“Is that so?”
Xu Jiahua, you might not know this, but although we’re only eight years old, I’ve considered you a friend for five years now. I just wish you could see me as a friend for even one day.
“Of course! From now on, we’ll be best friends forever! Come on, let’s toast!!” He raised his glass bottle in front of me. “Long live friendship!!”
“Yeah! Long live friendship!”
I mimicked the adults and gently clinked my bottle against his, then stole a glance at him.
Even though everyone says Coca-Cola tastes great… this stuff is pitch black—can it really be good? In my memory, only bitter medicine is this color.
Xu Jiahua was much braver than me. He took a big swig of the black liquid, and the next second, his eyes widened, and he covered his mouth with his hand.
I looked at him, puzzled. “Wh-what’s wrong, Xu Jiahua? Is it… good?”
But he just kept covering his mouth, gesturing excitedly with his eyes for me to take a sip.
I knew Xu Jiahua wouldn’t trick me, so I picked up the Coke and took a sip, just like he did.
The moment that fragrant black liquid hit my tongue, my eyes widened too!
Good heavens!!
The Coke was fizzing and bubbling in my mouth, like it was alive! It was prickling my tongue!
I was so startled I almost spat it out, but I quickly covered my mouth—Coke was expensive.
We sat there, mouths covered, eyes wide, staring at each other in shock until the fizzing finally subsided, and we swallowed in disbelief.
“Buuurp~~”
A moment later, we both let out loud belches simultaneously. After exchanging glances, we burst into giggles.
“Wow!!” Xu Jiahua laughed. “So this is Coke!! So much fun!”
“It’s delicious!” I laughed too.
“Let me try again!”
“But… Xu Jiahua,” I interrupted, “if you treat me to Coke, you won’t have money for dinner.”
“So what?!” Xu Jiahua grinned carelessly. “Before we became desk mates, I never ate dinner anyway! And this Coke isn’t me treating you—it’s you treating me!”
After our brief burst of joy, we fell silent again, sitting idly on the bridge pier, sipping our Coke.
Though it was delicious, the bottle was small, and we drank it drop by drop.
The sky was darkening, and the moon had already risen.
But the sky looked so funny today—half-dark, with the sun still visible opposite the moon.
Seems even the moon has company today.
“Xu Jiahua… do you know what a ‘hero’ is?” I asked.
“A hero? Like Yue Fei?” He mumbled around the bottle’s rim.
“Not that kind of hero…” I shook my head. “I mean… a hero born in a city, someone everyone there admires, hoping he’ll lead them forward. But the hero doesn’t know what to do. Have you heard of something like that?”
“That’s weird,” Xu Jiahua mused. “I don’t really get this ‘hero’ you’re talking about, but when you think about it, it’s kind of like being the ‘big brother,’ right?”
“Big brother…?” I hesitated. As much as I wanted to reject the idea, it did sound about right.
I was the “big brother,” with a group of “little brothers” following me.
“If I were this big brother… no, wait.” Xu Jiahua chuckled. “If *I* were this hero, the first thing I’d do is make sure all my little brothers had enough to eat! Even if I starved to death, it wouldn’t matter!”
“Enough to eat…?” It suddenly struck me how right Xu Jiahua was. Every ten days, all my family members suffered from hunger.
Even though the “Fragrance Bearers” in the family could produce some food, there were just too many mouths to feed. No one ever had enough.
Next time I go back, I *have* to make sure everyone is fed.
“Then what?” I asked.
“Then comes ‘unity’!” Xu Jiahua grinned. “Have you ever bought pirated DVDs? A lot of movies are like that!”
“I haven’t watched any, but you can tell me about them,” I said.
“Basically, the hero has to take care of his little… uh… ‘subjects,’ I guess? That’s the word, right?” Xu Jiahua scratched his head. “I think that’s how fairy tales put it…”
“Subjects?”
“Yeah!” Xu Jiahua took another tiny sip of Coke and nodded. “Doesn’t this hero sound like a ‘prince’ from a fairy tale?”
“But I don’t know any princes either…” I said.
“What’s there not to know?!” Xu Jiahua jumped up. “Princes are easy to recognize! They wear crowns, carry swords, and have capes. In lots of stories, the prince *is* the hero, and the hero *is* the prince!”
Gesturing animatedly, he raised his Coke bottle high into the air. “That’s gotta be it! They lift their swords and shout, ‘I’ll protect everyone! I am the hero!'”
Watching the sunlight glint off the bottle in his hand, I finally understood what a “hero” was.
“Huh…?” I blinked. “Is that how it is?”
“Absolutely!”
That day, Xu Jiahua and I talked for hours. For the first time, I felt like I truly understood what the word “friend” meant. He taught me so much.
But time wouldn’t stop for us. As night deepened, we had to part ways again—this time for another ten days.
I looked up. Sure enough, the sun had disappeared.
Even after meeting the moon, it still had to leave.
Now, the only thing left in the sky was the moon, as lonely as I was.
The sun had places to go. It couldn’t stay in the dark night forever.
The long night ahead would have to be endured by the moon alone.
And so, I finally arrived at my own “prison.”
The adults always said going to work was like serving a sentence—a stretch of “prison time,” followed by two days of rest.
Turns out, I’d grown up long ago.
I sat in my room while Sister Siwei read beside me.
Sister Siwei might be the most knowledgeable person I’ve ever met. In her free time, she was either reading books or newspapers. She’d taught me most of the words I knew.
She told me she was just an ordinary college student. Do all college students know so much?
Watching her focus, I couldn’t help but ask, “Sis, after reading so many books, have you ever come across one that says where to find a ‘crown’ and a ‘sword’?”
“A crown and a sword…?” Sister Siwei looked puzzled. “That sounds like something a little prince would want. Why do you need those?”
“I… I…” I hesitated, too embarrassed to admit I wanted to *be* that prince.
Sister Siwei seemed to read my mind. “Little hero, have you heard the story of ‘The Happy Prince’?”
“The Happy Prince?”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage