Chapter 7: The World Beneath the Snow (3)
Pedestrians on either side hurried along, some holding umbrellas, while Lin Yiyang and Yin Guo walked at a leisurely pace. Lin Yiyang was familiar with the neighborhood—he turned left onto a small street, pulling Yin Guo to his right side.
To their left stood a row of apartment buildings, each with a downward-sloping staircase leading to a basement. In the snow, the steps were blanketed in white, making them nearly invisible. One misstep too close, and it would be easy to tumble down.
So it was safer for him to walk on the left.
Of course, Yin Guo had no idea of his reasoning.
She simply thought Lin Yiyang must have some kind of walking compulsion—switching from left to right, what a weirdo…
After another turn, they reached the narrow staircase of a subway entrance.
She stomped the snow off her shoes and followed Lin Yiyang down.
On the steps, a line of wet footprints marked his path, soon joined by hers. Lin Yiyang deliberately paused at the bottom step, waiting for her. Inside the station, three homeless men had staked out sheltered corners to sleep, one of them right beside the ticket machine.
Yin Guo pulled her credit card from her wallet, stepping politely around the sleeping man to insert it into the vending machine.
"Come with me," Lin Yiyang said from behind. "The train's here."
Inside the station, the subway roared in, wheels grinding against the tracks.
New York subways were unpredictable, especially in heavy snow—if you caught one, you were lucky. There was no time to buy a ticket now. He pulled Yin Guo away from the machine and through the turnstile, swiping his MetroCard.
Then he swiped again and followed her in.
Before Yin Guo could even get a good look at the platform, she was already being pushed into the train car.
The doors closed behind them.
She glanced around—yet another run-down car.
No air conditioning, no digital display, and who knew if the speakers even worked…
And no passengers?
The entire car was empty except for her and Lin Yiyang. Rows of orange seats stretched out, free for the taking. She pointed at one, and when he didn’t object, she sat down near the door.
Lin Yiyang settled beside her, setting the cue case upright against his leg.
It was the only thing he carried—and it belonged to her. Truth be told, aside from his phone and wallet, the man had brought nothing with him to Flushing for a gamble at pool. Truly carefree.
Melting snow still clung to their shoes, leaving puddles on the floor.
The subway car had no signal, no internet, nothing to pass the time. Outside the windows, only darkness rushed by, the sound of the train filling the empty space.
She was starting to get used to Lin Yiyang’s quiet nature, so she took it upon herself to break the silence.
"We—" she began.
Lin Yiyang turned his gaze to her, waiting.
She said, "We haven’t properly introduced ourselves yet."
Her face was fair with a rosy tint, her nose small, her eyes large—not round, but slightly elongated, with pronounced double eyelids. Her hair was tied up high, revealing the soft contours of her face, round and youthful, with no sharp angles. It was a sweet, harmless kind of beauty.
"How do you want to do it?" Lin Yiyang met her eyes.
"My name is Yin Guo.""You mentioned it in your first WeChat message," he reminded her.
...Alright, she had completely forgotten.
She had no choice but to steel herself and continue, "My cousin and I are in the same year, seniors. The rest, he probably already told you."
Both were in the second semester of their senior year with no classes, during the "internship period" required by their college. She wanted to transition into Professional Nine-ball, while her cousin planned to study abroad, so naturally, they chose New York for their internship.
Lin Yiyang nodded.
After she finished speaking, it was his turn.
Lin Yiyang was silent for a moment before asking her in return, "You've seen all my valid documents. Is there anything else you want to know?"
When he asked this, there was seventy percent amusement and thirty percent teasing in his tone.
Nationality, date of birth, place of birth—all were clearly stated on those documents. He had even shown her his school magnetic card. Apart from his major, he couldn't think of anything else to disclose.
"I didn't look carefully that day. I didn't pry into your privacy," she explained.
She only knew he was twenty-seven, six years older than her.
Lin Yiyang smiled.
"I did my undergrad in China. After graduating, I worked for two years but found it unfulfilling, so I came here," he leaned back in his seat and briefly told the girl. "I'm studying Communications here, part-time. It's a three-year program, and this is the final year."
After a pause, he added, "Most of the time, I live in DC, but I come to New York occasionally."
He stopped, and Yin Guo was still waiting.
"That's it," he finally said. "If there's anything else you want to know, just ask anytime."
"Me neither," she replied with a helpless smile.
Great. This dry conversation might as well not have happened.
They continued sitting side by side.
As the subway pulled into the station, she remembered something more urgent. In the rush to board earlier, she hadn't sent the WeChat message she had typed.
She needed to find a signal quickly while the train was stopped.
Waving her phone around, she couldn't get a connection—whether due to the snow or the station's particularly poor network. Neither mobile data nor the station's Wi-Fi worked. Helpless, she watched as the train started moving again, resigned to waiting for the next stop.
"Didn't send it?" The person beside her noticed her predicament.
"It's always like this. No signal at all," Yin Guo sighed in frustration, showing him her phone.
Lin Yiyang glanced at it.
On the screen was her failed WeChat message—
Xiao Guo: I'm starving. Is there any instant noodles in the room? If not, can you grab me a pizza while it's still available? Everything will be closed by the time I get back.
She couldn't figure it out and asked Lin Yiyang, "Is it because I'm using a Chinese phone number? Does that make it harder to connect?"
"It might have some effect. You can wait until we transfer and try again after getting off."
That seemed to be the only option.
She exhaled and put her phone away.
Unexpectedly, Lin Yiyang took out his phone and started texting someone as the train left the station.
Once they were fully in the tunnel, he slipped his phone back into his pocket and asked, "Hungry?"
Yin Guo was momentarily confused but then remembered her WeChat message and understood.
"I can manage."
She should be fine until they reached the hotel.
"Manage what? Going back to eat pizza?" He found it amusing.
What else could she do?
She didn’t want that either: "Our hotel is too remote. At this hour, only the gas station convenience store has pizza.""Wu Wei, the guy with glasses the other day. He invited me for ramen," Lin Yiyang casually asked her, "Want to go?"
Now?
"Won't it be too late?" she hesitated.
"This line goes straight there, just three stops away," he leaned back, glanced at his watch, and offered a friendly suggestion, "We can go first, then continue by subway afterward."
After a pause, he added: "I haven't eaten either."
On such a snowy day, with an empty stomach, the word "ramen" conjured images in her mind—steaming rich broth with pork cartilage, seaweed, kimchi, corn... All hesitation vanished instantly.
Going hungry herself was one thing, but letting someone else starve while escorting her was downright inhumane. Since she hadn't eaten either, why not get off together for a meal instead of settling for dry pizza?
With that thought, going seemed even more necessary—if not for herself, then for him.
Yin Guo immediately agreed.
So the two, who were originally supposed to transfer to another line, rode three extra stops just for ramen.
Outside the ramen shop, they saw several people braving the snow, waiting for seats. Lin Yiyang led Yin Guo through the crowd down into a basement-turned-ramen joint.
As the glass door swung open, the aroma hit them instantly.
At every table, steam rose from large ramen bowls. The narrow aisles were flanked by fully occupied tables—the warm interior, the piping hot noodles—this was undoubtedly the best decision of the day.
Wu Wei had already secured a four-person table inside. Spotting them, he waved with a smile: "Over here."
This being their second meeting, Yin Guo exchanged polite greetings, set down her bag, and headed to the restroom first.
The moment she left, Wu Wei lowered his voice: "You're something else. I'd already taken off my clothes and lathered my hair when you dragged me out to save seats? All for a bowl of ramen?"
"Now that you're here, quit complaining."
Lin Yiyang took off his cold-proof clothing and draped it over the chair back. He waved to the owner, exchanging a few warm words in Japanese before ordering sake first.
When the owner asked if they were ready to order, he declined, waiting for Yin Guo to return.
Wu Wei looked puzzled: "Weren't you supposed to be in Flushing for the pool match? How'd you run into the beauty?"
"Met at the pool hall," he replied.
After they briefly caught up on the backstory, Yin Guo returned just in time.
Wu Wei immediately dropped his teasing expression and asked cheerfully: "He mentioned you're also here for the Open?"
"Yes, the women's division," she smiled, sitting across from the two men.
"I'm on the list too," Wu Wei extended his right hand, "Come on, since fate brought us together, let's shake on it."
"Such great fortune," Yin Guo shook his hand.
"That night when I walked in and your brother started talking to me, I thought he was a scammer. Then I saw the cue case and relaxed," Wu Wei chuckled, recalling the blizzard night. "At first I thought the cues were your brother's—never imagined they were yours."
No wonder they became friends so easily, with him even treating her to drinks.
Everything finally made sense.
As they chatted, Yin Guo actually learned more about Lin Yiyang from Wu Wei's stories.Wu Wei was studying at New York University, having come for his master's degree with Lin Yiyang's help in preparing the application materials. Their majors were different—Lin Yiyang had arrived a year earlier and had three years of study ahead, while Wu Wei only needed one. He had stayed after graduation specifically to wait for Lin Yiyang to finish his studies so they could return to China together.
"Honestly, I'm just average at Nine-ball. Practiced it when I was younger. But since Nine-ball is popular in the U.S., I adapted to local customs," Wu Wei said with a laugh.
He wasn’t wrong.
Many Americans treated Nine-ball as a family pastime, with pool tables at home, but Snooker was far less common. Today, at the pool hall where she had met Lin Yiyang, as well as the training hall she usually frequented, there was only one Snooker table—and no one playing on it.
Even in professional tournaments, people here weren’t particularly enthusiastic about Snooker.
For Yin Guo, who played American Pool, the U.S. Nine-ball Open was significant.
But from Wu Wei’s words, she could tell he specialized in English billiards—he was a Snooker player.
Just like her cousin.
All his friends were professional players—why wasn’t he?
Yin Guo glanced at him.
Lin Yiyang had been sitting there the whole time, sipping the sake that had arrived first. The small blue translucent bottle, no bigger than a palm, was cradled in his hand. After a couple of sips, most of it was already gone.
He didn’t seem to be paying much attention to their conversation, but when Yin Guo looked at him, he casually slid the menu toward her. "Order first, then talk."
"Yeah, order first," Wu Wei chimed in.
The menu was filled with photos.
Ramen shops worldwide followed the same principle—just pick the noodles and toppings from the pictures. Yin Guo quickly made her choice and handed the menu back to Lin Yiyang, who waved over a server. He and Wu Wei were so familiar with the place they could order blind without even looking.
Wu Wei then shifted the topic to daily life in New York, asking about Yin Guo’s living arrangements for the coming months.
"Probably just staying at the hotel I’m at now," Yin Guo said.
"Never considered renting? Short-term lease?"
"I did think about it, but three months is neither long nor short—seems like a hassle, and I couldn’t find anything good."
Wu Wei immediately offered an enthusiastic invitation, explaining that his rented apartment had three bedrooms, two of which were occupied by a pair of sisters who were moving out this month. He could ask the landlord if Yin Guo could take one on a short-term lease. There were two advantages: first, it would save money for now, and second, if her cousin got an offer from NYU, they could just take over the lease.
Good location, convenient transportation, ready-to-move-in.
Wu Wei’s suggestion did appeal to her.
When she first arrived, a friend had also recommended short-term renting, but since that friend was back in China, they couldn’t help her find a place, so she dropped the idea. Now that there was a trustworthy option, renting made sense.
Yin Guo thanked him happily and added Wu Wei on WeChat.
"Let me check with the landlord first. I’ll give you a definite answer tomorrow," Wu Wei said finally.
Since they still had to get going, they didn’t linger, finishing their noodles quickly.
After the late-night meal ended, Lin Yiyang and Yin Guo took the subway again. By the time they reached Yin Guo’s hotel, it was already 11 p.m.
Her hotel was in a relatively remote area, surrounded by repair shops, with the only lively spot being a small gas station. The walk from the subway to the hotel took three to five minutes down a pitch-black road, illuminated only by the gas station’s lights—no other streetlamps in sight.
A midnight wind blew through, chilling her to the bone.He escorted Yin Guo to the entrance of the hotel, where two female bartenders were smoking. As they approached, the women stubbed out their cigarettes and hurried to help, pulling open the heavy black-painted iron door of the hotel before stepping inside.
She paused at the steps. "Will the subway still be running when you go back?"
"It operates 24 hours," Lin Yiyang replied, slipping the cue case off his shoulder. He hooked the strap with his fingers but didn’t seem ready to hand it over, as if waiting for something.
His hand, exposed while holding the strap, caught Yin Guo’s attention, reminding her of how his right hand gripped a cue.
Sports like billiards demanded years of relentless, unbroken practice and refinement—just like any other athletic pursuit, with no room for slacking off. Outsiders might not notice, but insiders could never miss it. His level of skill was honed over years of training, hardly resembling that of an amateur...
A knock on the glass door behind her interrupted her thoughts.
She turned to see her cousin waving at them through the frosted glass.
At the same time, Lin Yiyang’s arm reached past her shoulder to pull open the iron door. He nudged Yin Guo into the warmth of the lobby and handed the cue case to Meng Xiaotian.
"Thanks, Yang-ge, for bringing my sister back," her cousin said cheerfully.
Lin Yiyang gave a slight nod in farewell.
Then, hands in his pockets, he turned and retraced his steps along the unlit path beside the gas station.
Yin Guo rubbed her ear—Lin Yiyang’s sleeve zipper had grazed it when he pulled the door open. "What a coincidence you came down just now?"
"Yang-ge texted me, saying you were almost here and asked me to come get you," her cousin explained. "Guess I mentioned the bar downstairs before, so he was worried you might run into drunkards?"
An unexpected answer.
Yin Guo glanced back outside.
Lin Yiyang was pulling his cap lower against the cold wind. In the distance, the gas station lights glowed, while to his left stood the roadside wall. Gradually, his figure vanished into the swirling snow—likely heading for the subway.
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