A mysterious accident weaves together the fate of two families, in this short story by “post-90s” author Jiang Xinlei
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“There’s a man stealing our cucumber!” the child said to Wang Yan.
Wang Yan had planted the cucumbers in front of the school building. There were two rows of them, and they were ready to eat, with flowers on the end and spines on the body. She’d pick them to feed to the students – it was convenient and cheap. She didn’t think someone would go so far as to steal them. Wang Yan marched over in a huff.
The cucumber thief was a man of about 23 or 24, wearing camouflage and galoshes, a worker from the nearby construction site. Wang Yan saw him smiling at her, his tanned face in contrast with his white teeth. Her heart softened. “Go and wash the cucumber,” she said. She pointed to a tap nearby.
School of Love | Fiction is a story from our issue, “The Noughty Nineties.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine. Alternatively, you can purchase the digital version from the App Store.
Jiang Xinlei is a contributing writer at The World of Chinese.
Translated By
Moy Hau is a contributing writer at The World of Chinese.
