Prose｜The Last Summer

There is a hot topic on Weibo: "What were you doing when the epidemic started?" When the epidemic swept across the country at the end of January 2020, no one thought that time would suddenly become long and short. . I also didn’t expect that I would miss the summer of 2019 with all my heart every year after that.

In June 2019, we began to make plans to go to Taiwan. There were four of us, me, Lin Zhong, Teacher Fang and a junior student, two boys and two girls. We were not lovers, but we joked that we were a pair of lilies and a pair of gays. We fantasized about where we wanted to go, and we must eat delicious food from Taiwan... In the end, Lin Zhong made a rough plan, only talking about where to go and how to go, and nothing else mattered.

It was the afternoon when I landed in Taipei. I carried my luggage and searched for a hotel for a long time. Finally, I found a noodle shop in the MRT station to eat. The noodles were a bit salty, but I remembered that there was a cute little brother inside. Gentle and soft. I still remember the first time I was shocked by the Taiwanese motorcycles on the overpass. The sound was super loud, but the bunch of cars looked really cool!

The second stop is Changhua. We are all from southern Fujian, three of us are from Zhangzhou and I am from Quanzhou. The most important thing to do when arriving in Changhua is to worship Mazu. Maybe Changhua is not a particularly famous tourist attraction, or maybe it’s not the peak tourist season in Taiwan yet, so there aren’t many people, so the few of us just walked around slowly, and came across a sky full of lanterns that hadn’t been dismantled yet, which was very beautiful. I can’t remember whether I made a wish for good health in front of Mazu, or some weird wishes about love and marriage, but Mazu should have heard the unrealistic conversations of us young people. After all, what we have been thinking about since we crossed the sea is to close our eyes and whisper in front of Mazu.

It was already dark when we came out of Mazu Temple, and we came across a very fairy tale hut. The street lamp next to the hut looked very much like the lamp with an owl standing in front of Harry Potter's house. I originally wanted to find a guide to eat at famous attractions, but I was really hungry, so I randomly found a roadside shop and went in. It's a very homely meal, but it can be said to be the cheapest meal I've eaten in Taiwan, and it's also very delicious. When we said goodbye to our aunt warmly, she also told us to come back next time.

After dinner, we went to shop and found a pastry shop run by Shishi people. It is said that its scallion cake is super delicious. The smell of scallion oil is very strong, but it may be because it didn't add a drop of water and it made me choke. In the end, the two cakes I bought had to be distributed to each household before I could finish them. The cake seller said she had been in Taiwan for many years, so we started chatting in Hokkien, and even I guessed it and had a great time.

The next day we set off early for Kenting. We were on the road all the way, the air conditioner was turned on very loudly, and we occasionally chatted. It was already very late when we arrived in Kenting. The lady from the B&B drove us to the B&B in a BMW. The B&B was in a very remote location, but the environment was okay and there was a lovely living room, perfect for taking pictures and chatting.

Of course we missed the morning in Kenting the next morning, and the B&B sister drove us to the place where we rented electric cars. The owner of the car dealership is called Xiaoma Ge. He is talkative and interesting. When he complained about the 20 kilometers speed limit, he said that if he was bitten by a dog, he would not be able to run. On the fourth day in Taiwan, we rode motorcycles all the way along the coastline and experienced the joy of motorcycle guys. The white pagoda and green space, the unpleasant coconut juice and black soil, the huge sun and the photos taken in the southernmost part. When Teacher Fang went diving, Lin Zhong, I, and my junior rode a little further. It was a beautiful sea. The three of us took a bunch of super ugly photos while listening to the sound of the wind and waves. When I went to return the car, I found that the car dealership was near Cape No. 7. I happily took photos and waited for the owner of the B&B to pick me up. The guy at the car dealership asked me where we would go next and asked me to write down a piece of paper full of food, sightseeing and places to play. Of course, the lazy foursome didn’t use the paper much in the end. , but the beef noodles near the station recommended by Xiao Ma are really delicious.

The daily routine at night is to quarrel in the B&B, then make up and sleep quietly, waiting to get up early tomorrow to go to the next stop.

On the fifth day we got on the van to Hualien. The driver was a very cute uncle, and the people in the car were all from the mainland, but we were the noisiest. Lin Zhong is really good at being a good person. When he stops to buy water, he always remembers to buy one for the driver. There is a rather impressive attraction on the way, Brown Avenue, which is used for cycling. The four of us asked the uncle if we could not go. The uncle said it was your choice, and we said we should leave now. How is it possible! The couple and best friends who were in the same car all got off the bus. The uncle asked us what our relationship was. We told him that we were a pair of lilies and a pair of gays. The uncle looked at us in confusion and we laughed wildly. How can we not play when we are here? We rented a four-person car. At first, our driving skills were poor and we almost hit people every time. We met a young man from Kaohsiung who asked us if we were visiting from southern Taiwan. He also told us that Kaohsiung had made a fortune! Later I learned that this sentence was the mantra of the mayor of Kaohsiung. The foursome who said they didn’t want to play ended up playing for two hours, which was just right. The driver’s uncle even asked us, “You are the only one left.” The eldest sister pointed at me. It was the first time someone called me that. It was so strange.

When we finally arrived at the Hualien Hotel, the uncle said that this was where the eldest sister was. But I was so sleepy that I didn't have time to say goodbye to my uncle properly. This is a regret that I thought about again and again later. I hope my uncle can do well in Taiwan, stay safe and healthy and make a lot of money.

I heard that there was a music festival in Hualien that night. I didn’t want to go, but the guest at the music festival was Tian Fuzhen! So we went! In the infield! Hear Tian Fuzhen and Zeng Peici! We were still out at 12 o'clock that night, and we had to get up at 5:30 the next morning to see the dolphins, but we were really happy. Traveling, making friends, singing and having fun, right? Life is really good.

On the sixth day of the trip, I remember getting up early to see a dolphin. The four of us sat on the stern of the boat and watched the dolphins swimming under our feet. The sun was really bright, and the initial excitement was over. Finally, I felt that dolphins could not cure my boredom. In the evening, I seriously ate Taiwanese smoked goose (maybe I can’t remember how to make goose anyway). I have to say that most of the food in Taiwan is very good and practical.

In the next few days, we visited Keelung and Jiufen. Jiufen was really like a fairy tale. We bought a cup of milk tea and walked casually. We met a clean and fair-looking young man two or three times. I wanted to say If I met him again, I would go up and ask for his contact information. Unfortunately, I never met him again. Behind the Jiufen B&B is a temple. When we went there at night, the temple was dark and gloomy, but we could see the panoramic view of Jiufen. I went to Keelung Night Market because of its reputation and came back without buying anything. Every night market attracts our attention and goes there, but that's it. The four of us are really bored.

There was also a walk of more than an hour to Jingcheng Middle School, where "The Girls We Chased Together" was filmed, but the school was closed and we couldn't go in.

For our last stop in Taiwan, we returned to Taipei. I specially found the noodles that I wanted to eat for the first time. I chatted with the cute little brother for a few words and told him that we were leaving. It was also the first time that I had noodles here. Lin Zhong and I almost got lost in Taiwan because we were so obsessed with motorcycles in Taipei. I bought a lot of specialties and a few small cakes. But the cake was mushy when it arrived at the hotel. I was very tired after eight or nine days in Taiwan. We went to bed without talking much, waiting for our return trip the next day.

On the last morning, I was looking for rice balls in front of the hotel, but they didn’t come. Pedestrians were in a hurry, and we left in a hurry. A lot of happiness but also a lot of regrets.

Now there are four of us, some are busy with work, some are graduate students, and some are studying on the other side of the ocean. Everyone went their separate ways in high spirits.

The pause button was pressed in January 2020. My memory in the past few years has been very blurry. It seems that a lot of things happened and nothing happened. Eat alone, work alone, and go out alone. It is difficult to gather a few people to play happily together.

I haven’t been able to travel as seriously as I did in the summer of 2019. I took a lot of photos that were stored in my phone and never saw the light of day. I ate a lot and it may not be delicious, but I just wanted to try it. Things, walking some roads that you will never come back to again, meeting some people who you will be impressed by once you meet them, but you can never see them again or say goodbye properly.

Life is just like this.