As Hongxiao walked back to his dorm from the lab, his mind replayed his recent experience like a film reel.
Was he truly seeing through Yue Pengfei's eyes—witnessing his grandfather and the mysterious girl —or had he merely woven a story from a mishmash of memory and fantasy?
The only way to discern the truth was through verification.
His best option was to directly ask Yue Pengfei. Although he was well-acquainted with the Yue family, he wasn't particularly close to Yue Pengfei, who was a year younger.
It would be too abrupt to ask if Yue had seen a specific scene on a specific date.
After all, how could he explain that he had inadvertently entered Yue's mind and seen his memories?
Yue Pengfei's sister, Yue Yujia, however, seemed like someone he could confide in.
Growing up, right from the first year of elementary school all the way through the final year of middle school, Hongxiao and his parents lived in the same building as his grandparents as well as the Yue family. So technically Hongxiao and Yujia were long term neighbors.
Yujia, three years his junior, always seemed particularly keen to play with him. To the adults, it appeared they were childhood sweethearts.
Since the beginning of high school, Hongxiao and his parents moved into a new residence building. The new building was 5 blocks away from the old one, where Yue family still lived in.
And yet Yujia would still visit him during the summers in his new residence. Her parents always seemed happy when they sent Yujia over. Sometimes they even trusted Hongxiao, a high school boy, to pick her up, bring her to his new place, spend the whole afternoon with her alone, and then send her back home.
But now, she was far away, and finding a chance to talk to her alone wasn't going to be easy.
Upon entering the dorm, he was greeted by a chaotic scene. His roommates were playfully imitating fancy martial art moves, declaring their attacks with exaggerated flair.
"Pegasus Meteor Fist!" Xiaolong shouted, his fist cutting through the air.
"Lushan Rising Dragon Lord!" Feng countered, reaching skyward.
Aren't these moves from Knights of the Zodiac, the Japanese anime?
Why Xiaolong and Feng, the duo who often mimics Duan Yu and Qiao Feng from the Chinese novel Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, suddenly started to do moves from a Japanese anime?
Hongxiao got confused.
Soon, he found out why.
Ya Nei clenched his fists tightly in front of his chest and roared with all his might, "King Kai Fist!"
"20 times King Kai Fist!" Tai Wei grinned wickedly, as if proud that merely moving his lips could unleash twenty times the fighting power to overpower his opponent.
It seemed the evening's entertainment had shifted from card games to a Japanese anime showdown.
Back in high school, these manga books were passed around the entire class. Everyone, especially the boys, read the tattered pages with zeal, despite the books often being incomplete.
Mentor, however, who seemed to have been untouched by such manga influences during his high school years, scratched his head in frustration, unable to call out any corresponding moves.
After a long pause, he finally resorted to a well-known Chinese martial arts technique, shouting, "The 18 Dragon-Beating Palm Strikes!"
That was a move from the Chinese martial art novel The Legend of Condor Heroes. Surely it should be disqualified in a Japanese anime showdown!
"That doesn't count!" erupted the room in laughter.
Amidst the laughter, Hongxiao recalled a summer when Yujia visited and became fascinated with his collection of anime scraps. She kept asking questions about them.
And he wondered if her interest was genuine or if she was simply trying to find common ground with him.
Before she left that day, he had impulsively made a promise.
"After my college entrance exams, I'll go to college, and my parents would give me more money to spend. Then I'll buy you a manga collection!"
A promise now long forgotten.
But incidentally it may be the best and only excuse to talk to her now.
Hongxiao hurried out of the dorm room. Even as he walked away, he could still hear the hysterical shouting coming from room 108.
"Ki... Blast… Cutter!"
There is a line of telephone booths standing just outside of the campus.
Hongxiao headed to one of them. Using the magnetic card phone, he called home.
Mom picked up. She was noticeably surprised. Her son, who had only recently started living independently, was calling for the first time just to ask for a coworker's phone number.
Nevertheless, she quickly obliged his request.
After quickly assuring his mother of his well-being, Hongxiao hung up the phone. He felt a slight nervousness as he dialed the Yue family's number.
Although they had been neighbors for years, he realized that he had never actually called them before—perhaps there had never been a need to.
"Hello, Uncle Yue? It's Hua Hongxiao."
Despite the initial surprise, Uncle Yue was pleased to hear from him.
Hongxiao couldn't tell if Uncle Yue was just being polite or if he was genuinely pleased to receive a call from the neighborhood "big brother" his daughter often talked about.
Hongxiao made some small talk. And then he gathered his courage and got straight to the point.
"Uncle Yue, is Yujia there? I once promised her that I would help her find a set of manga books here. I'd like to know which series she likes."
No sooner had he spoken than he regretted it. Yujia was now in her first year of high school. Reading manga, especially for girls, seemed not something parents would like to hear about.
Unexpectedly, Uncle Yue didn't seem surprised; instead, he appeared quite happy. "Really? Then let me thank you on behalf of Yujia!"
Uncle Yue called out for Yujia. And then Hongxiao heard the sound of slippers dragging hurriedly across the floor.
"Is that Hua Ge Ge?" came a voice as clear as a bell from the other end of the line.
Yujia had always called Hongxiao "Hua Ge Ge" from when they were young. Hongxiao had once thought that, following the way Huang Rong addresses Guo Jing in The Legend of the Condor Heroes, Yue Yujia should perhaps call him "Hongxiao Ge Ge."
But Hua Ge Ge is simple. He always liked it.
"Yujia, it's me. I was wondering which manga set you would like."
"You still remember? That's so touching. But actually, you really don't have to do it."
"No worries. Think about it and let me know which books you want to read. Also, I have another favor to ask you."
A peal of silvery laughter came through the line.
"Really? That makes me even happier. What is it about?" Yujia inquired.
"It's a secret, though. You can't let anyone else know," Hongxiao lowered his voice. "Are your parents still nearby? Make sure they don't hear this."
"Dad, why don't you go watch TV over there?" Yujia said, apparently turning to her father.
On the other end, Hongxiao blushed with embarrassment. He had only wanted Yujia to keep her voice down, not make such a conspicuous excuse—it was like screaming there's a secret here!
Uncle Yue, seemingly quite approval of his daughter and Hongxiao having a little secret and privacy, moved to the sofa and turned up the volume of the TV.
"Now you can talk!" Yujia whispered, though the background noise was so loud that such caution was unnecessary.
"I wanted to ask your brother, Feifei, if, a few months ago when my grandfather was still alive, he ever saw my grandfather talking to someone in black clothes by the fence. And I believe that happened while Feifei was taking out the trash."
"Taking out the trash... Black clothes... By the fence... Oh, got it. Hua Ge Ge, are you playing detective?" Yujia asked admiringly.
"Remember, this is our secret. Don't let anyone know it was me who asked you, especially not your brother."
Hongxiao didn't know how to explain the reason for such investigation. He just reiterated the confidentiality of the matter.
"Don't worry. I'm great at fooling my brother. I'll get the information out of him, and he won't even know why," Yujia giggled.
Hongxiao felt that Yujia had grown up; she was no longer the naive little girl who used to follow him around.
"Thank you, Yujia. Once you've asked him, give me a call."
Hongxiao gave her the only communal phone number in the men's dormitory, specifically instructing her to mention "Hua Hongxiao from room 108 in Building 1", and to call between 8 AM and 8 PM, when someone would be on duty.
"Try to call between 6 PM and 8 PM. I'm usually in the dorm then."
"Okay, no problem! Hua Ge Ge, take care of yourself over there!"
"I will. And you, make sure you study hard!" Hongxiao felt now he was talking like his roommate Mentor, who always gave lectures to others.
"I will! When it's time to choose universities for the college entrance exam, I'm planning to apply to your university!"
Hongxiao felt the emphasis Yujia put on "your university."
"Sure, sure. You're most welcome!" As usual, he responded playfully to hide a hint of his embarrassment.