2024-11-19 #1

# Traveling with ZL (Part 1) – That Long-Haired Kid

A few days ago, I went far away to visit ZL for ten days. We chatted late into the night about all sorts of things that happened over the years, and it struck me to just write whatever comes to mind.

On November 14, 2019, at noon, I had just picked up my work lunchbox and opened Hearthstone, planning to play Battlegrounds while eating like usual. Suddenly it hit me – I remembered what my boss, who was thousands of miles away, told me yesterday: I was supposed to welcome the third member of our team, the first intern.

“Oh no, oh no, oh no, I completely forgot!” I instantly closed Hearthstone, put the lunchbox on the table, and walked to the entrance of the adjacent small office. I couldn’t help wondering what kind of person this kid would be.

Nervously, I peeked inside, and soon my eyes locked with a shy pair. Then his shoulder-length hair startled me. I kept my composure and tried to walk in gracefully to greet ZL. He clearly saw right through me – that shy look gave way to a warm smile, instantly dissolving the awkwardness.

Across from Tsinghua University there’s a really authentic Shaanxi noodle place; that’s where we ended up having lunch. The second shocking fact about ZL: despite being skinny, he could eat about three times as much as I could.

On the way there and back, we chatted on and off. ZL, who had just graduated from the nearby Beijing Forestry University, mentioned he was planning to take the TOEFL and go abroad for graduate school.

ZL is an incredibly emotional young man. Fresh out of college, he’s curious about everything, always ready to be inspired by anything. He’s smart and pure, yet doesn’t tie himself to any rigid morality – the kind of friend you’d feel comfortable discussing kinks with. To put it simply: Denji from Chainsaw Man is the perfect anime incarnation of ZL.

My time in Beijing was coming to an end as certain decisions fell into place. Three days later (exactly three days before five years ago today), ZL and I took the high-speed train to Suzhou, left Beijing for good, and said goodbye to our past lives. The gears of fate turned, the pendulum of time never stopped. And so began a legendary friendship.

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