Chapter 14: The Brightest Star in the Sky — Is A Satellite? (1)

When I was much younger, having a picnic by Taihu Lake was a regular leisure activity for my family; but we had never tried camping overnight. After all, our old home in Wuxi was just a half hour's drive away from the nearest wetland park, and with two young children it was more convenient and comfortable to head home than to sleep outdoors in a tent. After my family moved to Shanghai, education became a priority and the picnics eventually stopped. No time for picnics meant no opportunities for camping.

The last time I had a picnic was on a trip to Xiamen with my high school friends just before our freshmen year of university. Even then, our picnic was rather disappointing—we had just laid out our picnic mat on Baicheng Beach when it started to pour. I only recalled that we ate the food that we packed under the shelter outside a public toilet, before returning to the hotel to rest. The remainder of the trip turned out quite uneventful due to the rainy weather, and in the end, all of us wished that we had just stayed home instead of travelling. As the saying goes, birds of the same feathers flocked together. My friends and I were the kind of people who would travel just to play with my phone in a different location, and camping outdoors would be something unimaginable.

But Shen Yan was different. According to her two best friends, one of her wishes was to go on a camping trip with her friends, who also shared her dream. But unlike me, she didn't have many friends; and as such, Tan Qing took it on herself to invite all who were present at the café to go on the trip together. While we were having a discussion to plan for the camping trip, Cheng Yujin suddenly offered to check if he could borrow his uncle's RV—apparently it was becoming an increasingly fashionable thing for people to go on camping trips in their trailers. After a long back-and-forth on the location of our camping trip, everyone agreed on a campsite somewhere in the suburbs of Beijing. Nodding along politely but without much enthusiasm, I didn't know where exactly the campsite was but it seemed to be the largest RV camping park in the city.

Since the people around her were trying hard to make her dream come through, I would certainly do my part and give it my all to enjoy it on her behalf.

"Yan'er, don't forget this!" Mother Shen hurried out of the kitchen with two containers of assorted sandwiches and a large thermal flask of some sort of hot fruit tea. Packing them into a bag, she continued, "It's peculiar to go picnicking in the middle of winter, but I'm relieved to hear that you are going in a RV."

"Thanks, mother." I took the bag from her feeling somewhat apologetic. Although I had informed her that the RV had an induction stove and that my friends were intending to cook, she had insisted that I bring along some cooked and edible food, just in case. Unable to refuse her well intentions and to quell her worries, I could only bring along the food and drinks that she and our housekeeper had been making since dawn.

"Please tell your friend to drive safely," she cautioned again, her brows furrowed and lips pressed into a thin line. "Your friend has driving experience, right?" she asked for the umpteenth time.

Gently, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and said in a voice full of reassurance: "Yes, he does. Don't worry, mother. The camping park is just two hours' drive away. It's not like we're travelling far."

"Ok," she said, giving me a tight hug. "Give us a call if you need anything."

Just then, the doorbell chimed. Pulling away from her, I gave her another reassuring smile and nodded. "I'll update father and you every step of the way. Anyway, Qing and Shanshan will be there. You can trust us to take care of each other."

"But you said that there will be three other boys there—you've only just met them."

"Don't worry. As I've said, they are decent people."

"But—"

"Ma'am, Yan'er's friend is here," reported Auntie Yang, our housekeeper, who had gone to open the door when the doorbell rang.

Peering out from behind the wall, I saw Cheng Yujin waiting outside in the freezing cold at the front door. An idea sprung into my head.

"Mother, the boy standing at the entrance now is the most decent of the three and is the one who owns the RV. Why don't you meet him and caution him to drive safely and to take good care of us?"

From my interactions with this Cheng Yujin so far, I found his character and personality quite similar to how Celebrity Cheng Yujin portrayed himself on variety shows and interviews. This Cheng Yujin was also respectful, responsible and sensitive towards the feelings of others, except that in private he was quieter, more reserved and slow to warm up to new people. In other words, he wasn't a two-faced celebrity. It was no wonder that he was never embroiled in scandals. I wouldn't consider his dating "scandals" as scandals as they were only paparazzi-taken photos and videos of him going on dates with his alleged girlfriend; and it was not ethically or morally wrong for him to date since he was not having an affair or lying about his relationship status. I also wouldn't consider his plagiarism "scandals" as scandals, since those were always just allegations and defamatory claims and were not proven true in a court of law.

I digressed.

In any case, Cheng Yujin was the kind of young man that parents would love and entrust their daughters to, as he naturally exuded a strong sense of responsibility and maturity.

Since Mother Shen seemed to be unable to stop worrying about her daughter hanging out with "strange men", I would let her meet Cheng Yujin for herself, and he could do the reassuring. I was certain that he would succeed.

"Sure, I will do just that," said Mother Shen, walking ahead towards the door.

Quickly, I picked up my haversack and the bag of food and drinks before following behind her.

Seeing Shen Yan's mother, Cheng Yujin bowed and greeted her. "Hi, Auntie Shen. My name is Cheng Yujin. I'm here to pick Classmate Shen up."

"Oh, you're the Xiaocheng that my husband talked about previously?" Mother Shen smiled brightly upon recognising his name from that time we gave him a lift home from the university's music festival. Looking past his shoulder, she directed her attention at the white trailer van parked in front of the house and questioned Cheng Yujin about whom the vehicle belonged to, whether he had any experience driving it and our plans for the camping trip. He looked at me visibly taken aback by Mother Shen's onslaught of questions; but I could only give him a helpless little shrug. In the end, he could only patiently answer each and every one of of her questions.

"Don't worry, Auntie. I'll watch out for Shen Yan and bring her back safely," he finally said, as if hoping that this would be the last thing he would need to say to the older woman to ease her unfounded worries.

I decided to exercise some compassion and stepped in to save him. "Be at peace, mother. We need to be leaving now! We need to go pick up the others, otherwise our trip will be delayed," I said while giving her a brief hug, before manoeuvring my way past her and bursting out into the wintry weather. "Bye bye!"

As the first passenger on the RV, etiquette meant that I had to occupy the passenger's seat; and that also meant that I had to also be a navigator and a conversationalist. Unfortunately, as someone who was unfamiliar with the roads in Beijing as well as Cheng Yujin, I was incapable of doing both right now. Although the heater in the RV was turned on, the temperature between us seemed to be dipping gradually as we drove down street after street.

The RV stopped at a traffic light and we waited yet again in silence, soft classical music from the audio system playing in the background, until Cheng Yujin decided to break the ice.

"Your mother seems to be very concerned about you."

I nodded with a hum, my brain quickly coming up with a logical explanation for Mother Shen. "I think it's because of my accident. She has been more protective of me since then."

"Of course, that's understandable." He nodded, eyes peeled on the road. As the traffic lights turned green in our favour, he stepped on the accelerator, and a passing thought that this was an RV with automatic transmission popped up in my head.

Cheng Yujin continued, "Have you been camping before?"

"No," I answered honestly. It was true that Shen Yan and I had never been on one before, but I added on a qualifier anyway. "If you don't count those camps organised by schools that we were forced to participate in."

"Have you been camping before?" I replicated his question and posed it to him.

There was a short pause as he changed driving lanes, but he eventually replied with a "Yes".

I stole a glance at him, who had on a serious expression as he stared attentively ahead, gripping the steering wheel with both of his hands—something that was unexpected. I had seen him drive on variety shows before, and he was always laidback and even drove with one hand—something that made him look very attractive and charming. Was it because he wasn't driving an ordinary car but a RV, and that deserved more focus and care?

"As part of your work?" I asked sneakily. There were numerous camping variety shows over the years, and I knew that Cheng Yujin had been on a few as a guest for those episodes.

There was another short pause. This time, his reply came with slight hesitation. "What? No, with family."

I straightened up, my radar pinging as it detected what seemed like a clue; but I hurriedly dismissed it as just an irrational thought. "RV camping trips?"

"Yes. So, you can let your mother know that I've driven this vehicle many times before."

Not knowing how to respond, I kept my silence. Cheng Yujin also didn't say anything further after that. And so, the same silence from before settled over us again.

Fortunately, the subway station where we had arranged as a pickup point for the others came into view. At that moment, I made up my mind to get out of the RV once it came to a stop so that I could sit at the back instead.

***

As the RV rumbled along the highway, the stereo blasting songs from the album of a male singer that I wasn't familiar with, the mood inside was jovial and alive. Sitting around a table at the back of the RV, Liu Haowen, Du Shanshan, Tan Qing and I were absorbed in our own little world. Avoiding the melon seeds which took too much effort to crack open, I took a small handful of roasted sunflower seeds and popped them in my mouth one by one as I watched the others play a card game using melon seeds as stakes.

Lifting a corner of the curtain which adorned the window, I peered outside. The RV had just taken an exit off the highway. I dropped the curtain and relaxed into the comfy cushioned seats and stretched out my legs under the table. For such a compact RV, a little under six metres, I was surprised that there was ample legroom and space to move around.

To one side of the RV, there was a fully functional kitchenette with an inbuilt induction stove, small sink equipped with running water and a mini bar. We were currently seated at the dining area, which had a height adjustable table and four seats that came with arm rests and seatbelts. The table and seats could even be transformed into a spacious bed, which was where Tan Qing, Du Shanshan and I would rest for the night as the boys decided to camp outside in the spirit of adventure. Around the RV were overhead cabinets that offered plenty of storage space, filled with camping equipment, cookware and miscellaneous objects. What fascinated me was the washroom onboard the RV which was very cleverly designed as the compact space utilised every nook and cranny efficiently to fit an ensemble of a shower area, a toilet bowl, a sink and a mirrored-cabinet. The only query I had, which I dared not voice out, was how the sewerage would be cleared after our trip.

"I won!" Liu Haowen threw his cards down onto the table and laughed tauntingly. Gleefully, he began sweeping the melon seeds across the table towards himself. Du Shanshan placed her cards down with a frown as Tan Qing grabbed Liu Haowen's hand and pressed them down against the table.

She pointed at his cards. "No, wait a minute—hello? Do you know how to play this game? Your set of cards don't count!"

The smile on Liu Haowen's face fell as he studied the numbers and pictures on his cards in disbelief. "Huh?"

"Oh, Qing's right," chimed in Du Shanshan, her face lighting up in delight as she retrieved her stake from Liu Haowen's pile of melon seeds. "Don't play cheat, Haowen."

"I didn't!"

"Now we've got to restart the round," hissed Tan Qing, shooting Liu Haowen a deadly glare while gathering back all the cards into a stack. "Return my melon seeds."

Liu Haowen seemed to cower like a little sad puppy as he pushed his entire fortune towards Tan Qing, leaving only a single black seed on the table for himself. Then, he pointed to the sunflower seeds next to me and motioned for me to give him some.

Seeing Tan Qing's warning look at me, I shook my head at him. Scooping some more seeds, I gave him a sorry smile before leaning back into my seat while munching on them. Turning towards Tan Qing, Liu Haowen complained and whined that everyone bullied him because she influenced them to, to which Du Shanshan said something in defence of Tan Qing.

As my eyes were drawn towards the front of the RV, their playful banter faded out into distant echoes. Unknowingly, a smile tugged on my lips as I stared at Cheng Yujin's back profile—the way his hands firmly gripped the steering wheel, how he kept his head facing straight towards the road ahead and the occasional chuckle as he conversed with Gao Yi in the passenger seat. It was such a warm scene, so unlike the unfamiliar and awkward atmosphere between us earlier. Through the overhead mirror, I caught the furrow of his brow as he navigated a sharp turn with concentration.

Suddenly, his eyes appeared in the reflection just as his line of sight drifted upwards. For a brief moment, our eyes met in the mirror. His gaze quickly dropped back to the road, but time stood still for me as my cheeks grew warm upon realising that I had been caught staring at him.

***