Zhenzhen watched the broadly frozen expanse of the river, pretending not to want to play on it was a lie, but the unknown dangers made him restrain his urge to join. To the friend who called for him, he said, "I’m not going down, and you be careful too, don’t slide into a deep spot."
"Don’t worry, I know where it’s deep and where it’s shallow. We won’t run around heedlessly," the child seeing that Zhenzhen was reluctant, didn’t force him and, heeding the advice, agreed not to venture into deeper areas.
"Hmph, what a scaredy-cat, let’s just play on our own, what’s there to talk about with such a wimp," Wang Cai’s voice was sharp and an-spirited, filled with disdain for Zhenzhen.
The child ignored him, pulling the ice glider and taking the two friends on it to another spot.
"Pah, damn brat!" Wang Cai, again ignored, bitterly spat out and gave Zhenzhen a scathing look from afar, his face revealing a sinister grin.
The Xiaoqing River, unpolluted, had shallow areas where the bottom could be seen even through the ice. Stomping hard on it left not a crack; even smashing it with a sharp stone only left shallow marks. Clearly, the ice over the shallows was solidly frozen all the way down to the riverbed.
More and more children unable to resist the temptation ca down with their ice gliders to play on the river. The crowd on the ice grew, and their laughter and chatter carried far and wide.
To avoid being discovered by the adults in the village, Wang Cai had chosen a spot for skating far from the village. If nearby adults heard them and ca over, they would have a chance to "run away" in advance. As long as they staunchly denied everything, the adults at ho couldn’t do much about it.
In the end, even Danzi and the others went down to the river, leaving only Zhenzhen and Yun Zhao helplessly on the bank. Thankfully, the older children knew their limits, not venturing into deep areas, and kept the more naïve youngsters in check, otherwise, they would have already run ho to call for the adults.
As the sun climbed higher, the children who had been playing for two hours didn’t feel the slightest bit tired, nor were they worried about future chances to play on the frozen river. Embracing the idea of making the most of their ti, they played inexhaustibly and with growing delight.
At that mont, Wang Cai ca up to the few older children who had followed him earlier, tempting them, "Just playing like this isn’t much fun. How about sothing more thrilling? What do you think?"
What half-grown boy doesn’t love adventure and excitent? Seeing Wang Cai pose the question, soone imdiately asked, "What kind of thrill? Tell us quickly!"
Wang Cai, with a smug smile, pointed to a spot on the ice not far away and said, "Simple. We slide the ice gliders over there. If anyone can slide back, he wins, and we’ll each bet him a peanut candy."
At the ntion of peanut candy, the children’s mouths watered unconsciously, but they hadn’t lost their sense of reason, "No, it’s not safe there; the deep water isn’t fully frozen. If we fall in, we’d surely drown. It’s too dangerous."
The rest who hadn’t spoken, although tempted to try, were told by their common sense not to do so.
"Tsk, I thought you had so courage, turns out it’s just this much. Get lost, get out of my way, I’ll go play on my own." Wang Cai looked at them with contempt, pushed aside the child who was blocking his path, and headed towards the deep water.
This act not only captivated the attention of the few older boys but also caught the eyes of other nearby children. They stopped their gas and watched intently as Wang Cai carefully crossed the ice over the deep water, let out a triumphant laugh towards them, and then boldly walked back, even jumping up and down on the ice without incident.
This scene was just too thrilling, stirring the hearts of many children.
Wang Cai strutted back and mocked them, "Not dangerous at all, you bunch of cowards!"
The previously vocal children who had refused to join turned red in the face, shouting in frustration, "The hell with you, it was just one trip. What’s so great about that? I’ll go right now and show you."
With that, he ran towards the spot that Wang Cai had crossed, jumping hard on the ice over the ominous depth, landing with more force than Wang Cai but without any problem either.
When that child ca back, he imdiately received a load of admiring glances, and the remaining older children, no longer hesitant, rushed over in pursuit of thrills. Eventually, even kids as young as five or six years old took turns running over to frolic.
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