BACKFLIP 5

  

Chapter 5

Translator: Abo Dammen

62.

Jiang Ling’s words had left Xu Zhou floating on a cloud of bliss all day long. Walking on concrete felt like stepping on marshmallows. Even classmates noticed the gloomy aura around their resident ghost-boy had lightened. Xu Zhou still kept his head down, pale and withdrawn but inside, his mental barrage of celebratory subtitles was barely containable. He barely held it together until school ended. The moment he got home, he bolted upstairs, flung the door open, scooped up the cat, and executed a full 360-degree Thomas spin in one smooth motion.

The cat nearly launched into orbit from the sudden fanfare.

"Breaking news! This is a big deal, huge!”

Finally done holding it all in, Xu Zhou buried his face in the cat’s fur and rubbed around like he’d just hit the lottery. His voice was bubbling with excitement, "Jiang Ling said he doesn’t hate me!"

63.

The cat’s once-pristine fur now resembled a hurricane aftermath. It pressed a paw against Xu Zhou’s face, vetoing his attempt at a waltz.

"Sorrysorrysorry—"

Xu Zhou set the cat down with reverence, producing a comb with the solemnity of a royal groomer. His grin was unstoppable, pink tinting his usually pallid cheeks, eyes crinkled with joy.

The cat gave its tail a lazy flick, let out a soft “meow,” and, like a magnanimous big boss, forgave him. It twitched its ears and settled in to listen to him ramble some more.

64.

Xu Zhou poked the cat. "We ate together today!"

The cat couldn’t be bothered to react.

Xu Zhou pulled the cat closer until they were face-to-face. “We sat super close, like, only one table apart!”

The cat swished its tail with a quiet snort.

Xu Zhou just grinned wider, clearly a repeat offender. He shoved his face back into the cat’s orange fluff. “Crap, I think I like him even more now. Like, really like him!”

The cat’s fur, which had been about to stand on end, suddenly smoothed back down. As if giving in with great reluctance, it bumped its head lightly against Xu Zhou’s cheek. 

“…Meow.”

65.

After a full 30-minute TED Talk about his love for Jiang Ling, Xu Zhou finally paused to take a sip of water and then fell silent.

Human and cat curled in the lamplight’s golden pool, the earlier giddiness dissipating. "I wish I were braver," Xu Zhou murmured into the cat’s fur.

Like, brave enough to talk to people normally, like an actual functioning person. To socialize with classmates without freaking out or shutting down. To be dazzling, capable, and popular like Jiang Ling.

Maybe then, he’d be able to get closer to him. Maybe they could actually have a real connection. He gently lifted the cat by the scruff and placed it on his chest, staring into its eyes. "Do you think anyone could ever like… me?"

The cat didn’t make a sound. Its green eyes reflected his image, and after a long moment, it let out a soft meow and nudged his palm with its head. “…Alright then.”

Xu Zhou smiled again. The heavy feeling in his chest eased up, the fluff of the cat’s fur rubbing it away. “At least one creature seems to like me.”

66.

The autumn trip prep began at dawn. The school hadn’t scheduled any classes that morning so everyone could prep.

Xu Zhou had never participated in any kind of group activity like this. He had no idea what he was supposed to bring, so he got up early and decided to make himself a bento. Years of fending for himself, thanks to absent genius parents, had honed his skills. And since he didn’t like having housekeepers in his space, he’d learned to cook well by himself.

He fried some seaweed, grilled fish, and rolled sushi. He chopped up an entire box of fresh fruit, baked almond-flavored cupcakes, and made some buttery cookies.

Thinking there might be food-sharing among classmates, he even packed the cookies into neat little individual bags, each one carefully wrapped.

67.

Drawn by the smell, the cat started prowling around the kitchen, inspecting the sink one minute, circling the island the next. It was clearly planning a covert op to snatch a piece of salmon sushi. But the moment it sneaked too close, Xu Zhou swooped in and lifted it off the counter, wagging a finger at it.

“There’s wasabi in that. Not for you.” The cat was scandalized. It hissed, bared its teeth, and fluffed up like a furious pom-pom.

Xu Zhou couldn’t help laughing. He crouched down to smooth out the cat’s fur. “Okay, okay, I’ll cook for you right now. How about some salmon porridge?”

The cat immediately sat up straight, chin lifted in regal pride, and gave a prim little “meow.”

68.

There was still a decent chunk of salmon left over from making sushi. Xu Zhou took it all out, chopped it up, and tossed it into a pot along with some carrots and peas. He added some goat’s milk to the soup too, and under the playful licks of the flames, the scent of fish and milk quickly filled the kitchen.

The cat sat by his feet, tail swishing, eyes locked on the pot without blinking.

Originally, Xu Zhou had planned to feed it cat food. But back then, he didn’t have any supplies ready. No litter box, no dishes, no nothing, and it was pouring outside that night, so going out shopping wasn’t really an option. In the end, he just whipped up some salt-free beef fried rice for the cat. He thought maybe the cat wouldn’t like it. But the moment the rice cooled and he set the bowl down, he hadn’t even called the cat over when zoom—an orange blur shot across the floor, zipped to the bowl, and buried its face in it like it hadn’t eaten in years.

The bowl was a bit tall, and the cat was so into it, paws hooked over the edge, that it nearly tumbled in headfirst. At the time, Xu Zhou figured the cat was just really hungry.

But then, the next day, he bought proper cat food. The cat sniffed each flavor one by one... and didn’t eat a single bite. Suddenly it was all graceful restraint and noble indifference, completely different from the little gremlin from the night before. “How come you’re not eating? Not hungry? That can’t be. You looked like you could eat a whole cow yesterday.”

It was Xu Zhou’s first time raising a cat. He had no idea what he was doing. He was already anxiously googling on his phone while trying to coax the cat to eat. The cat gave a dry “urgh,” leapt onto the table in indignation, and slapped a paw against the same bowl it had eaten from the night before.

“…What do you mean by that?”

Xu Zhou blinked for a few seconds. Then a lightbulb went off in his head. He tested the waters:
“You want… cat food made by me?”

The cat, nearly exasperated to death by its dumb human, finally gave a satisfied nod and let out a bright “meow!”

69.

Xu Zhou looked up homemade cat food recipes and decided to try making chicken breast porridge.

Sure enough, the cat was delighted. It ate like a king. It was the first time he’d ever cooked for anyone... or any cat. And to have his cooking so thoroughly appreciated gave his ego a glorious boost.
From that moment on, Xu Zhou became a man on a mission: to hone his culinary skills and one day create the most delicious cat meals on earth for his little foodie roommate.

70.

He scooped the freshly made salmon porridge into the cat’s special bowl and set it aside to cool. Once it was at just the right temperature, he placed it in front of the cat. The feline, who had been dozing off while waiting, instantly perked up like it had been hit by lightning, and dove head-first into the bowl with full commitment.

The bowl was a bit too big and tall for the cat, making it kind of a pain to eat from. Xu Zhou had actually wanted to switch it out for a shallower dish.

But the cat refused. It had developed a deep emotional attachment to this particular bowl. Apparently, this was the only acceptable way to dine.

Xu Zhou had no choice but to respect its wishes.

71.

While the cat ate, Xu Zhou sat nearby, packing up the stuff he needed for the afternoon school trip. The little butter cookies were neatly packed into cellophane bags tied with cute ribbons, lined up in rows like delicious little soldiers, practically begging to be shared. Socializing with classmates still made Xu Zhou uneasy. Just thinking about it made his throat tighten and his chest feel heavy.

Sometimes, when he was feeling really down, he’d worry that maybe he’d never be able to initiate conversations, or learn how to interact with people like a “normal” person. But every now and then, watching his classmates laugh and joke around together, arms linked and shoulders bumped, he couldn’t help but feel a little longing.
A little envy.

His therapist told him that was actually a good sign and encouraged him to take a small step forward. But Xu Zhou always found himself stuck on the edge of that decision. Like now. The cookies were ready, the school trip was about to start, but before leaving, he still couldn’t help but crouch beside the cat and ask, “Should I really bring them? Would anyone even want to eat them? Nobody really likes me anyway. What if no one takes any and I just stand there awkwardly with a bag full of cookies? I don’t even know how to start a conversation…”

The cat stared at him with wide eyes, then gently licked his fingers, like it was trying to offer some kind of comfort.

72.

Xu Zhou still remembered that the guy who had asked to team up with him in the school cafeteria was named Li Ji. They had agreed to meet in front of the supermarket just west of the school gate. Now, carrying a mountain of bags and supplies, Xu Zhou trudged toward the supermarket, already feeling a migraine coming on.

Trying to pick out someone you’ve only seen twice from a sea of faces? Might as well try to find one specific bean in a whole bag of them. Good luck with that. It felt borderline impossible.

But hey, Lady Luck finally threw him a bone. Before he even got to the entrance, he heard someone shouting his name. He froze, then turned toward the sound.

Standing at the supermarket entrance were three people.

73.

"Took you long enough," barked Li Ji. Li Ji had clearly been waiting a while and was already losing patience. He flailed his arm in a dramatic wave like he was signaling a rescue chopper.

Next to him stood two others. One was a tiny, skinny guy who looked like a breeze could knock him over. The other had thick, bottle-bottom glasses and big rabbit teeth.

Li Ji pulled out a pair of sunglasses, slid them onto his face like he was in an action movie, then flopped onto a plastic stool outside the supermarket. He popped a stick between his lips, lowered his voice like he was doing his best mob boss impression:

“You’re late. My time is worth millions per minute. You think I can afford delays like this?”

Xu Zhou: “……”

Okay yeah, last time he thought this guy might not be all there in the head. Today just confirmed it.

He glanced at the two standing next to Li Ji. The smaller one seemed quick on the uptake and immediately jumped into introductions:

“I’m Mao Ao—one of the boss’s right-hand men. This guy here is Zhang Baijuan, also one of the boss’s men. He begged and pleaded to join us the other day, all ‘cause he admired the boss’s mighty reputation.”

Then Mao Ao pointed at Zhang Baijuan and added, turning to Xu Zhou, “Just like you, haha!”

Xu Zhou: “…Huh??”

Admired? Mighty reputation??? Begged and pleaded??? Joined???

Li Ji didn’t just season the pot, he dumped out the rice and filled it with straight-up oil and vinegar.

But caught in the pressure cooker of social anxiety, Xu Zhou didn’t want to speak up and argue. He just quietly looked up and snuck a glance at Zhang Baijuan. The guy was holding a dictionary thicker than Xu Zhou’s entire lunchbox and muttering vocabulary like a monk chanting sutras. Definitely the scholarly type. No way he asked to join. Probably got roped in just like Xu Zhou.

Xu Zhou took a long breath and looked at his new teammates.

A self-proclaimed King of the Ji Kingdom.

A guy literally named Mao Mao.

And a scholarly monk-in-training who might be allergic to anything non-academic.

Darkness clouded his vision.

He began seriously questioning his life choices and whether signing up for this school trip was one massive, irreversible mistake.

74.

There were still over 20 minutes until they had to gather. Most people were hanging out with friends, chatting, laughing, or snapping group pics. The school allowed students to ditch the uniform for the field trip, so nearly everyone was dressed in their own clothes, including the King of the Ji Kingdom, Mao Mao, and the future scholar.

Xu Zhou sighed in relief. At least he could identify his team by their outfits. That would help avoid the horror of wandering around looking for people in a crowd. He usually kept his head down, avoided eye contact, and generally preferred being invisible. But now, determined to memorize what his teammates were wearing, he made an effort to lift his head and look around a bit.

Unfortunately, this was enough to make Li Ji think he wanted something else entirely. “Don’t be shy, bro. In this whole area, who doesn’t give me face?” he said with a wink.

Li Ji raised a hand, and Mao Ao instantly caught the signal like a loyal sidekick. He whipped out a box and offered it to Xu Zhou and Zhang Baijuan. “Come on, we’re all brothers now. Big bro’s got your back from here on.”

Xu Zhou froze. The word “no” stuck halfway in his throat. He turned to Zhang Baijuan for support, but to his horror, Zhang Baijuan calmly took one stick from the box and popped it in his mouth like he’d done it a thousand times. Wait, what?! Dragon-among-men, weren’t you just reciting Confucius a second ago??

You’re supposed to be the academic one! The “good kid”! You’re supposed to say no to temptation, not dive into it headfirst!!

Xu Zhou was fully spiraling in his mind.

Finally mustering the courage to shake his head and decline, he glanced at the box again and—wait.

…Was that… white chocolate?

He blinked. Looked again.

Yep. It was an entire row of white chocolate sticks.

He slowly looked up. He’d clearly missed the details earlier. Sure enough, Li Ji had a half-eaten chocolate stick in his mouth. Not cigarettes.

75.

...Are these people okay?

Why was there so much unnecessary dramatics around eating a piece of chocolate?

Xu Zhou closed his eyes, gripped the strap of his backpack like it was a lifeline, and seriously started calculating the odds of turning around and heading home without anyone noticing.

Yep. No doubt about it.

Teaming up with this pack of walking absurdities for the autumn outing was a catastrophic, history-making mistake.

76.

With a totally blank expression that was actually him internally fuming, Xu Zhou viciously chomped down on the chocolate stick. The sweet flavor filled his mouth, and a bit of melted chocolate clung to his fingers. Frowning, he turned to grab some wet wipes from his bag. But the moment he looked up—

He saw Jiang Ling, dressed in a crisp white shirt, walking toward him from another direction.

77.

The cloying sweetness of the chocolate still lingered on Xu Zhou’s tongue. He instinctively swallowed, and the tiniest hint of pink crept onto his pale cheeks.

…Forget it.

He lowered his head and thought, ‘Maybe coming on this trip wasn’t a total mistake after all.’