Volume 0 / Chapter 2: The Air Conditioner

"Could it be an air conditioner!" Mò Xuěyáo exclaimed with joy, hugging the large box more affectionately than he would his parents.

"Correct! It's an air conditioner fan!" Dad laughed heartily. "Much cheaper than a real AC! And it's still really cool!"

"Really an air conditioner?" Mom was also pleasantly surprised. She completely ignored the trailing 'fan' part and eagerly grabbed scissors to open the box. "Husband, what made you buy this today? Summer's almost over, buying it now is a bit wasteful…" Though she said this, she clearly looked delighted.

"Hah, the boss gave out bonuses today! Not enough for a real AC, but plenty for an air conditioner fan!" Dad declared proudly, head held high. "Come on, come on! Let's try it out and see how cool it gets!"

Among them, Mò Xuěyáo was the most eager helper. He couldn't wait to experience the cool relief promised by air conditioning.

In those days, places with air conditioning were limited to big department stores. While you could occasionally go sit there to cool off, doing it daily was awkward and inconvenient. Going to a store usually meant just browsing the science books in the reading section. Libraries should have been a good summer refuge, but the Hangzhou library branch closest to Mò Xuěyáo hadn't installed AC yet, and the others were too far away and inconvenient to reach.

Once the box was opened, inside stood a rectangular object slightly shorter than Mo Xueyao, who was around one-and-a-half meters tall.

It didn't look like any air conditioner Mò Xuěyáo had ever seen.

Mom was a bit more worldly. She asked in surprise, "Is this one of those big standing cabinet air conditioners?"

"Heh, sort of! It's a new model product!" Dad couldn't hide his excitement as he plugged it in and then opened the freezer.

He took out a large block of ice and placed it into a trough-like container on top of the air conditioner fan.

"This is… the air conditioner?"

"It's an air conditioner fan!"

"Oh, you spendthrift! This isn't an air conditioner!" Mom was both exasperated and amused. "How much did you pay?"

"Not too bad, five hundred."

"Five hundred?" Mom gasped. "That's far too expensive!" It was worth remembering that Dad, as a lowly company clerk, only earned about eight hundred yuan a month.

"A real air conditioner costs two or three thousand! Five hundred is cheap enough, it'll do the job well enough," Dad reasoned.

"Dad, it's not cool at all…" Mò Xuěyáo mumbled, his eyelids drooping.

"How is it not cool? Can't you feel the cold air?" Dad put his hand in front of the fan's output to demonstrate.

"But it gets hot again once you're a bit farther away… and where are we going to get so much ice?"

"Don't worry, one block of ice lasts an hour! We'll just use it when we sleep at night."

Mò Xuěyáo rolled his eyes. "I think I'll stick with splashing cold water on myself. More practical."

In the end, the air conditioner fan Dad bought proved largely ineffective. The freezer simply couldn't produce ice blocks fast enough to keep up with the fan's consumption. But since it was bought, not using it would be wasteful. At least its airflow was stronger than the regular fan and covered a wider area. So, in the end, they resigned themselves to using it just as a powerful fan.

That night, Mò Xuěyáo slept in his own room.

In the middle of the night, the pain in his stomach suddenly flared up again.

This excruciating pain made the oppressive summer heat feel insignificant. He writhed in agony on his bed until he didn't even have the strength to roll over anymore. His face turned deathly pale, utterly devoid of color.

This bout of pain lasted until the next morning.

"Get up, you little rascal!" Mom's voice rang out. "Don't sleep in just because it's summer vacation!"

Mo Xueyao didn't make a sound. In truth, he hadn't slept a wink all night and now had no energy left to speak.

"Still not up, huh?" Mom's voice came from outside the door. Then, the door was pushed open forcefully. She walked in holding a clothes hanger she'd been using to hang laundry, only to find Mo Xueyao curled up in pain.

"Xiao Yao, what's wrong?" Mom said voice laced with concern 

"Mom… my stomach hurts…" Mò Xuěyáo choked

"Did you eat something bad yesterday?" Mom questioned.

"Don't know…" Mò Xuěyáo didn't think it was bad food. This pain had been going on for a long time; it had only recently become more 'aggressive'.

Mom put down the hanger and hurried anxiously to his side, pressing the back of her hand against his forehead.

"Your forehead is freezing."

"D-do I have a low fever…?" Mò Xuěyáo shivered. "Mom, it hurts so much… I'm dying…"

"Ah, probably heatstroke. I'll give you a guāshā."

 [*guāshā : Traditional Chinese scraping therapy believed to release toxins and improve circulation, often leaving distinctive purple marks]

"Okay…" Adhering to the principle of avoiding expenses whenever possible, even knowing guāshā was painful, Mò Xuěyáo obediently turned over and prepared himself.

Mom rushed into the kitchen, turned off the stove, poured a bowl of cool boiled water, and sat down behind Mò Xuěyáo.

guāshā was done using a spoon, though pinching the skin directly with the fingers was considered more effective.

When the skin turned a bruised purple, it meant the treatment was working.

"Does it hurt?" Mom asked with concern.

"My back doesn't hurt… my stomach does…" Mò Xuěyáo replied numbly.

Soon, his entire back was covered in dark purple marks, hardly a patch of unblemished skin left.

But the stomach pain didn't lessen; it even intensified.

"Still hurting?"

"Hurting…" Mò Xuěyáo gritted his teeth, barely able to force out the word.

"Mom will take you to the hospital."

"I… can't walk…"

"Drink some hot water first. I'll call your godfather."

In that era, the term godfather still carried positive connotations, symbolizing a special kind of kinship – a bond without blood ties, yet deeply connected.

Mò Xuěyáo's godfather was a civil servant who had just been promoted to section chief that year. His work unit had issued him a small car – a very impressive status symbol in those days.

Before long, there was a knock at the door. A man who contrasted sharply with Mò Xuěyáo's lean and wiry godfather stood there – slightly plump with a broad face. He called out, " Xuěyáo! Open up!" 

His voice wasn't deep or resonant, nor did it have the mature magnetism often associated with middle age. Instead, it carried a bright, clear quality, almost youthful in tone.

"Coming, Yù Liáng! How did you get here so fast?"

[Yù Liáng: godfather's name]

"Drove. How's Xuěyáo?"

"He says the pain is so bad he can't walk."

"I'll handle it." Godfather walked straight into Mò Xuěyáo's room and saw the boy curled up in agony.

Without needing further explanation, he scooped him up in a cradle hold.

Godfather always had that plump appearance, though the stubble at the corners of his mouth had darkened over the years.

Though heavy-set, Godfather was still over 1.7 meters tall, and carrying Mò Xuěyáo, who was barely 1.5 meters, wasn't a problem. Though due to a chronic lack of exercise, he broke into a sweat almost immediately.

He gritted his teeth and persevered, carrying Mò Xuěyáo all the way down the stairs. He placed the boy in the back seat of a classic car from the 90s – a Volkswagen Santana.

In that era, the Santana still held an almost unattainable prestige in people's minds. Godfather couldn't afford such a car himself; it was only because his work unit had assigned it to him that he could drive it as a private vehicle.

Mò Xuěyáo's Mother also got into the car. Godfather didn't even fasten his seatbelt before starting the engine.

"Yă Liàng, you're not wearing your seatbelt again."

"Eh, no one checks anyway."

"You should still wear it. It's safer."

Alright, alright, I'll buckle up when we get to a traffic light."

In 1999, the final year of the twentieth century, there weren't many cars on the roads. Even though the streets weren't particularly wide, traffic moved quite swiftly.

Mò Xuěyáo's godfather, Yù Liáng, sped all the way to the entrance of Hangzhou First Hospital.

"If you're busy, you can go," Mom said to Godfather.

"No trouble. You head off to work. It's the weekend anyway; I wasn't working today."

"You... alright."

"Want me to drive you?"

"No need, I'll take the bus. Please take good care of my Xuěyáo."

"Come on, no need for formalities with me." Yù Liáng waved a hand, scooped Mo Xueyao out of the car, and joked, "Xuěyáo, you're way too light! You need to eat more."

"So I end up as fat as you, Godfather?" Mò Xuěyáo managed a weak joke. For some reason, the stomach pain had lessened slightly.

Mò Xuěyáo felt as close to his godfather as to his real dad. When he was little, he’d even thought he had two fathers.

Sometimes he’d wondered if his godfather was actually his biological dad.

But in reality, he didn't look like Godfather at all. Instead, he’d inherited the distinct Eurasian features of his dad and ancestors.

Though diluted over several generations, he still looked completely different from Godfather.

Yù Liáng settled Mò Xuěyáo onto a plastic waiting chair, then hurried off to register. He soon returned and took him upstairs for an ultrasound.

During this time, Mò Xuěyáo's pain had subsided significantly, almost disappearing entirely.

When the pain was intense, he wished he could be rushed straight to surgery to end it. But once it eased, it seemed like no big deal, hardly worth the doctor's visit.

"Is there a relative of Mò Xuěyáo here?" a nurse called out while they waited.

"Over here, coming! Xuěyáo, wait here a moment. Godfather will go get your test results."

"Okay." With his stomach barely hurting now, Mò Xuěyáo relaxed, letting out a big yawn before falling asleep against the plastic chair that creaked with every slight movement.

"Are you Mò Xuěyáo's father?"

"I'm his godfather."

"Oh... Well, you're the guardian for now?"

"Yes, for now. His parents are unavailable at the moment."

"Hmm... This child's case is quite unique." A middle-aged doctor adjusted his glasses. Beside him sat three other specialists and an elderly professor.

This setup clearly signaled this wasn't just an ordinary stomach ache.

"This condition is extremely rare nationwide. Most of our information on it actually comes from abroad..."