Short, Light, Free

“You’re playing this game too?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong? Isn’t it fun?” I asked.

“It is, but not when there’s a bug.”

“There is a bug in this game?” I questioned doubtfully.

“Fast forward your clock to tomorrow and you’ll see.”

“Oh?”

I did as I was told and entered back in the game.

There were rewards waiting to be collected.

So it’s limitless?

As I was about to fast forward it to the following day, a message came in.

Dahai: Lemme treat you to a meal, brother.

I laughed and called him.

“The number you’ve reached is not in service…”

Aye? Not in service?

I turned the clock back and called him again.

“What gold mine did you strike, huh? Why a treat?” I jested.

“What are you talking about? I never said anything about treating you,” was his reply.

“What’s going on?” I hung up.

I searched for the message but it had disappeared.

I rubbed my eyes, bewildered.

The next afternoon, I was woken up from a nap by a message.

Dahai: Lemme treat you to a meal, brother.

What on earth? I hurriedly dialed his number.

“How did you know that my stock prices went up, brother? Have you been buying them too?”

“No, no. Why are you talking about a treat now? That wasn’t what you said yesterday,” I told him.

“Don’t you know? My stocks went up. All three of them! Ha!”

“That’s great, definitely worth a treat,” I replied absent-mindedly.

I stared down at my mobile phone, puzzled.

Did I also manipulate the real time when I changed my phone’s date and time settings?

No way.

How could that be?

I walked on the streets after the hearty meal and made the loudest burp ever.

As I was strolling, an unfamiliar call came in.

“Hello?”

“Do you remember me, child?”

“You are… ” I prompted. It was the voice of a middle-aged woman.

“Do you still remember Jiajia? I’m his mother. I got your number from the school, I hope you don’t mind.”

I quivered.

Cao Jiajia was my close childhood friend.

Eight years ago, he had drowned in a waterpark due to machine failure and inadequate security.

“Is anything the matter, Aunty?”

“I need your help. I’ve been dreaming about Jiajia recently. He wants to see you. It’s his death anniversary this Sunday. Will you come with us to Kunshan to visit him?”

My heart broke. She must miss him a lot.

I thought back to the time of his cremation.

His grandmother wasn’t feeling well back then and his parents couldn’t contain their emotions.

I was the one who carried his ashes.

“Sunday? I’ll be there. You guys haven’t moved, right?” I asked.

“No. Sorry to trouble you.”

“No worries, Aunty. I haven’t seen him in a long time, too,” I reassured her.

After hanging up, I saved her number on my phone.

Completely sober now, I started scrolling through my contacts.

I easily found Cao Jiajia’s number.

It had a total of 11 digits, starting with a 13, just like a mobile device.

He used to brag a lot about having a mobile phone.

I called the number but it was no longer in use.

I turned my phone’s time back to eight years ago.

I texted, “You there?”

Ten minutes…

Twenty minutes…

As I was about to give up, a text came in. “Who are you?”

“Lu Qiao, your good friend,” I replied urgently.

“You have a mobile phone, too? Why is your number so strange?”

I called him immediately.

“Sorry, the number you’ve reached is not in service…”

Guess this doesn’t work for calls.

“Has school ended?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m doing my homework and secretly playing the snake game.”

“Finish it up fast and let me copy your work tomorrow.” Tears streamed down my cheeks involuntarily. He had always been the smarter one.

“Oh right, so why do you have a phone?”

“I’ll tell you but keep it to yourself. I got jealous of yours and bought it with my pocket money.”

“I won’t tell anyone, buddy.”

“Remember not to talk about the phone when we meet,” I sent after some thought.

“I told you I’m not going to talk about it! I’m going to finish up my homework now or you won’t be able to hand yours in tomorrow.”

I didn’t reply again. My eyes were red and swollen from crying.

I bought a new mobile phone and stopped manipulating the time on the psychic phone.

Kunshan was about a two-hour train ride away from here.

I applied for a leave the day before and packed both mobile phones into my bag.

I would chat with Jiajia, without fail, at 5 pm every day.

Perhaps gifting Jiajia’s mother this psychic phone would be good for her.

Sunday morning.

Relying on pure memory, I arrived at Jiajia’s house and knocked on the door.

A priest opened it.

I was surprised for a moment but out came Jiajia’s father.

He had a headful of white hair now.

Jiajia’s father told me that the priest had been engaged by his mother to drive out the devils harassing his wife. She had gone mad a few years back.

Hearing this made me feel empty inside.

In my bag was the psychic phone that would allow her to keep in touch with her son.

Yet, I couldn’t get myself to talk about it with Jiajia’s father at all.

Trembling, I asked, “Can I go in and have a look?”

He considered it for a long moment before he finally nodded.

A middle-aged woman was weeping in the middle of the room, a photograph of her son pressed tightly against her chest.

She sounded as though her throat was all dried up.

I shivered slightly before offering her a glass of water that was on the table.

“Drink some water, Aunty,” I said, my voice weak and trembling.

Uncle walked over and tapped on my shoulder. “It’s useless. Her soul’s not in here. She won’t acknowledge your presence. I’ll be visiting Jiajia alone. Are you coming?”

“Jiajia?” I asked.

Uncle nodded.

Being cooped up in the car with Jiajia’s father and seeing his white hair, realizing how much time has passed, was making me jittery.

I tried to break the tension with small talk. “Um, Aunty, is she…”

“She became like this a few years back. She would go crazy whenever Jiajia’s death anniversary approaches and get better after. We just didn’t manage to stop her from calling you this time around. I’m so sorry to bother you,” Uncle explained.

It turned out that Jiajia’s parents never had another kid after him.

And every year, they would come up to Kunshan to pay a visit.

Until Aunty fell ill.

She also had my mobile number for a few years now, it just so happened that this year, Uncle hadn’t managed to stop her from contacting me.

“You little rascal. How can you do this to us…” Jiajia’s father cried out, his forehead stuck close to the gravestone.

I, too, squatted and placed my forehead down and whispered, “How worrisome…”

Uncle put down the fresh flowers.

Visitors had long been banned from burning incense paper in this graveyard. Nevertheless, Uncle retrieved a lighter from inside of his shoes.

He, who’d never smoked, started taking pieces of paper out from his bag and burning them.

He looked and me and said, “Join me. The wind here is strong. Shield me a little so I can burn more money for him.”

I took off my windbreaker to cover his hands.

He mumbled constantly while burning the papers.

“Aren’t you doing good down there? Stop looking for your mother, alright? I’ve given you enough money, spend them wisely. Find me if you miss home. Don’t frighten your mother anymore,” Uncle said and continued, “I know you miss us but she’s my only wife. Don’t take her away, son.”

…

A long time later, Uncle stood up and dumped the ashes into the bag.

“I’m sorry you had to witness this.” He smiled bitterly.

“Not at all, not at all,” I answered immediately.

“Will you be here next year?” he asked after a pause. “Actually, no, forget it, don’t come. It’s none of your business, to begin with,” he added helplessly.

“I’ll be here this time next year. It’s a promise.”

I gazed at the phone in my bag upon returning home.

I had no courage to hand it over to Uncle.

I noticed a text from Jiajia from 5 minutes ago.

“Can’t talk today. Mom and Dad are bringing me to the waterpark.”

A chill went down my spine.

It was Jiajia’s death anniversary.

Which meant that eight years ago, on this day, he had drowned in the waterpark.

My whole body went numb and my blood turned cold.

The hair on my back stood on end as if I’ve been electrocuted.

And it struck me. I flipped through the psychic phone.

Contact: Jiajia’s mother

Please tell me you haven’t changed your number since then.

I sent a short message over: Don’t bring him to the waterpark, Aunty.

I stood in the same spot, waiting.

After ten minutes, a response came through. “Who are you?”

Great!

“I’m from the future, believe it or not. Do not take him to the waterpark or something bad will happen to him,” I replied quickly.

“You’re crazy!” Aunty responded.

I looked at the screen in despair.

Right, who in their right mind would believe such a message?

I tried calling her.

“Sorry, the number you’ve reached is not in service…”

I couldn’t move. I dropped down to the floor.

One minute…

Two minutes…

Ding!

The phone lit up with a text from Jiajia.

“Trip’s canceled. I wanna cry.”

I was overjoyed. I took out the new mobile phone and made a call.

“How’s Jiajia? Is he ok?”

Jiajia’s father answered bitterly, “Have you gone mad too, child? How can the dead come back to life?”

“I… I…”

“That’s enough, kid. Go see a psychologist. It’s a condition. Treat it slowly,” he advised in a low, helpless voice.

Jiajia sent another message.

“Are you gloating right now? Answer me.”