Losing something isn't painful; what's painful is the irretrievable loss. (1)

     Is today September 13th?

    ...Yes, what's wrong?

    Eight years, right?

    Eight years? What eight years?

    We've known each other for eight years—exactly eight years from September 13th, 2005 to today.

    Hmm.

    We took the wrong road, wandering aimlessly on Beijing's Third Ring Road. It was late at night, and Lao Sun was sleepy; every yawn brought tears to his eyes. After I said it was our eighth year of knowing each other, we fell even more silent. In the cramped space of the car, the air seemed to solidify, and we felt like two tiny insects suddenly trapped in amber. Eight years—even

    the War of Resistance Against Japan would have ended.

    I desperately wanted to break the silence, to say something, so I blurted out this sentence out of the blue, but it was like a blunt needle, unable to pierce the silence. "

    What should I do? I need to use the restroom," Lao Sun said. "

    Why didn't you go earlier?" "There aren't any here now. You'll have to take me to the hotel first, then I can go to the lobby." "

    How much further?"

    "It should be here soon. Turn around up ahead, then don't go onto the bridge, just take the side road, go a little further, and turn around, and you'll be there."

    The atmosphere eased, but the past seemed to rise up, a chaotic, crowded scene like a crowded playground.

    Back in 2005, my days flowed like a clear stream, tinkling and clear. Now, it's become a murky river, many things swept away.

    I looked at his profile and asked, "Did you ever go back to Tianjin after that?" "I think

    I went back once, just that one time.

    " "Did you go to Jianshan?"

    He smiled and said, "Long gone...that place."

    Jianshan used to be a place in Tianjin where cheap goods were sold. That area was full of dilapidated old buildings rented by small vendors, selling everything imaginable, the stalls jostling together like a mouthful of buck teeth, people from all walks of life huddled together. The term "loser" didn't exist back then, and online shopping wasn't yet widespread, so I was particularly proud of it when I went to Jianshan.

    He was two years older than me and already well-connected in Tianjin. Perhaps to escape my disappointment with university life, I skipped classes like crazy, often wandering around the city with him, eating, drinking, and having fun, boasting that

    we could go anywhere from Friendship Shopping Mall to Jianshan Market. Of course, like all the fleeting good days of youth, our relationship didn't last long.

    Later, when I was studying in Hong Kong, one evening I went to the Yau Ma Tei night market with a friend. We were sitting at a stall eating scallops and other things when a cockroach crawled up to our feet, peeking out. I was so scared my heart stopped, and I dropped the food and tried to run away. My friend, however, remained calm. She picked up her chopsticks, still eating, and said, "A person should be flexible and adaptable, able to navigate Harbour City and Yau Ma Tei." At that moment, I was both amused and exasperated, but somehow I suddenly thought of Tianjin. Everything about that city rushed into my mind, binding me tightly like a rope that night.

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