldn't even tell it was chicken?? **Lin:** It was. **Red Fish:** You seem to know a lot about ramen. **Lin:** :) Lin Yiyang did a quick search. He found several good ramen spots and sent her the addresses—about five or six of them. **Red Fish:** Thanks, thank you. **Lin:** I’ll treat you when there's a chance. **Red Fish:** ... **Lin:** ? **Red Fish:** ...You really love treating people to meals. Lin Yiyang was amused by that. It was a misconception. He actually hated eating with people he didn't know or wasn't close to. Eating was an extremely private matter; usually, he only invited people he’d known for over four or five years. Otherwise, even if he was forced into a social dinner, he’d just settle it with a drink and find a real place to eat afterward. He looked at Yin Guo’s message, couldn't think of a reply, and habitually sent an emoji. **Lin:** [Coffee emoji] Unsurprisingly, the response was the same— **Red Fish:** [Happy face emoji] How long had it been since he’d chatted with someone like this, especially a girl? Most of the people he knew here were fellow players; he didn't have many female friends. The person he was closest to was Wu Wei. That night, he had been feeling restless and wanted to find a place to drink despite the blizzard. He’d called Wu Wei and they went to Red Fish. Just before entering, he had seen a girl through the glass window—black hair, dark eyes, petite, wearing a scarf, talking on the phone. The glass was fogged with condensation, so he couldn't see much, but he was suddenly curious about this stranger. Was she Asian? Chinese? At his lowest point, on a night when the city’s transport was paralyzed, businesses were closed, and schools were canceled due to the snow, he had encountered a stranger in his usual bar—a girl of the same nationality and heritage who made his heart skip a beat. She was the only solace in that blizzard. He wanted to know her; everything started with that thought. He wanted to get her safely to her hotel; that was why he’d had the idea. He had intended to drink all night, yet he told Wu Wei he had urgent business and asked him to check if the "younger brother" wanted a "ride" back... Those few days had been his lowest point. An old friend had come to New York, and he didn't want to meet. He’d spent days soaking in bars and pool halls, having already booked a train ticket back to Washington D.C. to leave as soon as possible and avoid those old acquaintances. It was on his way to the train station that her friend request arrived. On the train, her transfer request followed. Until tonight, when they finally got to know each other properly. And after this? *Lin Yiyang, what comes next?* he asked himself. Someone else entered the laundry room, breaking his reverie. Even in the middle of the night, there was a constant stream of people doing laundry. Lin Yiyang didn't want to wait anymore. He took his empty paper bag upstairs, tossed five quarters to Wu Wei, and told him to time it right, go down to dry the clothes, and bring them back up for him. He pulled out a quilt, crashed on the sofa, and fell asleep in his clothes. When he woke again, it was morning. The two sisters were moving out. Wu Wei rolled over in bed and pulled the covers over his head to keep sleeping. Lin Yiyang didn't get up to say goodbye either; he just turned toward the back of the sofa to catch more sleep. The noise outside faded into silence. Whether it was because he had fallen into a deep sleep or they had finished moving, he didn't know. Around eleven, he was vibrated awake by his phone alarm. He sat up, covering his face with both hands, taking a full minute to wake up. He heard laughter outside. His fever had only broken the day before yesterday, and after yesterday’s train ride and staying up late, he hadn't felt the exhaustion before bed. Now, it hit him all at once. He rubbed his face, his short hair messy over his forehead. He smoothed it down a bit, found his slippers, and put them on. He’d worn his track jacket all night; it was hot and uncomfortable. He shed the jacket, tossed it onto the bed, and opened the bedroom door. He wanted water. In an instant, the world went silent. In the living room, three boys and two girls were sitting on the sofa. They were very young—the oldest looked seventeen or eighteen, and two were likely thirteen or fourteen. Behind the kitchen counter, leaning against the fridge, was Wu Wei. Opposite him stood a man in his thirties. Hearing the door open, everyone turned to look. In the dead of winter, Lin Yiyang was wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt and black track pants. He looked like he’d just rolled out of bed, leaning against the doorframe with one hand on the knob. His shirt was wrinkled from sleep. On his pale face, his dark eyes were striking, though currently heavy with sleep and not fully open. There was a prominent red mark on his right cheek from the pillow, which someone might have mistaken for a scar. His vision was slightly unfocused. The first thing he saw was the row of kids on the sofa... He frowned. What was Wu Wei up to? Was he so broke he was taking on disciples? *He’s so tall in person, Xiao Shishu,* the boys on the sofa thought. *He’s so handsome in person, Xiao Shishu,* the girls on the sofa thought. This was the man they had only heard about from the elders in the club—their teacher’s sixth junior brother. Just like their teacher, he had won the youth championship at twelve and started competing in the professional circuit at thirteen. Together with their teacher, they had taken the champion and runner-up spots in that year's competition. In the club, everyone called him by different names: Xiao Yang-ye, Dun Cuo, Liu Ge, Liu Shu, Lao Liu. But everyone knew they were talking about him—Lin Yiyang. Seeing these strangers, his first instinct was to scowl; he didn't like such a crowd. Then he saw the thirty-year-old man—Jiang Yang, the teacher of those kids on the sofa. Lin Yiyang’s gaze lingered for a few seconds. "I heard they came by last week but missed you," Jiang Yang said. He was wearing a dress shirt and trousers, with a pair of thin white-rimmed glasses on his nose. "I thought you were going to run away again." Lin Yiyang opened his mouth to speak, but his throat felt dry. He shuffled in his slippers from the doorway to the counter, opened the fridge, and looked for water. Finding none, he grabbed a chilled beer, cracked it open, and took a sip. His throat moistened, he leaned his elbows on the counter and looked at Jiang Yang. "Here for a competition?" he asked, his voice raspy. "Yeah, mainly brought them for the junior and youth divisions," Jiang Yang pointed to the kids on the sofa. "All my disciples." "Hello, Xiao Shishu," they chimed in one after another, respectful and solemn. Lin Yiyang gave a casual wave and corrected them. "I left the club a long time ago. There’s no 'Xiao Shishu' here. If you think I’m young, call me Liu Ge. If you think I’m old, call me Liu Shu." Jiang Yang chuckled. "If they call you Liu Ge, what are you going to call me?" Lin Yiyang smiled but didn't answer. He took another long pull of his beer and locked eyes with Jiang Yang, both of them sizing each other up. Brothers who hadn't met in years might think their bond had faded, but in the moment of reunion, they realized that the feelings of their youth—waking up at five to practice in the pool hall, then racing to school on bicycles at seven for morning self-study—were etched into their very bones. After years of drifting, seeing his senior fellow disciple and best friend again... The burning ache in his chest hadn't changed. Lin Yiyang and Jiang Yang had entered the apprenticeship in the same year, barely a week apart. Jiang Yang had arrived at the club first. That night, Lin Yiyang had eaten a bowl of shaved noodles. It was snowing, and he was bundled up like a little rice dumpling. He’d ridden his bike to the club alone. When he walked in, Jiang Yang was wiping down a pool table with a rag. Seeing him, Jiang Yang realized he was there to seek an apprenticeship. Before Lin could find the teacher, Jiang Yang walked up to him and gestured at his height. "So short? Do your parents agree? Go back and bring your mom. When the teacher takes a disciple, the parents have to give the nod." "I don't have parents," the young boy told him. Jiang Yang, rag in hand, went completely silent. This senior brother who had tried to bully him was named Jiang Yang—his name shared the same sound as the last character of Lin Yiyang's name, though the characters were different. That year, Lin Yiyang was in second grade, and Jiang Yang was in sixth. Comparing heights like that was hardly gentlemanly. But at that age, kids didn't know what it meant to be a gentleman, nor did they know that this was a "gentleman's sport." Of course, back then in China, the sport had almost nothing to do with being a gentleman. It was one yuan per table, and pool halls were mostly associated with smoking, noise, and profanity... He had simply heard that there were competitions, and competitions had prize money. That was enough. And in the end, Lin Yiyang had successfully become a disciple—the teacher’s very last one. *** | Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 无所谓 | Wu Suowei | Wu Wei's WeChat handle; literally "doesn't matter" or "indifferent." | | 小扬爷 | Xiao Yang-ye | A respectful yet familiar nickname for Lin Yiyang; "Xiao" (Little/Young), "Yang" (from his name), "Ye" (Master/Lord). | | 红霉素软膏 | Erythromycin ointment | A common antibiotic ointment used in China for minor skin irritations. | | 顿挫 | Dun Cuo | Literally "pause and transition" or "staccato." A technical term in billiards or a nickname for his playstyle. | | 六哥 / 六叔 / 老六 | Liu Ge / Liu Shu / Lao Liu | Sixth Brother / Sixth Uncle / Old Six. Refers to Lin Yiyang's rank as the sixth disciple. | | 小师叔 | Xiao Shishu | Young Martial Uncle. A term of address for a younger male of one's teacher's generation in a traditional apprenticeship. | | 江杨 | Jiang Yang | Lin Yiyang's senior fellow disciple. | | 刀削面 | Shaved noodles | A type of Chinese noodle made by shaving strips of dough into boiling water. |