I planned to go out to sketch with Dashang on Sunday. When I woke up in the morning, my mother told me that I couldn't go anywhere because guests were coming. I asked what kind of guests, and my mother found a small yellowed photo from our photo album for me to see. It was two babies around a year old playing with water in a big bathtub. I didn't see anything special.
My mother explained: "This is you; that is Uncle Bai's daughter. Uncle Bai is your father's old comrade-in-arms. His daughter is the same age as you, and we haven't seen each other for many years. When they are here, you will be responsible for accompanying their daughter."
This aroused my curiosity.
I went to the basketball court and played a short game, and when I was walking home, I heard the liveliness of the house in the distance. I met Uncle and Auntie Bai when I got home and got a few compliments. I was thinking about where the daughter was when Auntie Bai hurriedly said, "My daughter went to shower; a child urinated on her on the bus." When she came out, I was taken aback. She was my high school classmate Yalan Bai. She looked more shapely than a year ago, like a girl coming off the sports arena.
"Old classmate!" She took the initiative to walk up to me and shake my hand. I liked how she looked mature now.
The two families sat down around the large square table. Aunt Bai took out an exquisite, small square box from her pocket, handed it to my mother, and said, "This is for Xiaofeng. My brother brought it from Hong Kong."
My mother saw it was a watch and hurriedly said, "It's too expensive to keep!"
Aunt Bai squeezed my mother's hand. "This must be accepted. Xiaofeng was my family's savior."
My mother was confused, "Who saved whom?"
Yalan and I looked at each other; her face turned red suddenly. It seemed her family knew our little secret.
Aunt Bai told the whole story and finally sighed, "Our two families are destined! His dad saved my husband, Xiaofeng saved Yalan."
My dad and her dad had a little liquor during lunch and chatted about their past. They were both young at the time, one was the battalion commander's guard, and the other was the platoon commander.
The platoon commander took about forty soldiers to attack a bandit den with about twenty people, but he did not take it down for a long time. He delayed the rescue of the local village committee and made the battalion commander lose face in front of his superiors. The battalion commander ordered the guard to execute the platoon commander on the spot. When the guard arrived at the battlefield, the platoon commander was still hiding behind a ditch, and the two sides were firing cold shots at each other across a small river. The guard kicked the platoon commander's cocked butt and shouted, "If you want to live, rush over." The platoon commander and the soldiers jumped into the water in haste, rushed to the other side, and ended the battle in ten minutes.
At the end of the story, my dad asked, "Lao Bai, why were you so timid?" Uncle Bai explained, "It was not the bandits. I was born to fear water."
I was washing the dishes in the kitchen. Yalan came in and rolled up her sleeves to help me. I was afraid she would stain her white shirt and told her to stop.
She said, "It's okay. Let's chat."
She stood beside me, rinsing the dishes with clean water. I took off my apron, and - seeing her hands were wet - I put it around her neck and tied it for her. Sometimes, our hands accidentally touched, and she didn't care a bit. The fierce look from a year ago was not seen.
"I'm curious. Why did you tell your family about the rescue?" I asked her.
"My mother and I flipped through the family photos and saw the one when we were one year old. My mother mentioned your name, and I couldn't help but say it."
"We also have a picture of that in my house."
"I'm sorry, that photo is better to keep away. What can babies look like without clothes on?"
I laughed, watching her blush. I felt a little gloating that I had her weakness in my hands.
After washing the dishes, I took her to my backyard to show her the beans, loofah, plantains, etc. I planted them. And I also picked ripe papaya for her to taste. We sat in the vegetable garden and chatted, and I asked her what she was doing.
"I'm a physical education teacher," she told me. "But I'm leaving. I'm going to the army, and I'll be leaving soon."
When I heard this, I was happy for her and a little disappointed as well. I just gained a friend and was about to lose it again. She saw my emotions and comforted me, "Old classmate, I'll write to you."
At this time, a group of girls from the tribe village came to the river diagonally opposite. They put down their backpacks, strolled into the water, skillfully rolled up their skirts, and when the water was waist-deep, they shrunk into the water, ripped the skirt from their head, threw it on the bank, and played in the water.
Yalan covered her mouth and exclaimed, "It is so amazing. They took off their skirts without showing anything!"
"Haven't you seen it?" I asked.
"No, we are mainly Han people in my area."
"When there is a chance, I will take you to their village to see."
"See what?"
"There, they don't hide at all. They're completely naked and play in open water."
"Really? No wonder you learned...a bit bad!"
"You are too prejudiced against me, Yalan."
"Just kidding. "
We returned to the main room, not interested in participating in the adults' conversation. They suggested that I show Yalan around.
Yalan, my sister, and I went to the other side of the river, walked some distance, enjoyed the scenery along the way, and picked some pretty wildflowers. When my sister and I went to the water to look for colored stones, Yalan didn't dare go into the water, so she picked up some rocks and threw them into the water, causing a lot of splashes. Half of my pants were damp. She was just as afraid of water as her dad, though I had thought it was due to the last drowning.