Camphor Trees, Red Beans, and Him

Chen Zhi crouched beneath a camphor tree outside the supermarket near school. Her oversized blue-and-white uniform could swallow her tiny frame whole. It was lunchtime, and she held a red bean ice cream as the cicadas chirped and chirped, just like those endless Wusan practice problems from that year. The ice cream had lots of cream and few red beans, so Chen Zhi nibbled them one by one. She watched a boy in the distance, a cigarette dangling from his lips. He wore a white T-shirt, his black hair shadowing his eyes. He had big eyes and a lovely nose. She tossed away the ice cream stick, pushed her bicycle, and ran breathlessly toward school. Years later... beneath the camphor tree, someone was feeding her red beans one by one. Her cheeks were flushed, and her lips were still swollen from his kisses. He smiled and asked, "Does red bean ice cream still taste good?" She stared at him, wide-eyed, without a word. It was still him, in a white shirt and washed-out jeans, his black hair shadowing his eyes.