Monday morning Lin Hao sees his friend Zhao Min near the school gate. They did not meet over the weekend, because Zhao Min visited her grandparents. She has a new hair clip, and she looks a little tired but happy. Lin Hao waves and walks faster.
"Nice to see you," he says. "Nice to see you, too," she answers. "How are you?" "I'm fine. How was your weekend?" Zhao Min tells him they went to a small village, and the air was clean.
"We walked around the hills and ate fresh vegetables," she says. "It was quiet at night. I missed my friends, but I liked the stars." Lin Hao thinks of the noisy supermarket on Friday. Two kinds of weekend, both real.
The bell rings, and they walk into school together. A smile is a good start, even before the first class. "See you at lunch," Zhao Min says. Lin Hao nods. The week feels open, like a new page.