Last Kiss in Tiananmen Square Read Free Page A

virgin, Baiyun.”
     
    “So, what?” she replied, feeling somewhat embarrassed. “I know you are always secretly having sex with Longfe and whoever else. Everyone is talking about it. I would rather study. Youth is too precious to be wasted on anything else.”
     
    “Yes, exactly. Youth is too precious to waste. We should have as many experiences as possible before we finally have to get married.”
     
    “Why do you have to experience it all when you are young? My mother is forty-six-years old and she’s dating a thirty-six-year old man.”
     
    “Your mother is incredible. I admire her. How about you?”
     
    “Me? I don’t know. ”
     
    They arrived at the baths, threw their pre-purchased little white tickets into a hand-made wooden box by the door, and walked right by the guard. The guard, a little old lady, sat there motionless and did not even bother to lift her thin, rice-paper-like face away from her magazine to look at them.
     
    A gust of cold wet wind hit them because the baths were not very crowded, making the space colder than usual. Not enough steam had been generated by the showers to warm the place. The ceiling window was cracked open as usual, which was necessary when the place was crowded and hot. Nobody ever bothered to close it when it was cold.
     
    They walked through dressing rooms filled with white painted wooden lockers stacked together against both sides of the wall to the innermost room, hoping it was warmer. They set their washbasins on the bench.
     
    “Wow, it’s so cold here.” said Yumei, shrinking her neck into her sweater collar.
     
    “We have to strip down and run.” Baiyun found a better-looking cabinet where the clasp of the lock was not broken and wiped the inside with her palm to see whether or not it was clean.
     
    As they removed their clothing, they shivered and romped together toward the showers, carrying their soap, towels, and basins.
     
    “You stink, Baiyun.” Yumei covered her nose with her towel.
     
    “Really, how come I can’t smell it?”
     
    “Because you are used to the smell of your stinky armpits.”
     
    “Why am I the only one who has stinky armpits? I bet you do, too. Let me smell yours.” Baiyun pulled the towel away from Yumei and smelled it. “Mmm... Smells wonderful. It’s the perfume. No wonder you smell so good.”
     
    “Stop.” Yumei slapped Baiyun on the arm. “It’s better than smelling like a wolf.”
     
    “Yes, we smell like wolves, we smell like wolves.” They sang together as they ran toward the shower room.
     
    The shower room was not as fogged by the hot steam as it usually was. It was clear and cold. The noise of running water, bouncing against the cement floor told them that they were not alone. They passed several rows of showers separated into stalls by concrete walls and found their favorite stalls. Since not every shower worked and not all of those worked well, it was very important to find a good one. Some were too weak; it took a long time to wet your body with a thin stream of water. Some were so powerful that the water peppered your body like bullets, giving you a headache. After three years of taking showers here, they knew the best showers, the second best ones and the ones to avoid. Usually they had to stand in line to get to the good ones. Today they were lucky.
     
    They chose two showers next to each other, and started washing. Yumei’s hair was light and fluffy while Baiyun’s dark and straight. They had to shampoo two or three times in order to get rid of a week of hair grease. This was how often they took showers.
     
    “My head is so itchy,” said Yumei.
     
    “Me too. But I have to be careful. I’m beginning to lose too much hair.” Baiyun scratched her head under the shower.
     
    “You have studied too hard.”
     
    “It’s worth losing a few hairs to get more knowledge.”
     
    “You are kidding, right? If you lose any more, you’ll look like a monk. You are so stubborn. Nowadays