As dusk gilded the river in molten gold, I walked through the reeds with a bag of candied chestnuts in my arms. The caramel sweetness mixed with the damp river air, filling my nose. From a distance came Er-Ge's booming voice:
"Left, left! Hey, hey, there's a whirlpool over there!"
Parting the last clump of reeds, I couldn't help but laugh. Liu Siyu crouched on a faded wooden pier, scattering broken chestnut shells for sparrows. Ten meters behind her, Er-Ge stood waist-deep in the river, wearing a neon-orange life vest and wielding a fishing rod decorated with a frilly lace bow as if commanding the waters. On the bank, Sherry stomped her foot, her pearl hairpin trembling with every movement.
"This is called the bait-lure fishing method!" Er-Ge swung his rod in an exaggerated arc. "See that?"
"Xiudao!" Liu Siyu turned her head at the sound of my footsteps, her eyes curved like crescent moons. "Any slower, and I'll have fed these sparrows into pigeons."
"Engineer Liu said today's dinner has to be fished up," Sherry muttered, shaking the empty bamboo basket. The pearl hairpin in her hair shimmered softly in the fading light. "Three hours, and the biggest catch so far is a plastic bag stuck in the weeds."
Er-Ge whipped the rod with a swoosh. "This is called 'the willing bite the hook!' Look at this bow—it'll definitely attract a mermaid…" Before he could finish, the line tangled in an old cherry tree branch. Petals rained down, and two furious blackbirds chased him across the mudflats.
Panting, I handed the chestnuts to Liu Siyu, my fingertips brushing against the back of her hand. She flinched, nearly dropping the bag into the river. I caught it just in time, but my hand closed over hers as well.
From the reeds came a heavy splash. Sherry's cry mingled with Er-Ge's yelp, echoing through the dusk:
"Don't panic! Watch me show you my water skills—ow! Why does this water taste like pickled mustard?"
"Your hands are freezing." I rubbed her reddened knuckles, the silver bell on her wrist chiming in the wind. Far off, Er-Ge's soaked pant legs dripped steadily as he flailed about, reenacting his "heroic feat" to Sherry.
She bit into a chestnut, then gasped. Inside the golden flesh lay a tiny silver ring — a bell from the jade Pixiu charm that Daoist Zhang had once given me, wrapped secretly in foil.
"This is…"
Across the river came another splash. Er-Ge burst from the water clutching a palm-sized carp as if it were treasure from the Dragon Palace. Sherry laughed so hard her pearl hairpin fell into the shallows, her pale-yellow dress fluttering in the wind like a trembling dandelion.
"The island elders say, if you bury a bell beneath a cherry tree, it locks your fate with someone." I scratched my head, unable to meet her eyes. Er-Ge's raspy shout cut across the river: "Fa-Ge! Lend me a couple chestnuts for bait!"
Liu Siyu suddenly called me by my full name. "Guo Xiudao." The bell on her wrist tangled with my sleeve button. "If one day I become Kawashima Sakurako again…"
From the reeds rose a flare of gold and crimson dusk. Sherry was tugging a coat over a sneezing Er-Ge. I slipped the bell back onto Liu Siyu's wrist, the metal warming instantly against her skin. "Then I'll pour instant coffee into Daoist Zhang's teapot and make him breakdance in front of the Three Pure Ones."
She burst out laughing, tears splashing onto chestnut shells. Er-Ge's ripped jeans flapped from the fishing rod like a surrender flag. Sherry shrieked, leaping back — the unlucky carp had flopped from the basket and was wriggling straight into her sandal.
By the time the last strand of sunset sank into the river, Liu Siyu quietly hooked her little finger around mine. Er-Ge's wails drifted on the breeze:
"Auntie, I was wrong! I swear next time I won't use your silk scarf as a fishing net!"
Above us, the old cherry tree shed a flurry of pale-pink snow, one blossom landing softly in her hair.
Later, I wrote in my mission log:
"March 28. Er-Ge's catch: 1 carp, 0 crabs, 23 eye-rolls from Sherry."