ã€ŠLi Chuan&#x27;s Pastã€‹


 Chapter 1

    <h4>Chapter 1</h4>

    The day I left for college, Father sent me to the train station. Carrying my luggage, we sat through a whole three hour bus ride before arriving in the provincial capital. The bus was half an hourter than what was scheduled. By the time I hastily rushed to the tform, there were only fifteen minutes left before the train left. Father was not fond of farewells, he especially didn¡¯t likest minute farewells. After he put all of my luggage away, he got off the train with great speed.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much about saving money, on the first of next month, I will send money to you.¡±

    I contained my tears and nodded.

    ¡°Remember to open a bank ount and deposit the money you have. Don¡¯t lose it as soon as you get there.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Study well.¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, we are going from a poor ce to a big city. We might be poor, but we don¡¯tck ambition. Remember Daddy¡¯s words, a person must behave appropriately, and furthermore, must have integrity.¡±

    Growing up, Father had probably repeated the integrity speech several hundred times. It was as if he was living in the Ming dynasty. In actuality, Father taught at the middle school in the small town we lived in. He himself was a university graduate from the city. The year they were being assigned jobs, he voluntarily went to the countryside, and then got married to my mother. Thus, he stayed in the countryside permanently. Now he looks old beyond his age. His beard had already greyed.

    ¡°I know, Daddy.¡±

    He smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave now, I still have a ss in the afternoon.¡±

    Then, he rapidly disappeared. He disappeared so quickly, not waiting to see my tears.

    I sat in the crowded train for an entire day. After getting to Beijing, I followed the directions on the ¡°Admissions Notice¡± and took the bus for several stops. Atst, I reached S University. This was a teachers¡¯ college. My scores were actually more than enough for Peking University, but for some reason, Peking University didn¡¯t admit me. I was admitted to my second choice, S University. I originally applied for International Economics, but the International Economics Department also didn¡¯t admit me. The Foreign Language Department admitted me. Even though my foreignnguage skills were strong, I never thought to pursue it for a career. Because of this, I entered the gates of S University in a dejected mood. After waiting in lines andpleting the registration paperwork, I went back and forth through the greenery for a good while before finding my dorm.

    The door of the dormitory was open. There were six bunks, the three bunks on the bottom were already piled with luggage. Three girls sat on the side of the beds chatting andughing. One of them, a tall girl, turned her head to nce at me, and asked, ¡°Are you a freshman?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°Which department?¡±

    ¡°Foreign Languages Department.¡±

    She raised her eyebrows, ¡°Whichnguage?¡±

    ¡°English.¡±

    She pointed towards one of the upper bunks and said, ¡°The bottom bunks are already taken. The upper bunks are still empty. Pick one.¡±

    She was very pretty. A high-bridged nose,rge eyes, pale white skin, and the way she held herself exuded an indescribable sense of leisure.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Feng Jing Er. This is Wei Hai Xia. This is Ning An An. We are all locals.¡± She pointed to the other two girls wearing fashionable outfits, saying, ¡°We are your roommates.¡±

    Locals meant Beijing residents.

    ¡°Hello.¡± I said. Wei Hai Xia and Ning An An nodded at me.

    ¡°In a bit, a Shanghainese girl will alsoe. She already arrived and went to make up additional paperwork.¡± Ning An An pointed to a pile of luggage by the door. After a while, she recalled something else and said, ¡°There is another bed that will always be empty. That is Liu Xuan¡¯s ce. She¡¯s (School) President Liu¡¯sdaughter. Her family lives at the school, so she¡¯ll live at home for probably most of the time.¡±

    ¡°Did all of you already know each other before?¡± I asked softly.

    ¡°We all went to the same high school.¡±

    I didn¡¯t say anything else. With the greatest speed, I opened my luggage, climbed up onto the bed and started making my bed. My luggage was quite simple, my bed was made quickly.

    Wei Hai Xia looked around and asked, ¡°Hey¡­didn¡¯t you bring a mosquito tent?¡±

    I shook my head, ¡°No, it¡¯s almost winter. Are there still mosquitoes?¡±

    Wei Hai Xiaughed lightly, ¡°The tent isn¡¯t for keeping out mosquitoes. The tent is a world. Inside is your solitary retreat. You must need some privacy, right?¡±

    I became aware that her words did note kindly. Immediately straightening my back, I looked into her eyes and said, ¡°I don¡¯t need any privacy.¡±

    The three looked at each other, conversing silently with their eyes.

    In the end, Ning An Anughed, ¡°Even though this room is on the fourth floor, there¡¯s still a lot of dust. It¡¯s still better to have a mosquito tent, it¡¯s cleaner to sleep in. With everyone having a mosquito tent, the room will also look neater. What do you say? Oh right, what¡¯s your name again?¡±

    ¡°Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    No one asked me which city I was from. They were afraid they wouldn¡¯t have heard the of it before, or that I would be too embarrassed to say.

    In the afternoon, I went to the general store and bought a mosquito tent for forty yuan. (¡®Yuan¡¯ is the Chinese unit of currency.)

    And then bought textbooks for the academic year, spending one hundred thirty yuan. I only had thirty yuan left. The school dining hall was extraordinarily expensive, each meal cost at least two yuan.

    When I returned to the dorm, the Shanghainese girl was already sitting inside her mosquito tent. She was called Xiao Rui. Tiny stature, milky white skin, jet ck long hair. She sat cross-legged eating chocte, looking like an elf.

    ¡°Tonight the school auditorium will be showing a movie, three yuan a ticket, everyone let¡¯s go. After the movie there¡¯s a dance. Free fordies. Jing Er, is your bodyguard going toe?¡± Ning An An saidughing.

    ¡°Alright!!¡± Everyone raised their hands, except for me.

    ¡°Do you want some chocte.¡± Xiao Rui handed me a piece, ¡°It¡¯s Dove, I don¡¯t eat any other brand.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, I¡­don¡¯t really eat sweets.¡±

    ¡°Have a piece, give me some face, ok?¡± She continued to stuff it into my hands.

    ¡°Ok, thank you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡± Xiao Rui continued eating, then all of a sudden said, ¡°I think it¡¯s only fair that this upper and lower bunk arrangement should change each semester. For example, those who are in the bottom bunks will be in the top bunks next semester. Those in the top bunk will be in the bottom bunks next semester. That way everyone has a chance to be in a bottom bunk, that¡¯s the only fair way. Xiao Qiu, what do you say?¡±

    I nodded.

    Feng Jing Er¡¯s face looked somewhat uneasy, Wei Hai Xia gave us an even more displeased look. Ning An An said with a smile, ¡°Next semester is still far off, let¡¯s discuss this in more detail when next semester starts. Perhaps by then, you¡¯ll have gotten used to it and won¡¯t want to move down.¡±

    Xiao Rui took a bite of her chocte saying, ¡°I will definitely want to move down, I am not used to this right now.¡±

    Wei Hai looked at me and asked, ¡°What about you, Xiao Qiu? Do you not want to be in a top bunk either?¡±

    ¡°I think Xiao Rui¡¯s idea is not bad. I don¡¯t care whether I am on the top bunk or not, the important thing is that it¡¯s fair.¡± I said emotionlessly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go watch the movie first.¡± Ning An An picked up her purse and walked out. Everyone filed out.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, are you really noting?¡± Xiao Rui asked.

    ¡°Sorry, I made ns to meet up with someone from my hometown. Tonight.¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t even started studying foreignnguage, and yet you¡¯ve already forgotten your Chinese grammar. Miss, the time usees in the front.¡± Wei Hai Xia teased. A fit of giggles came from outside the door.

    Actually, I had already met up with Lin Qing from my hometown. She and I were from the same small town. She was a History Department fourth year and would soon be graduating. I met up with her in the afternoon. After some small talk, I asked her about tips for living in Beijing.

    ¡°It is really expensive to live here. You need to work part-time in order to subsist.¡±

    I agreed vehemently. I promptly told her I had already spent more than half the money I brought. She suddenly remembered something and said, ¡°I know of a caf¨¦ that¡¯s hiring. Originally I was nning on going. It¡¯s somewhat far from school and takes four stops on the bus to get there, so I changed my mind. Do you want to go? It¡¯s a Starbucks, as a waitress, not tiring work. It has mainly early morning and night shifts, the times are flexible. They actually like students from the Foreign Language Department because there are many foreigners there. Tell me now if you want to go, I¡¯ll have to give them a call first.¡±

    It was truly gift from the heavens. I couldn¡¯t stop nodding my head.

    She helped me write a r¨¦sum¨¦ and lent me a set of clothes. Before leaving, she handed me a tube of lipstick.

    ¡°We are from a small town. Our ents are already backward, if you don¡¯t dress fashionably, more people willugh at you. Is your Mandarin good?¡±

    ¡°Not bad, my ent isn¡¯t too obvious.¡±

    ¡°Not just curling your tongue, the people here even make a distinction between ¡®-in¡¯ and ¡®-ing¡¯.¡± (Southern ents tend to drop the ¡°h¡± (the tongue rolling part) and the ¡°g¡± when pronouncing words such as ¡°chi¡± or ¡°ling¡±.)

    ¡°I will certainly remember that.¡±

    ¡°Try to use as much English in your speech as possible. Don¡¯t always tell theplete truth, don¡¯t arbitrarily reveal all your cards. When you are too honest, you will be taken advantage of. Understood?¡±

    ¡°Definitely, thank you for your pointers.¡± I made a face.

    ¡°Everyone working at the caf¨¦ is an university student, making honest money, so I¡¯m not worried that you will get corrupted. Don¡¯t learn from those bad students from your department and the Music Department who will do anything, including bing mistresses, in order to keep up with their expensive habits.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    After Lin Qing finished giving pointers, she went out and made a call. Upon her return, she informed me that the caf¨¦ had a three day trial period. I would start tonight. She asked whether I was willing to work the night shift, from six to midnight. There was no other time slots open.

    Of course I was willing.

 Chapter 2

    <h4>Chapter 2</h4>

    It wasn¡¯t until I got to the bus stop that I understood the real reason Lin Qing didn¡¯t want this job. Five in the afternoon was rush hour. Even though work starts at six, if I took the five-thirty bus, I would bete.

    After waiting for twenty-five minutes, I finally squeezed onto a bus. The bus inched forward hitting each red light. I discovered that those who were standing on the bus all looked flustered, even those who had seats appeared utterly exhausted. Through the window, I really sized up Beijing for the first time. I actually watch the CCTV news (official news channel of the government) everyday and thought that I was very familiar with Beijing. However, once I really got here, I discovered that every street was so unfamiliar. Unfamiliar buildings, unfamiliar pedestrians, unfamiliar advertisements, unfamiliar vehicles, unfamiliar signs, everything was so unfamiliar. I was quietly heading towards an unfamiliar direction.

    It gets dark very early in Beijing in the fall. During the four bus routes, it was as if I went from day to night.

    That caf¨¦ called ¡°Starbucks¡± was located on the ground floor of a luxurious high rise. The strange part was that, although it was rush hour, there weren¡¯t many people on that street. There were roughly twenty parking spots in the parking lot next to the building. They werepletely filled. I stopped for a bit outside the door, tidied my hair and skirt, and took a peek in the mirror. It was fairly tidy. Thus, I pushed open the door and entered.

    The caf¨¦ wasn¡¯trge at all. It was really quiet with the slight murmur of people. Inside, the servers were all in uniform ck t-shirts. Whether they were male or female, they all wore a deep green apron. A guy named Tong Yue received me. He seemed to be around my age, not to tall, had a bright smile and an easy-going appearance.

    He held out his hand courteously, ¡°Hello, Xie¡­Xiao Qiu. Right? I¡¯m the night shift manager, everyone calls me Xiao Tong.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Xiao Tong.¡±

    ¡°Your r¨¦sum¨¦ was written really well. It didn¡¯t actually have to be in English, Chinese would have been enough. The boss doesn¡¯t understand English. Tonight there are four people here, including you. You are from S University?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°I am also. English Department second year. You?¡±

    ¡°English Department freshman.¡±

    ¡°Really? I was there to wee freshmen today. Howe I didn¡¯t see you?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps you saw me, but didn¡¯t remember.¡±

    ¡°Which dorm are you in?¡±

    ¡°North Seventh Dorm.¡±

    ¡°North Seventh Dorm? It¡¯s the furthest from the school gates. It¡¯ll be quite inconvenient to eatmb kebabs and clear broth beef noodle soup. Have you bought your textbook?¡±

    ¡°Mmm, so expensive.¡±

    ¡°You should have met me earlier. I have old textbooks. They¡¯re exactly the same. I also don¡¯t like to study, so they¡¯re basically new. Could have given them all to you.¡±

    Depressing. I thought about the one hundred and forty yuan I spend this morning. Now, that¡¯s called regret.

    ¡°How would you like your coffee?¡± He stood behind the cash register simultaneously speaking and working, unexpectedly speaking in English. I turned around to look, a foreigner was in front of the counter.

    ¡°Double cream one sugar.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    I reveled. His ent hardly differed from what I heard in ¡°¡°.

    ¡°There are many opportunities to speak English here. However, the boss disapproves of us chatting with customers. Only when there aren¡¯t many people, and the customer wants to chat, can you speak with them for a bit. Still, it can¡¯t interfere with work.¡±

    He proceeded to introduce me to the other three who were currently working. One of them was just getting off work. Another girl was called Ye Jing Wen. M University¡¯s Chinese Department. The work at the caf¨¦ wasn¡¯t too hard. The first step was to be familiar with the different uses of the coffee machine. And then it was to memorize the menu, that is, the recipes for each kind of drink. He said, though there were many drinks on the menu, customers normally just drink a couple types. It wasn¡¯tplicated, it could be mastered in a day. Besides that, the sizes of the coffee couples were different frommon caf¨¦s. They weren¡¯trge, medium, small. Instead, they were venti, grande, tall.

    I changed into work clothes. Standing on the side, the girl named Ye Jing Wen was preupied with ncing sideways out the window. Her stature was refined and slender, and looked extremely like the female lead in ¡°¡°. Xiao Tong said she was from Nanjing. Her parents were both professors. She didn¡¯t have to worry about making ends meet, she came here only to practice her conversational English skills. I though it was really strange. Wasn¡¯t she of the Chinese Department? What did she need such good English for? Xiao Tong said she tested in from a fiercelypetitive high school. Originally, she had intended to test into Beijing University, but by a mishap, she only tested into M University. Since she got into a university, she should have taken a breather. However, she was so used to taking tests that she couldn¡¯t take a break. Thus, she took the fourth level English exams, took the sixth level English exams, took TOEFL, took GRE. (The exam levels are referring to the taken in China.) Only after she took the GRE did she find out her major in Chinese made it harder to get a visa. So she came here to work part-time. First, so that she could practice her spoken English. Second so that she could perhaps meet a foreigner who would sponsor her emigration. But the boss doesn¡¯t let employees chat with customers, so she still hasn¡¯t found an opportunity. ¡°So, that¡¯s why she looks like she¡¯s alwaysden with grief and disappointment. s.¡±

    Actually, the part that moved me about her were her eyes brimming with daydreams. As soon as I saw her, I recalled the character in ¡®s romance novels. Thoserge sentimental eyes, ready to be emotionally moved at any times. Those thin lips waiting to be tormented. A pearl hair clip was in her shoulder length hair. Her faint lipstick, faint perfume, and even her faint posture all made it seem as if she could disappear from here at any time. I had been working there for two hours, she only said one word of ¡°Hi¡± to me.

    Cashiering was easy. I had always been interested in electronics and quickly mastered it.

    ¡°Of all the new employees I¡¯ve ever seen, you got up to speed the quickest.¡± Tong Yue chuckled in satisfaction. A customer left, leaving behind a table filled with saucers. Seeing Ye Jing was still lost in thought at the counter, Xiao Tong could only sigh and go clean up. When he got back, he quietly said, ¡°Don¡¯t mind her being cold to you. Xiao Ye is a good person. It¡¯s just that her crush is here today. This is her time to be starry-eyed. ¡° He finished and pointed towards the corner near the window.

    Following his finger, I could only see a skewed profile. A young man in a suit sat on the side of a table next to the window, looking concentrated at hisptop.

    ¡°He is a Chinese man.¡± I saidughingly.

    ¡°An extremely wealthy one.¡± He supplemented.

    By nine o¡¯clock, the customers gradually thinned. The young man in the suit, however, seemed to have no intentions of leaving, as if he regarded this ce as his office.

    Xiao Tong said that half a year ago, when this young man first appeared at the caf¨¦, Xiao Ye disregarded everything and fell in love with him. She switched to the night shift for him. It wasn¡¯t just Xiao Ye, every girl in the caf¨¦ was secretly in love with this man. As soon as he appears, for the entire night, every girl became absent-minded. Cash register mistakes would increase. Only Xiao Tong, the only male employee, could function properly.

    Iughed in spite of myself, ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Every girl in here longs for him toe. Only I am unwilling. When hees, I have do double the work. However, there¡¯s good thates out of it.¡± Xiao Tong continued, ¡°He tips well.¡± If the girls were embarrassed about being so starry-eyed, they would usually give Xiao Tong the tip on the table as an apology.

    The caf¨¦ offered simple lunches and dinners, mainly sandwiches and fruit sds. Most customers picked up their coffee from the counter themselves, so rarely did anyone tip, especially Chinese people..

    ¡°Do peoplemonly give tips?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Not very often. Some older men or elderlydies, who need us to deliver the coffee to their table, will leave a small tip. But it¡¯s not that much.¡± Xiao Tong said, ¡°Only he will give a really high tip every time. So we are always willing to serve him. As soon he is seening, as long as we can get away, we will normally take the initiative to go over and ask him what he wants and then bring the coffee over to him.¡±

    ¡°Why? Doesn¡¯t everyone line up to buy coffee here?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with his leg.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± It was only then that I noticed the ck cane hanging on the side of his table. Yet his entire body appeared to be the same as anyone else.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it?¡± I continued asking.

    ¡°There¡¯s not too much wrong with it, it¡¯s just a slight limp in his right leg, that¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just a temporary injury.¡± I said.

    ¡°It¡¯s not. His car parks in the handicapped spot. A BMW SUV.¡±

    ¡°What is a BMW SUV?¡±

    ¡°A car for the wealthy, those who are not worried about burning gas.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°He always orders a skinnytte. But when you see himing, don¡¯t take the initiative to greet him. Let Xiao Ye serve him. Xiao Ye is the senior employee here. It¡¯s her privilege. Haha.¡±

    ¡°Which kind of skinnytte? There are many types ofttes.¡±

    ¡°He like vani.¡±

    As we were speaking, Xiao Ye suddenly dashed over, and says in a small voice, ¡°It¡¯s not vani. Today is hot coffee. Venti.¡±

    Then, she quickly dashed behind the counter, ¡°Xiao Tong, help with cashiering. He said he wants another cup of coffee.¡±

    There were many people standing in front of the cash register. She couldn¡¯t leave. It was evident that she didn¡¯t want to miss this opportunity to bring coffee to the young man. Her face cried for help.

    Xiao Tong smiled evilly, ¡°Today your performance was extremely bad, I will let Xiao Xie bring the coffee over. Don¡¯t be angry, the tip will still be yours.¡±

    The coffee was done very quickly. I carried the coffee over to the window. I didn¡¯t want to disturb him, intending to quietly ce the coffee on the table and leave. Nevertheless, he had already be aware of me and lifted his head to look at me.

    It was a face that you could only catch sight of on a cologne ad in a fashion magazine. It was filled with youthfulness, looked almost godlike. I was stunned for a bit, forgetting to breathe. I suddenly felt that Beijing was truly a beautiful city. While in my daze, my hands trembled slightly. Some of the scalding coffee sloshed out, spilling on my finger. I am innately afraid of being scaled and my hands shook even more violently. The cup slipped and fell. Only a ¡°dong¡± sound was heard. The coffee cup fell onto the table, sshing his entire body, and then rolled onto the floor spilling everywhere.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­.terribly sorry! Sir!¡± In panic, I blurted out in English.

    I don¡¯t know why I suddenly blurted out English. Perhaps I recited ¡°Crazy English¡± too many times, perhaps it was because I didn¡¯t want to speak in Chinese to keep my rural ent from being discovered. In short, I saw that his white shirt had arge stain. His blue tie also became brown.

    He frowned and didn¡¯t speak.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m an¡­intern. Were you scaled?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He said. His voice was deep, quite beautiful.

    I was just about to say something when Xiao Ye rushed to my side, ¡°Sir, really sorry. You weren¡¯t scalded were you?¡±

    He shook his head.

    I looked down and saw that the coffee was still continuously dripping down along his pant legs. Xiao Tong nced at me in annoyance, brought over a yellow Caution Wet Floor sign, and stood it by the table.

    ¡°Sir, I¡¯m terribly sorry. If it¡¯s not inconvenient, please bring your dry cleaning receipt here. We will reimburse you.¡±

    ¡°There no need. I overturned the coffee by mistake. It¡¯s not this youngdy¡¯s fault.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Xiao Ye and Xiao Tong turned to me at the same time, looking puzzled at me.

    I drew a nk for a bit and then said, ¡°Thank you for your kindness, sir. I really was the one who overturned the coffee. Next time¡­I will certainly be more careful.¡±

    As I was speaking, I couldn¡¯t help but nce at Xiao Ye, fretting inside whether I would even have a ¡°next time.¡± But Xiao Ye was clearly satisfied with the way I hung my head in an admission of guilt.

    I immediately found a mop to clean up. Xiao Ye insisted on pouring him another coffee. He declined.

    He closed hisptop, put it into his bag, then took out his cane and stood up.

    ¡°Be careful, the floor is slippery.¡± I said softly.

    He nodded, walked to the door, pressed the automatic door, and quietly exited.

    Actually, he didn¡¯t walk too slowly, he only treaded a bit stiffly.

    I turned around and looked at the table. There were fifty yuan left on the table. Xiao Tong took it without the slightest hesitation.

    I was utterly ashamed of making such a mistake on my first day of work and could only repeatedly apologize to Xiao Tong.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, you aren¡¯t the first to spill coffee on him. Don¡¯t worry. We won¡¯t tell the boss. But, you must stay calm the next time you see a beautiful man.¡± Then he leaned down to my ear, half jokingly said, ¡°A word of advice, whether you want it or not: By all means don¡¯t waste time on him. He never notices a single girl.¡±

 Chapter 3

    <h4>Chapter 3</h4>

    When I got back to the dorm after work, it was already twelve thirty. The school has a lights-off policy from ten o¡¯clock. There was no one walking about when I went upstairs. Once I tip toed up to my dorm door, I found the door locked from the inside. I gently knocked on the door, for a long time no one answered. I knocked for nearly a minute before the door was abruptly opened. In a nightgown, Ning An An coldly sized me up and said, ¡°Why are you knocking on the door? Don¡¯t you have a key?¡±

    ¡°The door was locked from the inside.¡±

    Her face continued to be just as cold, ¡°Have you not heard about the rape incident that happened in this buildingst year? If the door isn¡¯t locked from the inside, what if something bad happened? If you must have fun until after ten o¡¯clock beforeing back to school, you might as well juste back the next morning.¡± I thought I was in the wrong, plus I didn¡¯t want to argue with her in the dead of the night. I could only exin, ¡°I wasn¡¯t having fun, I just found a job, I have to work until twelve o¡¯clock before getting off work.¡± Inside I felt somewhat wronged, tears formed in my eyes, yet my face continued to be stiff and my mouth tightly closed. I didn¡¯t want her to see it.

    She was taken aback for a bit, then immediately made an ¡°Oh¡± sound, pulled me into the room and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t have enough money?¡±

    I pursed my lips, unwilling to answer.

    ¡°s.¡± She took a look at me and sighed again saying, ¡°Go to sleep, I will tell them not to lock the door from the inside in the future.¡±

    I didn¡¯t dare to wash my face, nor brush my teeth. I quietly climbed to the top bunk and got under the covers.

    Xiao Tong said I came at just the right time. The boss pays wages once a month. I only had to work two more weeks before getting my first paycheck.

    Early next morning, I got up and went to the track to and memorize vocab. I saw Feng Jing Er also on the field, with a tall male student standing next to her.

    When I jogged past them, the male student said ¡°Hi¡± to me. He only wore a white muscle shirt, showing his thick and broad pecs. He looked well-built and handsome, like he was in the Physical Education Department.

    ¡°Are you going to the intensive reading ss today?¡± Seeing mee over, Feng Jing Er searched for a topic.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°What was your foreignnguage score one the college entrance exam?¡± She suddenly asked.

    ¡°Ny-five.¡± I said.

    Herplexion changed a bit, looking at me suspiciously, ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡±

    ¡°I heard that the high schools where you are from have to sit for exams every day. From the first day of school, you have to deal with the college entrance exam. There is no music ss, no art ss, no physical education ss.¡±

    ¡ª- In life, there are often people like her, who can¡¯t ept that someone else was smarter than them, only those who were more hard working than them. What need had I to shatter those dreams? I could only nod, ¡°The high schools where I am from are just like that.¡±

    ¡°My dad is in the English Department,¡± she said, ¡°he doesn¡¯t teach intensive reading. You can take his ¡®Contemporary English Novels¡¯ ss in your fourth year. He mainly teaches graduate level sses.¡±

    ¡°Really, your dad is a professor?¡± I opened my eyes wide.

    ¡°Professor Feng is a Ph.D. advisor.¡± The male corrected.

    ¡°You can just call him Professor Feng.¡±

    I smiled lightly.

    ¡°What does your dad do?¡± She suddenly asked.

    ¡°My dad is also a teacher. He teaches middle school.¡± I said.

    ¡°This is Lu Jie. The ¡®Lu¡¯ as in road. The ¡®Jie¡¯ as in shortcut.¡±

    ¡°Hello, which department are you in?¡±

    ¡°International Economics Department.¡±

    ¡°He was first ce in our high school¡¯s college entrance exam.¡± Feng Jing Er looked at him sweetly. ¡°He could have definitely gotten into Peking University, yet he insisted oning to a teacher¡¯s college. He doesn¡¯t take university seriously at all.¡±

    ¡°The International Economics Department at our school is also very strong.¡±

    ¡°When he just started his third year in high school, he already got a six hundred on his TOEFL.¡± (The third year is thest year of the three year high school system in China.)

    ¡°Oh!¡± I felt a deep respect for him.

    ¡°We won¡¯t hold up your morning exercise. See you in ss!¡± Seeing my face full of admiration and amazement, Feng Jing Er smiled in satisfaction.

    I chose five sses this semester, I basically had ss every day. The most was on Tuesdays, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. After ss, it was already four o¡¯clock. I hurriedly ate dinner and hurried at top speed to the caf¨¦.

    When Xiao Tong saw me, he quietly said, ¡°Don¡¯t provoke Xiao Ye today. She¡¯s not in a good mood.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Before, her crush came everyday at five thirty. But today he hasn¡¯te.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not six o¡¯clock yet.¡±

    ¡°That person is very punctual. It¡¯s always exactly five thirty when hees.¡±

    He was right. For the entire night, the young man in the suit didn¡¯t show up. Xiao Ye was so absent-minded that Xiao Tong could only have her wipe tables, sweep the floor, and boil coffee. He didn¡¯t dare to let her make drinks, and especially couldn¡¯t let her work the register. Xiao Ye didn¡¯t object either. She autonomously wiped the table constantly till all the tables were as shiny as mirrors.

    For the next two weeks, the young man in the suit still didn¡¯t appear. From being inattentive, Xiao Ye gradually became impatient and restless. She became the main topic of Xiao Tong¡¯s nightly conversations.

    I gradually became a bit worried, wondering whether that person¡¯s disappearance was because I identally spilled coffee on him. It¡¯s possible that my carelessness led him to no longer like this caf¨¦. There were hundreds of caf¨¦s in Beijing. There were even neen in the vicinity. They were more expensive and had better service. He didn¡¯t need toe here every time.

    That weekend, Xiao Ye took a day off after getting a cold. The next day, those on the morning shift told her that they saw the young man in the suit at breakfast.

    Perhaps he changed his schedule and would no longer go to the caf¨¦ at night. As a result, Xiao Ye switched shifts with someone in the morning.

    Then, on the night she just changed shifts, I saw the young man in the suit again.

    He was still in a ck suit. The make and cut were extremely well-fitting. He was still carrying a ck cane with a well-used brown bag slung across his body.

    Just past seven o¡¯clock, it was the caf¨¦¡¯s busiest hour. There were seven or eight people waiting in line for coffee. The young man in the suit didn¡¯t head toward the seat by the window and sit down like usual. Instead, he diligently lined up at the back of the line. He knew when to enjoy special service and when he shouldn¡¯t.

    During such a busy time, he evidently didn¡¯t want to disturb our work.

    After standing for a few seconds, he suddenly quickly walked towards another door.

    Looking in his direction, I saw an energetic elderly man with ruddy cheeks heading towards the caf¨¦, dressed in a well-ironed suit just like him. The young man in the suit promptly hurried to the door and opened it for him.

    ¡°Li Chuan!¡± The elderly man walked in with a smile and shook his hand.

    ¡°Mr. Gong.¡± He had respectful look on him.

    ¡°Long time no see. How is your father?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s doing well.¡±

    ¡°What about you?¡± He looked at him with a benevolent expression.

    ¡°Also well. Can I offer you a cup of coffee?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Do you need milk in your coffee?¡±

    ¡°Oh, no need. Sugar free ck coffee.¡±

    ¡°Please head over here. ¡ª I know a quiet seat by the window.¡±

    He took the elderly man to the seat by the window, put down his own bag, and came over to wait in line.

    So he name was ¡°Li Chuan.¡±

    He stood in line for about three minutes. Finally he was in front of me. His face was like a ray of sunshine shining on me. My voice subconsciously trembled slightly.

    ¡°Could I have one venti ice skinnytte, whipped cream, with a touch of cinnamon on the top and one venti ck coffee, no sugar?¡°

    His heavenly pleasant American English caused me to stand there foolishly.

    He smiled slightly, looked at me teasingly, ¡°I thought you prefer me to speak English¡­¡±

    ¡°Jerk!¡± I thought to myself, just because I spilled coffee on you once, is there really a need to mess with me like this?

    ¡°Of course.¡± I maintained my calm, ¡°Please have a seat. I¡¯ll bring the coffee to you.¡°

    ¡°No need, take your time. I¡¯ll stay here waiting.¡± He insisted., determined to witness my embarrassment.

    ¡°The total is thirty-seven yuan.¡± I finally switched to Chinese.

    He handed me a one hundred yuan bill. I gave him back the change.

    He handed a bill back to me, ¡°You gave me back an extra ten.¡±

    ¡°Sorry.¡±

    On the side, Xiao Tong asked me in a low voice, ¡°What did he want?¡±

    My mind drew aplete nk. Blushing, I said, ¡°Tooplicated, I can¡¯t remember right now.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Xiao Tong roared.

    ¡°I am sorry, sir. What¡¯s your order? Could you say that again?¡°

    ¡°Sure. One venti ice skinnytte, whipped cream, with a touch of cinnamon on the top.One venti ck coffee, no sugar.¡°

    ¡°Got it, thanks.¡± I turned towards Xiao Tong saying, ¡°Arge icette, add whipped cream and a little bit of cinnamon on top, and arge ck coffee, no sugar.¡±

    Xiao Tong made the drinks at a godlike speed. I put the items he wanted on a tray. He took the tray in one hand, and with his cane in the other, headed towards his seat. I thought he limped worse than before and worried that the coffee would spill out before he reached halfway. Carrying drinks was indeed a dangerous act for a person with a bad leg. But he finally ced the coffee safely on the table.

    The two chatted by the window in low voices for around thirty minutes before the elderly man took his leave. The young man called ¡°Li Chuan¡± still apanied him to the door, opened the door for him, and watched him leave. Then he returned to his seat, opened up hisptop, and started to work.

    For the whole night, he ate a tuna sandwich and a fruit sd, and drank twottes. Even when I finished my shift, he was still there motionlessly, facing the screen, incessantly typing away like he still had so much work to get done.

    I suddenly realized why he liked this ce. Every Starbucks had free wifi. Free wifi to him wasn¡¯t arge appeal, but he must live a very solitary life. People like that always enjoyed caf¨¦s. There were always people sitting in caf¨¦s even if they were all strangers.

    After getting off work, I put away my work clothes, changed into a worn short sleeves shirt, and walked out of the caf¨¦.

    The air was very dry in Beijing at night. The air was moist for the entire year in my hometown. I took a deep breath and walked underneath the muddled yellow streetlights. There was a bus stop nearby with a bus every hour at night. I always miss the twelve o¡¯clock one and have to wait in the quiet and cold street for no less than forty-five minutes for the next bus. I once considered buying a bike. Xiao Tong said that for a girl like me, taking the buste at night was far safer than a riding a bike.

    Good thing I could work on learning new vocab. Besides washing my face, brushing my teeth, and going to the bathroom, I used the rest of my time to learn vocab. I fished out my vocabry book and started practicing under the half-lit street light.

    After reading for around half an hour, a car suddenly stopped in front of me. A person stretched their head out and said ¡°Hi.¡±

    It was that ¡°Li Chuan¡±.

    ¡°Hi.¡± I raised my head to look at him feeling a bit strange.

    ¡°Get in the car, I¡¯ll give you a ride.¡± He said. Then the door opened.

    I got in in spite of myself. The seat was made of real leather, it was reallyfortable.

    ¡°Where do you live?¡±

    ¡°S University dormitory.¡±

    ¡°Buckle up.¡±

    I tried for a while, but couldn¡¯t fasten it. I asked him, ¡°How do you fasten it?¡±

    He opened the car door, took the cane and hopped out of the car. He came to my side and leaned over to help me find the seat buckle. It fastened with a click. He then walked back to his own seat.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said quietly.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡± He started the car and drove along the street.

    With a beautiful man next to me, I only had the strength to breathe. For five minutes, neither of us said anything.

    ¡°Are you of the English Department?¡± He finally asked.

    ¡°If I reply to your question, you have to answer my question.¡± I said, ¡°Do you really want to know the answer?¡±

    He nced at me a little bbergasted, and nodded.

    ¡°English Department first year.¡± I said, ¡°Now it¡¯s my turn to ask. What is your name?¡±

    He was startled, ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you for your age. Why are you asking for my name?¡±

    ¡°For fairness¡¯s sake.¡±

    ¡°Wang Li Chuan.¡± He said, ¡°Where are you from?¡±

    ¡°I am from out of town. I don¡¯t like Beijing people.¡±

    Heughed.

    ¡°You?¡±

    ¡°I am not a Beijing person.¡±

    ¡°You speak with a Beijing ent.¡±

    ¡°My grandfather and grandmother were both Beijing people. Or Beipingpeople.¡± He said, ¡°Do you not have friends or rtives in Beijing?¡± (Beiping was the name of Beijing during 1923-1949.)

    ¡°No, there isn¡¯t one in the previous eight generations of my ancestors.¡±

    ¡°Then, are your rtives okay with you living by yourself in another ce?¡±

    ¡°I am an adult. I can choose my own life.¡±

    ¡°Mmm, this sounds like what an American would say.¡±

    I cheerfullyughed, ¡°You asked me two questions just now, it¡¯s my turn to ask.¡±

    ¡°Really? I asked two questions?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Do you like Beijing?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok.¡±

    ¡°Why do you especially like toe to this caf¨¦?¡±

    ¡°Because¡­¡± He thought about it for a moment, ¡°The parking is convenient.¡±

    I thought about the usually empty handicapped parking spot and couldn¡¯t help but nce at his leg. His right leg could not move at all. When he got in the car, he had to use his hands to bring that motionless leg into the car, and then grabbing onto the handrail on the ceiling of the car, he had to use both arms to bring the upper part of his body into the car. Though the whole process was somewhat awkward, he could do it in a split second.

    ¡°Do you still have questions to ask?¡± He turned his head and looked at me with a strange gaze.

    I couldn¡¯t look at his face. Every time I nced at it, I be muddle-headed. He had a face that was both unique and wless face. Even his profile was just that perfect, like it can get minted onto a coin.

    ¡°No more.¡± I spread out both me arms.

    ¡°You are only this curious about a stranger?¡±

    ¡°Only this much. Sorry.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but point out, ¡°you have been speeding this whole time.¡±

    ¡°Are you afraid of high speeds?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid of the police.¡±

    ¡°There are no police officers right now.¡± He said lightly. It was clear he frequently speeded.

    It seems as if he had barely driven ten minutes before we were at the school gates. There was a guard at the gate, no cars could enter.

    ¡°Thank you, you can stop here.¡± I said at once.

    ¡°Is where you live far from the gate?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not far, I can walk there in a bit.¡± I didn¡¯t want to inconvenience him anymore.

    He found a parking spot and got out, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, may I send you to the door of your dorm? It¡¯s sote right now, even if it is in the school, it¡¯s still not that safe.¡± If someone else had said this, it would seem as if they were being phony. Yet, he said it with an honest calmness, a perfectly gentlemanlike manner.

    ¡°No no ¡­really, there¡¯s no need.¡± I had never been looked after like this and was overwhelmed. I waved my hands repeatedly.

    ¡°You know, if I just drop you to here and you suddenly go missing along the way, in the eye of thew, I would be the number one suspect.¡±

    I looked at him, silentlyughing.

    After a couple steps, he said, ¡°I might walk very slowly, do you mind? I know that if you run, you can get there in no time. However, this street looks really dark, there are trees on both sides. I would rather you walk patiently with me.¡±

    ¨C Why was this person always so polite?

    I said in a loud voice, ¡°Of course, I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    He didn¡¯t actually walk that slow. Although, it was evident that it wasn¡¯t his usual pace.

    ¡°Have you been to this campus before?¡± I asked.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°But you must have gone to college, right?¡± I asked again.

    ¡°Why? Do I look schrly?¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡­it¡¯s not that. Your English is really good.¡±

    ¡°I went to school overseas.¡±

    ¡°Oh, then why did youe back? As far as I know, lots of people here just want to go abroad.¡±

    ¡°Then, I am in the minority.¡±

    I had many questions I wanted to ask him, but these questions were not quite suitable for someone whom I had just met for the first time. So I restrained my curiosity.

    I wished this road would allow us to continue walking forever. Unfortunately, we eventually arrived at the dorm.

    ¡°Thank you for sending me back.¡± I expressed my sincere gratitude.

    ¡°Good night.¡± He said lightly.

    He watched me walk into the entrance, then turned around and left. I knew he still had to walk alone for at least half an hour before reaching the school gates.

    I suddenly had the urge to apany him on the walk back. But I restrained myself.

 Chapter 4

    <h4>Chapter 4</h4>

    I thought that I would be able to see Li Chuan the next day, yet he did not show up. I didn¡¯t have any expectations of him, let alone any presumptuous beliefs. From what I could tell, his kindness was the result of a certain type of upbringing. He really wasn¡¯t just like that towards me. Ever since the first time Iid eyes on him, my main impression of him was that he was refined and courteous. However, the next time I see him, I must treat him to a coffee in order to show my gratitude.

    Gradually, a month passed by. No one on the night shift ever saw Li Chuan again. There were rumors that he had visited the caf¨¦ multiple during the morning shift. I¡¯m never on the morning shift, so I couldn¡¯t confirm any of this. Xiao Ye, on the other hand, constantly took morning shifts. But luck wasn¡¯t with her and she never ran into him again. Even for the oldest customers, if they don¡¯t frequently visit, they are forgotten. Besides, this street wasmonly referred to as the financial street. Handsome men and pretty girls were not rare at all. The wealthy were everywhere. Gradually, Xiao Tong¡¯s conversations changed to the Porche sports car of a middle aged, bald gentleman. The parking lot by the door got more and more crowded each day, to the extent that the boss finally removed one of the two handicap parking spots. He was going to remove all of them, but Xiao Ye stood her ground saying that the handicap spot had to exist, it reflected the broad-mindedness and inner quality of the Starbucks management. It was also a distinguishing feature of this caf¨¦. Evidently, Xiao Ye did not understand the boss¡¯ business nature. It was still Xiao Tong who came up with the idea to save her. Xiao Tong suggested that the handicap spot could also be an elderly parking spot. Since there were still many elderly customers in the area who drove cars. Once spot could be used by the elderly and the handicap to park, thus settling the dispute.

    Xiao Ye knew that if there wasn¡¯t a handicap spot, that young man called Li Chuan would definitely nevere to this caf¨¦ again. He always drove when he came, which meant his work was far from here. His leg was an inconvenience, so he wouldn¡¯t use so much effort to walk over for a cup of coffee. Plus, there were Starbucks everywhere in Beijing.

    That night, Xiao Ye treated Xiao Tong to dinner. The next day, Xiao Tong told me that Xiao Ye drank too much. She was drinking and crying at the same time.

    Xiao Tong gave me a summary of the night while sighing. He said that Xiao Ye could not extricate herself from the emotions she had sunk into. She had secretly been in love with him for half a year. It was foolish and crazy. In the end, she didn¡¯t even know what his name was.

    I originally wanted to tell Xiao Ye that Li Chuan had dropped me off that other night. Or perhaps tell her his name was Wang Li Chuan. But I thought about it and didn¡¯t open my mouth. I really sympathized with Xiao Ye, but Xiao Ye wasn¡¯t my friend. Xiao Ye very rarely took the initiative to speak to me. Once, she was in a bad mood and I made a mistake collecting money. I was ruthlessly reproached by her, making me feel extremely distressed. In fact everyone here knows that she frequently makes mistakes when collecting money and are scared of having her even touch the cash register. There was no need to not forgive me for just making a mistake once. The next day, she knew she had gone overboard and treated me to coffee. In short, she was a very emotional person. Unlike me. Since Mother passed away early, I was very rational and tomboy-like as a child. I wasn¡¯t easily moved.

    During this one month, I had to take the first three exams since the start of school. Despite me putting in great effort to memorize vocabry, I was still spending not enough time on studies in rtion to the rest of the girls in my dorm room. My average was only sixty-five. My listening skills were only tolerable and I was unexpectedly failing intensive reading. Sixty-five was a grade that I had nevere across during my whole career as a student. I felt ashamed and humiliated. At one point I was extremely downcast, so much so that I didn¡¯t even want to see the ssmates in my dorm room because their scores were all higher than mine and didn¡¯t really care about their grades. Only people like me who tested in from a ¡°regional high school¡± worried about every score.

    None of them had to study every single day. Instead, they were always going to parties, watching movies, and wandering the malls. Feng Jing Er was the most rxed. She spent all her time dating and frequently skipped ss. Yet, she had the highest marks in her whole department. She said that if she could continue being the best, by the end of the year, she would get four different schrships. Thergest schrship was the ¡°Hong Yu Fund.¡± That fund is given to the top ten students of the whole school. Since thepetition was fierce, all the schrships used grades as the baseline.

    I needed money so badly, but I had no chance inpeting for the schrship.

    I wasn¡¯t a good student, but I was a good daughter. I could finally send money home and help pay for my younger brother¡¯s tuition. With the remaining money, outside the cost of living, I bought a walkman and a tube of lipstick. The Starbucks boss required female employees to put on makeup, so I had been using Lin Qing¡¯s lipstick. When I was going to give it back to her, she said she¡¯ll give it to me as a present. Embarrassed, she also said that it was actually expired. ¡°All makeup have expiration dates. You must finish using it before it expires.¡± She also advised me not to buy poor quality makeup. At the very least, I should use y. I bought a brand that she scoffed at. It was ten yuan and I had already thought it was really expensive. However, she said that the color was fairly alright, it matched with my skin. It looked like my sense of aesthetics wasn¡¯t bad. I said I had learned watercoloring from Father. She looked disbelievingly at me andughed. I had to tell her that my father was from Shanghai, was sent to the small town to teach, and then never returned to the city.

    ¡°Does that mean you still have rtives in Shanghai?¡±

    ¡°My paternal grandfather is still in Shanghai.¡±

    ¡°Are you close to your grandfather?¡±

    ¡°In order to marry my mom, my dad had a huge falling out with him. He never went back again, nor kept in touch.¡±

    ¡°What did your grandfather do?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    The night after I finished taking the third exam, I took a day off and didn¡¯t go to the caf¨¦. All of a sudden, a huge group of guys came to the dorm room. I only recognized one of them, Lu Jie. It turns out Lu Jie¡¯s dorm room and our dorm room were ¡°friend dorms.¡± I had missed a lot of the activities of the friend dorms. From Ning An An¡¯s introductions, it seemed like the main interactions between the friend dorms were for the guys to take the girls out to the movies or for the girls to teach the guys how to dance. The secondary goal was also to provide a chance to develop ¡°friendships.¡± After socializing several times, only one Math Department male student ¡ª called ¡°Xiao Gao¡± ¡ª obtained Wei Hai Xia¡¯s affections. Most guys pursued Xiao Rui, and not all of them were within the friend dorms. As a result, Xiao Rui had it easy for many things. For example, I had to carry water at least twice a day from the hot water room by the dining hall to use for washing up during in the morning and at night. Xiao Rui never had to carry hot water. Someone always carried it to the dorm room for her. Moreover, she always had chocte in her bag. They were all gifts.

    That night, I went to the school dance hall on East Campus for the first time. The dance floor was about as big as the auditorium. There was a disco ball hanging above, and a band in front with a singer who would sometimes sing romance songs and other times rock to rock n¡¯ roll. With the music on, one by one, everyone joined in, holding hands, and dancing like monkeys. The guy who asked me to dance was called Xiu Yue, a Philosophy Department third year. He said that in his department, you had to be a Ph.D. in order to find a job, so his goal was to get a Ph.D. If I tried dancing as a sport, I felt that I had a natural gift for it. I like to swim and like to y volleyball. I also took sses in Taichi before. So after a night, I was able to learn the basic dance moves. Xiu Yue asked me whether I wanted to review lessons at night with him because he had heard me constantlyin about my exam grades.

    ¡°ying is ying. Studying is studying. You can¡¯t mix these two things together. Otherwise, you can¡¯t y well and you can¡¯t study well.¡± He earnestly suggested.

    Xiu Yue was qualified to say this because he was the head of studying in his department. There were already professors who had their eyes on him. To get into graduate school was something that would happen sooner ortter.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°I heard that you often work part-time outside? As long as you have enough to use, it should be good. Don¡¯t sacrifice your studies for working.¡± He said.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Even though I¡¯m not in the Foreign Languages Department, I have passed the eighth level in foreignnguages. It¡¯s up to par with a foreignnguages major. Although, my speaking isn¡¯t too good, especially when ites to retroflex constants.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± I said.

    ¡°Yes. Every morning, I put a pebble underneath my tongue to practice rolling it.¡± He said with a look of unswerving determination, ¡°That¡¯s right, will you go to the English speaking practice group on Friday night?¡±

    ¡°No. Where is it?¡±

    ¡°West Campus gardens.¡± He was amazed at how someone who studied foreignnguage didn¡¯t go to the English speaking practice group.

    ¡°Are you free this Friday night? We can go together. After practicing English we can go watch a movie with Lu Jie and the others. We can watch through the entire night.¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡­next week is mid-term exams. I have to prepare really well. Next time.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t always be thinking about studying. You need a bnce. Especially when it¡¯s exam time.¡±

    ¡°I have to work.¡±

    ¡°Then next time.¡± He smiled faintly and didn¡¯t insist any more.

    After the dance, everyone headed to the video hall on the street to watch a movie while eating sunflower seeds and drinking soda. The friend dorm activity was finally over after hanging out until one in the morning.

    The entire time, my mind was loaded with worry about my grades.

    After that, I got up at five every morning to memorize vocabry. Besides working and going to ss, the rest of the time I spent studying.

    Under the streetmps of autumn, I watched as the weather turn cold. Employees of the caf¨¦ had a ten minute ¡°coffee break¡± every four hours. The day before my exam, I got a cup of coffee and sat in a corner, next to the window. I watched as the whistling autumn wind swept the streets. The street lights shined upon a few pedestrians leisurely stolling down the street. As I slowly drank my coffee, someone, all of a sudden, walked towards me.

    I saw Li Chuan once again.

    This time, he had on a western style outfit. A brown jacket, a ck turtleneck sweater, and a pair of fading jeans. His clear-cut face was very white. For the sake of my heart and my breathing, I didn¡¯t dare look at his face more than once. It seemed as if he had just taken a shower, a faint steam was emitting from his entire body. With his wet and stiff hair, he could shoot an ad for men¡¯s hair gel. I suddenly remember a vocabry word I memorized today: ¡°dashing.¡± I don¡¯t know why everyone here calls him the ¡°young man in the suit.¡± People in suits could be found everywhere. A more suitable term would have been ¡°fashionable male.¡± It should be male instead, because there were plenty of fashionable young man on the streets, but he had an additional schrly. (I have been tranting ¡°Î÷×°ÇàÄê¡± as ¡°young man in the suit¡± so that it sounds a bit better. But the direct trantion would have been ¡°suited youth¡±. Hopefully, that makes more sense in the exnation of why ¡°Ê±ÉÐÄÐÉú¡± or ¡°fashionable male/man¡± would be a better term to call Li Chuan. Man vs. youth. *starry-eyes* :))

    ¡°Hi.¡± He said, ¡°How are you?¡±

    ¡°I am fine.¡±

    ¡°Do you mind me sitting here?¡± He pointed to the seat next to me.

    ¡°No, no. Please sit, I¡¯ll bring the coffee to you. What would you like for today?¡± I didn¡¯t wait for him to answer before quickly adding, ¡°It¡¯s my treat this time. Thank you for dropping me off that night.¡± I promptly switched to using Chinese because, even though my speech in regards to coffee was pretty good, I would probably make a fool of myself with anything else.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t mention it. You sit, I go get the coffee myself. What do you want?¡± He asked as he ced hisputer bag on the chair.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need anything. I¡¯m on my coffee break and need to get back to work soon.¡±

    He walked over to purchase coffee and I saw that he paid and came back.

    ¡°Where¡¯s your coffee?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Your co-worker insisted on bringing it over for me.¡± Although he didn¡¯t show anything on his face, his tone held a bit of embarrassment. Xiao Ye was probably overly attentive, making him unhappy.

    I turned around and, sure enough, saw Xiao Ye¡¯s facepletely red. This was probably the first time she had seen Li Chuan in these few months.

    Xiao Ye brought the coffee over to us and gave me a meaningful nce. Understanding, I said, ¡°Look, my break time is over. This is Xiao Ye, Ye Jing Wen. A high achieving student in the Chinese Department of M University. She can recite ¡°¡± and her foreignnguage is especially good. She got a 2200 on her GRE.¡±

    He smiled gently, ¡°This caf¨¦ is concealing talent. Miss Ye, so sorry for inconveniencing you to bring my coffee to me each time.¡±

    I rxed, it was clear that he wasn¡¯t an aloof person. He knew of Xiao Ye.

    I stood up and promptly went to the cash register to take over Xiao Ye¡¯s work. I saw Xiao Ye sit down and chat with him. She evenughed several times. Her angelic smile was matchless. I felt gratitude for her.

    She sat for half an hour and came back to the counter with a rosy face.

    Xiao Tong came over to make fun of her, ¡°Now you should finally know what his name is. Tell us. What big shot¡¯s son is he? He¡¯s so wealthy despite being so young.¡±

    Xiao Ye said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t ask.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t even ask for his surname?¡±

    ¡°I asked, he said it was Wang. That was it.¡±

    ¡°What does he do?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. We¡¯re just strangers, why would I ask in such detail?¡±

    Xiao Tong wanted to continue asking for more, but Xiao Ye suddenly turned towards me and asked, ¡°Xiao Qiu, do you know him?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t lie. He took the initiative to seek you out. It¡¯s obvious he knows you.¡±

    ¡°¡­Of course he knows me. I once spilled coffee over him.¡±

    ¡°Do you know what his name is?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­don¡¯t know.¡± Since he didn¡¯t wish to say it himself, then why should I say it for him.

    Xiao Ye looked at me with suspicion, clearly not believing me. She then turned her back to me and thought for a bit before suddenly turning back again and coldly asking, ¡°It can¡¯t be that you have your eyes on him, right?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I didn¡¯t bat an eye.

    ¡°I always thought that countryside girls were really sincere. It looks like it isn¡¯t that way. You sure have skills to seduce men.¡±

    Her voice was very low, very sweet, but said through gnashing teeth next to my ears. She then suddenlyughed. I raised my head and saw Li Chuan walk over to the counter in front of me.

    ¡°Hi.¡± Xiao Ye said.

    ¡°Hi.¡±

    He looked at us in confusion. Both Xiao Ye and I were standing behind the cash register and he didn¡¯t know who he should be speaking to.

    ¡°Mr. Wang, do you want coffee?¡± Xiao Ye sweetly asked.

    ¡°Yes, without sugar, ok?¡± he said.

    I suddenly said, ¡°Mr. Wang, are you free tonight?¡±

    He looked at me. After awhile, he nodded.

    ¡°Can I ask you to go to the movies?¡± I went on.

    He stared nkly for a bit, ¡°Watch a movie? When?¡±

    ¡°Twelve o¡¯clock.¡±

    ¡°Ok.¡± Surprisingly, he answered rapidly.

 Chapter 5

    <h4>Chapter 5</h4>

    Because Li Chuan agreed to go the movies with me, Xiao Ye ignored me for the whole night. Even Xiao Tong tried to have less contact with me to avoid Xiao Ye bing angry at him. The stalemate continued until Xiao Ye got off work. She got off an hour earlier than me. Xiao Tong strolled over and quietly said to me, ¡°I was trained by Xiao Ye. She¡¯s been here two years and you¡¯ve been here two months. Think it over, if something happens, whose side would I be on.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just asking someone to go to the movies. What can happen?¡±

    Xiao Tong shook his head, ¡°They say you are a countryside girl, yet you are more ferocious than city people. You are dering war on Xiao Ye by doing this. Do you not want this job anymore?¡±

    I sneered, ¡°Is it that severe? It¡¯s not as if she owns this caf¨¦.¡±

    Xiao Tong said, ¡°She¡¯s gotten rid of three others before. One girl only worked for three days before being tattled on by her. The boss¡¯ son studies at a university in Nanjing in the department of her dad. Her dad is the chairman of the department. Do you understand now?¡±

    I didn¡¯t say anything. Because I didn¡¯t know what I should do. To have me suck up to her was unthinkable.

    Xiao Tong said, ¡°Actually, this conflict can be easily resolved. You just have to work an extra night shift tonight and not go to the movies. Treat Xiao Ye to coffee tomorrow, apologize, and promise not to interfere with her matters. Using this method of admitting your guilt, I bet she won¡¯t continueplicating matters.¡±

    I sneered.

    Xiao Tong sighed, ¡°You really don¡¯t seem like someone from Yunnan. Your temper is worse than a Beijing person.¡±

    I continued to sneer. It¡¯s true I¡¯m from the countryside, but does that mean country folk can¡¯t have tempers? I hate it when others bring up my birthce to exin things all the time. There were tens of thousands of people in Yunnan. Is it to say that none of those tens of thousands of people had tempers?

    All the way til twelve o¡¯clock, Li Chuan motionlessly sat in the seat by the window typing. Xiao Tong brought him coffee once and he hurriedly said a word of thanks before his eyes quickly returned to theputer screen. Xiao Tong came over and said to me, ¡°He is replying to emails. It looks like he has a lot of emails to reply to.¡±

    I asked whether it was Chinese emails.

    ¡°It¡¯s French. Once Xiao Ye saw him sitting with a foreigner speaking extremely fluent German.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What is your secondnguage?¡±

    ¡°Japanese.¡±

    ¡°Then how do you know he¡¯s writing in French?¡±

    ¡°Even if you¡¯ve never eaten pork, you must have seen a pig run. I can still tell the difference between French and English.¡± He mockingly took a bow.

    ¡°Xiao Ye has also never studied German, how does she know he was speaking German?¡±

    ¡°German contains vibratos. When saying something, the whole tonsil will vibrate.¡±

    I looked over at Li Chuan¡¯s back, bing lost in thought.

    ¡°It¡¯s too bad his leg isn¡¯t good, ¡± Xiao Tong said thoughtfully, ¡°otherwise, he would be perfect.¡±

    I swept a look at him andughed, ¡°Are you also interested? You aren¡¯t gay are you?¡±

    Xiao Tong suddenly thought of something, ¡°Perhaps he is gay. Have you heard of the Joyous Wolf on the other street?¡±

    ¡°What Joyous Wolf?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s thergest gay bar nearby. There are even security guards in the bathroom to prevent people from messing around.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of it.¡± I¡¯ve never heard of it, but didn¡¯t want to seem like a country bumpkin.

    Li Chuan hade at nine o¡¯clock and had already sat there for three hours. Normally, he barely ever stayed this long. Clearly, it was because he was waiting for me. At twelve o¡¯clock, I changed out of my work clothes and put on a grey sweater. If I had know Li Chuan wasing, I wouldn¡¯t have worn this sweater. It fit well when it was new, but after washing it once, it had changed shape, bing a windbreaker. It was like I had bought it from a street stall on the ground. Carrying my bag, I walked to him. He had already stood up and was packing up his things on the table. I saw that besides theptop, there was also a notebook on the table. It was old and appeared to have been used for a long time. On the page it was opened to a sketch that was too disarrayed to make heads or tails of.

    We walked out of the door together. The wind at night was really cold making me sneeze. He stopped and said, ¡°Are you cold?¡±

    ¡°Hypersensitive nose.¡±

    ¡°So you are cold.¡± Without another word, he took off his jacket and handed it to me.

    The jacket was still warm, carrying the slight smell of his cologne. My heart beat like crazy. I hung my head and blindly followed him to the parking lot. Once we got to the car, I suddenly lost my courage, halted, and said to him, ¡°Sorry, earlier I lost my head and didn¡¯t consider asking you whether you had time at night, whether you minded seeing a movie sote at night.¡±

    ¡°I have time.¡± He said, ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    I continued to exin, ¡°Tomorrow is my mid-term exam, I wanted to rx.¡±

    ¡°The best way to rx is to sleep.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t sleep, too nervous.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only the mid-term exam. Is it necessary to be this nervous?¡±

    ¡°I want to average a ny-five.¡±

    ¡°Ny-five? That high?¡± He looked at me with a shadow of a smile, waiting for me to exin.

    ¡°The past few times I tested a sixty. My average can only go up if I get a high score on my mid-term exams.¡±

    ¡°Then, are you able to get a ny-five?¡± He asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best.¡± I made a fist with both my hands as if getting ready for a fight.

    ¡°Actually, there are many ways to get a high score.¡± He opened the door for me.

    ¡°Really?¡± I slid into the car. He leaned over to fasten my seat belt.

    ¡°For example, sit next to a ssmate with really high grades and take a few peeks at his paper.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°For example, copying the hard words onto the inside of your sleeves.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    For example, hiding your notebook in the bathroom and then pretend to go to the bathroom.¡±

    He presented all of this in dead earnestly.

    ¡°I understand now. That¡¯s how you drifted to graduation.¡±

    ¡°You can consider it that.¡± His face didn¡¯t change color at all, not in the least bit ashamed.

    ¡°People who cheat merely do so to pass a test. My goal isn¡¯t to just pass a test, so I can¡¯t copy from others.¡± I solemnly corrected him. ¡°That¡¯s why for a whole two weeks, I¡¯ve been studying really heard. I only slept three hours everyday. Today was the limit. If I don¡¯t watch a movie, I will break.¡±

    ¡°Such excellent spirit, a child who properly studies must be encouraged.¡±

    He quickly got in the car, ¡°Which movie theater? You direct.¡±

    ¡°Ping An Theater, it¡¯s near my school.¡±

    ¡°Which street is it on?¡±

    I thought about it, ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know. The ssmates in my dorm room all go there to watch movies. It¡¯s twenty percent off for students. They are showing old Oscar winning films this week.¡±

    He sighed and said, ¡°You¡¯ve been to Beijing for this long and you¡¯ve never gone to see a movie?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen video showings. There¡¯s a video hall near the school. It¡¯s cheaper.¡±

    He drove at lightening speed again.

    ¡°Can you please drive slower? You¡¯ll get into an ident driving like this!¡± I yelled.

    ¡°Is this called fast?¡± He ignored me, ¡°Isn¡¯t your seat belt fastened?¡±

    ¡°My heart can¡¯t take it.¡±

    ¡°Do you have heart disease?¡± He slowed down.

    ¡°No. I get nervous, ok?¡±

    ¡°What is the movie tonight?¡± He started elerating again, changing the topic so I wouldn¡¯t notice.

    ¡°What types of movies do you like?¡±

    ¡°Horror Movie.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re in luck! Tonight is ¡®The Silence of the Lambs¡¯¡­Li Chuan! Please slow down!¡±

    I don¡¯t know why I blurted out ¡°Li Chuan¡± as if I had called him that for many years. As soon as it came out, I was a little bit embarrassed.

    ¡°In order to watch this movie, your heart must be warmed up.¡±

    I got annoyed and stopped speaking. In the blink of an eye, we arrived at the school. He circled around the school campus and quickly found the movie theater. We got out together and entered the theater. I said, ¡°You wait here, I¡¯ll go buy tickets, soda, popcorn, and roasted chicken wings.¡±

    He said, ¡°You¡¯re off work right now. There¡¯s no need to be a waitress. You wait here, I¡¯ll go buy the tickets. What do you want to drink?¡±

    ¡°Coke.¡±

    I stood next to a pir watching him first buy tickets and then go to buy popcorn. I quickly followed him. He depended on a cane to move around and only had one hand to carry things. It was really empty with barely ten people sitting inside. We had nned to sit in the back. The steps were really shallow and he walked very slowly. His left leg went up first, then dragged the unmoving right leg up. Once it was dragged up, he had to stand firm before moving onto the next one. I regretted saying I wanted to sit in the back row. If I was to change my mind now, I was afraid he would took offense. I could only patiently, slowly walk up behind him.

    Atst, we reached thest row and sat down. The movie had already started. I also started to eat the chicken wings. The purpose of sitting in thest row was so that no one else could hear the loud sounds of me chewing.

    He took a sip of his bottled water and asked, ¡°Did you not eat dinner?¡±

    ¡°No, I was busy trying to catch a bus and forgot.¡±

    ¡°The caf¨¦ must have food, right? Don¡¯t you have coffee breaks?¡±

    ¡°So expensive, how can I afford to eat that?¡± I quickly finished a chicken wing and started eating another one, ¡°The chicken wings are delicious, do you want one?¡±

    ¡°Thanks, but no.¡±

    ¡°Then, eat some popcorn.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not eating.¡± He said faintly, ¡°It¡¯s all yours.¡±

    ¡°How can that be? Not eating while watching a horror movie.¡± I whispered. After awhile, I quietly said, ¡°Listen carefully, the next part is my favorite.¡±

    The Hannibal in the movie said to rice Starling, ¡°Principles, rice. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particr thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek?¡±

    ¡°¡­No. We begin by coveting what we see every day. Don¡¯t you feel eyes moving over your body, rice? And don¡¯t your eyes seek out the things you want?¡±

    I imitated the way the actors¡¯ mouth moved. Exactly the same.

    He turned to look at me, ¡°So your speech was trained from this.¡±

    After a short while, the actor continued, ¡°Terns? Mmh. If I help you, rice, it will be ¡°turns¡± with us too. Quid pro quo. I tell you things, you tell me things. Not about this case, though. About yourself. Quid pro quo. Yes or no?¡±

    Li Chuan turned his head over again.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Have you discovered that this line rhymes?¡± He said.

    ¡°Where does it rhyme?¡±

    ¡°Quid pro quo, yes or no?¡±

    I recalled the first time I was in the car with him. ¡­¡±If I reply to your question, you have to answer my question.¡± ¡­Quid pro quo¡­

    For the rest of the movie, I basically used both my hands to cover my eyes. I¡¯ve seen this movie ten times. I can recite the lines, but I have yet to watch it without covering my eyes from start to finish.

    I didn¡¯t look at him, but knew he wasughing at me.

    Aftering out of the theater, it was already the wee hours of the night. Even though I declined until I was parched, he still brought me to the door of my dormitory.

    Along the way, I idly said to him, ¡°You know, even though I¡¯ve watched it so many times, there is still something I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°You kept on covering your eyes. There must be a lot of parts you didn¡¯t understand. Didn¡¯t you say a film is a visual work of art?¡±

    ¡°Why did they have to ce a moth? Why?¡±

    ¡°Do you want to hear my exnation?¡±

    ¡°Do you have an exnation?¡±

    ¡°The meaning of the moth is rebirth. When moths are born, they are caterpirs. Later, the moth will go through many transformations. Didn¡¯t that Bill have an identity problem the whole time?¡±

    ¡°But why did they have to put the moth over the mouth of the corpse?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a female corpse, right? What¡¯s the difference between males and females? Reproduction, right? The meaning of this connection should be the expertise of humanities students like you.¡±

    I stopped walking, looked at him and asked, ¡°Then, ssmate Li Chuan, what did you study?¡±

    ¡°Economics, and then I switched to architecture. Quid pro quo. Why were you in a bad mood at the caf¨¦ today?¡±

    ¡°I had a quarrel with someone.¡±

    ¡°Did you lose or win?¡±

    ¡°On the surface I won, but in actuality, I lost. I am a country person who is used to living a free and unrestrained life. Now, in the city, I suddenly have to be mindful of everything.¡±

    ¡°Then does that mean you are not happy here?¡±

    ¡°Unless if I get a ny-five on my mid-term exams.¡±

    ¡°Why does it have to be ny-five? Is it that important?¡±

    ¡°I have identity problem.¡°

 Chapter 6

    <h4>Chapter 6</h4>

    When we got to the girls dormitory, we both halted and stared. There was a huge lock on the door.

    I took in a breathe of cold air, ¡°Shoot!¡± ording to the rules, lights off is at ten o¡¯clock every night and the doors are locked at twelve o¡¯clock. However, as far as I knew, after receiving a couple of bribes from the female students, the guard always turned a blind eye. He slept early and was disinclined to get up to lock the door. So usually the door isn¡¯t locked overnight. The door was made of ss, but no one took notice of my knocking.

    Then, I said to Li Chuan, ¡°Help me keep my bag, ok? You can bring it to me whenever you go to the caf¨¦.¡±

    He took my backpack, ¡°What are you thinking of doing?¡±

    ¡°Climbing in from the outside.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    I returned the jacket to him. ¡°This building is easy to climb. For there to be a lot of light, the window sills are long and hang down. There are even balconies.¡± After saying this, I stepped up onto the window sill of the first floor and grabbed a hold of the railing of the second floor balcony.

    ¡°Which floor are you on?¡±

    ¡°Not too high.¡±

    ¡°Which floor?¡± He stuck out his hand and held my leg.

    ¡°Forth floor. Look, the dorm room window is still open.¡±

    ¡°Xie Xiao Qiu, get down.¡±

    So he knew I was called Xie Xiao Qiu. All employees at the caf¨¦ had name tags. Everyone wrote their English name, I was the only one who used Chinese.

    I ignored him, but he gripped my leg tightly. And then, he pulled with force. I couldn¡¯t keep steady, so had to jump down. He held onto me and then quickly let go of his hand.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t afraid of climbing so many floors? What if something happens?¡± He raged.

    I was only in his arms for a second, but I had already lost my wits and started fantasizing.

    ¡°Then what should I do? Sleep on the street?¡±

    ¡°You can stay in a hotel. Hotels are open twenty-four hours.¡±

    ¡°Good point.¡± My eyes brightened, ¡°I know another ce that¡¯s also open twenty-four hours and there¡¯s no need to pay. The train station. Can I bother you to drop me off at the train station?¡±

    ¡°The train station is so noisy, don¡¯t you have an exam tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°The train station isn¡¯t that noisy. I¡¯m not worried about the noise.¡±

    He looked at me astounded by my audacity.

    I thought about it again and said, ¡°Speaking of quiet, there is a park near the school that is pretty quite. There are plenty of benches to sleep on.¡±

    ¡°Do you think these are the fields in the countryside where you can sleep anywhere you want? Don¡¯t you know how unsafe Beijing is?¡±

    ¡°I just have to put up with it for a night, there¡¯s no need to make a fuss, alright?¡±

    I started heading towards the school gates.

    After walking halfway, he said, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, you can stay at my t. I have many extra rooms.¡±

    ¡°That¡­we don¡¯t actually know each other that well.¡± I was a little embarrassed. Even though he seemed like a virtuous person and was kind to me, I still had to be vignt.

    ¡°Do you have a cellphone?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°This is my phone. Give the police a call. Tell them my license ce number. Tell them that if you go missing, they can find me with that te number.¡±

    Iughed, ¡°ssmate Li Chuan, I¡¯ll go with you. You have money, a car, and a house. In a ce like Beijing, I think it¡¯s more likely that you would go missing instead of me.¡±

    ¡°Good point. There¡¯s a time to endure hardships and a time to just be obedient. That¡¯s what makes a clever child.¡±

    He opened the car door and stuck out his hand in invitation. I jumped into the car and he helped me fasten my seat belt.

    I liked to have him fasten my seat belt. I liked that his body stooped down so that I could see the back of his head at such a close distance.

    It was already three in the morning. The car traveled at great speed and, after twenty minutes, it entered the underground garage of a high rise. The night air was freezing and I was still wearing his jacket. He parked the car, carrying his bag and cane, got out of the car and opened the door for me.

    I said, ¡°I can open the door myself. Let me open the door for myself in the future, ok?¡±

    He said, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be that much of a gentleman to me, right?¡±

    ¡°If you get used to a man treating you like this, in the future, you will marry a better man.¡±

    I got out of the car and followed him to the first floor lobby. There were two rows of elevators. I counted a total of ten of them. We walked to the elevator closest to the garage. He took out an electronic key and the elevator dinged open automatically.

    There was an antique looking wooden sign next to the elevator: ¡°Private elevator, please do not use.¡±

    I walked in with him. There were fifty-nine floors shown on the elevator. Above them, a red ¡°PH¡± suddenly lite up. The elevator started going up without making a sound.

    ¡°What is PH?¡± I asked.

    ¡°The highest floor, penthouse.¡±

    ¡°Do you like living that high?¡±

    ¡°The higher it is, the quieter.¡±

    ¡°Will I disturb your family?¡±

    ¡°I live alone.¡±

    The door also had an electronic lock. His t was speechlessly luxurious. It had light green curtains and white walls. There was a pure white couch in the living room. Every piece of furniture was cleaned as it they were on disy at a museum.

    ¡°Do I need to take off my shoes?¡± It was a clean and spotless hardwood floor.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡±

    There were a pair of elbow canes hanging on the left side of the entrance way. I entered the living room and stood next to the couch, finding that there was another pair of the same crutches next to the armrest of the couch.

    And then I asked a stupid question, ¡°Do you need to use two crutches at home?¡±

    He didn¡¯t answer. His face shed with something I couldn¡¯t quite grasp.

    After awhile, he said, ¡°Do you want to sleep right now, or do you want to drink something first? There is juice, beer, bottled water, milk, soy milk, and ice cream in the fridge.¡±

    When saying all this, his expression remained cold, as if he was offended.

    ¡°No, thank you. I will go to sleep now.¡±

    ¡°There are four guest rooms, which one would you like?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t provide guests with so many choices.¡±

    ¡°Follow me.¡±

    He led me to one of the rooms.

    I asked, ¡°Is there a ce to wash up?¡±

    ¡°There is a restroom inside.¡±

    He pointed towards the direction of my bathroom and prepared to leave the room. I turned around and lightly called out, ¡°Li Chuan.¡±

    He looked at me.

    ¡°Thank you for taking me in.¡±

    ¡°Good night.¡±

    ¡°Good night.¡±

    I quickly took a bath. The bathroom had everything, and it was all brand new. I put on a nightgown and got under the covers. I tried as hard as I could to go to sleep, yet could not fall asleep. Thus, I opened my backpack, took out a textbook and reviewed my vocabry onest time.

    I was really tired, but also really restless. Especially in such a unfamiliar surroundings. After looking over the vocabry once, I went over the textbook and grammar. Another hour passed like this before I was finally somewhat tired. Then I suddenly felt thirsty, so I stealthily slipped into the kitchen to get a drink of water.

    The night was dark and the lights in the living room were off. He was probably asleep?

    I walked softly, barefooted, to the kitchen. I turned the corner and abruptly found the refrigerator door open. He was standing in front of the refrigerator, stooped over, getting something.

    I was startled, practically shocked.

    He had a t-shirt on, and, below, he had on a pair of gym shorts. He had a long and slender left leg like those of Greek sculptures, slender and sturdy. He didn¡¯t have a right leg. The right leg disappeared from the top.

    ¡°Hi.¡± I greeted him softly.

    He stopped up, turned around and looked at me without expression.

    ¡°I want¡­a drink of water.¡± My voice trembled a little, ¡°Bottle¡­bottle¡­¡± (Technically, she said mineral since mineral spring water is the term for bottled water in China.)

    ¡°Bottled water?¡±

    I nodded. His hand was holding milk. He ced the milk on the counter and then bent down to get me bottled water.

    With just one leg, he could still stand so steadily. There was not a trace of a sway, as if he practiced martial arts before.

    ¡°Still haven¡¯t slept?¡± He handed the bottled water to me.

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t sleep.¡±

    ¡°I have really good sleeping pills. Do you want to try some?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­no need. I¡¯m afraid of oversleeping.¡±

    He started drinking the milk.

    ¡°Do you like to drink milk?¡±

    ¡°Mmm. I need to get up to drink milk in the middle of the night. It¡¯s a childhood habit, can¡¯t get rid of it.¡±

    ¡°If you travel, what do you do if there is no milk where you are staying?¡±

    ¡°I will go buy it no matter how far I have to go.¡±

    ¡°Insane.¡± I said with a lightugh, covering up the amazement I was feeling.

    ¡°Can I bother you to go to my bedroom and bring my crutches over here?¡± He said.

    It was only then that I saw that he didn¡¯t have crutches next to him. The kitchen was far from his bedroom.

    ¡°How did you walk over here without crutched?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask out of curiosity.

    ¡°I hopped over, ¡± he said. ¡°But I¡¯m embarrassed to hop in front of you.¡±

    I brought the crutches over to him and then crossing my arms,plimented him, ¡°Your bncing ability is quite good. Really.¡±

    ¡°I do yoga everyday.¡±

    Seeing the empty trouser leg, for no reason, my heart quietly tightened in heartache for him.

    ¡°Was it an car ident?¡± I suddenly asked.

    ¡°It happened a long time ago.¡± His expression clearly meant he didn¡¯t want to say anymore about it.

    ¡°Good night.¡± I said.

    ¡°What time is your exam tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Nine o¡¯clock.¡±

    ¡°If I¡¯m not awake, please wake me up. I¡¯ll drop you off.¡±

    ¡°Ok.¡±

    ¡°Good night,¡± he said.

    Iid in bed staring nkly and left my imagination run wild. I didn¡¯t fall asleep at all. At six-thirty, I got up, finished washing up and put on my backpack. I didn¡¯t want to wake him him up, so quietly left alone.

    I left a note for him.

    ¡°Li Chuan, I went back to school. There¡¯s no need to drop me off. I already inconvenienced you too muchst night. You should get more sleep. If I am still able to see you after my exam, I will treat you to a meal. For sure. Xiao Qiu.¡±

    The morning air was as cold as it was at night. I took the elevator down. The guard in the lobby looked oddly at me.

    ¡°Morning!¡± I said.

    ¡°Morning!¡±

    ¡°Miss, do you need me to drive your car over here?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Ah¡­I didn¡¯t drive.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, what¡¯s this building called?¡± I suddenly asked.

    ¡°Miss, you don¡¯t know? This is Long Ze Garden. (Dragon Pool Garden)¡± Heughed strangely.

    ¡°If I want to get to S University, what bus do I take?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a bit far. But there is a subway if you head towards the right when you go out.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, with a subway, I¡¯ll know how to get there.¡±

    He continued to look at me with skepticism. I suddenly realized what the ¡°Miss¡± he was saying meant.

    I didn¡¯t know that there were such cold and quiet streets in Beijing. I shivered in the wind. I was just about to turn right when someone called out from behind, ¡°Miss, where are you going?¡±

    Besides Li Chuan, co-workers at the caf¨¦, and my ssmates, I didn¡¯t know anyone else in Beijing. When I turned around, I couldn¡¯t help but admit that Li Chuan was not the only beautiful male in Beijing.

    It was a fashionable young man with gelled up hair and the corner of both his eyes smiled. He had a huge jade ring on his finger and a gold ne around his neck.

    ¡°You are¨C¡± I didn¡¯t recognize him.

    He clearly had alsoe out of this building.

    ¡°I saw that you came out from Li Chuan¡¯s elevator. You must be Li Chuan¡¯s friend, right?¡±

    Why should I answer him.

    He stuck out his hand, ¡°I am also Li Chuan¡¯s friend. Ji Huan. ¡®Huan¡¯ of the Duke Huan of Qi.¡±

    Li Chuan¡¯s friend. Then that was different.

    I shook hands with him. He handed me a business card. It said, ¡°Shen Lu Designs.¡± Below it was his name, phone number, fax number, and office address.

    I said, ¡°What does Mr. Ji design?¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan is in architectural design, I am in fashion design.

    ¡°Nice to meet you. But I can¡¯t chat, I have to sit for an exam and need to catch the subway.¡± I waved goodbye.

    Someone had already driven his car over and given him his keys.

    ¡°Where is your exam? I¡¯ll drop you off.¡±

    ¡°No, thank you. I¡¯ll go myself.¡±

    ¡°Have you eaten breakfast?¡± Why was he so inquisitive.

    ¡°I¡¯ve eaten.¡±

    ¡°The subway station is over there, past the red light.¡±

    ¡°I saw it already, thank you.¡±

    ¡°Do you like this building?¡± He pointed to the building. From the outside, its form seemed monstrous,yers uponyers, like a peacock with its tail spread open.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok¡­I don¡¯t really understand architecture.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan designed this.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡±

    ¡°Good luck!¡±

    ¡°Have a good day.¡± I said.

 Chapter 7

    <h4>Chapter 7</h4>

    With riding the subway and then transferring to a bus, it took me one and a half hours to get to the dorm. Since there were exams today, everyone had gotten up early. In our dorm room there was often someone who stays out the whole night. Except for me and Xiao Rui, everyone else was from Beijing. They often went home. Plus, Xiao Rui had rtives here, who often took her in for the night. Even though I didn¡¯t have rtives here, no one asked me about it. Everyone was used to me returning every night.

    ¡°It¡¯s so close to exams, yet you still had to worktest night?¡± Ning An An came over and asked me.

    ¡°After work, I went to see a movie overnight.¡±

    ¡°You nned it in advance, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m too tired, I want to rest a bit.¡±

    ¡°Can I sit next to you during the listening portion?¡± Ning An An quietly asked, ¡°My walkman broke, and I haven¡¯t been able to listen to tapes recently.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t me me if you don¡¯t pass.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go buy breakfast for you. That¡¯s right, we¡¯re having a party in the dorm tonight. The Ge Ges (older brothers) in 301 will all being.¡±

    It was another ¡°friends dorm¡± activity.

    ¡°Do we need to buy anything? Should put in some money?¡± I didn¡¯t have work tonight so hastily joined in on the social activities.

    ¡°You weren¡¯t herest night. We¡¯ve already collected enough money. The dorm has also been cleaned. Feng Jing Er said to assign you to get the hot water.¡±

    ¡°Ok, ok.¡± I tried to fit in.

    ¡°Xiu Ge Ge came to look for you many times.¡±

    ¡°I was working at night.¡±

    ¡°It was in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t run into him.¡±

    ¡°He got hot water for you.¡±

    ¡°How can I ept that from him.¡± I then remembered I had already washed my face.

    ¡°He asked if you didn¡¯t have time to get hot water at night.¡±

    ¡°I already get it in the morning.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a Ge Ge. Ge Ge needs to take care of Mei Meis (younger sisters).¡± Ning An An finished.

    ¡°Since when have you be a matchmaker?¡±

    ¡°I was bribed.¡±

    ¡°How were you bribed?¡±

    ¡°He treated me to a meal.¡±

    ¡°It was that easy? I¡¯ll treat you to two. Don¡¯t be a go-between for us anymore.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t slept for a whole night and didn¡¯t have much energy. The entire day of exams went surprisingly smooth. It was just that every time I blinked, I would see Li Chuan standing by the refrigerator all alone, bending down like a gymnast to get milk. Even after many years, every time I thought of Li Chuan, the first image that shed in my mind was this. Then, my heart would feel as if it was being pinched by an invisible hand. I would be unable to breath from being sick at heart. After I finished myst exam, I went to the water room to get two pitchers of water and slowly walked back. I hadn¡¯t reached the dorm yet before seeing Ning An An flying towards me.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a beautiful male looking for you. My god, how can he be that handsome?¡± She made an exaggerated posture. ¡°You must ask him toe up to the dorm room to sit for awhile and let us carefully savor him, ok?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s really looking for me?¡± Li Chuan won¡¯t have such free time. But I still hurried my step.

    ¡°Feng Jing Er, the others, and the Ge Ges are all surrounding him. Can you please tell him that it¡¯s the designated time to get hot water. If he continues standing outside the female dorm, something bad might happen. Three girls with hot water pitchers have already crashed into others due to staring at him¡­¡±

    Iughed, thinking she was kidding. When I got to the dorm, I saw that the ground was glistening. Several pitchers had indeed been spilled. I saw the guard sweeping up the mess with a broom while swearing.

    The person standing by the door in a white cored shirt and jeans was indeed Li Chuan.

    ¡°Hi.¡± He greeted me through the crowd.

    ¡°Hi.¡±

    He walked over and took the pitchers from me. ¡°Done with exams?¡±

    ¡°Done with exams.¡±

    ¡°Did you do well?¡±

    ¡°It was ok.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, please invited ssmate Wang up for a drink of tea.¡± Xiao Rui gave me a look.

    It had been just a few minutes, yet they already knew his name. Xiao Rui was infatuated, almost like a rapist.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± I was worried about him going up the stairs. Plus he was carrying two pitchers. ¡°We¡¯re going to the dining hall.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t go to the dining hall. There¡¯s a party at night. Food has already been prepared.¡± Feng Jing Er said kindly. She was always neither cold nor warm to me, and I could never make sense of it.

    ¡°ssmate Wang, give us some face.¡± Wei Hai Xia was pulling out all methods.

    This crowd wouldn¡¯t give up even if they finally kidnapped Li Chuan upstairs. The stairs in the female dorm were even steeper than those of the movie theater. I let everyone else go up first and then apanied Li Chuan up the stairs one by one, alone.

    He insisted on carrying my water for me the whole way, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you wake me up in the morning?¡±

    ¡°It was too early, you need to sleep more.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t leave stealthily like that again.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°What if you went missing?¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, ¡± I looked at him, ¡°remember, even if I was to disappear, it has nothing to do with you. ¡ª You have no responsibilities towards me.¡±

    He originally was continuously walking, but when he heard this, he suddenly stopped. Then he put down the thermos bottle, turned around and headed down.

    ¡°Hey! Wait!¡± I quickly chased after.

    He ignored me, continuing his decent.

    I blocked his path, ¡°You know that I was speaking the truth.¡±

    He looked at me coldly and silently for a moment, ¡°You don¡¯t know anything about this city. And you don¡¯t know anything about me.¡±

    ¡°So what? This is just a city, you are just a person.¡±

    ¡°Then why were you willing to go with me yesterday?¡±

    ¡°Because you wouldn¡¯t hurt me.¡±

    ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s only dangerous in the city? Let me ask you, between the city and the country side, which one is closer to the wild beasts? Us countryfolk have more of an intuition to be wary of danger.¡±

    He was just about to make an argument when half of Xiao Rui¡¯s face appeared through the staircases above. ¡°Hey, howe you still aren¡¯t up here yet? Someone already carried up your pitchers. Wang Ge Ge, hurry.¡±

    Li Chuan furrowed his eyebrows, ¡°Wang Ge Ge?¡±

    ¡°We call everyone Ge Ge here. Come,e sit for awhile. There¡¯s a party in our dorm tonight. Just eat a little, don¡¯t eat too much. Then go to the dining hall and I¡¯ll treat you to a big meal.¡±

    He reached over and grabbed me.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked. His hand was cold, like the winter weather.

    ¡°You¡¯re blocking someone.¡± Apparently, someone wasing up the stairs. Then, there was a crash, the girling upstairs shrieked.

    It was another pitcher.

    He continued to upstairs, still going one step at a time. It looked exhausting and I couldn¡¯t bear to watch. ¡°It¡¯s too bad there¡¯s no elevator here.¡±

    ¡°Otherwise it would be more convenient for you guys to carry water up.¡± He said.

    I thought of something else and asked, ¡°You live so high up, what if the electricity in the high rise goes out.¡±

    ¡°Light candles.¡±

    ¡°What if there was a fire rm?¡±

    ¡°Stay in the house withouting out.¡±

    ¡°What if there was really a fire?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a real fire.¡±

    The dorm room was filled with people. Everyone fought to give him the best ce to sit.

    ¡°We never knew Xiao Qiu had a friend. No wonder shees back sote every night.¡± Xiao Rui poured him some tea.

    ¡°We are only acquaintances.¡± Li Chuan and I said in unison.

    ¡°Hey, Wang Ge Ge, where did you buy your jeans? What brand is it? It¡¯s so stylish.¡± Ning An An asked.

    ¡°Yeah, what brand is it? I know all the brands you can get in Beijing. This must have been purchased abroad.¡± Xiao Rui said, ¡°Levi jeans don¡¯t have these pocket borders. Your cored shirt is also really nice looking. Pairing with a blue tie would make it even better.¡±

    Li Chuan looked at me with pleading eyes. I silently let him suffer.

    ¡°What department are you, Xiao Wang?¡± Xiu Yue asked. (Here, adding Xiao in front of the name is like changing his name to a nickname. The same happens with names such as Xiao Ye from the caf¨¦.)

    ¡°I am not a student. I¡¯m already working.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re already working?¡± Xiao Rui studied his face and shook her head. ¡°No, no, you look like a graduate student.¡±

    ¡°Which field are you in Mr. Wang?¡± Xiu Yue asked again.

    ¡°Building construction.¡± (I¡¯ve been just tranting this as architecture, but since they ask for rification here, I went with a direct trantion.)

    ¡°Is it civil engineering or interior design?¡±

    ¡°Architecture.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you are a building architect?¡± Xiao Rui said. She looked very excited today. I didn¡¯t know why.

    ¡°You can consider it that.¡±

    ¡°My brother is also. He¡¯s at Tongji University.¡±

    He said, ¡°I changed my profession.¡±

    ¡°Changed your profession? The what did you do before?¡±

    ¡°At university, I was in economics.¡±

    Feng Jing Er¡¯s eyes brightened,¡±Economics? Lu Jie is also in the Economics Department. Lu Jie,e here, someone¡¯s the same field as you.¡±

    Lu Jie had been sitting to the side, silently drinking coffee. He had always been the center of all the girls¡¯ attentions, one who was loved by the masses. After seeing today¡¯s situation, he looked listless, ¡°Really? The Economics Department at our school is just so-so. My dad used to be at Fudan University, now he¡¯s at Renmin university. Mr. Wang, which university did you attend?¡±

    ¡°University of Chicago.¡±

    Lu Jie took a deep breath and his eyes filled with suspicion, ¡°University of Chicago? From what I know, the Economics Department at the University of Chicago is the best in the world.¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t really be considered the best.¡± Li Chuan said, ¡°MIT and Harvard¡¯s are all pretty good. Yale and Princeton¡¯s are also alright. Doesn¡¯t Ennd also have a London Economics University?¡±

    ¡°My dad visited the University of Chicago before and met Professor Becker. Which year was it that he got the Nobel Prize in economics?¡±

    ¡°That¡­I don¡¯t quite remember.¡± Li Chuan thought about it for a bit, ¡°Ny-three? No, Fogel was ny-three. Becker was ny-two.¡±

    ¡°Economics at the University of Chicago must be the best.¡±

    Li Chuan smiled but didn¡¯t reply.

    Feng Jing Er took the opportunity to ask, ¡°Then Mr. Wang, how did you apply to get in? Did you also take the GRE?¡±

    ¡°GRE is certainly very important.¡±

    ¡°Economics at the University of Chicago has such a great future, Mr. Wang, why did you change professions?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­personal reasons.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wang, do you have an email that¡¯s convenient to contact you at? In the future, if Lu Jie has questions about applying for graduate school, can he ask you for guidance?¡± Feng Jing Er persisted and handed over a pen.

    ¡°Of course.¡± He took the pen and wrote down an email address.

    ¡°Wang Ge Ge, you don¡¯t have a business card?¡± Xiao Rui stuck out her head from the top bunk.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t use business cards.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wang, you must still have a lot of acquaintances at the University of Chicago, right?¡± Feng Jing Er indicated for him to eat peanuts. Seeing him shake his head, she then gave him a peeled tangerine.

    ¡°I can¡¯t really say acquaintances¡­I was merely a student.¡±

    ¡°I heard that to apply for graduate school, the academic advisor is most important, is that correct?¡±

    ¡°It is quite crucial¡­it¡¯s also based on grades and letter of rmendation.¡± He knew how to protect himself, so his answers were very short. ¡°Wife¡± Feng Jing Er consulted with him for around an hour. I didn¡¯t interrupt at all.

    Xiu Yue seized the opportunity to talk to me, inquiring about what my hometown was like.

    ¡°Does it rain a lot in Yunnan?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Do you guys eat mushrooms everyday?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Then what do you guys eat the most?¡±

    ¡°Rice noodles.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, speaking of Crossing the Bridge Noodles. Yesterday, I was just looking it up online. There are several Yunnan restaurants that are quite good in Beijing. The one closest to us is¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t continue speaking, because I waspletely inattentive.

    At this time, Ning An An, who had been silent the whole time, interrupted and said, ¡°That¡¯s right, Xiao Qiu, tell us how you and Wang Ge Ge met?¡±

    Feng Jing Er gave an annoyed nce at her. An An¡¯s voice was too loud and cut into the conversation she was having with Li Chuan.

    ¡°He frequents the caf¨¦.¡± I said.

    ¡°Just that? That¡¯s not romantic at all. Give us some more material!¡±

    We are only ¡ª so-so acquaintances.¡± My entire face was red.

    How to exin, indeed, generally speaking, if it wasn¡¯t a boyfriend then he wouldn¡¯t be easily admitted into the female dormitory.

    Li Chuan tactfully stood up, ¡°Thank you for everyone¡¯s kindness, I still have some matters to attend to. I¡¯ll take my leave, you guys enjoy yourselves.¡±

    Ning An An called out, ¡°Wang Ge Ge,e often! We have a dance party every week.¡± After she said that, she remembered that he couldn¡¯t walk conveniently and perhaps couldn¡¯t dance, she hurriedly added, ¡°Sorry, that wasn¡¯t on purpose.¡±

    I walked Lu Chuan down. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, I asked him, ¡°Do you really have things to attend to? Come eat dinner in the dinning hall before you leave, ok? I have to treat you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything. I just didn¡¯t want to have everything pried out while sitting there. Is the dinning hall far? Do I need to drive?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just in front. The first floor is the student dinning hall, second floor is a restaurant. Everyone says their dishes are tasty. I have never gone to the second floor.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go to the second floor.¡±

    We got to the second floor and found a seat by the window. The waitress came and handed over menus. Her eyes were concentrated on Li Chuan, ¡°What would the two of you like to drink?¡±

    ¡°What do you want to drink?¡± He asked me.

    ¡°Coke.¡±

    ¡°One cup of coke, one cup of mineral water.¡±

    ¡°What dish would you like to order? Male ssmate?¡± The waitress said in an intimate tone with her eyes focused on Li Chuan as if he were the only customer.

    ¡°What do you want to eat?¡± Li Chuan looked at me.

    I swept a nce at the menu and made made a quick decision, ¡°Chili chicken, stir-fry cucumber.¡±

    The waitress took it down and then looked at him again, ¡°Male ssmate, what about you?¡±

    ¡°Celery with lilies.¡±

    ¡°Is that it?¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, do you want anymore?¡±

    I red at him, ¡°Are you normally a vegetarian or do you want to save me money? With a dish like celery with lilies, I might as well cook it for you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t normally eat much meat, it¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Do you eat fish?¡± At the caf¨¦, he would always eat tuna sandwiches.

    ¡°I quite like to eat fish.¡±

    ¡°Then I want a steamed bass.¡± This meal was to thank him, there had to be good dishes.

    ¡°Bass varies in price depending on weight.¡±

    ¡°Then bring a medium sized one. And two bowls of rice.¡±

    ¡°A small one is enough,¡± Li Chuan added.

    ¡°Okay.¡± I sighed.

    It was still early for dinner, there weren¡¯t many people in the restaurant. The dishes were brought out quickly.

    I took a sip of the coke and started to eat the chicken.

    ¡°When I was leaving this morning, I met your friend.¡± I said.

    ¡°My friend?¡±

    ¡°He said he was called Ji Huan.¡±

    ¡°Oh. He lives on the forty-second floor. I kept running into him in the swimming pool. And after that we became acquainted with each other.¡±

    ¡°Do you like to swim?¡±

    ¡°I quite like it.¡±

    ¡°I like it too. I was even the four hundred meter freestyle champion of the county¡¯s youth sportspetition. My house is by the river. In the summer, I swam every day. It¡¯s too bad the school swimming pool is only open in the summer. I can only switch to running every day.¡±

    ¡°No wonder you look like you have so much energy. Youplexion is always rosy.¡± He gazed at my face.

    ¡°All kids from the country side are like this. Eat, why aren¡¯t you eating? Eat more.¡±

    He was eating, except he only moved his chopsticks every once in awhile.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will finish eating my share.¡± He still continued to eat slowly. He chewed very slowly as if he had problems with digestion.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stop speaking so that you don¡¯t have to keep answering and not eating.¡±

    After awhile, I saw that he was still eating slowly and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t force your stomach. If you can¡¯t finish, I can take it to go as my lunch for tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Is there a refrigerator in the dorm room?¡±

    ¡°No. It won¡¯t go bad overnight.¡±

    ¡°It will definitely go bad overnight.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll put it on the window sill where it¡¯s cool. The temperature at night is quite low. It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not salted fish.¡±

    He ate a little while longer. I helped him eat and finally finished the celery with lilies. And then we ate the fish together.

    ¡°The fish tastes good.¡± He started to speed up, ¡°What are you doing tonight? Dancing?¡±

    ¡°Not dancing.¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like group activities. Even though I always try to fit in, I would rather read a book alone under my covers while listening to music and eating snacks.¡±

    ¡°Or go watch a movie by yourself.¡± He added.

    ¡°Correct.¡±

    ¡°The mosquito with two white pieces of paper stuck on it is your bed?¡±

    ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°All the other beds had the characteristics of city girls.¡± He said.

    ¡°What characteristics?¡±

    ¡°There was at least one doll by the headboard.¡±

    I thought it was funny, ¡°Howe I never noticed this?¡±

    ¡°What do you have written on the pieces of paper?¡± He asked.

    ¡°It is impossible to have the yang without the yin. Bepletely content with one¡¯s lot,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s from the ¡®Book of Changes.¡¯ My dad was anguage teacher.¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡­¡± He praised me, ¡°You are quite schrly.¡±

    ¡°What do you call ¡®Book of Changes¡¯ in English?¡±

    ¡°¡®Book of Changes¡®, some people also call it I-Ching.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of Book of Changes, can you do fortune telling?¡± He asked.

    ¡°No,nguages cannot be used to tell fortunes. Martial arts cannot be used to buy rice.¡± I used the chopsticks to poke at the fish head and decide that that part could be eaten.

    He smiled, a silent slow smile, ¡°Then, Xiao Qiu, are you willing toe to my ce to swim tonight?¡±

    ¡°If you finish eating this fish, I¡¯ll go.¡±

    He methodically cleaned up the bass, leaving behind a messy pile of bones that were so clean, they could be used as specimens.

    The waitress came over with the bill. I took out my purse. With quick reflexes, he had handed over two one-hundred yuan bills, ¡°Thank you, keep the change.¡±

    ¡°Hey, who let you pay?¡± I shouted.

    ¡°You are a student. One who¡¯s working part time.¡±

    ¡°I said I would be treating today! Waitress, please return the money to him!¡±

    He retrained my hand, ¡°In the future, when we eat together, I will always pay. Let¡¯s make it a rule, clear?¡±

    I opened my mouth to refute it, but was stopped by his gaze.

    ¡°I won¡¯t argue about it with you today.¡± I said, secretly happy on the inside. So there would be more opportunities to eat together in the future.

    He dropped me off at the staircase of the dormitory and waited for me to get my swimsuit. The party in the room was at it¡¯s height. I quickly went to greet Ning An An. Feng Jing Er came over to ask in a low voice, ¡°Are youing to the dance tonight? We are all going. The men bought tickets. If you don¡¯t go, Xiu Yue will be alone.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m busy.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s ssmate Wang? He didn¡¯t apany you here?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s noting¡­it can¡¯t be said that we¡¯re friends. We are only acquaintances is all.¡± I tried to correct it again.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to say something, don¡¯t feel bad about it. When you are broken-heartedter on, don¡¯t me me for not warning you.¡± She said in a light tone, ¡°Don¡¯t fall too deeply. The two of you, cannot work.¡±

    I didn¡¯t ask her why. I took my backpack and headed down the stairs.

    Li Chuan was still waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. We walked ahead together. Someone had thrown a tangerine peel on the ground, I nearly slipped, but was caught by him just in time, ¡°Be careful.¡±

    ¡°I never look at the ground when I¡¯m walking.¡± I said.

    ¡°I actually constantly look at the ground. I¡¯ll help you look.¡± He said, ¡°But, you have to to hold my hand the entire time for that to work.¡±

    After he said this, he held onto my hand as if it was only to be expected of him. As if, he had to constantly look after me to prevent me from falling down.

    ¡°Today I found a closer parking spot, no need to walk to the school gates.¡± He pointed to a small red building nearby.

    I looked at him, struck dumb.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°You parked your car there?¡±

    ¡°Mmm. Is that wrong? The parking lot there is big and empty.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re dead. That¡¯s the presidents¡¯ office. All three presidents¡¯ cars are parked over there.¡± I said. ¡°You keep walking slowly, I¡¯ll go over to investigate and see if your car has been towed.¡±

    ¡°You go, I¡¯ll rest here for a bit.¡±

    The school was designed like a park, there were benches everywhere. He found a wooden bench and sat down, he face was a bit pale.

    He had had an amputation, walking so far with an artificial limb must have been exhausting. I didn¡¯t leave him. I sat down with him and took out a bottle of water from my bag, ¡°Do you want a drink?¡±

    He shook his head.

    After sitting for moment, he stood up again to continue. At that very moment, I saw a ck Mercedes-Benz speeding over. When we got to the parking lot, the Benz had already sped into the parking lot. I saw Li Chuan¡¯s car and then wrung his hand.

    ¡°What is it now?¡±

    ¡°ssmate Li Chuan, couldn¡¯t you find a better ce for you car? The spot you parked in is the president¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°That spot should be a handicap spot.¡± He said.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the United States, ssmate.¡±

    That Benz stopped in front of us as if it was waiting for us to drive the car away and leave the spot.

    I quietly said, ¡°Li Chuan, get in the car. Let¡¯s leave quickly.¡±

    It was toote. The car door opened, an elderly gray-haired man got out. He had a briefcase in his hands.

    ¡°He is President Liu.¡± My hand was trembling.

    ¡°He is a president, not a ghost. What are you afraid of?¡± Li Chuan held onto my hands and smiled towards the elderly man, ¡°Hello, President Liu!¡±

    I was speechless.

    ¡°Hello, you are ¨C¡±

    ¡°Wang Li Chuan. This is my younger cousin, Xie Xiao Qiu. First year student.¡±

    With a reddened face, I said, ¡°Hello, President Liu.¡±

    ¡°Student, were you looking for me for something?¡± President Liu politely shook Li Chuan¡¯s hand and then shook my hand.

    I remained silent, pinching Li Chuan¡¯s palm at the same time.

    ¡°It¡¯s just this. Xiao Qiu is new here and hasn¡¯tpletely adjusted to the life here. She feels that there are still things to be desired with the facilities at our school. She wanted to put forth a proposal to you.¡± Li Chuan spoke with frank assurance, paying no attention to me.

    Li Chuan, old chap, you are throwing me into a pit of fire like this.

    ¡°Oh, we hold the opinions of lower year students with great regard at this school. Thank you, student. Are you willing to discuss this with me in my office?¡±

    ¡°That¡­she¡¯s a bit nervous. Why don¡¯t you just chat here? ssmate Xie, you and the president chat. I will go and back out the car. Sorry, President Liu, I was only temporarily parking there.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about backing out. There are plenty of parking spots here. My driver will find a ce to park the car.¡± The president held himself with such elegance the whole time.

    My heart was beating three times fast and stammered out, ¡°President, I think that the period for getting hot water for the girl dormitory¡­is too short. The water onlyes three times a day, it¡¯s not enough to use. I heard the school does this in order to save water.¡±

    ¡°We are in the process of talking about this problem. I believe there will be a new decision next month.¡±

    ¡°I came here for school from a remote region. The school¡¯s dining hall has such high standards that the price is too high. We can¡¯t afford it.¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡± The president said, ¡°Your older cousin seems to be very well-off. Let him subsidize you a bit so that you can study harder and strive for a schrship.¡±

    ¡°In order to pay for our daily expenses, those of us with difficulty have to work part-time jobs. We don¡¯t have time to study, so we can¡¯t get schrships. I believe¡­I believe¡­that the schools schrship system has a problem.¡± I was going for broke, damn it!

    ¡°The system has a problem?¡± The president narrowed his eyes.

    ¡°The schrships should be split into two categories. One type should be financial aid, to help those students with hardships to study. The other type should be schrships. It should all be based onpetition, using scores to determine ranking.¡±

    ¡°The school has always had financial aid for students in hardships. Did you never apply for them?¡±

    ¡°My father is a vige teacher, his ie is very low. He was a university student in Shanghai. When he was young, he responded to the (Communist) Partyappeal, gave up his city life, and volunteered to help with development in Yunnan. Yet, his child is all grown up now and hase to Beijing study, but she still needs to work part-time in order to struggle to earn a living. Don¡¯t you think this is a bit unfair?¡± As I spoke, I became more and more filled with conviction.

    ¡°Student, which department are you from?¡± The president asked.

    ¡°English Department.¡±

    ¡°Then use English to write a proposal. Write it and we still hold a meeting to discuss it. I will notify you of the discussion results.¡± The president¡¯s face held a smile the entire time, ¡°I still have a meeting, I will take my leave.¡±

    The president walked away. Li Chuan stood by the car door with arms crossed lightlyughing at me.

    I gritted my teeth in rage, ¡°Wang Li Chuan, we¡¯ll see how I get back at you!¡±

    ¡°Look, didn¡¯t you speak very well? This is called a seedling. Give it a little sunlight and it will germinate.¡± He continued to make fun of me.

    ¡°That proposal, I won¡¯t write it.¡±

    ¡°You should write it, I¡¯ll help you correct it. I will only correct the wording, you fix your own grammar mistakes.¡±

    ¡°You can write them?¡±

    ¡°I frequently write them. In the architecture business, we have to write a tender document every time we make a bid. The format is about the same.¡±

    ¡°I think that Chinese isn¡¯t your nativenguage.¡± I took a blow at him.

    ¡°Is my Chinese not good?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it. You don¡¯t know how to use chopsticks.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean I don¡¯t know how to use chopsticks? I frequently eat sushi overseas, and always use chopsticks for it.¡±

    ¡°asionally using it and using it all year round have their distinguishing qualities.¡±

    ¡°What distinguishing quality?¡±

    ¡°This distinctione from when you eat fish. You can¡¯t just cut it into two halves with your chopsticks as soon as it¡¯s served. You ought to finish eating one side and then flip it over to eat the other side.¡±

    ¡°Good thing I never eat a whole fish at banquets. I only eat fish pieces since it¡¯s annoying. Next time you teach me.¡±

    ¡°Only if you treat.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

 Chapter 8

    <h4>Chapter 8</h4>

    We returned to Long Ze Hua Yuan. Having left in a hurry in the morning, I didn¡¯t take a careful look at this high-rise. It¡¯s shape really did shadow everything else surrounding it. It rose above all the other ethnically styled buildings. It was like a peacock with its tail spread open, yet also like a lotus in full bloom. Such splendid imagination. Was it really a product of his?

    The inside of the high-rise was a splendid sight. There was a crystal chandelier, murals, and fountains surrounded on all sides by palm trees. Every person walking through was dressed immactely. Several young housewives, dressed in fashionable clothing were idly chatting on the couch is in the lobby while holding puppies dressed in colorful clothing with butterfly bows. There were dazzling jewelry, dazzling nts, dazzling luxury everywhere.

    I saw the security guard from this morning again, he was still looking at me with an expression that was a smile yet not a smile. Li Chuan says the structure of the high-rise wasplicated, he had to hold onto my hand to prevent me from getting lost. When the security guard saw Li Chuan he quickly came over and said in a respectful and ttering manner, ¡°Mr. Wang.¡±

    Li Chuan stopped, waiting for him to speak.

    ¡°Your assistant, Mr. Su, came to look for you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I turned off my cell phone.¡± He picked up his phone and said to me, ¡°Sorry, I need to make a phone call. Is that alright?¡±

    So polite. I promptly said,¡± please.¡±

    Not wanting to disturb his conversation, I nned to walk away. He held on to me.

    ¡ª It¡¯s me, Li Chuan.

    ¡ª I still have twost drawings. Isn¡¯t the deadline on the fifteenth of next month?

    ¡ª Moved up? What do you mean moved up? A deadline is a deadline, it can¡¯t be moved up. Unless if they pay more money.

    ¡ª Pay how much more? I don¡¯t know. I need the budgetmittee to calcte it. Forget it, tell me tomorrow.

    ¡ª There¡¯s a meeting tonight? Since when? Oh¡­right, reurring meeting. I forgot.

    He looked at his watch.

    ¡ª Is everyone here?

    ¡ª Please ask them to go back. I¡¯m not feeling well and can¡¯t make it.

    He hung up and was just about to put the cell phone back in his pocket before it rang again.

    He looked at the ID and answered.

    ¡ª Ge. (Older brother)

    ¡ª Very good.

    ¡ª It¡¯s nothing.

    ¡ª I can¡¯t arrange it. Wait two more months. Where will you be in February?

    ¡ª I might be able to go to Zurich. I¡¯ll let my secretary notify you of my itinerary.

    ¡ª Already received it, thanks.

    ¡ª I am sleeping. Haven¡¯t gotten out of bed yet. Stayed up allst night.

    ¡ª Bye.

    The conversation took thirty seconds. He turned hung up and looked at me in apology.

    ¡°Are you always this busy?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s not every day.¡± He said, ¡°Right now we can go swimming.¡±

    We went up together and changed into swimsuits. He wore a pair of ck swimming trunk, exposing his taut abs and muscr chest. We each put on a bathrobe and rode the elevator to the third floor.

    The swimming pool had two levels. The third level had only one pool. There was not a soul in sight. I leaned over to look down, the second floor pool wasrger with an additional smaller y pool for kids. But there were also less than ten people in the pool.

    ¡°Waste of resource.¡± I said, ¡°There are so few people swimming here.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you know how to swim, and won¡¯t drown?¡± He asked seeing me casually standing at the side of the pool barefooted.

    ¡°I won¡¯t drown.¡±

    ¡°You know, I know someone who also said he could swim, but then, the second after he jumped in infront of me, he started crying for help.¡± He looked at me. ¡°I had to jump in and drag him up.¡±

    ¡°If you cry for help after jumping in, I will also save you.¡± I raised my head provoking him.

    ¡°So you mean I canpletely trust that you can move about in the water and don¡¯t have to apany you everywhere.¡±

    ¡°You can trust me a hundred and twenty percent.¡±

    ¡°Champion of the four-hundred meter freestyle county sportspetition,¡± he threw down his bathrobe, ¡°let us have apetition. How about it?

    ¡°Okay.¡± I took his crutches and put them by the pool.

    ¡°South Pond High School,¡± he pointed to the white characters on my swimsuit. ¡°Was that your school?¡±

    ¡°Yes, what about it? The name sounds nice right? Our high school had a main street outside the gates, called West Gate Street. South Pond, West Gate, such antique, romantic names!¡± (South Pond and West Gate are normally part of hero names you would see in ancient novels.)

    ¡°Sometime when you go back home, I¡¯ll go with you to check out your high school.¡± He blurted out. Sometimes the things this guy says are as foolish as a first grader.

    I stood infront of him and stroked the back of his head, ¡°That¡¯s enough, ssmate Li Chuan. If you want to be nostalgic, find your own hometown. Don¡¯t try to borrow them from Yunnan.¡±

    ¡°That male student said that people of Yunnan like eating Crossing the Bridge Noodles?¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡±

    ¡°What is Crossing the Bridge Noodles?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a county called Mengzi in Yunnan where the United Nations General Assembly used to be in the southwest. Folklore says that there was a schr who was going to take the imperial exam isted himself on an ind to study. His wife was afraid that he would be eating cold meals, so she invented this kind of warm rice noodle soup. Every time she would bring it to him, she always had to cross over a small bridge. After he passed the imperial exam, he would say that it was due to the rice noodles and henceforth named it Crossing the Bridge Noodles.¡± (For a better exnation, see the.)

    ¡°After we finish swimming, let¡¯s go eat Crossing the Bridge Noodles, okay? There must be some in Beijing, right?¡±

    ¡°Yunnan restaurants should all have it. I just don¡¯t know where they are.¡± I really missed rice noodles too.

    ¡°That¡¯s easy, I¡¯ll search online and find one in a second.¡± He said, ¡°I¡¯m tired of standing, time to jump in.¡±

    We jumped into the water together.

    I charged forward, swimming at lightning speed. But I could still sense him by my side. He continued to stick by me. I tried and tried but could not overtake him. At thest thirty meters, he disappeared. When I got to the finish and raised my head, I found him sitting on the edge of the poolughing at me.

    ¡°I ate too much today, my body is heavy and can¡¯t swim fast. You barely ate anything during dinner tonight. It was all me helping you eat.¡± I quibbled.

    ¡°Can¡¯t ept it, right?¡± He pulled me up.

    ¡°Can¡¯t ept it.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go for another four hundred meters?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    We jumped into the water at the same time. Once again, he quickly left me behind, leading the entire time. At the end, I dashed forward and bumped my head into the palm of his hand.

    ¡°Oh!¡± I cried out.

    ¡°It¡¯s not an official race, there¡¯s no need to swim so fiercely.¡± He was going to pull me up from the water, ¡°If I didn¡¯t block you, you would have bumped into the wall.¡±

    I pulled him into the water, ¡°No, let¡¯s go again.¡±

    ¡°Not again, if we go again, you¡¯ll still lose.¡± He said, ¡°Miss, it¡¯s time to face the truth.¡±

    ¡°No way.¡±

    ¡°How about you get a ten meter head start and I¡¯ll follow you?

    ¡°You want to humiliate me?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t dare.¡±

    We started at the same time. He was still in the lead the whole time, still faster than me by several seconds.

    At the finish, he pulled me up. He looked tranquilly at me as I sat on pool side panting, ¡°Do you want a drink?¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°There¡¯s a deck chair over there, if you are really that tired, you can go lie down and rest.¡± He pointed to a row of tanning chairs across the pool.

    ¡°Strange, howe no one else is swimming today?¡± I looked all around.

    ¡°Everyone is on the floor below.¡± There was no need to say it. He designed this high-rise and had special ess to certain parts of the building.

    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± I said.

    ¡°What¡¯s great?¡±

    ¡°I can use this opportunity to punish you. Who asked you to get me to make a fool of myself infront of the president?¡± I jumped up, pulled him into the water, and pinched his back.

    ¡°Ow, ow,¡± he was hurting, ¡°wasn¡¯t I just pushing for a schrship for you?¡±

    ¡°Stop it! Stop it!¡± I pinched his neck without exnation.

    He caught me, fastening both of my hands together. I kicked at his leg in the water, ¡°Let me go!¡±

    Instead, he fasten my arms even tighter, not letting me move. Then, he suddenly started kissing me. Starting from the forehead, going inch by inch, purposely avoiding my mouth. He kissed from my ears all the way to my chest, until my entire face was scarlet. He then came back and gazed at my face.

    ¡°Did I scare you?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Can I kiss you?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    His lips were ice-cold. He breath was warm and fragrant. I looked at him, confused. He let go, cupped my face, and kissed with such force, as if he wanted to kiss even my soul.

    The most important moment of my life happened so quickly. My first kiss and my first time was unexpectedly on the same day, at the same time! The passion happened automatically. I was very willing and don¡¯t regret it a bit.

    ¡°Does it hurt a lot?¡±

    Even though Li Chuan was older than me, his expression looked as confused as me. He wasn¡¯t too skilled, he was even somewhat bashful. He was gentle and cautious through the whole process, afraid of hurting me. Afterwards, he held me tightly, not minding a bit that I ced my hand on the injured part of his lower body, gently caressing the thin scar upon his skin.

    I suspect, besides hospital nurses, Li Chuan had never been touched like this by someone else before. The water was warm, yet he shuddered as if he was cold. And I imagined how he turned into a shattered mess after the car ident, picked up by doctors and nurses and put into an operation room stuck with tubes all over.

    It must have been an awful car ident to leave such a dreadful injury on his lower body, taking away practically half of his bones.

    In an empty swimming pool, there was always a bit of an echo when words were spoken.

    We climbed out of the pool and put on our own bathrobes. My loin suddenly ached a little. I sat down by the edge while rubbing my loin.

    He looked at me with guilt. After a bit, he softly asked, ¡°Does it still hurt?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not bad.¡± Iughed calmly. I couldn¡¯t help but be intoxicated by his handsome face once again.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± He said, ¡°Next time I¡¯ll be more careful.¡±

    I sucked in a breath, ¡°Next time?¡±

    ¡°Do you need me to support you?¡± He had already stood up. Seeing that I was still rubbing my loin, he held out his hand to pull me up, worried that I wouldn¡¯t be able to walk.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± I picked up the crutches and handed them to him. Then I stood up and put my hand indistinctly onto his body.

    ¡°Take away your hand, you horny girl.¡±

    ¡°I am just supporting you.¡±

    We entered the elevator together, the doors closed, and he groaned, ¡°Let go.¡±

    ¡°What are you afraid of, this is a private elevator.¡± I said. And then, I stuck my face down and kissed the thin scar on his lower body. He grabbed onto my hair, wanting to pull me up, but not daring to use force so as not to hurt me.

    The elevator dinged and opened.

    We entered the t, facing each other in the entrance way. He tenderly kissed me, ¡°Does it still hurt?¡± From the beginning, it seemed like he only cared about this question.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt.¡± I liked how his hand stayed on my body. I liked snuggling close to his face, bathing in his scent. I liked to incite him and see him be tormented by lust.

    ¡°I need to go take a shower.¡± He said.

    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not going to shower?¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡­I don¡¯t quite like to shower.¡± In the winter, I would only take a shower once every three days. The public baths at school were too crowded.

    He pulled on my ear and led me to the bathroom, ¡°That won¡¯t do. You want to leave it as evidence don¡¯t you? Shower, you have to shower.¡±

    Aftering out of the shower, I found that he had already changed clothes. He was impably attired in a suit, and had even put on a wrist watch.

    I was still in my student wear, a wool sweater, a miniskirt and a backpack on my back with a string of keys hanging and clinking on it.

    He sized me up, ¡°Howe the more I look at you, the younger you look?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not young, I just matured early.¡±

    ¡°How old are you?¡±

    ¡°Seventeen.¡±

    ¡°I seduced an under-aged girl. I¡¯ve be a criminal of the country.¡±

    ¡°In order for the flower of the country to grow with health, you must often water it.¡±

    Just as I finished speaking, he pounced at me with swiftness. His artificial limb was still bound onto his waist. I helped him undo the strap, ¡°Did you need to tie it so tight? Just looking at it makes it seem like you can¡¯t breathe.¡±

    His body had a mixture of aloe vera and apricot scent.

    He was looking for the button on my skirt, nearly tearing it apart.

    ¡°Slow down, you¡¯re going to tear the skirt.¡± Iughed in annoyance.

    ¡°I¡¯llpensate you if I tear it.¡± He continued on. We tightly embraced each other on the couch, until we climaxed.

    In the end, he quietly gasped for breath. His eyes filled with gloom, ¡°Is today your safe period?¡±

    ¡°What safe period?¡±

    ¡°When did youst menstruate?¡±

    ¡°It just finished. This suit is probably several thousand yuan, right? It¡¯s been so messed up by me.¡± I stood up to pick up the mess.

    He rxed, ¡°What if something happened to you? Your dad would cut me to pieces.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid.¡± I repeated.

    ¡°You said this was your first time?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Then you¡­aren¡¯t afraid?¡±

    ¡°It depends on who it¡¯s with. With you, I¡¯m not afraid.¡± Might as well boast. Then I asked in reply, ¡°This can¡¯t be your first time, right? You look a lot older than me.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± He refused to answer.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would be this brave.¡± He sounded a bit embarrassed.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think about it that much, okay? It¡¯s just a man and a woman being together. Than¡¯s all. Hurry and get dressed, I¡¯m hungry. Let¡¯s go eat Crossing the Bridge Noodles.¡±

    ¡°Let me go take a shower first.¡±

    ¡°Another shower? You¡¯re really crazy.¡± I looked at him, speechless. This person had mysophobia.

 Chapter 9

    <h4>Chapter 9</h4>

    This was the first time I took a careful look at Li Chuan¡¯s living room. I found photo frames of all sizes hanging on the face of one wall. It was all photos having to do with building construction: ser field, theater, airport, gymnasium, museum, conste, government office building. The most were skyscrapers. There was also a few houses whose styles were odd beyond description and whose use could not be discerned.

    I recalled that he was an architect. What¡¯s the word for architect in English? I thought over the vocabry words I memorized.

    Architect.

    In actuality, my first thought of building construction was bricks, wheelbarrows, wood, limestone, and the sparks that would fly from the beams. Also, those bricyers, in my hometown, squatting on the side of the street, eating meals. My uncle was a bricyer. Nowadays, he has managed to get the chiefbor contractor position. He even helped build our house.

    I didn¡¯t want to look at architecture. I only wanted to look at him, his photos, his life. I looked around, searching the walls, the tables, the windows, the door, everywhere photos could be ced. I put the prosthetic leg back into the bedroom because he could only change clothes in the bedroom. The bedroom was spacious, just like the living room. Next to the window was a pure red couch. The floor was made of oak. Everything was spotless. Next to the bed was a small bookshelf with a pile of architectural magazines and a fewrge architecture picture albums. There were only two books that looked like they had been used often. They probably had nothing to do with architecture.

    I picked them up in passing to discover that the book was quite heavy. It had an old-fashioned book binding and pages like that of a dictionary, thin and white but wouldn¡¯t rip after years of use. The name of the book was:

    ¡°A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu¡±

    I heard his steps.

    ¡°Do you like this book?¡± He walked in front of me, asking.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know French.¡±

    ¡°What is your second foreignnguage?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t decided yet.¡±

    ¡°Do you have a goal?¡±

    ¡°Besides English and Chinese, what othernguages do you know?¡± I asked.

    ¡°French and German. I can only understand simple dialog in Japanese. ¡®Hajimemashite¡¯ and such.¡±

    ¡°I might choose Italian, or Arabic.¡±

    In short, not something that he would be familiar with to avoid being made fun of in the future.

    He looked at me, and slylyughed, understanding what I meant.

    ¡°The English name fo the book is ¡®Remembrance of Things Past.¡± You study literature. Should have heard of it before.¡±

    ¡°The Chinese name is ¡®Remembrance of Things Past¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Remembrance of Things Past? Mmm, the trantion is quite beautiful. On nights you can¡¯t fall asleep, let me read this book to you in French. After the first page, you¡¯ll want to sleep.¡± He chattered by my ear in a low and firm heavenly voice.

    ¡°Really?¡± I turned around and found him in his bathrobe with his head leaned over and breathe sweeping past my ears, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because the first page of the book is about a person lying in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.¡± He looked at me with a teasing smile, ¡°The first two sentences are:

    ¡°Longtepms, je me suis couch¨¦ de bonne heure. Parfois, ¨¤ peine ma bougie ¨¦teinte, mes yeux se fermaient si vite que je n¡¯avais pas le temps de me dire: ¡®Je m¡¯endors.¡¯¡±

    He recited for me in the beautiful and elegant French. It was as if he was sleep talking, causing me to be disappointed and frustrated, yet also stunned. Seeing my perplexed face, he tranted it into English,

    ¡°It says: I have long had the habit of going to bed early. Sometimes, when I had put out my candle, my eyes would close so quickly that I had not even time to say ¡®I¡¯m going to sleep.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, why don¡¯t you just trante it into Chinese¡­¡± His Chinese was also really good!

    ¡°I¡¯m not too good at Chinese¡­I can only read nine-hundred and fifty Chinese characters. My grandfather said that it was enough for me to just know those.¡±

    ¡°What? What?¡± I loudly said, ¡°The country¡¯s literature is wide-ranging and profound. How can nine-hundred and fifty characters be considered enough?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why, I don¡¯t dare trante it into Chinese. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯llugh at me.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯tugh at you. Promise.¡± I looked at him, ¡°We have always had low expectations for the level of Chinese of overseas Chinese people. Although, if you hadn¡¯t confessed, I really wouldn¡¯t have figured out that you were illiterate.¡±

    ¡°Illiterate?¡±

    ¡°Mmm, illiterate.¡±

    He promptly picked up my hand.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mess around with your hands. It¡¯s time to get changed. A little bit of privacy, please.¡±

    I tactfully left. After a bit, he came out, immactely dressed. His hair was moist, as if gelled.

    ¡°We can go now?¡± I asked.

    ¡°We can go now.¡± He saw the backpack on my back and said, ¡°Why are you carrying such a heavy bag? Let me help you hold it.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. This bag looks big, but it only contains clothing. You can try if you don¡¯t believe me.¡±

    He lightly smiled and didn¡¯t insist.

    ¡°Howe there are no photos of you here?¡± I suddenly asked. Li Chuan was so handsome that there couldn¡¯t ever be enough photos of him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like to take photos.¡± He said.

    ¡°But there are so many misceneous photos on the wall.¡± I pointed to the architecture photos. Of course each one was beautiful, but, when arranged together, it still felt disorderly.

    ¡°Misceneous?¡± He stared nked, never thinking I would use that word. He was forced to exin,¡±Architecture is a form of art, ssmate Xie.¡±

    I pointed to one of the frames. The building in the picture was familiar,¡±I heard Ji Huan said that this building was designed by you?¡±

    He nodded, ¡°Do you like it?

    ¡°I like it.¡± I gazed at him and said without batting an eye, ¡°However, I like your body and your face more.¡±

    ¡°My body is handicapped.¡± His eyes fixed on me.

    ¡°I like it even if it is handicapped.¡± I opened my eyes wide, innocently.

    His lips were very close to me. His body was still misty from having just taken a shower. I liked his scent. I stood on tiptoes, wanting to kiss him. He avoided me, ¡°I am also hungry, let¡¯s go quickly.¡±

    Li Chuan doesn¡¯t like to eat spicy food, missing out on a lot of delicious food. But he does like to eat Fried Rice Cakes and also Ants Climbing a Tree. We only ordered three dishes and quickly became full.

    Li Chuan said that he hadn¡¯t eaten with such satisfaction in a long time. He was too busy everyday and could only make do with tuna sandwiches.

    ¡°The strange part is,¡± he said, ¡°I also wouldn¡¯t feel hungry>¡±

    ¡°Why do you feel hungry today then?¡± I asked. Not counting the snacks we had in the dorm room, we had already eaten two meals this afternoon.

    ¡°I spent a lot more energy today.¡± He answered honestly.

    ¡°Me too. Because of the exams, I haven¡¯t slept well in a few days.¡± I pretended I didn¡¯t understand the implied meaning.

    ¡°What do you want to do after eating?¡±

    ¡°Go back to the dorm to rest.¡±

    He looked at me with somewhat of an reluctant expression, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll drop you off.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to drop me off. It¡¯s notte. I can ride the bus back myself.¡± If he drops me off, he¡¯ll definitely walk me to the dormitory. Walking such a long way requires him to use three times more energy than a normal person.

    ¡°I¡¯ll drop you off.¡± He said in an unquestionable tone while paying the bill and taking my backback.

    ¡°Then just send me to the school gates. It¡¯s still early, there¡¯s a campus bus that takes students directly to the dorms.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Then I would rather you park your car at the presidents¡¯ building.¡± I sighed.

    ¡°Good idea.¡±

    He parked the car at the presidents¡¯ building, and walked me to the dorm entrance, ¡°Does your dorm have a phone?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°This is my number.¡± He took out a pen and wrote the number on my palm.

    ¡°Goodbye.¡± I said.

    ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    Iid down once I got to the dorm room. The lower part of my body ached dully. I didn¡¯t want to take a shower. I would rather his scent stay on my body forever. I opened my walkman and was just about to switch to a Faye Wong tape when I saw Ning An An walk in.

    ¡°Heavens, you¡¯re back so early?¡±

    ¡°Mmm, I¡¯m tired.¡±

    ¡°Where did you go with prince charming?¡± She wanted gossip.

    ¡°Just walked around a bit.¡±

    ¡°Come on, Xiao Qiu. Be honest.¡± She poured me a cup of tea, moved a chair over, and sat below my bed, ¡°Everyone says you had the most capability. School has only been in session for two months and you don¡¯t even know your way around here, but you¡¯ve already wordlessly caught a rich husband.¡±

    An An was the only one I could ask for help in this dorm room. Even though I saw everyone else everyday, our friendship was still limited. Xiao Rui liked me, but she was particrly busy herself, upied with dating, and didn¡¯t take friendships with girls seriously.

    ¡°We¡¯re just acquaintances.¡± I said.

    ¡°His origins aren¡¯tmon.¡± Ning An An said with an experienced look.

    ¡°I¡¯m not really familiar with his origins.¡± This was actually true.

    ¡°Where is he from?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the difference between your age?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Who are his parents?¡±

    ¡°I dont¡¯ know.¡±

    Ning An An stared at me, ¡°Hey, howe you don¡¯t know anything? If this is called dating, you¡¯ve even started out wrong.¡±

    She must have watched too much Cantonese dramas. She was Beijingese, but spoke Cantonese ng in Mandarin.

    ¡°We¡¯re just strangers who came together by chance. There¡¯s nothing serious, there¡¯s no need to ask about his family background.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not from an average family. Just look at his manners. You can¡¯t instill such manners in even a few generations.¡±

    I agreed with that pointpletely.

    ¡°What else do you know about him?¡±

    ¡°He is an architect. Used to study economics. Graduated from University of Chicago.¡± I said, ¡°Even all this was gathered by you guys.¡±

    ¡°Of course we would ask the important questions. What is his ie?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh, ¡°I don¡¯t hand him his wages.¡±

    ¡°Has he treated you to a meal?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Which restaurant? What rating? This will say a lot. The seafood restaurants on East Street have appetizers that go for two-thousand yuan.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve gone to a Yunnan restaurant, all the dishes were inexpensive.¡±

    ¡°Have you gone online and googled him?¡±

    ¡°What is google?¡± Inte cafes were too expensive, I¡¯ve never gone.

    ¡°Using his name as the keyword wille with all the news regarding him. If you don¡¯t have time, I¡¯ll do it for you. Which three characters are his name? He must have already been attracted others¡¯ attention by having such a promising future, at such a young age, with such good looks.¡± She took out a pen to take note.

    ¡°Not telling you.¡±

    ¡°Where does he live? Where he lives can also say something.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, we only meet in the caf¨¦.¡± Just thinking about what I did at his t today made me not dare tell her the truth, to avoid her from continuing her questions.

    ¡°Does he have a car? What model is it? You must know that in Beijing, architects have high sries.¡±

    I covered my head with the nket, ¡°Please spare me, An An.¡±

    ¡°In order to know yourself, you must also know your enemy.¡±

    ¡°Last question.¡± She said, ¡°Why is does he have a limp?¡±

    ¡°Born with a disability.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t argue with nature, as long as it can function, that¡¯s enough.¡±

    ¡°An An, stop asking.¡± I lifted the covers, ¡°Let me sleep. I am really tired.¡±

    ¡°Wait,st question!¡± She pushed aside my covers, ¡°Has he asked for your number?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°Yay!¡±

    That night, for the entire night, I couldn¡¯t fall asleep. His scent and my passion, kept reappearing and shing in my mind.

    Li Chuan, I love you. But I don¡¯t want to understand you. The more I understand you, the farther I will be from you.

    Life returned back to normal. I went to ss in the morning and the caf¨¦ at night. When I saw Xiao Ye, I felt a somewhat guilty inside. I knew what was love and could understand her sorrow. I know how rude I was and could understand her anger.

    I said, ¡°Hi!¡± to her.

    She looked at me coldly and turned her body.

    Xiao Tong came over to greet me, ¡°Xiao Qiu,e speak over here.¡±

    I changed into work clothes and followed Xiao Tong into the side office.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, from today on, you only need to work until eight o¡¯clock at night. If you want to change to the morning or afternoon shift, I can tell the other managers.¡±

    I was a student and wouldn¡¯t be able toe for the morning or afternoon shifts. This meant that my ie would at least be halved.

    I guessed the reason, but still wouldn¡¯t give up and asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°By the wishes of the general manager.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Ye said something, right?¡±

    ¡°The boss wanted to you to leave. I had to fight for these three hours of work time for you. Miss, learn from your mistakes. Making a little still counts as a little. We don¡¯t look down on any money.¡±

    I knew Xiao Ye¡¯s intentions. Li Chuan now usually appeared in the caf¨¦ at nine o¡¯clock.

    I didn¡¯t say anything and continued working. At eight o¡¯clock, I punctually got off work.

    I got back to the dorm at eight thirty and saw the Ge Ges in 301 packed into the room.

    ¡°Oh, why are you back to early today?¡± Feng Jing Er said.

    ¡°Studyies and safety are important. I¡¯ll get off work early from now on.¡± I said, setting down my bag. I found that I still had my work clothes on and felt embarrassed to change in front of this group of males.

    ¡°Someone has already brought your hot water.¡± An An swept a nce at Xiu Yue.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I had originally warned against An An helping me get hot water. Who know she would quickly share the work with someone else.

    ¡°It¡¯s rare for you toe back so early,e dancing with us.¡± An An said, ¡°You¡¯ve let Xiu Yue go alone every time. That¡¯s not good.¡±

    ¡°Ok, I also want to rx a bit.¡± I said, ¡°I¡¯ll go change my clothes.¡±

    I went to the bathroom to change clothes. When I returned to the room, only Xiu Yue was left.

    ¡°They left first, I was waiting for you. Guys have to pay and girls are free, but they need a partner.¡±

    ¡°Wait for me a bit.¡± I put on makeup. Heavy makeup. Deep red lipstick, thick eyeliner, and dark blue eye shadow. I put my hair up, showing a bit of my neck, and then spayed some perfume on my neck.

    It was type of cheap perfume, the scent stung the nose a bit. An average person would get a headache after smelling it for more than ten minutes.

    ¡°Why like a panda?¡± Xiu Yue was a bit frightened.

    ¡°What about it, don¡¯t want to dance with me anymore?¡± I looked at him with distain. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he carried my hot water for me, I wouldn¡¯t even give him the time of day. Xiu Yue sprung up, with a great movement, threw me out and then pulled me back in, even stepping on my foot.

    ¡°I am Sichuanese, pandas are what I like.¡± He said, giving me a book.

    I saw it was Wim Maugham¡¯s ¡°The Moon and Sixpence¡±.

    ¡°Have you read it?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°I read the Chinese version. It¡¯s a great story. Actually we can form a reading club, meet regrly, and discuss the books that we like.¡± The impression I had of Xiu Ye was that he made the most of everything, always having a n. I looked at him. Among the Ge Ges in 301, his looks stood out, he studies were at the top, and his advisor was the president. He had a future. It was only because he studied philosophy and also came from the country side like me was he treated only as a friend by the girls in the dorm room. If they had a heavy lifting job to do, they would send him. They would often send him to get hot water. He was the easiest to talk to amongst the Ge Ges in 301, the easiest one to ept a task.

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about itter.¡±

    The school¡¯s dance hall was lousy. As I danced, I kept on thinking about my halved ie. What to do about the cost of living? What to do about my tuition? What to do about the tuition for my brother next year? What to do about my dad¡¯s hepatitis? My dad never let me worry about his health, but the medical treatment in the vige was limited. I sent medicine from Beijing home to him. One bottle costs seventy-five yuan. I never told him how much it cost, just said it was around five yuan a bottle.

    I finished dancing absentmindedly with skill. With head lowered, I feignedplete devotion to studying and took the chance to avoid the awkward conversations with Xiu Ge Ge. In the middle, we changed partners, and I danced with each Ge Ge at least once. Only Lu Jie made fun of me, ¡°Miss Xie, you are made up very unusually today.¡±

    ¡°Really, how unusual.¡±

    ¡°Your eyes and lips are drawn so darkly.¡±

    ¡°In the Tang dynasty, this is called ¡®Crying Makeup¡¯. Understand? It¡¯s a style, a retro style.¡±

    ¡°When can we go out to eat together? Feng Jing Er keeps saying that it¡¯s not easy for you in an unfamiliar ce.¡±

    ¡°Why did you think of to take me out to eat?¡±

    ¡°Your Wang Ge Ge sent an email today agreeing to help me fix my application for studying abroad.¡±

    ¡°You guys are still morepetent. I don¡¯t even know his email address.¡±

    ¡°How about the Nine Taste Pavilion on West Street at seven o¡¯clock this Saturday night? Invite Wang Ge Ge.¡±

    ¡°Invite him yourself if you want, I¡¯m noting.¡± I smiled. What a user.

    I danced with Xiu Yue and the others until the dance finished. We left and went to drink soy milk in front of the gates. Lu Jie, An An and the others wanted to go watch a film, leaving just me and Xiu Yue behind to slowly walk back. A light rain had just passed. The night wind was prickling with water. In the darkness of the night, I saw a figure in white standing far off in the distance next to the entrance of the dormitory.

    My heart skipped a beat.

    When we reached the entrance, the figure said, ¡°Hi.¡±

    ¡°Hi.¡±

    And then that figure shook hands with Xiu Yue, ¡°ssmate, what is your name?¡±

    ¡°Xiu Yue.¡±

    ¡°ssmate Xiu Yue, thank you for dancing with Xiao Qiu. Thank you for bringing her back.¡±

    There was an aggression between the two, but the stronger one won. Xiu Yue¡¯s face instantaneously paled and couldn¡¯t help but take a step back. He lifted his hand and looked at his watch, ¡°Xiao Qiu said she was tired and wanted to rest early.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will take care of her.¡± He said with a steady smile.

    And then my hand was gripped by that figure.

    ¡°Thiste, you guys¡­are still going out?¡± Xiu Yue said with a bit of a tremble in his voice.

    ¡°We¡¯re just going to walk on campus.¡± That figure smiled.

    Li Chuan¡¯s hands were always ice-cold as if he was a cold-blooded animal. We slowly walked through campus without a destination.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, I¡¯m sorry that I can¡¯t dance with you.¡± He said softly, ¡°But I want to see you happy.¡±

    I turned around and looked at him, ¡°Li Chuan, were you waiting outside for me this whole time?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t wait long.¡±

    The road got darker as we walked. There were no lights. It was as if we walked into a thicket. I lead Li Chuan through the thicket as if there was a wild animal pursuing us. He held my hand tightly, when he was unable to see the direction we were heading, he said, ¡°Xiao Qiu, we got lost didn¡¯t we?¡±

    In the middle of the thicket, there was a patch ofwn where the moonlight shinned upon. I found that I had found a fitting spot and stopped by a tree. He pulled me into a hug. My back leaned against the trunk of the tree with both legs tightly wrapped around his waist, kissing him from top to bottom. The branches shook and the droplets left from the rain came down dripping on my head and his face.

    He concentrated on kissing me, the tip of his nose massaging my cheek. His warm breathe among the ice-cold rain. The universe intertwined between our lips. I thought to myself, I had to remember this moment. Eleven forty-nine. Cream colored sweater. Blue patterned skirt. ck low-heeled leather shoes. Subject: ¡°Passion of the Thickets¡±, ¡°Campus Blossoming¡±. The weather was cold, our skin stuck together became somewhat warm. Li Chuan was wearing a white cored shirt without a jacket. The mud on the tree trunk smeared on my clothes. Li Chuan asked me if I had a handkerchief.

    Just at this time, I heard footsteps. Hurriedly, we tided up ourselves at lightning speed. Unexpectedly, a ray of light aimed over towards us, lighting up my face.

    ¡°Stop! Campus police.¡±

    Li Chuan pushed me, quietly saying, ¡°Run!¡±

    Originally, I didn¡¯t need to run, but we were in an awkward situation and looked highly suspicious. If we were caught, even if we weren¡¯t doing anything, it was hard to exin. I broken into a run and saw someone quickly following. Then someone blocked the police, grabbed hold of him. He couldn¡¯t be shaken off and they started wrestling with each other. I didn¡¯t think about it and rushed back. Li Chuan had fallen on the ground. The build of the police was nearly like Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was using his leather boots to kick Li Chuan. I rushed forward pelting him with two ps, yelling, ¡°Stop! Stop! You stop!¡±

    That police stopped his foot and grabbed onto my arm., ¡°Little girl, you have quite the nerve! What department are you guys in?¡±

    ¡°Our department doesn¡¯t concert you. We were chatting here, how did we offend you?¡±

    ¡°Chatting? Hmph, you think I don¡¯t know what things you have been doing?¡±

    I sneered, ¡°Take me in. I¡¯ll say you were attempting to rape me. Look, I have your fingerprints on my arm.¡± Then I ripped off a button from his jacket, ¡°I have your button in my hand.¡±

    Heughed in anger, ¡°You think I¡¯m afraid of your little game? I¡¯ll spare you for today. Seeing how much nerve you have, I doubt that guy will dare do anything to you. If you want to do things, go get a hotel outside. This is the woods of lovebirds. There are always patrols here every night.¡± Finished speaking, he left. I knelt on the group and gently pushed Li Chuan.

    ¡°Li Chuan, Li Chuan!¡±

    Hey on the ground without moving.

    ¡°Are you hurt?¡± My body started trembling uncontrobly.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He sat up with difficultly. He face was horribly pale.

    ¡°Sit here and don¡¯t move, I will go find someone to take you to the hospital.¡± I knew he was hurt and couldn¡¯t move.

    He held onto me, ¡°No need to send me to the hospital. I can walk by myself. You¡­lend me a hand.¡±

    I helped him up and handed him the cane. He took the cane and asked, ¡°That person¡­did he hurt you?¡±

    ¡°He only pinched my arm.¡±

    ¡°Let me see.¡± He examined my arm under the moonlight. He looked for a long time without speaking.

    ¡°Is it far from the parking lot?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Not far.¡±

    We took a long time before getting to the parking lot. He wouldn¡¯t let me help him, using great effort to walk forward. In the middle, he couldn¡¯t help but stop twice. He was clearly not injured lightly.

    ¡°Li Chuan, Let me go with you to the hospital.¡± I said.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, don¡¯t need to go to the hospital.¡±

    ¡°Then let me return to your t with you and take a look at your injuries.¡±

    ¡°No need, I can handle it myself.¡± He looked at me dully, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m letting you go back to your dorm by yourself. I can¡¯t apany you.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, no. Take me with you. I¡¯m worried for you.¡± I felt my voice contained a bit of a sob.

    ¡°No.¡± He said, ¡°Goodnight. I¡¯lle find you in a few days.¡±

    I turned around and heard him call out to me. He handed me his shirt, ¡°Change into my shirt. Your sweater is dirty. Your ssmates will make fun of you if you go back like this.¡±

    He had on a white muscle shirt, exposing his fine body.

    ¡°Goodnight.¡± I looked at him, eyes glistened with tears.

    ¡°Goodnight.¡±

 Chapter 10

    <h4>Chapter 10</h4>

    Before I returned to the dorm room, I first went to the floor¡¯s bathroom to tidy up myself. I took off the sweater, got rid of the leaves in my hair, and then put on Li Chuan¡¯s cored-shirt before walking into the dorm room.

    I originally wanted to slip in, crawl into bed, and change my clothes stealthily. But, the room waspletely lit with candles. I saw An An, Xiao Rui, and Wei Hai Xia each drinking a cup of milk tea, sitting by their beds, eating sunflower seeds.

    When they saw me, everyone shrieked, surprised that I was wearing a man¡¯s shirt.

    ¡°You¡¯re making really quick progress¡­¡± The three of them chuckled together.

    I hurriedly stashed the sweater onto my bed.

    ¡°That¡¯s not it. I got too hot from walking and was covered in sweat, so I took off my sweater.¡± I drew water, washed my face and hands, removing all evidence.

    ¡°Did Wang Ge Ge find you at the dance hall?¡± Xiao Rui asked. ¡°He hade just after you left. He asked where you where and I pointed him towards the dance hall.¡± Xiao Rui didn¡¯t go to the dance hall often since she disliked the poor sound system it had.

    ¡°No, I saw him only after the dancing finished.¡±

    ¡°No way. Doesn¡¯t that mean he waited at the door for you for two hours?¡±

    Really? The autumn air was so cold and he was in just a cored-shirt.

    ¡°Then I don¡¯t know.¡± So that I wouldn¡¯t them with more gossip material, I simply said that one sentence. However, exhaustion was written all over my face. They all saw it. I climbed into bed, got under the covers, and toss and turned, unable to sleep. By two in the morning, I finally thought it through. Li Chuan was an adult, he would know how to take care of himself. Li Chuan had money, even if he didn¡¯t have time to take care of himself, he could also find someone to take care of him. I¡¯m not anyone to him and couldn¡¯t do anything for him. It also didn¡¯t seem like he wanted me to do anything for him. In short, I don¡¯t need to worry for him.

    And then, I spend another half hour thinking about all the times we were together. I realized that since the day we met, I had been causing him trouble. The first time, I spilt coffee over him. The second time, I caused him to have to walk from the school gates to the dormitory door in the middle of the night with me. The third time, I forced him to go watch a movie with me, and then with the dormitory door locked, I had no choice but to stay in his home. And then it was tonight, allowing him to suffer a beating in vain for me. I seemed to be a jinx in his life.

    And then, I concluded that the cause of all of these wrongs was my irresponsible infatuation, my young and inexperienced desires.

    Confucius says to examine yourself in three ways each day. (From the The Analects by Confucius: Zeng Zi said, ¡°Everyday I examine myself on three counts. In what I have undertaken on another¡¯s behalf, have I failed to do my best? In my dealings with friends have I failed to be honest and trustworthy? Have I failed to practice repeatedly what has been passed on to me?¡±)

    At five in the morning, I got up to go running and memorize vocab. In the coldte autumn wind, I couldn¡¯t help but run to a small convenience store to make a call to Li Chuan. To ask him howst night was. Whether he was alright.

    The phone rang several times and it was just an answering machine message, ¡°The number you have called is currently turned off. Please call againter.¡±

    Perhaps he was too tired and turned off his phone to sleep. I remembered I had previously urged Li Chuan to buy a small fridge to put by his bedside so that he didn¡¯t have to get up every night and go to the kitchen to drink milk. Li Chuan said that he dreaded noise when sleeping, especially the sound of machines.

    I finished memorizing vocab, ate breakfast, went to a ss, and got back at ten o¡¯clock. I went to the convenience store again to make a call. Still, no one answered, it was the same message, ¡°The number you have called is currently turned off. Please call againter.¡±

    I carefully recalled every detail fromst night. The forest was too dark and I couldn¡¯t see clearly. But the campus police definitely kicked him a few times. I didn¡¯t know where the kicksnded. Afterwards, he wouldn¡¯t say at all. I worried that that person kicked Li Chuan where he had once been injured before. There were no bones there, only a thinyer of flesh covering his internal organs. When Li Chuan walked, hepletely relied on his waist to move the prosthetic leg. So walking for an extended period of time was a form of torment to him. But Li Chuan walked too well, so well that you could barely see any unbnce in his walk, it was a facade for others. It was as if he walked the same as any normal person who didn¡¯t have to expend such energy.

    I continued with sse. The next time I got off ss, it was already noon. I went to make another call and still got the same message. I couldn¡¯t sit still and went to the school entrance to get a taxi, ¡°Long Ze Garden, please, sir.¡±

    There was no heater in the car, it was quite cold. The driver joked, ¡°Long Ze Garden. Miss, you are going to the ce where rich people live.¡±

    ¡°Really? I¡¯m going to go see a friend.¡±

    ¡°Long Ze Garden can be considered the richest housing development in Beijing. Even square meter is forty thousand yuan.¡± The driver stuck out his tongue, ¡°Your friend¡¯s house must be prettyrge, right?¡±

    ¡°He lives in the penthouse.¡±

    ¡°My god, the penthouse? Are you sure you saw correctly?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the penthouse?¡±

    ¡°Do you know howrge the penthouse is?¡±

    ¡°How would I know?¡±

    ¡°I know. Last year, when they were selling the houses, I drove past it before and saw the ad. The top floor only has one unit, more than five hundred square meters. Even if it was five hundred square meters, five hundred times four. Twenty million. Miss, what does your friend do?¡±

    I started to sweat a little inside. No wonder the security guard of the building looked at me like that. With the way I was dressed and made up, how did I walk into such a high rise? I might as well have been delivering pizza.

    Getting out of the car, I walked into the loby and found the security guard. It was still that security guard, I said, ¡°I want to see Mr. Wang Li Chuan. Can I trouble you to give him a call and ask him toe down?¡±

    The security guard stared at me and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t have an appointment? If you have an appointment, Mr. Wang would tell me in advance.¡±

    But he knew I knew Li Chuan and didn¡¯t dare to offend me, so he said, ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll give his home a call and see if he¡¯s there.¡±

    He made the call, but no one picked up. The security guard said, ¡°He isn¡¯t home. Why don¡¯t you wait here for him. There are couches over there.¡±

    I walked to the west lobby and sat down on the genuine leather couches. I found there was a table next to it that actually provided free coffee. I poured myself a cup, added sugar and milk, and then took out a textbook to read from my backpack.

    I didn¡¯t have Li Chuan¡¯s work number. If he went to work, the chances were slim that he woulde back at noon. But, if he really could go to work, he wouldn¡¯t have turned off his cell phone.

    I sat there for a long time and waited for a long time. I sat there straight until three in the afternoon, until my stomach started rumbling with hunger, before I saw some I knew walk in from the entrance.

    Ji Huan.

    Ji huan quickly saw me and walked over to greet me, ¡°I¡¯ve seen thisdy before, but I still know your name.¡±

    ¡°Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°Miss Xie, are you waiting for someone here?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± I felt my face turn red, ¡°Mr. Ji, have you seen Li Chuan today?¡±

    ¡°No. Do you have his number?¡±

    ¡°His cell phone is turned off.¡±

    ¡°Then you have his cell phone number.¡± Ji Huan repeated what I said. It was clear that Li Chuan didn¡¯t easily give out his cell phone number.

    ¡°Did you call hispany and ask yet? Li Chuan is a workaholic and wouldn¡¯t easily disappear from work.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know where he works.¡± I confessed.

    Ji Huan was startled for a bit and asked with augh, ¡°He gave you his cell phone number, but didn¡¯t tell you where he worked?¡±

    ¡°I never asked.¡±

    He stared at me again for a bit as if he couldn¡¯t believe it, and then said, ¡°I have his office number, do you want me to call and ask?¡±

    ¡°Would that trouble you?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    He entered a number and gave the cell phone to me, ¡°Seeing you so anxious, why don¡¯t you ask yourself.¡±

    This time, the phone was connected and answered within two seconds, ¡°CGP Architects, hello.¡±

    It was the sweet voice of a young female secretary.

    ¡°I¡­I am looking for Mr. Wang Li Chuan.¡±

    ¡°May I ask whichpany thedy is from?¡±

    ¡°I am a friend of his, looking for him about something.¡±

    ¡°Oh, please wait a moment.¡±

    I heard silence on the other end. After ten seconds, an unfamiliar male voice came through speaking very perfect Mandarin.

    ¡°Miss, I am Su Qun, Mr. Wang¡¯s work assistant. May I ask what thedy¡¯s name is?¡±

    ¡°My surname is Xie.¡±

    ¡°Miss Xie, what are you looking for Mr. Li Chuan for?¡±

    ¡°Can Mr. Wang note to the phone right now?¡± I returned with a question.

    ¡°Mr. Wang¡¯s is not feeling to well. He didn¡¯te to work and is unable to entertain guests.¡±

    I guessed right, and then my voice began to shake.

    ¡°I am at Long Ze Garden. Li Chuan¡­Mr. Wang¡­is not home. Did something happen to him?¡± What I said was clearly illogical, because my mind had started to turn to other thoughts. Could he have suffered internal injuries? Could his internal organs have suddenly hemorrhaging? Could he have fainted at home?

    The person was quiet for a moment, as if he was carefully considering his wording. Finally he said, ¡°Mr. Wang is currently in the hospital.¡±

    ¡°Which hospital?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I cannot say. Mr. Wang does not wish to be disturbed.¡± It appeared that he thought his voice was a bit too firm and continued, ¡°If thedy has something you would like passed on, I am very willing to help you convey it to Mr. Wang.¡±

    Noment. Mr. Wang didn¡¯t want to be disturbed. I thought over what he said and my heart became a bit cold.

    ¡°There isn¡¯t.¡± I said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing I want to say. Goodbye.¡±

    I hung my head, hung up, and handed the cell phone back to Ji Huan, ¡°Than you. Li Chuan is in the hospital.¡±

    ¡°In the hospital?¡± Ji Huan said, ¡°I¡¯ve know him for two years, and have never seen him get sick.¡±

    ¡°I still have ss in the afternoon, I take my leave.¡± Ji Huan¡¯s looked as if he still had questions, but I didn¡¯t want to say anymore.

    Li Chuan was sick, he wasn¡¯t picking up my calls. He didn¡¯t want me to go see him.

    I got on the bus, and absent-mindedly got on towards the wrong direction. When I got off the bus, I saw a park and sat down to cry alone in the park. At night I went to the caf¨¦ to work. Everything was as it was before. No one saw through my state of mind. At night, Iy on my bed, hugging Li Chuan¡¯s shirt, unable to sleep for a long time.

    I didn¡¯t call Li Chuan again. For the whole entire month after that, I didn¡¯t see him.

    I did pretty well on my mid-term exams. An average of ny. Even though it was fifty points off from my target, my score was still way ahead of the others in my dorm room. With the exception of Feng Jing Er. Feng Jing Er also realized that I had be herpetition. With a tough opponent for the Hong Yu fund, I studied even more diligently. The ssmates in my dorm room had teased me about my short romance and weren¡¯t very supportive. They had already expected this. Although, at one point, Lu Jieined to me about how Li Chuan wasn¡¯t replying to her email. I said that Li Chuan was sick and she didn¡¯t ask anymore. Evidently, she thought I was just giving an excuse.

    Besides the weekends, I still went to the caf¨¦ every night. But I didn¡¯t see Li Chuan at all. Xiao Ye¡¯s hatred towards me lessened a bit. I¡¯m saying ¡°a bit¡± because she was still indifferent towards me. But she also didn¡¯t pick at my mistakes. After finishing work, she would sit alone with her elbows on the table and be lost in thought. I ignored her. Li Chuan was the object of many girls¡¯ infatuations. Perhaps I was just the luckiest out of all of them.

    There were still two weeks before people took off in chaos for school break. I thought of my father and studied even harder. I wanted to give Father a certificate from the school. I wanted to tell Father that I had gotten the schrship. My father still insisted on sending me money every month. He knew what he sent wasn¡¯t much. Fifty yuan wasn¡¯t enough at all in Beijing. But he wrote to say, Daddy can only do this much. A little support is still a little. Try not to work if you can, school work is the most important. That was a Monday. When I received Dad¡¯s letter, I though, I must try my best to study in these two weeks. Then I can rest properly when I return to Yunnan for vacation. However, I passed by the administrative office that day and chanced upon the president walking towards me. I was going to avoid him, believing that he didn¡¯t recognize me. Unexpectedly, he actually greeted me, ¡°ssmate!¡±

    ¡°President Liu.¡±

    ¡°Where is your proposal? When can I see it?¡± He asked.

    That night, I wrote a proposal in earnest. I suddenly remember that Li Chuan had agreed to edit my proposal. So I asked Lu Jie for his email. Actually I didn¡¯t just hope for him to edit my proposal, I was merely using it as an excuse to ask how he was doing. Whether he was out of the hospital yet. I went to the inte caf¨¦ and signed up for a Yahoo email ount. I wrote to an email to him in english:

    ¡°Hello, Li Chuan. Long time no see. How is your health? Have you been discharged from the hospital yet? I wrote a proposal, if it¡¯s convenient, can you help me edit it? Thanks, Xiao Qiu.¡±

    I wrote it offhandedly and sent it. In that moment, when it sent, I regretted it. All of this was already going to be left unresolved. Why did I want to go and look for him again? I was being way too careless trying to look for him. Even if the email was considered courteous, how could I be so thoughtless. Wasn¡¯t I the one who caused him to get sick? I scolded myself.

    On Tuesday, I had an important exam and didn¡¯t go to the inte caf¨¦ to check email. On Wednesday night, when I opened my mailbox, I saw a reply. I hadn¡¯t even opened the email to look at the contents before my tears rushed out. It was a reply in English, a long one. First he helped me edit my proposal. He basically changed every sentence. The word count after he edited it far surpassed my original word count. And then he said he was still in the hospital. It was pneumonia and he was afraid of infecting me. The hospital also didn¡¯t permit electronics, so he couldn¡¯t make a call. And then he said he didn¡¯t want me to see him sick. He woulde see me as soon as he was discharged.

    I immediately replied, ¡°Li Chuan, I want to see you now!!!¡± I added three exmation points.

    After a second, I received his reply, ¡°No.¡±

    I would not back down, and wrote, ¡°Tell me which hospital you are at. I¡¯m not afraid of being infected.¡±

    He replied again, ¡°No means no.¡±

    I left the inte caf¨¦ in anger.

 Chapter 11

    <h4>Chapter 11</h4>

    I still punctually arrived at five in the evenings to the caf¨¦ for my shift. The night shift was still the three of us, Xiao Tong, Xiao Ye, and me. I leave at eight o¡¯clock, Xiao Ye worked until twelve o¡¯clock, and Xiao Tong worked until early the next morning before getting off. Xiao Tong slept in the morning and often skipped ss. Yet, he smoothly sailed through to be a sophomore. It was truly amazing. Xiao Tong said that it was all green lights for his studies because he spent a lot of time investigating the teaching customs and reputations of the professors. For example, one professor likes to catch those who cheat and was known as one of. His sses must not be chosen. One professor was too strict when grading exams and would frequently give them failing grades, so could not be chosen. One professor like to check for attendance, so could not be chosen. One professor didn¡¯t get chosen to be an associate professor, wasn¡¯t in a good mood, so could not be chosen. The best professors to choose were the ones who would tell everyone on the first day of ss that it was hard to get an eight-five in the ss, but it was also hard to fail.

    There are many cons to working at the caf¨¦, but there was one pro, which was being able to practice conversational skills. Even though it was only a few phrases, it wasn¡¯t easy to get them perfect. If you had some free time and came across a foreigner who like to chat, as long as the boss wasn¡¯t there, no one would care if you chatting for even up to ten minutes. Xiao Tong turned a blind eye. He also liked to chat.

    There was a group of students from Ennd in the car¨¦. It was a rare opportunity. Xiao Tong and I seized the change to practice our conversational skills. The time passed really quickly. Afterwards, I was continuously busy at the cash register. When it was almost eight o¡¯clock, Xiao Ye suddenly came over and said to me, ¡°Haven¡¯t seen him in a long time.¡±

    I didn¡¯t get what she was saying at first, ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since seeing who?¡±

    ¡°That Mr. Wang.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± I said.

    Ever since that dispute that day, Xiao Ye had never voluntarily spoken to me again. Xiao Tong said that she was waiting for me to take the initiative and reconcile with her. He implied that I should find a suitable moment and let her off so that she doesn¡¯t have to lose face. But I¡¯ve never given her that moment. Xiao Ye didn¡¯t care to take notice of me. All her thoughts were on her unrequited love and she wasn¡¯t in the mood to care about any employee in the car¨¦. If she really took notice of me, then there was only one reason. She wanted to get news of Li Chuan.

    ¡°Have you seen him sinceing in?¡± She asked.

    ¡°No,¡± I said, ¡°I heard he was sick.¡±

    She gasped, ¡°Oh! What illness?¡±

    ¡°Pneumonia.¡± I wasn¡¯t in a good mood and didn¡¯t feel like fending off others.

    ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°He told me.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you didn¡¯t see him?¡±

    ¡°Email.¡±

    ¡°Can you give me his email address?¡± She fixed her eyes on me. I thought, if I said no, she would definitely strangle me to death.

    I wrote down Li Chuan¡¯s email address for her.

    I didn¡¯t care because I thought since Xiao Ye came from an well-educated family, she wouldn¡¯t randomly just write a letter to a stranger.

    ¡°Thanks. Last time he came to have coffee, he left his notebook here. I¡¯ll ask him when it¡¯s convenient for him to pick it up.¡±

    I was speechless. A girl in love was really intelligent.

    After getting off work, I changed and walked out. The wind at night was piercing cold, it was already winter weather. The ground was covered in a thinyer of ice. I wore a goose down filled jacket. It was thick andrge. It was originally to be used for getting through the coldest days of the year after the Winter Solstice. Beforeing to Beijing, I bought this jacket to manage through the winter. The store didn¡¯t have it in small nor medium. They only had it in thisrge size for half off. So I bought it and this was my first time wearing it. The space insidepletely engulfed me. Even if I wore my backpack on the side, no one would be able to tell.

    Like always, I went to the bus stop to wait. The bus hadn¡¯t arrived yet, so I sat down on the ice cold metal bench to memorize vocab. I hadn¡¯t sat there for even five minutes before a car screeched to a stop. A familiar voice called out to me, ¡°Xiao Qiu.¡±

    I raised my head and saw Li Chuan¡¯s SUV.

    I¡¯ve never carefully taken a look at Li Chuan¡¯s car. First of all, I was never interested in cars. Second, his car always appeared at night when it wasn¡¯t easy to see it clearly. Separated by the windows, I looked on in confusion, hesitant to move forward. None of it seemed real. I suspected I was dreaming and was afraid that a sudden gust of wind will blow, and this entire scene will disappear. Was it really Li Chuan? Wasn¡¯t Li Chuan in the hospital?

    He jumped out of the car and leaning on his crutches, he opened the car door for me.

    It was as if he had juste back from a banquet. He wore ck jacket. Inside was an well-ironed charcoal colored cored shirt with an exquisite green necktie. There was a faint CK cologne smell. The only thing that was different from before was that he wasn¡¯t wearing a prosthetic leg, so he only had one leg.

    He leaned over and fastened the seat belt for me, asking, ¡°Cold?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    He shut the car door, turned on the heater, and started the car.

    After all those moments of heated pasion, it had been a month since we¡¯ve seen each other. He was still so perfect, so handsome. Looking at him from any angle caused my mind to be scrambled.

    ¡°Are you mad at me?¡± He asked.

    I didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°Even if you are mad, you didn¡¯t have to curse at me like that right?¡± Heughed grimly, ¡°In any case, I also helped you correct your proposal. You are really getting more and more fluent in English. No one has ever cursed at me like that.¡±

    When he said, ¡°no means no,¡± I replied with two words. Curse words.

    ¡°Stop the car, let me off.¡± I was ashamed into anger.

    ¡°You have quite a temper.¡± He ignored me, speeding the car.

    ¡°Stop the car! Otherwise, I¡¯m going to call the cops!¡±

    ¡°Here is my cell phone. You can dial 110.¡± He handed the cell phone to me and continued driving.

    It wasn¡¯t fifteen minutes before the car reached the school. Li Chuan got out of the car and opened my car door.

    Even though, Li Chuan made a huge effort to keep his bnce, his handicapped body looked absolutely helpless. All at once, my heart softened and lightly said, ¡°Howe you are already discharged from the hospital? Was it because I cursed at you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not discharged yet, I snuck out.¡± He handed my backpack to me.

    ¡°Hey, I merely cursed at you. It¡¯s not worth it to get so angry toe out of the hospital to settle it with me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right, I dide to settle it with you.¡± He took my hand and pulled me in front of him.

    ¡°Do you know how worried I was about you?¡± I hugged him and buried my face against his chest.

    ¡°I¡±m sorry,¡± he embraced me tightly, ¡°you don¡¯t actually have to worry, I can take care of myself. There are also nurses.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t cause trouble anymore. I swear.¡± I kissed him. Like a leech seeking the arteries on his neck, I kissed my way over. He lowered his head and kissed my face. The cold sweet breathe crossed in front of me, ¡°Why are you wearing such a huge gown? It¡¯s so big it can fit two of you.¡±

    ¡°I like big. Big isfortable.¡± I put my hands into his jacked and gently caressed his waist, ¡°Are there injuries here? Does it hurt a lot?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no injures there,¡± he said in a low voice, ¡°Don¡¯t grope around, okay?¡± Although, he was saying that, a part of his body became stiff.

    I recalled the vow I just made, drew out my hands, and helped him fasten the belt on his jacked.

    ¡°What are you doing tonight?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Going to the library to study the changes you made to my proposal. You changed so much, I don¡¯t understand a lot of the ces.¡±

    ¡°Which ces don¡¯t you understand,¡± he said, ¡°make use of me while I¡¯m here. I¡¯ll exin to you. Isn¡¯t that better?¡±

    ¡°Thene with me to the library, okay?¡± I put my arms through his.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t wear my prosthetic leg today. Do you mind?¡± He asked softly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. It¡¯s so exhausting to walk with a prosthetic leg, you might as well never use it.¡± I blurted out. And then immediately nced at him uneasily. Li Chuan extremely cherished his appearance. At formal events, he would never have a hair out of ce. He was also a perfectionist. It¡¯s obvious that losing a leg and having to go through life handicapped was a huge blow to him.

    He looked at me, wanting to say something, but not unable to.

    The library had study rooms on the second and third levels. Several hundred tables were ced in a hall. Several hundred people were reading inside. If Li Chuan went in, he would definitely cause a disturbance.

    I led Li Chuan to the newspaper and periodicals reading room on the first floor. It was quite cold there so there were always less people.

    We found a seat. Li Chuan took my jacket, hung it to the side, then took off his own jacket. I took out a printed copy of the proposal, a dictionary, and a notebook from my backpack. I was just about to sit down when Li Chun suddenly said, ¡°Sit on my left side.¡±

    I changed to his left side, ¡°Are you left-handed?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right, how did you mid term exams go?¡±

    My god, he still remember this.

    ¡°I averaged a ny, still fifty points away from my goal. I must put in more effort for the hopes of a schrship.¡±

    ¡°Children can still be taught. Let¡¯s take a look at the article you used. What is article in Chinese?¡±

    ¡°Article.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to add an article in front of a concept. For instance, you said space and you said time. You are talking about concept, so you don¡¯t need to add an article.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Also here, you need an article in front of dynasty.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve learned this before, howe I just can¡¯t remember.¡±

    ¡°Also, the key to writing a proposal is to not say how this will be advantageous to you, but how advantageous it will be to other students, to the school, and to the school¡¯s reputation.¡±

    After saying this, he slightly changed his seated position. I then realized that, since he lost half his bones, he only had support from one side when sitting, so it was hard to sit straight and hard to sit steadily. He had to use one arm to prop up his body. He had been using his right hand to support himself.

    Next, he exined to me why he made each correction. He went through each one, exining for a whole two hours. He wasn¡¯t too good at writing with his left hand, so he doodled on the paper. Li Chuan¡¯s memory was really good. He never misspelled even the mostplicated and long words.

    Finally, I felt that he would bepletely exhausted if he continued on, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, it¡¯ste.¡±

    ¡°Do you still have questions?¡±

    ¡°No, Ipletely understand. Ge Ge you are too great. ¡ª Such is the advantage of the mother tongue.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help butugh.

    ¡°English isn¡¯t my mother tongue.¡± He said. ¡°I grew up in Switzend and spent my childhood in the French region. I went to junior high and high school in the German region. My mother tongues are French and German.¡±

    ¡°Ge Ge, I will worship you through endlessly through all hell and storm.¡±

    He stood up, helped me put on my jacket, and saw to it that it on properly before putting on his own jacket. We walked out of the library together and returned to the presidents¡¯ parking lot where he parked his car.

    ¡°Do you want to go eat midnight snacks?¡± He asked.

    ¡°No, you¡¯re tired. Let me go with you to the hospital, okay? Wherever you aren¡¯tfortable, I¡¯ll help you massage, okay? I have an extremely good immune system. I¡¯m not afraid of being infected.¡± I pestered him again.

    ¡°No.¡±

    He handed me a small pink case, ¡°I bought you a cell phone. Call me when you have time.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the hospital block signals?¡±

    ¡°I am discharged tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Hurry and get in the car.¡± I said.

    ¡°Let me drop you off at your dormitory first.¡±

    There was ice everywhere on the ground. If he wasn¡¯t careful, he would fall and break his remaining leg. How can he do that?

    ¡°Next time, okay? Once you arepletely recovered, you can drop me off. I¡¯m begging you.¡±

    ¡°No.¡± He said, ¡°The ground is so slippery. You don¡¯t look at the road. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll slip and fall.¡±

    I was very happy when I got to the dorm room. Everyone looked at me thinking that my expression was unusually lifted today.

    ¡°Hey, you finally walked out of the shadow of your break up.¡± An An observed my face, ¡°Congrattions.¡±

    I washed my face, and slipped outside to give Li Chuan a call at the head of a flight of stairs. Within three seconds, he picked up, ¡°Hi.¡±

    ¡°Are you almost at the hospital?¡±

    ¡°Almost there.¡±

    ¡°Why is it pink?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s pink?¡±

    ¡°The cell phone¡¯s color.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the color for young girls.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a young girl.¡±

    ¡°You are only seventeen years old.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, how old are you?¡±

    ¡°Twenty-five. Is that too old?¡±

    ¡°Not old, not old. Not old at all. Thank you. Ge Ge, I like you so much!¡± I sweetly called to him and then happily hung up.

    The next day was a nice sunny say. sses had already ended and everyone was studying for the exams. I was no exception. As soon as I got out of bed at seven, I would take a thermos filled with tea to the library. Against the wide windows with warm sunshine shinning through, I spread out my books and studied my notes, studied sentence patterns, and studied vocab. It was a joy to be busy.

    At noon, I walked out of the library to eat lunch. My cell phone rang and his voice came through:

    ¡°It¡¯s me, Li Chuan.¡±

    ¡°Hi, Li Chuan. Have you been discharged?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve finally left. The doctor is a friend of my father¡¯s and gave me such a hard time.¡± He said, ¡°Can you help me with something this afternoon?¡±

    ¡°Help you with what. Tell me.¡±

    ¡°I have a friend opening a gallery today. Can you apany me to it?¡±

    ¡°I have no problems with going, but I don¡¯t understand paintings. Won¡¯t I look like an idiot standing there?¡±

    ¡°No, no no. It¡¯s like this. I don¡¯t want to go either, but we¡¯re pretty close with each other and I can¡¯t refuse. The gallery opening will be at four o¡¯clock. The press will also be there. He wants me to be there on time to support him. At seven o¡¯clock, there¡¯s a wine reception. He wishes for me to take part in the wine reception.¡±

    ¡°In other words, we need to stay there for at least four hours.¡±

    ¡°If youe help, then I don¡¯t need to stay for four hours.¡±

    ¡°Really? That¡¯s how I¡¯m helping?¡±

    ¡°We will go at four o¡¯clock. After an hour, you¡¯ll say that you have a headache, and then we¡¯ll leave.¡±

    ¡°Headache? Isn¡¯t that too fake?¡±

    ¡°Whether it¡¯s fake or not depends on whether your performance seems like it or not.¡±

    ¡°No problem, Li Chuan. Does the gallery have a dress code? With coat tails and so on.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it needs to be formal evening attire.¡±

    ¡°Then okay, I¡¯ll put on the performance, you¡¯ll pay for the stage props.¡±

    ¡°Have you eaten yet?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Wait for me, I¡¯lle pick you up. First, we¡¯ll eat, and then go shopping.¡±

    ¡°Wait for me at the school gates. I just happen to need to go to the school gates to send a letter.¡±

    After twenty minutes, Li Chuan drove over and picked me up. He said that he still needed a a week before being well enough to wear his prosthetic leg. Without the prosthetic leg, walking is more effortless for him, but sitting will be more difficult. He job required him to sit for a long time to draw designs, so he couldn¡¯t depart from the prosthetic leg.

    He was wearing a ck suit as always, a ck cored-shirt, and a purple necktie. He appeared tall and slender, filled with grace. Matched with that enchanting face of his, it was hard to resist him. I thought about it. As such a person, with only one leg, having just gotten out of the hospital, he still could not move that painter to allow him to stay for a shorter time. The weight on my shoulder was actually really heavy.

    Li Chuan asked me if I wanted to go eat Yunnan food. I said, I¡¯d rather eat sushi with him. He took me to a Japanese restaurant. He liked to eat sashimi, and I liked to eat teriyaki chicken. I asked him if he was busy. He said that he had finished everything he needed to in the hospital. He even sent it in early. We didn¡¯t stay for long at the restaurant because I didn¡¯t want to let him sit for too long. He didn¡¯t know how to hold chopsticks with his left hand and his right hand couldn¡¯t help. He could only use a fork to eat.

    Afterwards, we went to a clothing store. I couldn¡¯t tell if the name was in French or Italian. Li Chuan stood to the side reading a magazine. I went to try on evening gowns but the seven or eight I tried on were all toorge.

    I asked Li Chuan, ¡°What to do?¡±

    Li Chuan made a motion to take me away and thedy boss said, ¡°This youngdy¡¯s build is really too small. If you guys don¡¯t mind, I can take you to the second floor to take a look in the youth section.¡±

    Li Chuan said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say something earlier? She is an adolescent.¡±

    Shocking.

    Thedy boss helped me pick out apletely ck gown. There was a ring of purplece and went across the chest. I put it on to try. Not only did it fit perfectly, it still had somewhat of a sexy look. What era is this? Dresses for young girls were even made like this. Thedy boss helped me find a bra, a purse, and shoes to go with it.

    Li Chuan took out his credit card and said to me, ¡°Do you know what I like most about you?¡±

    I said, ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You make decisions really quick. If it was some other woman, she wouldn¡¯t have even picked out one item after an entire afternoon of looking.¡±

    ¡°Did you pick out clothes for other women before?¡± I took the chance to quietly ask as thedy boss went to swipe the card.

    ¡°Do I really look like a virgin to you?¡±

    I put on makeup in the car and admired myself in the mirror. The car entered a narrow ally. Li Chuan was taking a shortcut. It suddenly brightened, a luxurious high-rise appeared in front of us. We got out of the car at the door and he handed the keys to the valet. The valet drove the car into the garage for him.

    ¡°What style of painting does your friend do?¡± It wasn¡¯t an Oscar award show, but why did I feel somewhat nervous.

    ¡°Oh, he is Pomo.¡± Seeing that I didn¡¯t understand, he said, ¡°Postmodern. Postmodernism.¡±

    I knew nothing about modern, let alone postmodernism.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say anything.¡± He consoled me, ¡°You only have to pretend to look at the painting. If you get bored, have some beef jerky.¡±

    Before getting into the car, he bought a bag of beef jerky for me. It was my favorite snack. It was shoved into my newly purchased clutch. The whole way here, Li Chuan kept saying I was still a little girl because I liked everything shiny and sparkly. There were certainly many gems on the purse. It did indeed shine brightly hanging from my hands.

    ¡°This is probably unsuitable.¡± I said.

    ¡°What are you afraid of? This is a postmodernism gallery.¡± He leaned on the crutches and concentrated on walking. I held my head straight, walking beside him.

    There was already a row of people standing at the doorway. One young gentleman, with hair to his shoulders, quickly walked over, ¡°Li Chuan!¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯tte, right?¡± Li chuan went up to shake hands with him, and introduced me, ¡°This is Miss Xie Xiao Qiu. A college student. This is Mr. Jiang Heng Xi. A famous painter.¡±

    We shook hands and greeted each other.

    Standing next to Jiang Heng Xi was his wife, a youngdy with a breathtaking face. Her hair was put up high without a single strand amiss and had a grandeur appearance.

    ¡°Ji Lian,¡± Li Chuan held out his hand, ¡°Long time no see.¡±

    The two shook hands and Li Chuan introduced me, ¡°This is Miss Xie Xiao Qiu. Xie Xiao Qiu, English Department student. This is Ms Ye Ji Lian, a painter specializing in traditional Chinese.

    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± I said.

    ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± Ye Ji Lian smiled as she shook my hands, ¡°Xiao Qiu, which university do you go to?¡±

    ¡°S University.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, we prepared a couch just for you. Do you need to rest a bit right now?¡± She nced at his empty right leg and was slightly rmed. It was clear that Li Chuan rarely didn¡¯t wear his prosthetic leg for formal asions.

    ¡°Thank you, no need.¡±

    At this time, a middle-aged man in a grey suit, with a mysterious yet arrogant air about him came over. Ye Ji Lian said at once, ¡°Let me introduce you. This is Mr. Han Zi Xu. The boss of Zi Cao Gallery (lit. Red Root Gromwell Gallery), a famous painter specializing in ancient jade paintings.¡±

    What era is this? Why is everyone here a ¡°specialist.¡±

    And then Ye Ji Lian introduced Li Chuan, This is Mr. Li Chuan, Chairman of CGP Architects, building construction architect. A brilliant student from Harvard University¡¯s Architecture Department. The winner ofst year¡¯s French AS-4 architecture award. He currently has around fifty design projects of China. Li Chuan, do you want me to also introduce your father and your older brother?¡±

    Li Chuan shook his head, ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡±

 Chapter 12

    <h4>Chapter 12</h4>

    Holding onto Li Chuan¡¯s arm, I walked towards the visitor sign in on the left side of the gallery. In bold cursive calligraphy, Li Chuan signed his name. I studied it carefully and couldn¡¯t make out a single letter clearly. It was probably written in French. Then, I signed my name as small as an ant, sticking closely underneath his name.

    He looked down at me, ¡°Why did you sign your name so small?¡±

    ¡°You are the main character, I am a side character.¡±

    ¡°Sign it again, okay? For someone who doesn¡¯t understand, they will think my name has a suffix.¡±

    I signed arger one on top of his name, ¡°Is this alright now?¡±

    He smiled, ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wang, in the reception hall in the back, a lounge has been arranged especially for you.¡± Thedy in charge said in a soft voice. Evidently someone had informed her, ¡°It¡¯s on the left side past these doors.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Li Chuan took the pen from my hand, put it down, and asked, ¡°Where is the coat check?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s here.¡± Thedy said with all smiles. She didn¡¯t dare to look at Li Chuan, but her face was entirely red from blushing.

    Li Chuan removed my jacket for me and handed it over along with his. Thedy was touched by his gentlemanly manners, took the jackets and pretended to think about something, standing nkly there for a spell. After quite a while, she handed a card to Li Chuan, ¡°Use this to get the jackets. Please hold on to it.¡±

    The lighting in the gallery was neither bright nor dark, it spilled serenely down from the ceiling. There were oil paintings on all walls. There were several ssical pieces that were separated by ss. The postmodern paintings were setup within the gallery in the ssical Chinese Garden style, making it quite unique.

    ¡°Do you like these paintings?¡± Li Chuan asked.

    ¡°Not too fond of it. I also can¡¯t make sense of it.¡± I said, ¡°But the design of this gallery is rather unique. I like it a lot.¡±

    I saw his smiling pleased face.

    ¡°Did you design it?¡±

    ¡°Otherwise, why would they invite me?¡±

    ¡°Then Architect Wang, what style are you?¡±

    ¡°Naturalism, surpassing the limits of this era as much as possible.¡±

    It made me recall a great person of the past, ¡°Like Zhuang Zi?¡±

    ¡°Mmm, you know of Zhuang Zi?¡± He was shocked. ¡°Zhuang Zi is my favorite Chinese philosopher.¡±

    ¡°Ge Ge you only know nine hundred and fifty Chinese characters.¡± Iughed, ¡°Aren¡¯t you overreaching trying to discuss Zhuang Zi wit h me?¡±

    ¡°I read a French version of a book before and even took a ss on it in college. It was a pity the professor was Chinese and had a really thick ent. In the end I still only understood about half of it. But you aren¡¯t of the Chinese department either. For knowledge of Zhuang Zi, we are probably even.¡±

    ¡°My father is a true practicer of Zhuang Zi¡¯s philosophies. He yearned for nature, so he went to the rural area from the city. Our home didn¡¯t have a telephone nor a TV setup. We didn¡¯t even have bikes. Since I was young, my dad told me that walking is better than anything else. but my younger brother and I both betrayed him. We couldn¡¯t get a bike, so we begged our grandfather to pay. Without a TV we saved up pocket money to visit the video theater.¡±

    He was shocked, ¡°Really? Your father rejected modern culture?¡±

    ¡°My father said, modern times and ancient times are not innately different.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s thought provoking.¡± Li Chuan looked at me with a smile on his face with a slight meaningful look.

    The gallery filled with more and more people. However, all of them were entrically dressed modernist artists. The majority were young people. During moments of break, Ye Ji Lian rushed over to talk to us a couple times and even said that when she had time, she will invite me to go shopping with her. I thought all female painters were arrogant and didn¡¯t expect her to be so amiable. I couldn¡¯t help but like her a little.

    I snuck a look at my watch, only ten minutes had passed. I asked Li Chuan, ¡°You¡¯ve stood for so long, are you tired?¡±

    ¡°Not tired.¡± Even though he had crutches, he actually didn¡¯t really depend on them for a majority of the time he was standing.

    ¡°Hey, I think there are still a couple people in this gallery who don¡¯t seem like painters.¡± I looked at one person in the crowd.

    ¡°Really?¡± He followed my gaze. Li Chuan saw a middle aged man wearing a grey suit with a square face and a pen in his suit pocket. He seemed like he was searching for someone. Then, it seemed like he found the person. He then proceeded to head towards us.

    At the time we were standing in the middle of a group of China Central Academy of Fine Arts students, wanting to pass the time quickly. They were discussing Wassily Kandinsky and we were pretending to listen.

    ¡°May I ask, are you Chief Officer Wang?¡± The middle aged man asked.

    Li Chuan startled and then asked, ¡°Mister, who are you looking for?¡±

    ¡°CGP Architects¡® Mr. Wang Li Chuan.¡±

    ¡°I am.¡±

    That person handed over his business card. ¡°I am the factory director of Dong Fang ss, Xu Jian Guo.¡±

    I was puzzled. Why would a factory director of a ss factorye to a postmodern gallery?

    ¡°Mr. Xu, are you looking for me for something?¡±

    ¡°Chief Officer Wang, you are the architect of Xiang Xie high rise, the new Wan Ke structure and Long Gang Hotel, right?¡±

    Li Chuan hesitated a bit, ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°Our factory is a state-run medium sized corporation with high qualifications. We can produce respiratory doubleyered ss curtain walls for these three projects.¡±

    ¡°I am only in charge of the exterior appearance and thendscape design. You should contact the construction department.¡±

    ¡°We have researched your background, sir. You are A&E, which means you are the building designer and also the engineer. If you said you required certain building materials to achieve a design effect, the unit in charge of construction will not refused to purchase it.¡±

    Li Chuan remained calm and collected, ¡°This type of ss walls are new products, currently, there are only a few factories that can produce them domestically. But their skills are not up to par. We generally import from Europe.¡±

    Chief Officer Wang, our factory is capable of producing curtain walls of such high standards. With our price and instation, you can save a lot of money for the property. In addition you can gain the reputation of being a supporter of localpanies. What can you have against it.¡±

    ¡°Production of the ss for the outer shell might not be problematic, but the Low-E paint on the internalyer of the ss might be hard to pass the test. Furthermore, the technology for installing the curtain wall is extremely hard. The joints need to be put together with a heating system. We normally invite Switzend specialists as consultants toe and take charge to the instation.¡±

    ¡°With effort, one can achieve anything. Our factory has first rate specialized curtain wall designers and curtain wall construction engineers to take on this job. Moreover, they have at least two years of experience in the field of respiratory ss curtain walls. In addition, we especially spent a lot of money for a instation consultant from Switzend.¡±

    ¡°Which consultant?¡± Li Chuan asked.

    ¡°Mr. An Lu Si from Mi Lin Company.¡±

    ¡°Wait a moment, let me make a call.¡± Li Chuan took out his phone, punched in a number and then spoke for five minutes in French. He then hung up.

    ¡°An Lu Si told you toe find me?¡± Li Shi said, ¡°How much money did you give him? Huh?¡±

    ¡°I have three thousand workers and have sufficient production capacity. I simply don¡¯t have enough orders. The three thousand worker, making around ten thousand people with their families, are all crying piteously for food.¡±

    Li Chuan didn¡¯t understand the saying and looked at me. I used English to say, ¡°He means you will be saving lives.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Xu, you are responsible for your workers, I am responsible for my projects. We each have our own duties, right? This is not a soap opera. Don¡¯t put on an emotional show for me.¡±

    I was stunned. Though I say this person doesn¡¯t know Chinese, when it¡¯s time to be challenging, he doesn¡¯t hesitate at all.

    ¡°Chief Officer Wang, perhaps you don¡¯t understand too much of Chinese culture. The biggest difference between Chinese and western culture is that our culture emphasizes feelings, human rtionships, and friendships. Our country is neither servile nor overbearing.¡±

    Li Chuan asked me in English, ¡°Is this your culture?¡±

    I said, ¡°Yes, this factory director clearly has experience in fighting against capitalists.¡±

    ¡°Capitalists?¡± Li Chuan unconsciously lifted his eyebrows.

    ¡°That is your social ss.¡± I supplemented. Though I was still using English, I unflinchingly took a clear-cut stand on the side of my fellow homnd citizen.

    ¡°Director Xu, what air conditioning system does your ss curtain walls pair with?¡±

    ¡°AVA system. Energy-saving, environmentally friendly, healthy and snug. Chief Officer Wang, I don¡¯t wish for you to make a decision right now. I only hope that you can find some time toe to our factory toe and take a look at our manufacturing situations and samples.¡±

    ¡°Where is your factory?¡±

    ¡°Shenyang.¡±

    Li Chuan thought about it, and said, ¡°How about his,e to my office tomorrow to go over this in detail. Okay? This is my number. Please first make an appointment with my secretary.¡± He wrote him a number.

    The factory director took the slip of paper and earnestly shook his hands, ¡°Chief Officer Wang, thank you for giving our factory this opportunity.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡±

    The factory director quickly took his leave as if he was really busy.

    Taking advantage of this opportunity, I made a trip to the bathroom. When I got back, I saw Li Chuan conversing with Mrs. Jiang Heng Xi. I didn¡¯t go over to disturb them. I stood by myself looking at the paintings in the gallery.

    Tomorrow, I had a listening and speaking exam. I was silently reciting vocab in my mind.

    After awhile, someone came and stood next to me, and asked, ¡°Miss do you really like this painting?¡± He said, ¡°I saw you standing in front of it for quite awhile.¡±

    I turned. It was a refined young man speaking. He had a ssical schrly appearance. Sharp and graceful looking. Only his hairstyle was a little odd, a little wild.

    ¡°Song Qing. The ¡®Song¡¯ of Song Jiang, ¡®Qing¡¯ of clear. Of Xi¡¯an Art Academy.¡± He introduced himself.

    I raised my head and looked around for Li Chuan, hoping he woulde and save me. He was close to me, but his back was towards me, having a cheerful conversation with Mrs. Jiang Heng Xi.

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I pretended to be profound, ¡°I quite like it.¡±

    ¡°Then, ording to this youngdy, what is the theme of this painting.¡± He continued to ask, appearing quite interested as if he really wanted to hear me speak about it.

    I promptly took a careful look at the painting. It was a painting of a face, but the five sensual organsof the face were the genitals of a woman. (Five sensual organs: Nose, eyes, lips, tongue, ears.)

    I swallowed and was silent for a moment, ¡°This is a person¡¯s face.¡± No kidding!

    Song Qing looked at me in confusion, waiting for me to continue. I could only proceed:

    ¡ª ¡°A person¡¯s face is public. Everyone can see it.¡±

    ¡ª ¡°A person¡¯s body is hidden, is craved for, and cannot be seen.¡±

    ¡ª ¡°So this face with a body signifies the desire for the hidden to be made public. The mouth and vagina match up, indicating the innate difference between postmodern sexuality and ancient times sexuality.¡±

    ¡°What innate difference?¡± Song Qing asked, full of interest.

    ¡°The change in the medium, right? The desire of postmodernism is to use the mouth and not the sexual organ to express things.¡±

    Damn it! I went for it, ¡°What is a mouth? What does a mouth stand for? What do you say?¡±

    I threw the question out back at him.

    ¡°Language?¡± He attempted to answer.

    I enlightened him, ¡°Language, sound, symbol, text, verbal, informal dissemination¡­¡±

    ¡°Therefore¡­¡±

    ¡°Postmodern sexuality requiresnguage to obtain satisfaction, not through sensual organs. In this painting, I think that you should actually add something in this corner.¡±

    ¡°What thing?¡± He was a bit frightened.

    ¡°A stone.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°A stone has no desire.¡± I arrived at my conclusion. ¡°Desire growing out of something that has never had desire. Only the imagination of an artist of postmodernism can achieve this.¡±

    I nced at Li Chuan again. His back was towards me, his shoulders shaking inughter.

    Song Qing was flurried, but said inprehension, ¡°What a brilliant idea, Miss. I am the author of this painting. Yourprehension has enlightened me a lot. I haven¡¯t heard such profound analysis in a long time. Can I ask you for you number? If you have time, I would like go for coffee with you.¡±

    A hand was ced on my shoulder. Li Chuan had squeezed over, ¡°No, she is a college student, she doesn¡¯t have a number.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Song Qing gave Li Chuan a resentful nce, feeling that he roughly interrupted our conversation. He ignored Li Chuan and continued to point to a painting next to it, ¡°Miss, I also painted that painting. Can I listen to your wise opinion on it?¡±

    I shifted my gaze over and caught sight of a dazzling bright red oil painting.

    It was red like blood, there were several strips of scarlet red threads in the middle, like veins expanding out.

    I quickly lowered my head and couldn¡¯t help but grab onto Li Chuan.

    I wanted to remain calm, but my mind was aplete nk. I heard myself say, ¡°Li Chuan, take me away from here!¡±

    And then I becamepletely unaware.

    When I woke up, I saw I was lying on a veryfortable couch. My mouth was sweet as if I had drank syrup.

    Li Chuan sat to the side, holding onto my hand.

    ¡°Do you want some water?¡± He asked.

    I shook my head.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me,¡± his face was stiff, ¡°that you had blood phobia?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not very severe.¡± I breathed slowly.

    ¡°But you still watch horror movies¡­¡±

    ¡°I believe that it can cure me.¡±

    ¡°You will still faint if it¡¯s not your own blood?¡± He asked curiously.

    ¡°I only faint at other people¡¯s blood. I won¡¯t faint if I see my blood.¡±

    I wanted to sit up, he restrained me. ¡°Lie down for a bit longer.¡±¡±

    ¡°Were you born with this or is it a psychological thing?¡±

    ¡°When my mom gave birth to my brother, she bled to death.¡± I said, ¡°At the time, I was at her side.¡±

    ¡°Really? Why did the hospital allow children to be present during childbirth?¡±

    ¡°My mom had my brother at home. She refused to go to the hospital.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°She was very self-confident. However, something bad happened. The medical treatments in the countryside is very poor, there was not enough time to save her. My mom didn¡¯t know that something was wrong herself. Right before she died, she was asking me if I liked my brother.¡±

    Li Chuan didn¡¯t say anything, continuously stroking my face and my hair, ¡°I don¡¯t have a mom either. My mom passed away early. Car ident.¡±

    ¡°What did your mom do?¡±

    ¡°Let me put it this way for you.¡± He took a drink of water. ¡°I am an architect, right?¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going to find it more annoying as I continue.¡± He said, ¡°My older brother is also. My father is also. My mother is also. My uncle is also. My grandfather is also.¡±

    ¡°Your grandmother is also?¡±

    ¡°She is also. Do you want to continue hearing about the profession of my family?¡±

    ¡°Is your older female cousin also? Do you have an older female cousin?¡±

    ¡°She is also.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, you family¡¯s history is too tedious.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Hehe.¡±

 Chapter 13

    <h4>Chapter 13</h4>

    Li Chuan said that he first thought I was acting when I fainted. He was going to have Jiang Heng Xi carry me to his car and then slip away as originally nned. To his surprise, my pulse was amiss when he checked, so he hurriedly got me sent to the lounge and fed me some sugar water. The building was a lofty development and there were several clinics on the second floor. He got a doctor toe and take a look at me. When he asked for the reason, he was told it was probably blood phobia. The usual remedy was to just lie down. Ten minutes were enough.

    He looked at his watch, ¡°You¡¯ve already beenying for twenty minutes, why is you face still so white?¡±

    I sat up, andughed, ¡°My face is white because I put power on it. I put makeup on, understand?¡±

    ¡°You skin is so nice, why put on makeup at such a young age?¡±

    ¡°Being mature and having sex appeal is one of my goals in life.¡± I had just finished joking when I discovered that he was gazing straight into my eyes, not saying a word, as if he was frozen in frame.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, you are a deity. You are a ridiculous person. You are enticing all over. It¡¯s as if I¡¯m overlooking an abyss.¡± He stood up and handed my jacked to me, ¡°Put on this sexy jacket, let¡¯s go home.¡±

    We returned to Long Ze Garden in a flurry and entered his t. He pressed me against the door, impatiently kissing me, ¡°Stay with me tonight, okay?

    ¡°I have an exam tomorrow. Listening and speaking.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only a day away, will studying now even be useful?¡±

    ¡°Sharpening a de right before battle will still make it brighter.¡±

    ¡°I need to go on a business trip tomorrow afternoon. There¡¯s a final round for design proposals in Xiamen. I need to be there topete for it.¡±

    ¡°How long will you have to stay?¡±

    ¡°Three weeks.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± I said, ¡°I finally get to see you and you have to leave.¡±

    ¡°So we have to take advantage of the time, right?¡± He took off my coat for me, lowered his head and kissed my chest. His arms wrapped around my back, undoing my zipper. I shyly leaned back a little because my body has stopped at a young girl¡¯s age. Tiny bone structure and t chest, nothing special. I was like a lizard crawling on top of his body. I bent down to his waist and threw away his crutches, forcing him to lean against my body.

    ¡°Hey, am I really heavy?¡± Seeing me practically copsing under his weight, he promptly leaned against the door with his elbows.

    ¡°Not heavy¡­¡± My spirit and soul had been turned upside down by his kisses. I murmured by his ear, ¡°Li Chuan, I love you! Torment me as much as you like!¡±

    We went to take showers, covered in sweat, each entering our respective bathrooms.

    Li Chuan said that his bathroom was entirely installed for the handicap. Any normal person who went in would think that it was a torture chamber from the Kuomintang age. I would have be fine if he hadn¡¯t said this, but once he did, I had to go in and see it. The bathroom wasn¡¯t actually that dark. The inside was spacious and cozy, there was even a couch. It was just that there were handrails all around for support. The floor was also covered with slip resistant material. And there was a small wheelchair. On the side there was a cab filled with white bath towels.

    ¡°Can I peep at you bathing? Just five minutes?¡± I grinned, looking at him.

    ¡°No.¡± He dragged me out by the ear.

    The bathroom at school was always full of steam. It was hard toe by a ce that made me like to shower. I took a long shower. When I got out, I saw Li Chuan in his bathrobe, sitting on the couch and drinking beer.

    He stood up and asked me, ¡°Do you want anything to drink?¡±

    ¡°A cold beer.¡±

    ¡°No, this is something for men to drink.¡± We walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge, looked around for a bit, ¡°I¡¯ll make a warm milk tea for you. How about that?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I bounced over to the kitchen and found that his kitchen was brand new. It was spotless. Clearly, he had never cooked a meal there.

    ¡°Have you used your stove before?¡± I patted the sleek surface of the electric stove. There was not a drop of oil on it.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Then why did you design a kitchen? Might as well not have it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s indeed a design mistake.¡± He said, ¡°As an architect, we want to spend most of our time on designing the living room.¡±

    ¡°Actually, I can stew a soup here.¡± I said while opening the kitchen cabs. I discovered that all the pots, pans, and cooking-ware were there, all arranged neatly. ¡°Next time I¡¯ll buy some groceries and make a soup for you. Cantonese style. The light kind. Fish head tofu soup is also pretty nourishing.¡±

    ¡°I crave it now that you are talking about it. How about we go and buy some groceries no?.¡± He found the door key, ¡°There¡¯s a store near here. It¡¯s not too far, we can walk there.¡±

    Li Chuan said it wasn¡¯t far, but we walked for half an hour before getting to the store he talked about. This time, he put on the prosthetic leg despite my opposition so that he could have a hand empty. Holding my hand, we walked into the store. I pushed the shopping cart. I didn¡¯t find bones, but ended up buying an entire bass from the fish market. I bought scallions and ginger for the soup, tofu, celery and lily, and some other vegetables for the stew. Li Chuan bought what he wanted to eat and then urged me to buy more prepared dishes so that I can concentrate on studying instead of worrying about what to eat during each meal.

    I also bought some Yunnan ham, sausages and dried mushrooms.

    ¡°Buy more to store up for eating. Bread and drinks. I have coffee and tea at my ce. It¡¯s all in the fridge. Remember to choose Colombia coffee beans. It¡¯s the best for staying awake.¡± I didn¡¯t know what it was, but he picked something up and threw it into the shopping cart. I took a look. It was soy milk. I threw it back on the shelf, ¡°The dorm doesn¡¯t have a fridge, it¡¯s a waste to buy too much.¡±

    ¡°Live in my t while you take exams, okay?¡± He said, ¡°It¡¯s quieter here. You can concentrate on studying. I¡¯ll be in Xiamen and won¡¯t bother you.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no¡­¡± I repeated it ten times before finally adding, ¡°It¡¯s inconvenient.¡±

    ¡°Mmm, this is a little far from your school. But I can have my chauffeur drive you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you always drive yourself?¡±

    ¡°I have a chauffeur, but I like to drive by myself, so he isn¡¯t very busy. Now, it¡¯ll be perfect to find him some work to do.¡± He took out his cell phone to make a call.

    I seized his cell phone, ¡°Ge Ge, spare me. I am only at ease in the dorm. The exams are extremely important to me. You don¡¯t want me to feel ufortable while reviewing, right?¡±

    There was one thing about Li Chuan that I enjoyed taking advantage of. That was, he never forced me to do anything.

    ¡°Okay, as you wish.¡± He smiled lightly and didn¡¯t persist.

    Despite this, we still bought a pile of things to eat. I carried two bags, Li Chuan carried two bags, and took a taxi back. At the door of the lobby, we ran into Ji Huan. He was with another man, also carrying a bunch of bags heading into the building.

    ¡°Hey, Li Chuan, Xiao Xie!¡±

    ¡°Hey!¡± I was a little embarrassed. Li Chuan held onto my hand and didn¡¯t let go, like a sweet couple.

    ¡°Let me introduce you. This is ssmate Xiao Yi, graduate student of oil painting at China Central Academy of Fine Arts.¡± Besides having a pair of red phoenix eyes (Eyes with outer corners inclined upwards.) like Guan Yu, Xiao Guan appeared very mild and gentle. (Guan Yu: General of Shu and blood-brother of Liu Bei in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, fearsome fighter famous for virtue and loyalty)

    ¡°Hello.¡± He shook hands with us.

    ¡°This is Mr. Wang Li Chuan, and Miss. Xie Xiao Qiu. Mr. Wang is an architect. Miss Xie is still studying in college.¡±

    Li Chuan switched the shopping bags from his left hand to his right and shook hands with him.

    ¡°Li Chuan, you didn¡¯t even inform Miss Xie when you were sick, causing her to wait here for three whole hours.¡± Ji Huanughed.

    ¡°Really?¡± Li Chuan nced at me apologetically.

    I bowed my head and looked at my toes.

    ¡°I will certainly plead my guilt properly.¡± Li Chuan said.

    After getting in the elevator, Iughed, ¡°That Xiao Yi held his chest up so straight, it looked like he was really gay.¡±

    ¡°They must have been with each other for a long time now.¡± Li Chuan said, ¡°Xiao Yi is indifferent about it, but Ji Huan goes on loudly all day long about getting their marriage certificate in Canada.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll say, Li Chuan, why aren¡¯t you gay. You are clean and neat. You home is untainted by even a speck of dust.¡±

    ¡°Someone cleans my ce everyday.¡± He saids, ¡°If no one cleaned it, you¡¯ll see.¡±

    ¡°Do you make your bed in the mornings?¡±

    ¡°No. Are you satisfied?¡±

    We returned to the t and each put on aprons. Li Chuan killed the fish while I stewed the soup. Li Chuan cut the vegetables while I stir-fried them. I always considered Li Chuan as a pampered son of a wealthy family. I didn¡¯t expect him to do such work so fast and so well. It was has if he had been trained before. Li Chuan said that even though they didn¡¯tck money at home, he and his older brother both worked part-time jobs to support themselves during college. They rarely asked for help from home.

    ¡°Of course, my dad paid for the most expensive part, our tuition.¡±

    Seeing him cutting onions, I said, ¡°There¡¯s already a lot of dishes, stop cutting.¡±

    ¡°You made me a delicious soup, I will also make a delicious soup.¡± He went to wash ms, ¡°m Chowder. Have you had it before?¡±

    I was baffled, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°I loved to drink this as a child. The recipe is passed onto me by my grandmother.¡±

    ¡°Then you teach me, ok?¡± I squeezed up next to him, attentively watching him wash the ms.

    ¡°No. This is a secret recipe. It especially for currying favor with one¡¯s significant other.¡± He heated up the pan, added butter, and dumped in the small bowl of onions for stir-frying. Then he added chicken stock and milk, potato pieces, and ms, and slowly let it simmer.

    After finishing stewing the fish, I stir-fried two small dishes and split the pot-stewed dish into four tes. I drank his m Chowder, he drank my bass soup. We picked up our chopsticks and ate the dishes together, drinking beer.

    That night, I cuddled in Li Chuan¡¯s embrace, sleeping very early. There were many pillows on Li Chuan¡¯s bed. He said that he could only sleep on his left side. If he turned over onto his right side, it will be as if he fell into a hole. So, he needed the pillows to cushion his waist. He read ¡°Remembrance of Things Past¡± to me in French. Before he had finished one page, I was already asleep. In the middle of the night, he got up to drink milk. I also woke up, and then we made love in the dark. It was extremely intense, we werepletely absorbed, to the extent of tearing up several pillows. It was dawn before we discovered that our bodies were covered in goose feathers.

    Li Chuan drove me to the school. We kissed farewell at the school gates. My whole body ached from the fierce sex, but Li Chuan said that myplexion was rosy, and full of energy and fighting spirit.

    ¡°Wish you luck!¡±

    ¡°Wish you sess!¡±

    My listening and speaking were my strong suit, and I thought I did pretty well on the test. But it was hard to saypared to the well-trained and private lesson taking Feng Jing Er. After mid-term exams there was apetitive mood in the air in the dorm room. Everyone was silently striving for the schrship, no longer announcing scores to each other.

    I originally cared a lot about grades, but now, grades were no longer that important. I was constantly longing for one person, Li Chuan.

    After finishing exams at midday, I wanted to go get water and discovered that the thermos was already full.

    ¡°Xiu Ge Ge got it for you.¡± An An said with new Nike shoes on.

    ¡°Where is Xiu Ge Ge? I want to thank him.¡±

    ¡°He just went down, you didn¡¯t run into him?¡±

    I chased him down, and thanked Xiu Yue. He said you¡¯re wee.

    ¡°Did you read the book I bought for you?¡±

    ¡°Not¡­yet. I been preparing for exam recently and have been too nervous. I¡¯m sure I will like the novel a lot. That¡¯s right, why is the book name called ¡®The Moon and Sixpence¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Everyone wants the moon in the sky, but cannot see the sixpence coin next to one¡¯s feet.¡±

    I was terrified, thinking that the he was implying something. I then consoled myself. Li Chuan only had three-fourth of a normal person¡¯s body. Li Chuan needed crutches to walk. When stripped naked, Li Chuan had a perfect upper body and a sexually appealing lower body. But when the upper body and lower body were ced together, it was a tragic sight. In short, Li Chuan was absolutely not the moon. As for Xiu Yue, he was pretty good-looking, had strength and discipline, like the patriotic youth sung about in the March of the Volunteer Army (People¡¯s Republic of China¡¯s national anthem). His English skills surpassed the eighth level and he was ranked on the list of rmended graduate students. His grades were top-notch and had gotten all the schrships that Feng Jing Er and I envied. He was the school representative and pride of the president. In short, Xiu Yue was absolutely not a sixpence.

    The verdict was that I wanted Li Chuan. I didn¡¯t want Xiu Yue.

    I was firm in my belief. I steeled myself and said to Xiu Yue, ¡°Thank you for always carrying water for me. In the future, don¡¯t carry water for me anymore.¡±

    He looked at me bbergasted, and stammered, ¡°I¡­have to carry water for myself everyday anyway. To carry two more of yours¡­isn¡¯t too inconvenient.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t carry water for me anymore.¡± When I said this, my face was ice-cold, my tone was rigid. I didn¡¯t like him, so couldn¡¯t give him any hope. More so, I couldn¡¯t take unfair advantage of his passion. It¡¯s not something that I, Xie Xiao Qiu, would do.

    When I returned to the dorm room, my phone rang. It was Li Chuan.

    ¡°How did your exam go?¡±

    ¡°It felt really good. Where are you?¡±

    ¡°On the way to the airport.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan are you going alone? Is someone taking care of you?¡± I was worried for him. On a business trip, handicap facilities were unavable. This person also got up in the middle of the night to drink milk.

    ¡°How can it just be one person. There are eight, to make an all-out effort. Tomorrow and the day after, I will do two presentations. What about you, what will you do tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°I sit for intensive reading exam tomorrow and extensive reading the day after. Then, I¡¯ll buy a ticket to go home to celebrate the New Year.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean, when I get back, I won¡¯t be able to see you?¡± It was apparent he was bing anxious over there.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I haven¡¯t seen my dad and younger brother in half a year. I quite miss them.¡±

    ¡°You only miss them, then what about me¡± He said, ¡°I¡¯lle to Kunming to find you.¡± Li Chuan¡¯s knowledge of Yunnan was limited to Kunming.

    ¡°Ge Ge, my home is not in Kunming. It¡¯s in a small town behind a huge mountain.¡± I said, ¡°Drive carefully. After the new year, I will be back at school and wille find you.¡±

    ¡°After the new year? Isn¡¯t that after half a month?¡± He said dejectedly.

    ¡°Wang Li Chuan,¡± I said his full name very fiercely, ¡°now you know how long half a month feels like, right?¡±

    I hung up and saw Xiao Rui poke out her head from the mosquito tent, ¡°What! I thought you had been broken up this entire time. So it wasn¡¯t breaking up, it was falling head over heels in love.¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡± I climbed up and pinched her.

    ¡°Wow! Wang Ge Ge is so generous to buy you such a good coat.¡± Xiao Rui had an intuition for clothing, always going on about changing professions to be a fashion designer.

    That pure ck woolen jacket was one of yesterday¡¯s props for the art exhibit. I was too embarrassed to wear the rest of the clothing back and left it in Li Chuan¡¯s loft. Because this piece of clothing fit well, was pretty, and nice and warm, as if it was specially tailored, I happily wore it into school.

    ¡°Is it a really nice brand?¡± I didn¡¯t know and rummaged in the jacket¡¯s cor.

    ¡°This is a famous Italian brand. It must be at least several thousand yuan.¡± Xiao Rui said with experience.

    ¡°No way.¡± I shook my head. Nothing I wore has ever exceeded fifty yuan.

    These kind of shops normally don¡¯t ce the price on the exterior of the clothing, rather it¡¯s ced in a pocket.¡± She said.

    I remember when picking out the clothes, he bought it right after I tried it. I didn¡¯t ask for the price, Li Chuan didn¡¯t ask for the price either.

    I fished through the pockets and found a small card. I took it out for a look and was taken aback.

    Eight-thousand eight-hundred yuan.

    Xiao Rui nodded, ¡°I guessed it was that much. You¡¯ve really run into a highly eligible bachelor.¡± She patted my face, and then shrewdly said, ¡°Hey, let me ask one thing of you. Next time, when you meet his friends, introduce one to me. Or maybe if his family throws a party, bring me with you.¡±

    ¡°How about I introduce Li Chuan to you.¡± Iughed darkly.

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡±

 Chapter 14

    <h4>Chapter 14</h4>

    I threw all of my energy into thest two exams. Meanwhile, I still continued to work at the caf¨¦. When I got back every night, two pitchers of filled with hot water were still waiting for me. I thought it was An An beingzy again, making Xiu Ge Ge get it. To my surprise An An said that it was Feng Jing Er who got it for me.

    I knew that Feng Jing Er rarely got water herself. It was always Lu Jie who got it for her.

    Since she hadn¡¯t left for the evening study session yet, I went to thank her. She appeared tired out, ¡°Ah, why are you being so polite? You get back sote every night and the weather is so could. How can you go without hot water?¡±

    I asked her to thank Lu Jie for me then.

    ¡°Lu Jie joined a supplementary foreignnguage improvement ss. He can¡¯t find the time. His water is even brought by me.¡± Sheughed. She always seemed extremely prideful, but for some reason, today herugh had a bleak overtone to it, ¡°We keep wanting to treat Li Chuan to a meal, but he would never give us the honor. The application letter he helped fix for Lu Jie was really useful, many schools have been in contact. We choose University of Chicago. They agreed to waive the tuition. You know that a school like University of Chicago rarely waives the tuition. Lu Jie has rtives abroad who can vouch for him. Everything is in order now. The only thing missing is the admissions notice.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s just what you wished. Isn¡¯t that a great thing?¡± I was happy for her.

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Her tone was unenthusiastic.

    ¡°What about you? What do you n to do?¡±

    ¡°I also n on taking TOEFL. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t have reliable rtives abroad and my major is English. I can¡¯tpete like Lu Jie can. It¡¯s probably not likely for me to go abroad.¡±

    ¡°Let Lu Jie help you think of a way after he goes abroad.¡± I said. I didn¡¯t know anything about going abroad. To me, this kind of thing was like a distant dream. So I could only casually suggest something.

    ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡±

    This was the feeling one gets during conversations with someone who wasn¡¯t really a friend. Humming and hawing, with no beginning or end, saying one thing but meaning something different. Feng Jing Er and I weren¡¯t really friends, I was very terrified that I would be indebted to her for her personally getting water for me. It was Li Chuan who helped out, it had nothing to do with me. To have me receive her thanks, was not something I dared to ept. So after speaking to her, I immediately went out to the small convenience shop and bought two thermos bottles. In the future, I¡¯ll carry four bottles at noon. That way, I won¡¯t need to owe anyone.

    The thing about Li Chuan buying a jacket for me spread through the whole dormitory floor due to Xiao Rui¡¯s vivid and colorful exnation. I became the lead in those fairy tales. Naturally the two versions that were most widely spread were: A. I was the secret girlfriend of an already married son from a rich family. That, I thought it was real, but in actuality he just wanted something fresh and new to y with. B. I was a prostitute at some entertainment ce after school. In order to earn some extra ie, I picked up a very wealthy person. The English and Music Departments were infamous for this at our university because once the police had an unexpected operation where they caught seven girls prostituting themselves at a club. They were all forced to quit school. There was one English Department student who could not bear the shame and hung herself. She hung herself in one of these dorm rooms on our floor.

    What kind of world is this? When someone is said to be good, others are doubtful. When someone is said to be evil, others might not believe it. One is devoured if one stays silent. Everyone is filled with malicious intent.

    It¡¯s true that I was only seventeen years old, but that doesn¡¯t mean at all that I had to wait until I was thirty-seven years old to really understand a man, to understand Li Chuan.

    Except during the two days of exams, Li Chuan called me once every day. I could tell he was very busy. He had to go see the construction site, had to have meals with others, had to prepare material, had to alter designs. His schedule was all nned andpletely filled. Long distance calls on the cell phone didn¡¯t have very good service, conversations cut in and out. The two of us said one sentence the most, ¡°What did you just say? Say it again, I didn¡¯t hear clearly.¡± Furthermore, I was also worried that the phone bill cost a lot and wasn¡¯t willing to say too much. After a few words of greeting, we would hang up.

    After exams, I slept for several days in the dorm room and then headed to the train station to line up to buy a ticket back to Yunnan. It was already high traffic time for traveling home for Chinese New Year. (This period is known as ) There was a long line at the ticket window. The Beijing train stations started selling tickets every morning at eight until five in the afternoon. What usually happens is after the ticket window is opened for less that ten minutes, the tickets would be sold out. The first day, I didn¡¯t know the inside scoop. I went in the morning and didn¡¯t get a ticket. When I asked around, everyone who managed to purchase a ticket had been lined up since the evening before. The station surged with people, causing me to be homesick. I immediately returned to the dormitory, and got enough water and rations. I picked up the book that Xiu Yue gave me, ¡°The Moon and Sixpence¡± and joined the insane line.

    I waited in line overnight. I had finally endured until dawn and the ticket window opened. Everyone lined up in front of me would get one ticket per person. There were only around ten people in front of me before the ticket window with a ng closed and a sign was posted, ¡°All tickets sold out for today.¡± I quickly asked a older man who had gotten a ticket about his experience. He said, ¡°How can waiting a day be enough? I¡¯ve waited for three days. I almost didn¡¯t get it today.¡±

    I belonged to the type of people who had stoicism in the face of hardship. Who became braver the longer a war went on. I went to a kiosk to buy a cup of Nestl¨¦ instant coffee and drank it in one go. I took out a towel and toothbrush, went to the bathroom to tidy up and then returned to the ticket window in high spirits. I began a new round of lining up. I had just gone to the bathroom for ten minutes and twenty more fellow vigers had got in in front of me. Unbelievable.

    While in line, I had already finished reading ¡°The Moon and Sixpence.¡± In thest few pages, there was a bookmark stuck in. There was a part of a song written on it:

    Over these years I have been by myself

    The wind has passed by The rain has gone by

    There were tears There were mistakes

    Still remember what was intended

    After being truly in love will one understand

    There will be loneliness There will be memories

    There will always be dreams There will always be you in my heart

    Friends walking together through life

    Those kind of days no longer exists

    One word One lifetime

    One love in life One cup of wine

    Friends never have to be lonely

    A word of ¡°friend¡± you will understand

    There are still injuries There are still hurts

    Still need to leave Still have me

    (The lyrics are from a famous 90s song, , by Emil Wakin Chau)

    Xiu Yue had really good penmanship. He was the champion of the penmanshippetition at our university. He said that he had wanted to work at a caf¨¦, but no one wanted him. So he could only go to a university for the elderly to teach. He sighed, saying that the elderly had great enthusiasm. He hoped that he could be like that one day, to go learn something, not because of money, not to make a living, not because of anything.

    Besides Faye Wong, I liked Emil Wakin Chau the best. This song was one that I actually really liked, but Xiu Yue wrote it out for me in such earnestly that I felt that I had to give it a lot of thought. Although I was still young, I was not interested in this type of secretive student romance. I remember watching the Japanese movie, ¡°Love Letter,¡± with the Ge Ges in 301. It was a long film and everyone was silently shedding tears, and couldn¡¯t help but sob. Only I was indifferent. Only men who didn¡¯t have the courage would do such deliberate and methodical thing. Love was present progressive, not past tense. It was an imperative phrase, not an exmatory phrase.

    The strong incandescent light in the train station illuminated the hall at all times. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was day or night. In the afternoon, I ate a steamed bun, asked the older uncle behind me to save my spot and took a nap on a chair on the side. By night time, my energy wasn¡¯t very high and could only drink coffee as if my life depended on it. The older uncle asked me, ¡°Student, where is your home? Is it Kunming?¡±

    ¡°Gejiu.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean you still have to go on a bus after getting off the train?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s around eight-hundred yuan for a round trip, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Why did you attend school so far away?¡± He saw that I was dressed like a student.

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Grades were too good.¡± I said.

    He was just about to continue the conversation when my cell phone rang. I looked at the time, it was already nine-thirty at night. Another day had passed.

    ¡°Hi, Xiao Qiu.¡± Li Chuan said, ¡°Are you already sleeping?¡±

    ¡°No, I am attending a night studying session.¡± I didn¡¯t want to tell him about buying a ticket to save him from worrying.

    Unfortunately, the train station started broadcasting, ¡°Next train from Chengdu to Beijing 1394 has arrived. Pulling up on tform five. Pulling up on tform five.¡±

    ¡°Why is it so loud, is this where the night studying session is?¡± At that moment, he started being suspective.

    I quickly changed the subject, ¡°Hey, how are you? Were you busy today?¡±

    ¡°It was okay. Turned in thest piece of the design today. It turned out that Xiao Zhang¡¯sputer had a virus and I spent a whole afternoon restoring his data. Now I can finally take a breather.¡±

    The broadcast started up again. It was to look for a person, ¡°Tao Xiao Hua¡¯s parents, pleasee to the train security station after hearing this broadcast. Your son is currently looking for you.¡±

    I hurriedly asked, ¡°Who is Xiao Zhang?¡±

    ¡°My resident consultant.¡±

    ¡°Hey, Li Chuan, is there milk where you are staying?¡±

    ¡°No, but there¡¯s a store not far away. I already bought several bottles and put it in the fridge.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t buy too many all at once. Check the expiration date carefully. Expired milk can¡¯t be drunk.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll remember it.¡±

    At that moment, the station broadcast came on again. He finally said, ¡°Xiao Qiu, where are you really?¡±

    ¡°Train station, lining up to buy a ticket.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s sote, tickets are still being sold?¡±

    ¡°They are no longer being sold, but I have to line up. Otherwise, I won¡¯t be able to buy it if I go in the morning.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± He said, ¡°You have to line up overnight?¡±

    ¡°What are you afraid of? I often watch movies overnight. Please, I have a really good novel with me. I can pass the time quickly.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu,¡± he said, ¡°go back to school right now. I will make a call to my secretary right now to book a ne ticket for you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± I cried out loudly, ¡°I¡¯ve already been in line for two nights. It¡¯s almost my turn. I will resent anyone who makes me fail at thisst moment!¡±

    ¡°If you insist on riding the train, I¡¯ll have my secretary book a train ticket.¡±

    ¡°A ticket can¡¯t be booked now. There aren¡¯t even tickets at the station.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t be booked? I don¡¯t believe it.¡± He said. ¡°Let me try, okay? It¡¯s to Kunming, right?¡±

    ¡°Ok,¡± I became edgy, ¡°ssmate Li Chuan, stop. I don¡¯t want you to spend money on me. Buying a ticket is my own thing. Also,¡± I thought of that eight-thousand yuan jacket and added, ¡°in the future, you are not allowed to buy me anything exceeding fifty yuan.¡±

    ¡°It takes thirty-nine hours to get to Kunming by train. It only takes three hours by ne.¡± He didn¡¯t understand me at all and was online while on the phone.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Do you know how many human traffickers are at the Beijing station? Female graduate students are even sold by them into the mountainous regions.¡±

    ¡°No means no.¡±

    I hung up. I turned off the phone. Li Chuan¡¯s disregard for money attitude provoked me. Li Chuan, you have money and can aplish anything, right? I purposely don¡¯t want your money.

    I turned on my walkman and yed Faye Wong¡¯s disk. I didn¡¯t know why I like Faye Wong. She was rxing,nguid, calm, and followed one¡¯s heart. Every little detail was about the state of mind and desires of a woman. In short, her voice was filled with an urban vor.

    I waited in boredom while listening to Faye Wong¡¯s voice. There was nothing to do, so I could only read ¡°The Moon and Sixpence¡± another time. I read until dawn and discovered the I disliked Maugham, the author of the book, more and more. The older Kunming uncle yawned and said to me, ¡°Little girl, what good story are you reading? Tell me about it, I¡¯m so tired, I really can¡¯t take it anymore.¡±

    ¡°Uncle, see if you think this part is saying the right thing.¡±

    I exined it to him, ¡°If a woman falls in love with you, until she possesses your soul, she will not feel satisfied. Because women are weak, they have extremely intense desire to rule. They will not resign until they control youpletely. A woman is petty-minded and is disgusted with the abstract things she doesn¡¯t understand. She only thinks about materialistic things, so is extremely jealous of vigor and dreams. A man¡¯s soul roams in the farthest reaches of the universe, but a woman wants to confine it in the financial tent of the household¡­.To people who have fallen into this snare of love, the difference between men and women is that a woman can go on a date all day long while a man can only do it now and then.¡±

    ¡°My god, what you said really makes sense. My wife is like this. What book is this? It¡¯s saying what¡¯s in the bottom of my heart.¡± The uncle said while drooling.

    I looked at him in anger and gloom.

    One good thing about the train station is that it offered hot water all day long. At dawn I went to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth and then got another cup of coffee. I looked at myself in the mirror of the bathroom, and saw my disheveled hair and gloomyplexion. My skin had not only lost it¡¯s luster but had a faint blue look as if I was a female ghost from.

    It was already seven-thirty by the time I got back. I turned on my cell phone. It showed that I missed six phone calls all from the same number, Li Chuan.

    The uncle also picked up his energy and was reading the People¡¯s Daily newspaper.

    ¡°Girl, talk to me some more to help me stay awake. That¡¯s right, aren¡¯t you in the English Department? Recite an English poem for me, okay?¡±

    I was startled and looked at the huge luggage he was bringing, ¡°Uncle, you are an educated man!¡±

    ¡°You probably couldn¡¯t tell. I am an ountant.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll recite two poems for you.¡± I first said it in English, and then recited the tranted text by someone famous for him:

    ¡°To-morrow is Saint Valentine¡¯s day,

    All in the morning betime,

    And I a maid at your window,

    To be your Valentine.

    Then up he rose, and donn¡¯d his clothes,

    And dupp¡¯d the chamber-door;

    Let in the maid, that out a maid.¡±

    The uncleughed out loud saying, girl, you¡¯re really quite something! Quite amusing.

    I got into it and recited another section to him:

    ¡°How should I your true love know.

    From another one?

    By his cockle hat and staff,

    And his sandal shoon.¡±

    (Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5)

    The uncleughed even harder and said, ¡°Girl, you are truly a god. You can even recite poetry. You must be reciting about him.¡±

    He pointed behind me.

    I turned around and saw a handsome man standing not too far from me.

    He had on a hat and held a cane. He was only missing straw sandals.

    The uncle said, ¡°Hey, girl, enlighten me. Who wrote that poem? It¡¯s quite appealing. I¡¯ve already remembered it from you just reciting it once. Next time I¡¯ll tell it to others as a performance.¡±

    I didn¡¯t open my mouth and heard a familiar voice answer for me.

    ¡°Shakespeare.¡±

    Li Chuan.

    Seeing Li Chuan, I felt a bit guilty. He wore a leisurely outfit and had on a straw hat, looking like he had just returned from vacation in Hawaii. I didn¡¯t know it it was just my misperception, but though Li Chuan was severely handicapped, he still always appeared so bright and neat. So natural and elegant.

    ¡°How are you back so quickly?¡± I asked despite knowing the answer. He clearly took the early flight this morning.

    ¡°I called your phone. You had it turned off.¡± He said cooly, ¡°Do you know how worried I was?¡±

    ¡°No way, Ge Ge.¡±

    ¡°Did you sleep here these past two days?¡± He swept a look around at the chaotic crowd, looking up and down. A vige auntie was looking at a mirror and picking her teeth, another woman had bared her chest and was breast-feeding her child without any apprehension.

    ¡°I only took a couple naps.¡± I said, ¡°Waiting in line is a lot easier than taking an exam.¡±

    ¡°Wait here, I¡±ll go buy breakfast for you.¡± He put down his bag and was about to leave.

    ¡°Hey, hey, how about you stand in line for me and I¡¯ll go buy it. This ce is ratherplicated.¡± I stopped him. The train station was so disorderly and there were no handicap instations. Everyone was in a hurry while dragging their luggage. If someone bumped into him, it would be troublesome.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we go eat it together.¡± He walked over to woman in line in front of me and spoke in a pleasant and captivating manner to ask her to keep my spot for me. That woman stared at him without blinking, nodding with all her might, nearly bing foolish.

    I said in my mind, Li Chuan Ge, please don¡¯t be so enticing, okay?

    He dragged me to ride the elevator to the second floor, found a caf¨¦, and got me a dessert. I told the waiter, ¡°Excuse me, the bitterest coffee.¡±

    He looked at me for a long time and signed, ¡°Xiao Qiu, I concede to you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m almost there in line. Really! I will definitely buy it today. I have a real aplished feeling!¡±

    ¡°If you still can¡¯t buy it today, then listen to me and take the ne home.¡± He said seriously.

    ¡°No!¡± I was reluctant to admit a mistake. My whole body was like a noodle leaning against his body. He embraced me and said in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s a public ce, shouldn¡¯t we try not to be a disturbance?¡±

    ¡°Why do you always have a nice smell?¡± His chin was on my forehead. I sniffed his neck, it had great sex appeal.

    ¡°It¡¯s probably the scent of the shaving cream.¡±

    ¡°So, what scent is it?¡± I said in a daze.

    ¡°Lavender. How do you say it in Chinese.¡±

    ¡°It has a ssical name,vender. Isn¡¯t it especially beautiful?¡±

    ¡°Mmm, I learned another new word. Being with you increases my knowledge a lot.¡± He touched my nose.

    ¡°Do you also read Shakespeare?¡±

    ¡°I even read books like ¡®Remembrance of Things Past.¡¯ Clearly my literature knowledge goes very deep.¡± He said in confidence.

    ¡°Then let me say another part for you to see if you know the source.¡± I made it difficult on purpose, prepping my voice, ¡°Listen. ¡®I became anxious when I saw him. At first I intended to let him be anxious but could not resist the delicate features of his faceing towards me. The soft, sincere, sweet sound of his voice freely came over. The tenderness of the secret lover freely stuck over. The fire in my heart moved first. Lust spread everywhere.¡± (From others investigations, it seems like it¡¯s actually from an ancient Chinese book.)

    My warm breathe blew on his neck, he blushed a bit, ¡°This must be from a pornographic novel.¡±

    ¡°A novel by a gifted schr that can bepared to Shakespeare, right?¡±

    ¡°You are right. Why don¡¯t we do it ording to its meaning tonight?¡± He finally stopped caring about being a disturbance and softly kissed me.

    ¡°You wish.¡±

    After eating breakfast, we returned together to the line. It was finally my turn, ¡°Miss, please give me a K471 ticket to Kunming.¡±

    ¡°K471 is all sold out, there¡¯s only T61, express train with air conditioning.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take a hard seat.¡±

    ¡°There are no more hard seats.¡± There was an expressionless face inside the window, ¡°There¡¯s a hard sleeper, middle bunk, 558 yuan. There¡¯s a soft sleeper, bottom bunk, 890 yuan.¡±

    It was two hundred yuan more than a hard seat, I hesitated.

    ¡°Do you want it?¡± The ticket seller got impatient, ¡°If you don¡¯t want it, then give it to the next person.¡±

    ¡°I want it, I want it.¡± I went to fish out my wallet. I felt around and cold sweat came out.

    ¡°My wallet!¡± I was about to cry, ¡°My wallet is gone!¡±

    Thinking about it now, when I went to wash my face in the morning, I was bumped into by a short man. That person didn¡¯t apologize and quickly hurried away.

    Li Chuan stood on the side, looking at me with a smile in retaliation, ¡°Miss Xie, did you lose your wallet?¡±

    ¡°Someone stole it!¡± I red at him.

    ¡°Then should I buy this ticket?¡±

    ¡°Lend me money, I¡±ll return it to you.¡±

    Li Chuan walked to the window and said to the attendantdy, ¡°I¡¯m sorry to waste your time, Miss. Really sorry. It¡¯s just that she has lost her wallet and can¡¯t purchase the ticket.¡±

    Thedy unexpectedly smiled at him, ¡°It¡¯s all right. How about this? It¡¯s not easy to line up, let her go home and withdraw some money ande back. I¡¯ll save her a ticket. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°You are too good, thank you. There¡¯s no need, we¡¯ll think of another solution.¡± He dragged me out of the ranks, took out his cell phone and made a call, ¡°Xiao Ding?¡±

    ¡ª It¡¯s me, Wang Li Chuan.

    ¡ª I need a round-trip ticket to Kunming. Leaving tomorrow.

    ¡ª Right.

    ¡ª It¡¯s not me. The name is Xie Xiao Qiu. ¡®Xie¡¯ of thank you. ¡®Xiao¡¯ of big and small. ¡®Qiu¡¯ of autumn.

    ¡ª She¡¯ll sit in whatever cabin I would sit in.

    ¡ª Return trip period to be decided within three months.

    ¡ª Identity card number?

    I told him my ID number and he repeated it into the phone.

    ¡ª Please get send someone to bring the ticket to my loft this afternoon, okay?

    ¡ª No need to go up. It¡¯ll be fine to just give it to the security guard.

    ¡ª Yes, I¡¯m back temporarily. I¡¯ll return to Xiamen tomorrow afternoon.

    ¡ª Goodbye.

    He hung up and looked at me.

    I was still looking for my wallet, feeling everywhere, until I was convinced that my wallet was truly lost.

    ¡°How much money did you lose?¡± He asked.

    ¡°No telling you.¡±

    ¡°Money is merely a worldly possession. As long as you didn¡¯t lose the person, then it¡¯s fine.¡± He squeezed my shoulder,forting me.

    We took a taxi back to the school. I got my ATM card and took out more money, and then I packed my luggage at great speed and returned to Long Ze Garden with him.

    I fell asleep on the taxi. When we got to the building, I forced myself awake and was dragged into the elevator by Li Chuan. Then, I impatiently fell onto his bed.

    ¡°Li Chuan, I¡¯m tired. If you want to do it, you can help yourself.¡± I opened my eyes to say.

    He helped me take off my shoes and undress. Then he stuffed me into the nkets.

    ¡°Sleep well, I¡¯ll take you to the airport tomorrow.¡±

    His voice was filled with tenderness.

 Chapter 15

    <h4>Chapter 15</h4>

    I flew on a ne for the first time, sitting in first ss. It was too bad that I had a shoring. That was, I didn¡¯t care too much about my surroundings.

    In other words, regardless of whether the conditions were good or bad, as far as I¡¯m concerned, it was all about the same. As long as the seats in the cabin were spacious and could be reclined for sleeping. I was perfectly satisfied.

    I was woken up by Li Chuan in the middle of my dreams. He had me take a wake-up bath, purposely making the water cold. But while sitting in the bathtub, I fell asleep again. I brought three travel bags in addition to a backpack. None of them were very big, but I didn¡¯t have anyrger bags to put them all in. Li Chuan said one could tell with one nce that I was someone who didn¡¯t normally travel. The less bags, the better when traveling. He took out everything in the three bags and put them into the suitcase he used when he traveled and locked it. I had filled the suitcase with useless stuff. Roast duck, salted duck, beef jerky, dried fish, salted peanuts, new backpack, and an entire stationary set. They were all things my younger brother liked. The five bottles of medicine and a fleece jacket of high quality were for my dad. There were various packages of fruit snacks, dried fruit, and candy. They were for giving to rtives, friends, and ssmates.

    I watched Li Chuan pack up the suitcase for me in revere. Dividing and categorizing, arranging it neatly.

    ¡°Why does your suitcase have a white ten character on it? Why isn¡¯t it a red ten?¡± I asked, pointing to the logo. (The Chinese character for ten is basically a cross: Ê®)

    ¡°I¡¯m from Switzend.¡±

    I looked at him, not understanding.

    ¡°Have you ever seen a Swiss Army knife?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°If I criticize yourck of international knowledge, would you get mad?¡±

    ¡°Definitely.¡±

    ¡°Then forget it.¡± He signed, ¡°In any case, with the state you are in, you wouldn¡¯t remember even if I told you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, thank you for helping me pack my luggage. I will sleep a little more.¡± I dozed off on the couch.

    ¡°You can¡¯t sleep anymore. You have to leave now.¡±

    ¡°Just ten minutes, okay?¡±

    He thought about it, looking at me grudgingly, ¡°Then sleep. If I knew you were so tired, I should have bought a ticket for tomorrow or the day after.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know how I left Long Ze Garden. In short, I fell asleep again in Li Chuan¡¯s car. He woke me up when we got to the airport, ¡°Xiao Qiu, once you get on the ne, you don¡¯t have to worry about anything, just sleep. Someone will wake you up.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± I yawned in a haze, ¡°Li Chuan, buy me a cup of coffee. I¡¯m tired.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t drink coffee.¡± He said, ¡°You just didn¡¯t get enough sleep. Drinking anything won¡¯t help.¡±

    ¡°Seriously, it¡¯s not as if I haven¡¯t stayed up all night before¡­¡±

    In a daze, I don¡¯t remember what I said to him and how I bid him farewell. I entered the cabin of the ne, found my seat, secured my seat belt as the first thing, and then pulled up the nket.

    A middle aged portly uncle sat next to me with a nice suit.

    ¡°Miss, is this your first time on a ne?¡± He wanted to strike up a conversation with me.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± I was very cordial, but I was very tired, so I didn¡¯t pick up the conversation.

    ¡°By yourself?¡± He said.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°For lunch there will be H?agen-Dazs. Don¡¯t forget to ask for it from the flight attendant.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay. Thank you, Uncle.¡± (It¡¯s customary to call older men Uncles and older women Aunties, whether or not they are rted to you.)

    I originally wanted to ask what H?agen-Dazs was. Thought about it and didn¡¯t ask to avoid saying even more.

    Just in time, the ne started taking off and everyone became silent.

    Taking advantage of this, I promptly put on my eyemask.

    When I woke up, the uncle told me that there were only five minutes before we arrived at Kunming. While sleeping, I had missed the following gourmet foods:

    ¡ª Canton Soup, premium cold cuts, different types of fruit, assorted dessert, numerous cheese samples, fancy pastries.

    ¡ª Wenchang chicken, coconut fish fillet, dried fruit with chicken, brine chicken, coconut rice, Yangzhou fried rice.

    ¡ª Spareribs, various seafood, warm poultry dishes.

    ¡ª Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese soup, mushroom pigeon soup, conch shell stew with duck.

    ¡ª Cantonese wonton noodles, sweet potato noodles.

    ¡ª An entire set of Western-style food, foreign wine.

    ¡ª H?agen-Dazs.

    The uncle said that he and the flight attendant tried to wake me up, but failed. The ne wasnding already.

    However, the uncle said that he asked the flight attendant to pack up lunch for me to go. He mainly choose cold dishes and pastries so that I could still eat them after getting of the ne.

    I was moved to tears and kept thanking him

    After getting off the ne and iming my luggage, I took the airport shuttle to the bus station. I rode for three and a half hours before finally getting home!

    There was no phone at home. Daddy only knew that I would get home sometime this week. As for which day, he waspletely unclear of. My younger brother, Xiao Dong¡¯s high school was also on vacation. When my brother saw me, he immediately startedining, ¡°Jie (Older sister) , you¡¯re finally home! Dad¡¯s cooking is disgusting!¡±

    Seriously, it was a waste to grow up with this kid. He could only remember this about me.

    In order to save money, Xiao Dong rode a bike for twenty minutes toe home and eat lunch. Before, I would always pack up three lunches in the morning. One for dad, one for brother, and one for myself. Everyone would bring it to school to heat up and eat. Afterwards, when I was preparing for the college entrance exam, Dad was determined to take on this job. His dishes were hard to force down for me, Xiao Dong couldn¡¯t stand it and cried about it every day. So I had to make a huge bowl of fish and five-spice tofu on the weekends for him to bring some everyday. Once I left, brother said, Dad took on a senior year ss. His responsibility grew and his burden was heavier so he would always forget to make lunch ahead of time. It was only after he finished with ss and was more rxed before he rushed home to make a meal.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Dad?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Went to score exams. He said he would return at five to change the gas.¡±

    ¡°What about you? You¡¯re already grown up. Dad is sick and you still let him change the gas?¡± Hearing all this, I was already concerned and gave him a kick.

    ¡°I said I¡¯ll change it but he wouldn¡¯t let me saying that I was still young and might hurt my waist.¡±

    ¡°Dad¡¯s not home, right?¡± I went to move the gas tank. ¡°How about this, I¡¯m not afraid of hurting my waist. I¡¯ll go change it.¡±

    ¡°You are a woman, you¡¯ll have to give birth in the future. You can¡¯t hurt your waist.¡± Xiao Dong cried out loudly, rushed over, seized the gas tank, and biked away in a blink.

    ¡°He¡¯s finally grown up. He knows to be concerned about his older sister now.¡± I was very gratified and praised him as he disappeared from view.

    I quickly changed my clothes, changed my shoes, and went to the market with the grocery basket.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu¡¯s back?¡±

    ¡°Hi, that¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu¡¯s back!¡±

    ¡°Hi, Uncle Qian.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu¡¯s back,e to Auntie Fen¡¯s home for a meal tomorrow! I¡¯ll make Chinese chestnut chicken and lemon duck. You must also have a chat with my failure of a second son. He¡¯s taking the college entrance exam this year. Please?¡±

    ¡°Oh course, of course!¡±

    This is what a small vige is like. Every uncle and aunty knew me.

    I bought groceries and went to to a small convenience store to make a long distance call. When I had gotten home, I found that my cell phone was continuously searching for signal. While constantly ¡°searching¡±, it quickly ran out of batteries. I changed the batteries and took a look again. It still couldn¡¯t find a signal, so I threw the cell phone into my bag and came out to find a ce to make a long distance call. I dialed Li Chuan¡¯s number.

    ¡°Li Chuan, I¡¯m here!¡±

    ¡°Really? That was quite fast.¡± He said over there.

    ¡°Are you still in Beijing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in Xiamen. I arrived before you.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, thank you for buying a ne ticket for me, packing up my luggage, and lending me the suitcase. And¡­¡± Li Chuan had helped me with too much, too much for me to say thanks for.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. Can you use your cellphone?¡±

    ¡°No, it can¡¯t find a signal. I¡¯m in a small convenience store calling you.¡±

    ¡°Is it expensive?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s quite expensive, I won¡¯t say anymore.¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± he said, ¡°I put an ATM card in the pocket of the suitcase. The passcode is 0907. I know you don¡¯t want my money. This isn¡¯t a lot of money. It¡¯s only as a precaution.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no. Really, I don¡¯t need it!¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, listen to me.¡±

    ¡°Mmmm.¡± My voice was somewhat choked with emotion, ¡°I miss you.¡±

    ¡°I miss you too.¡±

    ¡°Why is is 0907, does it have a meaning?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my birthday. Do you remember, that day, you spilled coffee over me?¡±

    ¡°How can it be that day?¡± For some reason, my mouth tasted salty. My tears silently flowed out.

    ¡°It means we were brought together by fate.¡±

    ¡°That day is also my birthday.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true. I¡¯ll show you my ID when I get back.¡±

    I thought that ever since my mom passed away, there was no one else in the world who would take care of me anymore. Even with my dad and my brother, I thought this way. Even though I was their daughter and older sister, it could be said that I was just their mother. I¡¯ve only celebrated my birthday three times. They were all when my mom was still living. My mom¡¯s death was a huge blow to my dad. In these ten plus years, he¡¯s lived muddleheaded without even knowing who he was. Therefore, Xiao Dong and I never celebrated a birthday. It was even taboo to mention birthdays because Xiao Dong¡¯s birthday is my mom¡¯s memorial day.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu¡­how can I contact you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll call you once in a while. There will be a way.¡± I retrained my tears because Auntie Zhang, who owned the store, was close to my dad. I didn¡¯t dare to act impetuously in her store.

    ¡°Wish you a happy Chinese New Year. Bye.¡±

    ¡°Take care of yourself. Bye.¡±

    I hid under a small tree, wiped dry my tears, and restored my mood. I put on some powder to appear fair skinned. Then, I carried the grocery basket and slowly walked home.

    When I was almost home, I say my dad in the distance. He was standing in the doorway alone. The sun shined on his face and I couldn¡¯t see it clearly.

    ¡°Dad!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re back.¡± It was strange, he didn¡¯t smile.

    ¡°Dad, I bought a bunch of groceries. Tonight, I¡¯ll cook a delicious meal for you guys.¡± I went up to hug him and became aware of his stiff body.

    ¡°Dad! What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Did you take a ne back?¡± His tone was cold.

    My heart dropped at once.

    ¡°First ss?¡± He sized me up as if he didn¡¯t recognize me, ¡°Where did you get the money for it?¡±

    I didn¡¯t say anything. I wasn¡¯t very good at lying, especially in front of my dad.

    ¡°¡­Um¡­A friend lent it. I couldn¡¯t get a train ticket.¡±

    ¡°What friend? Boyfriend?¡± He looked at me coldly, ¡°For him to help you in this way, what price did you pay?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°Come with me.¡± His hand grasped me like an iron w. He was practically dragging me, dragging me to the east of the street.

    My people looked at our father and daughter pair oddly. I pretended to smile, pretended it didn¡¯t hurt, pretended I was strolling with my father.

    While walking, my legs started to tremble because I knew where my dad was taking me.

    We entered into the vige health clinic. The Doctor Zhao inside was a close friend of my father¡¯s. I went in and saw that Doctor Zhao was just about to leave. My father went up and whispered something to him.

    Doctor Zhao¡¯splexion changed and looked at me in shock. Shaking his sad, ¡°This is hard to do, and hard to check.¡±

    My father¡¯s tone was very severe, ¡°Old Zhao.¡±

    Doctor Zhao said to me, ¡°Xiao Qiu, your father is asking me to do¡­an examine.¡±

    I hugged my chest and resisted, ¡°I won¡¯t do it.¡±

    ¡°If you haven¡¯t done anything bad, what are you afraid of?¡± My dad said in a stern voice.

    ¡°Uncle Zhao, how old are you this year?¡± I retorted.

    He stared nkly, ¡°Fifty-five.¡±

    ¡°If you dare touch me, I will turn you in for sexual harassment. Uncle, you are a famous doctor. Uncle, you should know that if a patient refuses to see the doctor, you cannot force them to.¡±

    Put in a difficult situation, Uncle Zhao looked at my father.

    My father didn¡¯t say anything. After quite awhile, he coldly said one word after another, ¡°What have you been doing in Beijing?!¡±

    ¡°Hey, Old Xie, Xiao Qiu is still young. It¡¯s not easy to be far from home. Listen to her exnation. Nothing can¡¯t be forgiven.¡±

    My father rarely got mad, but I could tell, his voice was shaking.

    He took out something from his pocket, ¡°He bought you this, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    A pink cellphone. He searched my bag.

    I thought he didn¡¯t understand cell phones. Unexpectedly it took him only a few seconds to find Li Chuan¡¯s number. It was actually really easy. In this phone, his number was the only one there.

    He called the number, there was no signal and he couldn¡¯t get through.

    ¡°Excuse me, Old Zhao, can I use your office phone?¡±

    I quietly stood by the doorway, hearing him say on the phone, ¡°Excuse me, is XXXXXXXX your number?¡±

    ¡°I am Xie Xiao Qiu¡¯s father. You know Xie Xiao Qiu, right? Who are you? What is your name?¡± My dad¡¯s voice was extremely severe.

    ¡°Listen carefully, Wang Li Chuan,¡± he roared into the phone, ¡°My daughter is only seventeen. Even though she¡¯s young and doesn¡¯t understand much, she still doesn¡¯t need you to take care of her. Please be generous and let her off. If I am aware of you daring to continue your rtionship with her, I¡¯ll go to the ends of the earth and will not spare you no matter what I have to destroy. Understand? You bastard!¡±

    He threw my cell phone to the ground, crushed it to pieces, kicked the desk, and kicked the chair.

    I have never seen my father like this besides the day my mom passed away.

    My dad took away all my money.

    He spent a lot of energy prying open my suitcase. He searched for any clues. He found the ATM card, cut it into pieces, and threw it into the fire. He wouldn¡¯t speak to me for the entire half month. I also ignored him.

    We red at each other all day long.

    My brother said that my dad became suspicious after seeing the luggage tag on my suitcase. He then searched through my purse and found the ne ticket.

    On the morning of Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve, we were still not speaking. My brother couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and said to me, ¡°Jie, why don¡¯t you take the initiative to apologize to Dad. Dad¡¯s liver is hurting from being angry. He has to get a shot from the health clinic everyday.¡±

    I thought about it. I saw my dad frying croquettes in the oil and went over to say, ¡°Dad, did you eat the medicine I brought you?¡±

    After a long while, he finally said, ¡°I didn¡¯t eat.¡±

    I said, ¡°Dad, do you think I¡¯m only seventeen? I might as well be fifty years old from two men like you who don¡¯t know how to take care of themselves. Dad, you still dare to say I¡¯m seventeen and too young to understand anything?¡±

    He looked at me, not saying anything.

    ¡°Dad, Li Chuan is someone I like. I love him. No one can stop me.¡±

    ¡°Bam!¡± I got a p from him.

    ¡°Dad, I am your daughter. I have your blood. That year, in order to marry my mom, what price did you pay?¡± I continues, ¡°I, in order to purse the one I like, will also pay the same price. Take care of yourself.¡±

    After saying this, I got on my brother¡¯s bike and rode away without looking back.

    I had ridden around 250 meters before my brother caught up to me.

    ¡°Jie, where are you going?¡±

    I got off and cried as I hugged him ¡°I¡¯m going to Kunming, to find (maternal) auntie.¡±

    ¡°You, you¡¯re going to ride this to Kunming?¡±

    ¡°What are you afraid of? Don¡¯t you remember when we were young, we even rode it once together. It¡¯s only a seven, eight hour ride.¡±

    ¡°Jie, now¡¯s not like before. The roads are not safe.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you! I¡¯m also annoyed by Dad. Brother-inw is good to you, so he brought you a cell phone, right? If it was someone else, why would they feel the need to spend that money?¡±

    I was originally crying butughed from what he said, ¡°What brother-inw, don¡¯t spout nonsense! Don¡¯t take after me.¡±

    ¡°You know, I want to go into medicine. Dad forces me to studyputers and even says that teacher¡¯s schools are good. I don¡¯t want to listen to him.¡±

    ¡°Tuition is high for medicine. Our dad doesn¡¯t have money to pay for the tuition. Ah, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll make money for you.¡±

    ¡°Jie, there¡¯s something that Dad has always kept you in the dark of.¡± Xiao Dong balled up his fists. ¡°Dad secretly changed your application for colleges at the school.¡±

    ¡°I guessed as much. Beijing University is too expensive. We couldn¡¯t afford it. He is the only one making money. It¡¯s hard to put two kids through school.¡± Iughed bitterly, ¡°I don¡¯t me him. Dad is a talented person and is a college graduate. He was afraid that we would be bullied by a stepmother, so he stubbornly stay single all these years. It¡¯s also hard for him. Don¡¯t follow me, go him and take care of Dad. Tell him I¡¯m going to stay at Auntie¡¯s for a while and then go back to school.¡±

    Xiao Dong looked at me and finally nodded. He took out two fifty yuan bills, ¡°This fifty yuan, you sent mest time. This other fifty yuan, I earned myself.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take it as a loan from you. I¡¯ll return it to you when I go back to school.

    I put the one-hundred yuan in my bag, said farewell to Xiao Dong, and heading towards Kunming.

    I rode the bike for a whole ten hours before arriving at Kunming. I stopped midway to eat a steamed bun and go to the bathroom.

    I stopped at a bus station and found a nearby convenience store to make a call.

    Li Chuan had great self-esteem. One could see it from the little things he did everyday. I didn¡¯t know whether he was alright after suffering a scolding from my father.

    The call quickly went through.

    ¡°Li Chuan!¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu!¡± His voice sounded very surprised, ¡°How are you? Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay. What about you? Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m alright.¡±

    ¡°Listen to me. My dad¡¯s temper is not very good¡­¡±

    ¡°I actually really want to exin myself to him, but he clearly didn¡¯t want to listen.¡±

    ¡°Then you¡­hm, are the things in Xiamen finished?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s done, just waiting for the result now.¡±

    ¡°Are you in Beijing right now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡±

    I remembered, he said that he always returned to Switzend every year for Chinese New Year to spend it with family.

    ¡°Are you in Switzend?¡± His voice sounded so clear, I was a little suspicious.

    ¡°I am in Kunming.¡± He said.

    ¡°What? What?¡±

    ¡°I am in Kunming.¡± He repeated, ¡°I was worried and wanted to be closer to you. If something really happened, I could think of a way to help. But I didn¡¯t get a phone call from you after waiting for so long here.¡±

    ¡°I just got to Kunming.¡± My eyes were starting to water again.

    ¡°What? Right now? Isn¡¯t it Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve right now?¡± He started getting worried on his said, ¡°Did you have a falling out with your dad?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much, I biked to Kunming to seek a shelter with my aunt.¡± I was still out of breath and panting heavily.

    ¡°What? Biked? Isn¡¯t it three-hundred kilometers from Kunming to Gejiu?¡± It was rare to hear Li Chuan angry, but this sound was definitely him raging.

    ¡°I rode for ten hours. Aren¡¯t I awesome! Haha! Don¡¯t you admire me!¡± Iughed heartily, feeling I was amazing.

    ¡°Where are you? Stay there and don¡¯t move. I¡¯lle pick you up.¡± He said.

    ¡°I¡¯m at a bus station. Come quickly! Ge Ge, it¡¯s cold outside.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just your dad. Even I want to scold you.¡± He groaned. ¡°You have quite the nerve, can really cause trouble.¡±

 Chapter 16

    <h4>Chapter 16</h4>

    The bus station was a white building. It wasn¡¯t too tall. Normally, it waspletely packed, but right now no cars could be seen. The fluorescent light shined upon the green walls. Every so often a peddler would detain a traveler. A white-haired elderly man was slowly sweeping up the trash on the ground. I waited for fifteen minutes before a pitch-ck Mercedes-Benz suddenly arrived. The backdoor opened and a man in a ck jacket got out.

    Besides the manholes not emitting steam, I would have thought that I had walked into a scene within the ¡°Matrix¡±.

    I can always spot Li Chuan immediately in the middle of a crowd. He stood out so much and was very unique, he didn¡¯t belong in this city and didn¡¯t belong in my world.

    On Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve, each house was filled with light. The streets were bleak and void of people.

    We faced each other without speaking, embracing tightly. Then he cupped my face and examined it carefully underneath the light, saying, ¡°Your face. Why is it swollen?¡±

    My dad¡¯s hand is particrly heavy. But this is the first time he¡¯s hit me, even though he did asionally whipped my brother with a belt making him cry in pain. If I was a parent, hitting a child would definitely be a crime. But every person I know has always been beat by their parents. I can only say exin it away as a part of the culture.

    ¡°Is it swollen? It doesn¡¯t hurt. Oh, oh, it¡¯s like this. There was a kid who tried to steal my purse on the road. I punched him once and he punched me once. And then I quickly rode away on my bike.¡± I quickly used my hat to cover up my face.

    ¡°Why are you acting out an action movie in broad daylight.¡± He snorted, opened the door and had me get it.

    ¡°What¡¯s to be done about the bike? It¡¯s my brother¡¯s.¡± Although a bicycle did not match up to a Benz, I also couldn¡¯t just throw it away.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get it.¡±

    He ced thepletely muddy bike into the trunk of the car.

    ¡°Give your aunt a call.¡± He got into the back seat and handed me a cell phone. ¡°Running away at night, there must be many people worried about you.¡±

    I looked at the time. Seven o¡¯clock had just passed. I got through to Auntie¡¯s phone.

    My mother¡¯s sister was four years older than my mother. She didn¡¯t like small towns and, through someone else¡¯s introduction, married my uncle, a factory worker in Kunming. A model worker. When my aunt was young, model workers of factories were all desirable men. Besides trying hard, one also needed a bit of luck to get married to one. Now that enterprises of the government were in a slump, model workers have also beenid-off. My uncle tried a few underground things, hoping to make money, but he didn¡¯t seed. He then setup a stall to sell belts and underground magazines, he also didn¡¯t seed. Thus, he simply retired in advance and became a security guard for a shopping center. He was responsible and diligent, learning while working. During holidays he went with a clothing store owner to get goods in Guangzhou. He worked for a while as an assistant before finally opening up a clothing store front in that shopping center. He didn¡¯t strike it rich, but he was able to put food on the table. Plus, my two older female cousins had already grown up. The oldest one, Min Min got married to Shanghai and only came back once or twice a year. The younger, Zhu Zhi went to a night college after graduating high school and was working as a sales representative in a real estatepany. Before, when I was in Gejiu, Auntie woulde back to pay a New Year call to visit our family and my mother¡¯s brother, father, and mother. Every year, during winter vacation, my brother and I often went to Auntie¡¯s house on the weekends. Dad said that Auntie didn¡¯t have the best circumstances. The home was small, so he didn¡¯t let us trouble them. Every time we went, he would always bring a lot of presents and stayed at most one day.

    The phone rang once before I heard my aunt¡¯s voice.

    ¡°Hello, who is it?¡±

    ¡°Auntie, it¡¯s me, Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°Ah! Youss! Why did you have an argument with your dad on Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve? Your dad has already called several times.¡± Auntie scolded me, yelling on the other end. I could feel the spittle over my face from this.

    ¡°I just arrived in Kunming. Is Min Min back?¡± There was noise in the background.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, the whole family hase. They even brought Dou Dou. Zhu Zhu and her boyfriend are also here. Come over quickly, we haven¡¯t started the Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve meal yet.¡±

    Auntie¡¯s home only had one bedroom. How would they sleep with three households? I said, ¡°Auntie, do you still remember Ming Ming? Su Ming Ming?¡±

    ¡°How can I not remember? Your best friend.¡±

    Su Ming Ming was my high school ssmate, one of my best friends. After her parents divorced, her mom married a businessman in Kunming. Thus, Ming Ming moved to Kunming. Her house isrge and her stepfather was not often home due to business trips. Whenever I used to go to Auntie¡¯s home, I would go stay for a few days at her ce for several days.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay at her home for these few days. I¡¯lle greet you for the new year tomorrow morning.¡± I smoothly told a lie. Auntie didn¡¯t know Ming Ming¡¯s phone number. ¡°If dad asks, say that I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ll leave to return to Beijing on the sixth.¡±

    ¡°Why would you go to Ming Ming¡¯s ce? Stay at Aunties. Just squeeze in with Zhu Zhu.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already agreed on it with Ming Ming. I¡¯lle greet you for the new year tomorrow. Auntie, I¡¯ll hang up now.¡±

    My auntie was the type of person who was confused in the moment, but as soon as you give her five seconds to think about it she became particrly clever. I knew that if I said any more, Auntie would ask for Ming Ming¡¯s house number. My lie would then be exposed.

    I then called up Ming Ming. Ming Ming shrieked when she heard an old friend¡¯s voice. I gave her instructions in very few words and begged her to help me tell a lie. After I finished talking to her, I hung up and turned to look at Li Chuan.

    ¡°Perhaps you should have the Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve meal at your aunt¡¯s.¡± He said, looking somewhat down. ¡°If you dad calls, at least you can try to make amends with him.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan,¡± I softly caressed his face, ¡°This is Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve, my dad doesn¡¯t want me, my aunt doesn¡¯t need me. And you came alone to a ce far from home. For me, you flew from Xiamen to Beijing and from Beijing to Kunming. The person I should keeppany is you. Tonight, even if my dad came here to find me and ripped me to shreds, I would still be together with you. Do you understand?¡±

    He smiled, leaned over, and kissed my face and forehead.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve been drinking?¡± I smelled a sliver of alcohol and his usually ice-cold hands were burning up.

    ¡°Just a bit of beer.¡±

    I felt his forehead. It was scalding.

    ¡°You have a fever? How high is it?¡±

    ¡°Maybe just a little, I didn¡¯t measure.¡± He took my hand away.

    I was going to say something before the car drove past a small moonlitke and slowed to a stop in front ofpletely lit up high-rise.

    The sign said: Green Lake Hotel.

    The hotel lobby was as big as a ser field and exquisite couches were ced everywhere. Bamboo were nted behind the couches. I followed him into the elevator and into his room.

    It was a suite filled with Chinese and Western elements. It was extremely luxurious and cozy. He helped me take off my jacket and hung it in the closet.

    ¡°Did your secretary book this hotel for you?¡± I asked.

    ¡°She booked it. But I also came here because of its reputation. I hear that I. M. Pei designed this hotel.¡±

    ¡°Who is I.M. Pei?¡±

    ¡°Senior Pei Ieoh Ming,¡± he said, ¡°I particrly like his internal lighting and ss.¡±

    It was clear, I barely understood what he was talking about. Heughed and exined, ¡°Skyscrapers in the city are like giant creatures filling the space. Only ss can conceal them.¡±

    There were three twenty-one inch apple monitors in his office. There was a huge design sketch on another table. To the side there were several empty beer bottles. By the table was his wheelchair. The frame was made out of carbon fiber and was extremely lightweight and portable. It was barely thirteen pounds when folded. The chair cushion was customized for his body. Sometimes, when Li Chuan drew, he needed to sit for a long time. Only sitting in this wheelchair will he not get tired.

    I thought about it. Every time he traveled, it was already hard enough for him to walk by himself, and he still needed to bring these things in and out of the airport. It must be especially inconvenient.

    ¡°Is yourptop not enough?¡± I asked, ¡°Why do you still need so many monitors? Does the hotel even supply those?¡±

    ¡°They don¡¯t supply them,¡± he said, ¡°I don¡¯t like to look at small disys. I bought these all there.¡±

    ¡°But, isn¡¯t it a hassle to bring them when you leave?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not taking them when I leave, I¡¯ll donate them to the hotel when I leave.¡±

    ¡°That¡­isn¡¯t that too wasteful?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not wasteful if I can use them to create good renderings on them.¡± He winked, ¡°What¡¯s that one saying? Job something, tool something.¡±

    ¡°To do a good job, an artisan needs the best tools.¡±

    ¡°Right, that saying.¡± He leaned against the wall, looking at me.

    ¡°When did you get to Kunming?¡±

    ¡°When you dad yelled at me, I figured you had run into problems. So I came the next day.¡±

    ¡°Then,¡± I said, ¡°you¡¯ve been here all alone, by yourself, for half a month.¡±

    ¡°I had a lot of work to do anyway, a lot of drawings to draw. Living anywhere is more or less the same.¡± He shrugged as if it was nothing.

    I took a bath and came out. I didn¡¯t have clothes to change into, so could only put on his shirt and shorts. In the mean time, he ordered dinner. I wolfed down the food andpletely cleaned it up. I didn¡¯t even know what dishes there were.

    ¡°What do you usually do on Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve?¡± He hugged me from behind and kissed me.

    ¡°After the New Year¡¯s Eve meal, I would go to my maternal grandmother¡¯s home to watch CCTV¡¯s New Year G.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to watch TV. The TV¡¯s too noisy. Let¡¯s read a book together, okay?¡± He said with an erudite attitude, ¡°I have Hamlet in my bag.¡±

    Li Chuan wasn¡¯t normally so down. Something must be up. I thought his face felt hot. His breath was very hot, and his hands were warm. So, I said, ¡°What Hamlet? Look at you babbling like this. You must have a fever. Let me take you to the doctor.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to see the doctor. The doctor is ugly. You smell so good after the bath. I just want to look at you.¡± He had me sit on the bed, took a towel and dried my hair strand by strand.

    I reached for his waist and undid his belt, kissing him through his clothes. His stomach was scalding. His entire body was reacting rapidly.

    I lifted my hands to undo his shirt buttons, ¡°You¡¯ve stood for so long, aren¡¯t you tired? Sit down.¡±

    He restrained my hand, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°My body has an allergic reaction and has a lot of sores on it. Don¡¯t look.¡± He eventually said.

    It gave me a scare. I pushed away his hand and lifted up his shirt.

    I sucked in my breath.

    Numerous sores were on his body. Each one was as big as a coin. Besides his upper torso, they were also on his arms and legs. I took off his shorts and discovered that there were two on his injured area. One in the front and one in the back.

    ¡°There¡¯s so many! Have you seen the doctor? Have you taken medication?¡± I became worried.

    ¡°There¡¯s a doctor in the hotel. He¡¯s even a famous doctor. I am allergic to many medications and can¡¯t easily take medicine. He gave me a type of ointment to rub on three times a day. I thought there were bugs on the bed at first. They changed the room for me and I was still getting the sores. I thought, this is a five-star hotel. The bedding must have been sterilized, so I didn¡¯t bother them again. Perhaps I¡¯m not limating to the environment.¡±

    ¡°Did you get these sores before?¡±

    ¡°I have hypersensitive skin. But,¡± he said, ¡°I did get simr sores before once. It started suddenly. I got them all over my body in one night and itsted for several days. They then disappeared suddenly and I couldn¡¯t find a single one. I was still in college then and didn¡¯t feel like seeing a doctor.¡±

    ¡°I made his sit down on the bed, ¡°Then, do you remember what you were doing that time to get this kind of allergic reaction?¡±

    He thought about it, shook his head, ¡°I was participating in a Shakespeare reading club that time. A couple of us students frequently read poems aloud together. Then, the school setup a cultural festival. The club members eagerly signed up to perform a y segment. I wasn¡¯t there that day and they also signed me up. I found outter that it was a huge student festival and the y was going to be performed in therge auditorium of the school. I was to be Hamlet. There were going to be more than a thousand people in the audience. I got extremely nervous and got the sores the next time.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but want tough, ¡°Li Chuan, from the first time I saw you, you were a very self-confident person. You¡¯re good-looking and you voice is pleasant. I can¡¯t believe you would get nervous.¡±

    After saying this, I remember something and quickly asked, ¡°That¡¯s right. At that time, did you have one or two legs?¡±

    He looked at me and without hesitation answered, ¡°You still have to ask? Would I have been nervous if I had two legs? Plus, my ssmates suggested that it was better if I didn¡¯t use a cane. They said that if I could ski with one leg, then I could walk with one leg.¡±

    ¡°What! You¡­you can ski?¡±

    ¡°Trust me,¡± he said, ¡°one might need two legs for dancing, but one leg is enough for skiing. Before, I would go to Switzend every winter to ski. I even skiedst year. I feel powerful and free on the snow-covered slopes.¡±

    ¡°ssmate Li Chuan, you¡­you don¡¯t want to live anymore!¡± While listening to him, my heart pounded like crazy in both envy and adoration.

    ¡°How about you return to Switzend with me. I¡¯ll teach you to ski.¡± He tightly embraced me, ¡°Over here, I have to wait until you¡¯re twenty-one before marrying you. In Switzend, eighteen is old enough.¡±

    As he spoke, he started smiling very happily.

    I grasped his hand, ¡°I understand now. My dad scolded you and you became nervous, so you got all these sores over your body. This is called pressure. Ge Ge, I¡±ll make you some lemon tea. I¡¯ll apply the medicine for you, and give you a massage to rx. Okay?¡±

    He said in the low voice, ¡°There are condoms in the bathroom. Let¡¯s do something more substantial.¡±

    Li Chuan refused to take off his shirt, saying that the sores covering his boy affected the beauty. Against the thinyer of clothing, our bodies came together tightly, grinding softly, and bing submerged in desire. We reached climax while tangled together tightly. At that moment, his body tightened and he lightly shuddered in my embrace.

    We split up to take a bath. He obediently sat on the bed, allowing me to apply the medication.

    After I finished applying medicine, I reported, ¡°Thirteen in the front, fifteen in the back. There are twenty-eight sores total. In order to prevent infection, you can¡¯t wear your prosthetic. Also,¡± I looked at the thermometer, ¡°You are running a fever, thirty-nine point five. Having sex at this time, Mr. Wang you are seriously burning in lust.¡±

    I went to the pharmacy downstairs to get fever reduction pills and cotton swabs for disinfection. After taking the medicine, he fell into a deep sleep. At midnight, he wanted to get up. I held him down, ¡°I¡¯ll go get it.¡±

    I found the fridge, took out the milk and inspected the expiration date. It had been expired for a day. I could only put on my clothes and go to the information desk to ask where to buy milk.

    ¡°Miss, can I help you with something?¡± The personnel was busy on the phone. A security guard walked over to say with a serious and alert face.

    I suddenly realized that the clothes I was wearing were from when I rode the bike in the morning. A pair of jeans covered with yellow dust and a skin-tight ck fleece jacket. My hair wasn¡¯tbed and was in a mess. I looked like a young girl who had slipped up in life. In this dazzling lobby, I looked like a dejected street rat in the eyes of the security guard.

    But, who was I? I loved to study, loved to work, loved life, loved Li Chuan. I was a beautiful flower of my homnd!

    Thinking about this, I stood up straight and with a proud look nced disdainfully at him, ¡°Excuse me, where can I buy fresh skim milk?¡±

    The security guard didn¡¯t pay attention to this at all and asked in return, ¡°Miss, which room do you live in?¡±

    ¡°709.¡±

    ¡°The hotel has twenty-four hour service. You can ask for anything through a phone call.¡± He looked over me and said in a sneering voice. How can a guest not even know about this?

    ¡°Oh, really? Then, I¡¯ll go back and make a call.¡± I turned to go. He stopped me.

    ¡°Miss, can I see your ID?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t bring it.¡±

    ¡°Follow me.¡± He said rudely, not even saying ¡°please¡±.

    I was secretly nervous inside. I wasn¡¯t of legal age yet and wasn¡¯t married to Li Chuan. How could we stay in a room together? If we were caught, it would be hard to exin.

    I could only follow him to the front desk.

    He asked the personal, ¡°Xiao Qin, what guest is staying in room 709?¡±

    That person looked it up on theputer and gave me an unexpected answer, ¡°It¡¯s a youngdy, Miss Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    The security guard looked me you, ¡°You are Xie Xiao Qiu?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Another personnel was on the phone on the side. Hearing my name, he quickly came over to smooth things over, ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand. Don¡¯t misunderstand. Miss, I¡¯m sorry. Lao Cai, I¡¯ll exin. It¡¯s like this. A few hours ago, 709¡¯s Mr. Wang called and said that his girlfriend was going to move in tonight. He was going to move next door to 708. All forms have been taken care of.¡±

    The security guard was stared nkly for a bit and then suspiciously asked, ¡°Howe it¡¯s a new guest but an old room?¡±

    The staff member said, ¡°It¡¯s like this, Mr. Wang said that he wanted to give the room with theke view to his girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, Miss Xie.¡± The security guard gave me an overly cautious apology. Then had me wait while he attentively went to the restaurant on the second floor and brought me a case of skim milk.

    I returned to the room, the dim light was on. Li Chuan stared at me withrge eyes in the darkness.

    ¡°Why did you go for so long?¡± He said, ¡°I forgot to tell you that you can just make a phone call.¡±

    After drinking milk, I took his temperature again. Thirty-nine point five. It hadn¡¯t gone down a bit. The bed sheets were all moist with sweat.

    I changed his clothes, changed the bedsheets, went to the fridge to get ice, and then took a towel to help him lower his temperature.

    ¡°Go to sleep. I¡¯m ok.¡± He said in the dark. His voice was a bit hoarse. But his hands gripped me tightly as if he was afraid I¡¯d slip away.

    ¡°Li Chuan, you better not get sick. You get sick for half a month at a time.¡± I sat at the bedside, sealed up the ice in a bag and wrapped it in a towel to press onto his forehead. He tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.

    After who knows how long, he asked me in a daze, ¡°Why haven¡¯t I heard the New Year¡¯s bell ringing?¡±

    ¡°What ringing? It¡¯s already four in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Then let me wish you an early happy new year, ssmate Xiao Qiu.¡± After saying this, he flipped over again. I quickly stuffed a pillow underneath this waist. He finally fell asleep.

    Li Chuan sleep straight through till ten o¡¯clock before opening his eyes. As for me, I slept three hours after his temperature fell. In those three hours, I had a bunch of dreams. It was about Li Chuan every time. His person was sleeping next to me, yet I still dreamt about him. I was wary of myself, perhaps I¡¯m a little too horny.

    Finally, I fell asleeppletely. When I opened my eyes, I saw that he had finished taking a bath and sat on the bed in his bathrobe looking at me.

    ¡°What did you dream about? You face is smiling like a flower.¡± He said while beaming, ¡°Let me report two pieces of good news to you. First, my fever has gonepletely down. My temperature is normal, thirty-seven point one. Second, the sores are gone. They¡¯vee and gone without a trace, as if I¡¯ve never had them.¡±

    Who needed him to make a report? I already examined his entire body before I went to sleep. I sat up and added, ¡°Third, the two spots on your waist are still there. You shouldn¡¯t wear your prosthetic.¡±

    ¡°Can you not talk about my sore spot?¡± He said softly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry I caused you to not get any sleep. I swear I will take good care of myself and work out. Actually, I get rarely get sick.¡±

    ¡°Me too,¡± I said proudly, ¡°I can eat, can drink, can sleep, can y, can pass each day in happiness.¡±

    After breakfast, Li Chuan went with me to a shopping center nearby to buy a change of clothes and shoes. I bought Auntie and Uncle their favorite glutinous rice tea. I bought a toy for Dou Dou and makeup for Zhu Jie. Li Chuan brought me to the dorm gates of my uncle¡¯s factory. He took his crutches, got off the car, and opened the door for me.

    I grasped his hand and didn¡¯t let go, ¡°Go see Auntie with me, okay? It¡¯s easier to talk to my aunt than my dad. She will definitely like you.¡±

    He thought about it and said, ¡°Next time.¡±

    He dropped me off at the door, stood underneath a tree, and handed all the gifts I bought to me, ¡°Don¡¯t stay for too long. Come back after you finish your meal, okay? I¡¯ll take you around Kunming.¡±

    ¡°Ge Ge, do you mean I¡¯ll take you around or you¡¯ll take me around?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you around. You might be a Yunnan person, but when you are in Kunming, you can¡¯t tell what direction you are in.¡± He said.

    I nestled in his embrace, unwilling to leave.

    ¡°Go, go early ande back early.¡± He reached our and fixed the belt on my jacket.

    ¡°Okay.¡± I was reluctant to part with him and raised my head to look at his face.

    He lowered his head, and kissed me softly on my forehead. Then he nudged me and said, ¡°I think, it seems as if we are being watch.¡±

    I turned my head and saw seven people, all in a row, standing near the gates, watching me withrge eyes. One of them was a middle-aged woman holding a huge vegetable basket with a huge fish inside.

    The Benz was parked right next to them.

    I raised my hands and said hi to everyone, ¡°Auntie!¡±

 Chapter 17

    <h4>Chapter 17</h4>

    Kumming is known as the city of spring. In actuality, it was still really cold in winter. But it was a different type of cold than in the north, it was cold and moist.

    Li Chuan and I wore the same clothes: Grey turtleneck sweater, jeans, traveling shoes, and a dark blue jacket. Li Chuan said, with this outfit, on the streets, we¡¯d be seen as a couple with one nce. If the inseparable cane in his hands could be removed, Li Chuan would look like a cologne advertisement model in any outfit. As for me, on the streets, I¡¯d be seen as narcissistic, unting as if I was good-looking. Butpared to Li Chuan, I was just average. I nearly didn¡¯t have the nerve to walk together with him.

    Because I was worried about Li Chuan getting an allergic reaction again, under my imploring, Li Chuan didn¡¯t put on his prosthetic leg. He nned out each day¡¯s itinerary on his ckberry: Go to Guandu to eat spicy rice noodles soup, go shopping, go to Daguan Tower after getting back from Auntie¡¯s home, Lotus Garden, and if we still had energy, climb West Mountain. At night, head to Jin Ma Lane, then to Tuo Feng Pub to drink, and then go to LDW to eat rice noodles. One of Li Chuan¡¯s habits is to make a ¡°To do list¡± every morning after washing up. He was constantly examining all kinds of schedules: weekly schedule, monthly schedule, yearly schedule, five-year n. He felt he was a very well nned person.

    Li Chuan had another habit, that was to bezy about learning Chinese. For example, on the road, if he saw any English characters on a sign, whether it was just phic or not, he would not memorize the Chinese. I asked him, what is LDW?

    ¡°Lao Dian Wei!¡±(ÀÏµáÎ¶ Famous restaurant in Kunming) He was proud of himself, thinking himself more Yunnan than me. I give up.

    My Auntie looked at me while holding the grocery basket. Her expression was quiteplicated. Uncle couldn¡¯t make a decision, and just smiled. I know he was easier to handle. The remaining two, cousin and her husband, watched with folder arms. The boy, Dou Dou, nced around.

    ¡°Auntie, this is Wang Li Chuan. My¡­¡± I licked my lips, ¡°friend.¡±

    Li Chuan gave a slight nod, ¡°Auntie, hello.¡±

    I must say, at this moment, Li Chuan¡¯s gaze was deep, manner was reserved, had a noble air, and his speech was broad and level. It gave others both courage and pressure.

    My aunt looked him over. After a long time, nodded, but didn¡¯t say anything.

    Instead, it was my uncle who said, ¡°I understand now. It was for him that youss caused havoc with your dad. Leaving home on Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve.¡±

    I stressfully nodded, ¡°Uncle, I bought your favorite glutinous rice tea.¡± I searched for something easier to break the tension with.

    ¡°Aiya, you¡¯ve spent a lot of money again.¡± Uncle chuckled in spite of Auntie¡¯s ashen face. It seemed as he wanted to say a few more words to ease the tension. He had just opened his mouth when Auntie broke him off, ¡°Xiao Qiu, it¡¯s quite cold outside. Come inside to sit.¡± She instructed my cousin-inw, ¡°Xiao Gao, help Xiao Qiu carry her things.¡±

    Nothing in her words indicated she was inviting Li Chuan in.

    Immediately, my neck became a bit stiffer and put my arm through Li Chuan¡¯s, ¡°No need, Auntie. Li Chuan and I still have some things to take care of. I¡¯lle greet you for Chinese New Year another day.¡±

    After my mom passed away, Auntie had particr authority in our family. My dad often saw her as the reflection of my mom, and was both close with her and respected her. However, I didn¡¯t escape on a bike for more than ten hours from Gejiu for Li Chuan to stand in front of my aunt in humiliation.

    Li Chuan lightly twirled my fingers and said unenthusiastically, ¡°Xiao Qiu, it¡¯s hard for you to make a trip to Kunming. You should visit with your aunt. I¡¯lle pick you up in the afternoon.¡±

    And then, he smiled calmly at everyone, saying, ¡°I wish everyone a happy new year.¡± After saying farewell, he released my hand and headed towards his car. The driver had, at some point, quietly came out and opened the car door for him.

    At that moment, my uncle suddenly called out, ¡°Wait, Mr. Wang. It¡¯s hard for you to make a trip to Kunming. Pleasee up and have some tea with Xiao Qiu.¡±

    Zhu Zhu Jie seized the opportunity to say, ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. We bought so many groceries. Have a simple home cooked meal with us.¡±

    My aunt red at these two meddlesome people.

    Everyone walked to the gates of the dormitory. My aunt looked at Li Chuan and said, ¡°Mr. Wang, it¡¯s difficult to walk upstairs. Do you need someone to carry you on their back?¡±

    ¡°No need, Auntie.¡± Li Chuan said, ¡°Please head up first.¡±

    Even without the provocative tone in her voice, what Auntie said was true. Her home was on the seventh floor. The stairs were narrow and steep. At every turn, there was junk piled up. Even an ordinary person had to turn their body this way and that to get through. It was this type of condo that, if my uncle hadn¡¯t been a senior model worker in those days, they wouldn¡¯t even have been able to get.

    The family was familiar with the route, after a few sounds of footsteps, my aunt, uncle, cousin, Dou Dou, and cousin-inw were gone from sight. Only Li Chuan and I were left to go up, slowly, step by step. On the third floor, Li Chuan leaned against the wall and rested a bit. He said, ¡°Don¡¯t always follow behind me. What if I fall, won¡¯t you fall with me?¡±

    I said, ¡°That¡¯s why I follow behind you. If you fall, I can stop you.¡±

    He didn¡¯t say anymore, used his crutches to tap the staircase, indicating that I go up first.

    I had no choice, I could only go in front of him. Apanying him up.

    At the sixth floor, I saw that his shoce had loosened. I was just about to stoop down to help him tie it. He stopped me, ¡°I¡¯ll do it myself.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re going to fight over this with me too?¡± I stared at him coldly and efficiently knotted it tightly.

    ¡°Last time, you made it this tight, I had to use scissors to cut it open.¡± He whispered.

    I stood up and asked, ¡°You didn¡¯t throw away that pair of shoes, did you?¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    Of course. This person never looks at money like it¡¯s worth anything. What was I quibbling about?

    When we got to the seventh floor, Auntie¡¯s family had already gone into the condo. Only Uncle was waiting at the door for us. Li Chuan quickly went up and held open the door. I went into the condo, passing in front of him. Then, he entered, helped me take off my jacket, and then handed his jacket along with mine into Min Min¡¯s hands. Everyone nced at his handicapped body and their eyes dared not linger. I saw Min Min¡¯s body startle a bit. Everyone else tried their best to cover up their surprise.

    ¡°Sit here, Li Chuan.¡± I pointed to the only single-person couch with an armrest in the living room. I didn¡¯t exin anything before guiding him towards it. In fact, it was my aunt¡¯s personal chair. She always liked to sit there to knit sweaters and watch TV.

    In public, Li Chuan would insist on wearing his prosthetic leg because if his body didn¡¯t have the support, it was hard for him to sit steadily. If he didn¡¯t have his prosthetic limb, it would be painful for him to sit more than ten minutes in a solid chair.

    Who would have thought that Li Chuan would quickly be aware that it was a special seat and refused to sit in it, ¡°I¡¯ll just sit in that chair.¡± After saying this, he walked to a wooden chair and sat down.

    Cousin poured tea for everyone.

    Auntie took a drink and asked, ¡°Mr. Wang, when did youe to Kunming?¡±

    ¡°He took a ne this morning.¡± I said for him.

    ¡°Mr. Wang, how old are you this year?¡± She nced harshly at me and asked.

    ¡°Twenty-five.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve really got a tight grasp on Xiao Qiu, now that you¡¯ve caught her.¡±

    ¡°You tter me. The early bird gets the worm.¡± Though I say this guy doesn¡¯t understand Chinese, his response was pretty quick.

    ¡°Hehe.¡± Cousin and Iughed together, nearly spraying out our tea.

    ¡°Mr. Wang¡­Li Chuan, right? Where are you studying? Are you ssmates with Xiao Qiu?¡± Uncle asked.

    ¡°Hey, you idiot. One is seventeen, one is twenty-five. He¡¯s older than our Xiao Qiu by eight years. How can they be ssmates?¡± Auntie scolded him.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t I older than you by eight years too? Eight years is very good. Very lucky.¡± Uncle didn¡¯t back down. (Eight is a lucky number in Chinese as it¡¯s simr in sound to prosperity.)

    Li Chuan said, ¡°I¡¯ve already graduated. I am an architect in Beijing.¡±

    Auntie nodded, ¡°Architecture is a good profession. Mr. Wang, where is your hometown?¡±

    She was starting to investigate him.

    ¡°Oh¡­Beijing.¡±

    ¡°Beijing? Homes in Beijing are very expensive! Last time, Xiao Yan¡¯s mom went to visit rtives and came back telling us that a simple two bedroom condo sold for one million. How much would you say a Beijing person has to make per month so that they are not a ve to their mortgage?¡±

    ¡°Auntie, Li Chuan has a pretty good ie in Beijing.¡± I said in a few words to stop her.

    ¡°You know that money is not the most important thing when two people are together.¡± Auntie changed the topic, ¡°The important thing is that a man has to know to take responsibility.¡±

    She was implying something. Li Chuan kept silent epting the education.

    ¡°Mr. Wang, you are twenty-five years old. You ought to find someone who¡¯s simr in age with you to be your girlfriend. Xiao Qiu has just started college and hasn¡¯t begun anything yet. Her looks and knowledge are like a high school student. She doesn¡¯t have good judgement. Mr. Wang, you have to help her.¡±

    ¡°Auntie¨C¡±

    ¡°Children should not interrupt when adults are speaking.¡± Auntie stiffened her face.

    Li Chuan avoided the important stuff and dwelled on the trivial, ¡°Auntie, Xiao Qiu is both capable and opinionated. Her ability to live independently is great. I don¡¯t feel like I need to help her with anything.¡±

    It¡¯s too bad that he didn¡¯t know that my aunt and my dad were best friends. She never flinched in the wake of my dad¡¯s stubbornness. Otherwise, why would a tough old man like my father respect her so much. One year, my brother wanted to spend summer vacation at Auntie¡¯s home. But it was actually because he wanted to watch ¡°The Return of Condor Heroes.¡± With one word of my dad¡¯s, that summer vacation, my brother not only didn¡¯t get to watch ¡°The Return of the Condor Heroes¡±, he didn¡¯t even get to watch the news.

    ¡°Speaking of ability to live independently,¡± Auntie changed the topic and brought out her strongest weapon, ¡°Mr. Wang, with the state your body is in, you need someone else to take care of you. As elders, how can we be at ease in handing over a seventeen year old girl to you?¡±

    I¡¯ve never hated Auntie before, but because of these words, I hated her a little. I started to gnaw on my fingernails. Whenever I was angry and couldn¡¯t vent my anger, I would always subconsciously bite myself.

    Li Chuan moved my hand away, was silent for a moment before saying, ¡°Auntie, in life, there are disasters and happiness all the time. It¡¯s hard to anticipate it. I don¡¯t need Xiao Qiu to take care of me. I will take good care of Xiao Qiu. Please don¡¯t worry.¡±

    He didn¡¯t change his tone at all and was neither servile nor overbearing. Auntie opened and closed her mouth, but had nothing to say. She signaled at Uncle with her eyes, having him speak.

    Uncle muttered to himself for a moment before saying, ¡°Li Chuan, do you like to eat potstickers? We¡¯re making potstickers today. Wife, go slice the vegetables, okay?¡±

    Auntie took this opportunity to head angrily into the kitchen. Uncle patted his shoulder, ¡°Don¡¯t mind her, your aunt is normally very benevolent.¡±

    Li Chuan smiled lightly, ¡°What do you mean? What Auntie said was the truth.¡±

    Ever since we stepped foot into here, I had been looking for an excuse to take Li Chuan away from her. But my Shanghainese cousin-inw, hearing that Li Chuan was an architect, immediately started chatting with him, ¡°Mr. Wang what kind of architect are you? I am from Hong Du Properties and am pretty familiar with those in this profession. Whichpany do you work for?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a Swisspany, CGP Architects.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of it. I¡¯ve heard of it. Mr. Wang, your foreignnguage must be very good. I¡¯m not too familiar with the situation in Beijing, but they have a branch in Shanghai and has an extremely good reputation there. It¡¯s exterior andndscape designs are especially famous. Since they have so much business, we couldn¡¯t even get a team despite offering the money. There are two awesome foreign architects in the Shanghai branch. It¡¯s a pity they don¡¯t know Chinese and a trantor is needed to speak to them. It costs five-hundred yuan per hour.¡± Cousin-inw turned to look at me and said, ¡°When Xiao Qiu discovered that her major was English, she was extremely unsatisfied. Take a look, learn English well and you can also make big money.¡±

    ¡°Nowadays, the Beijing headquarters has hired several native Chinese architects. They are quite outstanding andmunication has been made more convenient. That¡¯s right, cousin-inw, what specifically do you do in estate management?¡±

    ¡°nning, Director of nning.¡± He handed over a business card. ¡°In the future, if we have difficulty finding an architect in Shanghai, can Ie to Beijing to find you?¡±

    ¡°No problem. I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t have a business card, but this is my number. In Beijing, I¡¯ve met Mr. Fang from yourpany before and even had a meal together.¡±

    ¡°Which Mr. Fang?¡±

    ¡°Fang Yuan Hua.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the CEO.¡±

    ¡°Right, right.¡±

    ¡°So, Mr. Wang, you are so well-connected.¡± Cousin-inw¡¯s grin stretched across his entire face while looking at him. It was clearly written on his face that he liked him. Zhu Zhu Jie¡¯s boyfriend¡¯s surname is also Wang, named Wang Yu Min. He and Zhu Zhu worked in the same real estatepany. Yu Min was like Zhu Zhu, only having gone to night-school at first, after making some money, he then went to Yunnan University for a program. This kind of program was easy to get into but tuition was very high. But after finishing school, there was no degree certificate, only a graduation certificate. So it still wasn¡¯t an official diploma. Auntie wasn¡¯t happy with it and wouldn¡¯t let them date for a long time. At the time, Auntie wanted to introduce her colleague¡¯s son, a Tsing Hua University graduate, to Zhu Zhu. The two tried for a bit, but Zhu Zhu didn¡¯t like him and broke up with him. Auntie was hopping mad. This was the first time Yu Min hade to visit. He brought a whole bunch of expensive presents and looked pretty nervous. To his surprise, Wang Li Chuan came along and because Auntie¡¯s main target. He could heave a sigh in relief.

    ¡°Mr. Wang, what a coincidence. I¡¯m at Jia Hua-Hong Jing, also a real estatepany. I am in sales and in my spare time I also sell life insurance.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Li Chuan said, ¡°Why don¡¯t I buy Xiao Qiu¡¯s insurance from you. She always gets lost on the streets.¡±

    ¡°This kind of under the table business isn¡¯t something to pawn on one¡¯s own. If Mr. Wang really wants to get it, you should get it at Ping An Insurance.¡± Yu Minughed, ¡°Just now cousin-inw said that Mr. Wang¡¯spany headquarters is in Switzend. Ourpany has a majority shareholder that is a transnational investmentpany from Switzend also called CGP. Do they have any rtion with yourpany?¡±

    Li Chuan said, ¡°There is a rtion. Our office belongs to this investmentpany.¡±

    Yu Min sighed, ¡°Ourpany¡¯s performance hasn¡¯t been very good these past two years. I¡¯ve heard that CGP wanted to sell their shares. The rumors have already spread, but I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s true or not. Mr. Wang, have you heard of this in Beijing? If it is so, Zhu Zhu and I should leave as soon as possible.¡±

    Li Chuan shook his head, ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of it. CGP has many investments in the country, I¡¯m not too clear on the specifics. How about this, if the rumors turn out to be true, give me a call. I¡¯ll help you think of something, okay?¡±

    ¡°Thank you so much.¡± Yu Min asked for Li Chuan¡¯s number.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    During this pause, my aunt returned from the kitchen with a calm and collected face. Uncle saw this and said to us in a raised voice, ¡°Li Chuan, our Xiao Qui got first ce in the college entrance exam for Gejiu county. Her overall score was also ranked highly in Yunnan province. Her dad has ced high hopes on her. You young people can¡¯t allow dating to interfere with studies.¡±

    ¡°Uncle, Li Chuan often helps me study English and also helps me correct my homework.¡± I promptly defended him. ¡°I don¡¯t have anyone to rely on in Beijing. He¡¯s helped me in all the difficulties I¡¯ve faced. He¡¯s always avable.¡±

    I said this with a motive. It was to move my Auntie.

    Back then, when Auntie married from Gejiu to Kunming, even though Uncle was a blue-cored worker, Uncle¡¯s parents were cadres in the factory. Her mother-inw was extremely opposed to their marriage. She didn¡¯t show up at all until the wedding ceremony.

    Auntie¡¯s expression softened a little. She nced at me and said, ¡°Mr. Wang, I heard that you bought Xiao Qiu a first ss ticket toe back home this time.¡±

    ¡°That¡­yes.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to sit in first ss at her age. Aren¡¯t you afraid of spoiling her?¡±

    ¡°Auntie, Xiao Qiu lined up for two days and two nights and couldn¡¯t manage to buy a train ticket. I saw that she was too tired and wanted her to sleep morefortably.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you are really considerate of our Xiao Qiu.¡± Auntie handed me an apron and told me, ¡°Xiao Qiu, help me slice vegetables. Slice the napa.¡± Normally, with two daughters there, Auntie wouldn¡¯t have me help with such things. I know she wanted to use the opportunity to discipline me.

    Li Chuan promptly snatched the apron over, ¡°Auntie, why don¡¯t I help you slice vegetables? I¡¯m more skilled at slicing vegetables than Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°Wow,¡± Auntie smiled, ¡°you look like someone who has been pampered since childhood, yet you still know how to slice vegetables.¡±

    ¡°My culinary skills are not too bad. If you don¡¯t believe me, ask Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, if making sds and boiling potato soup are called culinary skills.¡± I said with arms crossed.

    Li Chuan leaned over and muttered in my ear, ¡°I¡¯m making a breakthrough here. You need to cooperate.¡±

    ¡°But Auntie, Li Chuan¡¯s vegetable slicing skills are awesome. Let him slice all the vegetables for today.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you child. So insensible. He¡¯s a guest.¡± She turned around and found that Li Chuan had already entered the kitchen.

    Li Chuan and I sliced all the ingredients up for my aunt and then seasoned all the meat for her. Everyone then sat in the living room to make potstickers. It turns out my older cousin-inw was from Shenyang and Wang Yu Min was from Henan. They both loved to eat potstickers. Wrapping potstickers required two hands. Even if Li Chuan sat down, he still needed a hand to continuously support himself in order to sit straight. Li Chuan couldn¡¯t wrap potstickers, and so didn¡¯t take part in the work. Everyone saw that he had been standing for an hour just now slicing vegetables, so just took it as if he was tired and didn¡¯t take offense. Everyone chatted while wrapping.

    After a while, my cousin¡¯s son, Dou Dou, raised his hand and asked, ¡°Uncle Wang, why do you only have one leg when everyone else has two? Where is your other leg?¡±

    I¡¯m sure everyone present, including me, wanted to know the answer to that but restrained themselves out of courtesy. Everyone was too embarrassed to ask. Now, finally someone had asked. Everyone looked a little embarrassed.

    I promptly replied for him, ¡°Ah, Dou Dou, that is a good question. It¡¯s like this, once, when Uncle Wang was swimming in the ocean, he unexpectedly came across a shark. It took a bite, nipped one of his legs off, and swallowed it. So, now he only has one leg.¡±

    I thought this answer was pretty good and had characteristics of children¡¯s fairy tales.

    Dou Dou pulled on his ear, thought about it for a bit and asked, ¡°Uncle Wang, is that true?¡±

    Li Chuan shook his head, shook his head again, and then again, ¡°No, of course not. Dou Dou, she¡¯s just joking. It happened like this. When I was younger, I went to y in the forest with my parents. My dad told me that when we were outside, I had to always keep Mom and Dad in sight and couldn¡¯t wander off. But, your Uncle Wang was too mischievous and didn¡¯t listen to his parents. I left without permission to climb the mountain and got lost. I came upon a grizzly bear. This huge grizzly bear opened up his ferocious mouth and snapped one of my legs off. That¡¯s why your Uncle Wang only has one leg. Tell me, what lesson should you take away from this story?¡±

    Dou Dou said pitifully, ¡°To listen to your parents and don¡¯t things without permission. Otherwise a huge grizzly bear will bite off one of your legs.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Li Chuan patted his head and praised him, ¡°What a smart child!¡±

    Everyone rxed andughed together.

    I saw Li Chuan quietly switch his seated position, starting to prop himself up with both arms. His forehead was slightly sweating.

    There were around enough potstickers wrapped for two pots. I pulled Li Chuan up, ¡°Everyone keep on wrapping, Li Chuan and I will be in charge of cooking them.¡±

    Li Chuan followed me into the kitchen. He stooped down to find the wok for potstickers.

    When he stood up, I ced both my hands on his waist. He hugged me tightly for a sec.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have had you apany me here. Look at how tired you are.¡± I quietly said.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He looked at my guilty face and patted my face, ¡°Wifey is still the one who is most considerate of me, knowing that I¡¯m morefortable standing than sitting.¡±

    Li Chuan could stand for a very long time, but I didn¡¯t know that he could stand for this long. We spent an hour to cook all of the potstickers. Auntie was really happy and even made five more dishes, including a fish dish.

    And then, everyone sat down and feasted together in happiness.

    In the meantime, Li Chuan ate potstickers energetically and then put his effort into ying video games with Dou Dou. We left the factory neighborhood with everyone sending us off. Before leaving, my aunt had already started bing endeared to Li Chuan. She stubbornly slipped a bag of western ginseng to me saying that that kid was good-looking, had really good manners, and made a lot of money, but looked weak no matter how you looked at him. He must frequently drink ginseng as a supplement.

    Exiting the gates, Li Chuan¡¯s car sat there by the curbside.

    Just as we got in, Li Chuan¡¯s cell phone rang.

    ¡ª Ge.

    ¡ª No.

    ¡ª No.

    ¡ª No.

    ¡ª I sent Dad a New Year¡¯s card. Didn¡¯t he get it?

    ¡ª Ok.

    ¡ª Didn¡¯t I say I¡¯ll return home in February? I don¡¯t have time before February.

    ¡ª Grandma¡¯s in the hospital?

    ¡ª Then ok. I can¡¯t take out time in the next ten days. I have three designs due. I need to make a trip to Shenyang. Also, the one in Xiamen has been won, I need to meet with the investors about it. I¡¯ll return as soon as I finish work. I¡¯ll try to be back for three days.

    ¡ª A week? Hmm, a week is a bit difficult. I¡¯ll try.

    ¡ª that¡¯s right, let me ask you something. You¡¯re investing in Jia Hua-Hong Jing?

    ¡ª I heard you¡¯re pulling the investment?

    ¡ª There¡¯s nothing like that? Okay. If it is like that, give me a call first. I have two people here who need to be ced.

    ¡ª Who? Chen Sheng Lin? I don¡¯t know him. Isn¡¯t your main representative¡¯s surname Meng?

    ¡ª Switched? You switch whenever you want. I don¡¯t know any of them. Have him contact me.

    ¡ª The stadium¡¯s design was submittedst week. Didn¡¯t Jim tell you? I worked myself to death to draw that for you. Don¡¯t get me more work this month.

    ¡ª There¡¯s no need to thank me. Greet grandfather and grandmother for me.

    He hung up and looked at me. I pursed up my lips and smiled, ¡°You two brothers have a pretty good rtionship.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the same with your brother?¡±

    ¡°How much older than you is your brother?¡±

    ¡°Two years.¡±

    ¡°I was wondering what your brother looked like. Does he look exactly like you?¡±

    ¡°Oh, we look every simr. It¡¯s just that he has one more leg than me and is more handsome.¡±

    ¡°Is he married?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s gay. My dad doesn¡¯t know yet. He¡¯ll be extremely angry if he knew.¡±

    ¡°In any case, you foreigners are much more open.¡±

    ¡°I just finished eating potstickers at your aunt¡¯s home and now you¡¯re saying I¡¯m a foreigner.¡± He got angry.

    ¡°Okay, Ge Ge, you are a Yunnan person.¡± I took his hand and held it in mine.

    The car drove unhurriedly. I asked, ¡°Where are we going now?¡±

    ¡°A whole afternoon is gone. I had originally nned to go to Jin Ma Lane, then go to Tuo Feng Pub to drink before going to LDW.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t stand you. Please say Lao Dian Wei, okay?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s LDW. Even theirmercials say this. LDW vored food and drink.¡± (Lao Dian Wei, ÀÏµáÎ¶, literally means old ssic vor)

    After saying this, he suddenly embraced me tightly.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said softly, ¡°if I wasn¡¯t his handicapped, you wouldn¡¯t have so many grievances.¡±

    He paused and then continued, ¡°I don¡¯t like your dad. He can scold me all he likes, but he can¡¯t hit you. ¡ª Don¡¯t tell me your face wasn¡¯t from his p.¡±

 Chapter 18

    <h4>Chapter 18</h4>

    My face burned as I heard these words, as if I took another p from my dad. I secretly prayed, Li Chuan and my dad better never meet in this lifetime.

    Getting out of the car, I didn¡¯t forget to hang a Nikon camera in my neck. Li Chuan used this to photographndscapes. He often takes photos, but never of himself. But today, I falsely imed that I wanted to photograph the archway at Jin Ma Lane for him, but I secretly nned to take a couple¡¯s photo of Li Chuan and me.

    First we went drinking at the Tuo Feng Pub, it looked very festive inside. Li Chuan got a beer, but did not allow me to drink. He said I wasn¡¯t 20 yet, I could only have juice. I picked pineapple juice, but then he said pineapple juice was too high in sugar, it was unhealthy. Orange juice was better. After we finished our drinks, it was already dark out. Returning to the archway, I grabbed a passerby, and asked him to take a photo of us.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t understand photography,¡± Li Chuan said softly, ¡°why don¡¯t I take the picture, quality guaranteed.¡±

    ¡°You already took a lot of pictures of me, now I want a couple¡¯s photo of us.¡± I emphasized, ¡°Couple¡¯s photo.¡±

    ¡°Can I take a couple¡¯s photo of you and this archway?¡± He frowned, ¡°I don¡¯t like to be photographed.¡±

    ¡°No. I just want our couple¡¯s photo. Us ¨C you and I ¨C together.¡± I sulked, uttering this word by word.

    ¡°Fine.¡± He nodded helplessly.

    The passerby took a professional-looking pose, asked us to lean in closer, then, in a string of shes, took five or six pictures.

    I said, ¡°If you please, sir, please take one from a little farther. I want this whole archway.¡±

    He backed up holding the camera, farther and farther back, and suddenly turned around and took off running.

    I know Li Chuan¡¯s was a professional camera, extraordinarily expensive. Guess the man saw the value of camera, and also that Li Chuan wasn¡¯t very mobile, and took his opportunity.

    ¡°Stop!¡± I shouted, immediately taking after him.

    That man weaved through the crowd, and quickly ran into a narrow alleyway. It looked like he was not very familiar with the route, hesitating as he passed every intersection, whether to turn. I chased along, into a quiet street, that man stayed about a hundred steps ahead of me the whole time. I ran what felt like the distance of two bus stops, that guy nced back several times thinking he¡¯d already left me behind, but I followed him like a shadow, and kept closing the distance. He turned to enter another alley. The alley had plenty of exits to other roads, but gradually, the alley seemed to approach a dead end, suddenly, it came to a fork. He hesitated, was probably deciding whether to go a different way. Just in this slight hesitation, I already caught up to him. He stopped, his hand holding the camera, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t youe over here, you¡¯re by yourself here. Don¡¯t doubt that I will wring your neck.¡±

    I said, ¡°Who says I¡¯m by myself, there are two policemen right behind you.¡±

    There were two people behind him, two men, taking very loud steps, I shouted, ¡°Catch the thief!¡± Those men came running over, one of them was in so much of a rush he stepped in and broke a flower pot, the man with my camera couldn¡¯t resist ncing back.

    In this instant, I remembered an important move from martial arts in gym ss before, and aimed a kick to his groin!

    With an ¡°ow¡± he knelt to the ground, and fainted. I yanked back the camera, and took off running. Only now did I realize because of my run, I was covered in sweat and wheezing. My heart was pounding excitedly.

    In just a few steps, I got to the street, a ck car sped over and stopped in front of me, the door opened, and came Li Chuan¡¯s voice: ¡°Xiao Qiu, get in!¡±

    I ran into the car, and the car sped off.

    ¡°Are you injured? Yes or no?¡± Li Chuan asked dragging me in front of him.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°How did you snatch back the camera?¡± He handed over his own handkerchief for me to wipe my sweat, and continued to ask.

    ¡°I kicked him, he fainted.¡±

    ¡°No way? That easy? One kick and he fainted? This is the level of professionalism for thieves in Kunming?¡± He said, ¡°So useless, can¡¯t even seed at robbing a camera?¡±

    ¡°Hey hey, whose side are you on?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in a roundabout way calling you a heroine.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡±

    We returned to the archway at Jin Ma Lane, where we took the picture earlier, and got out of the car.

    Li Chuan looked at me, said, ¡°Are you tired from running? How far did you run? Two kilometers?¡±

    ¡°That sounds about right.¡± I was still wheezing.

    ¡°Want to go for another run?¡± He said, ¡°Just now, right here, someone stole my wallet.¡±

    ¡°Ack?! What?! You, lost your wallet?¡± I shouted, ¡°What a crappy ce?! So many thieves? Where did you lose it? Which way did he go? What else did he steal?¡±

    I looked at him, noticed he was smiling faintly.

    ¡°Li Chuan, I know you don¡¯t care about cash. But credit cards and debit cards, people can just swipe up to their credit limit.¡±

    ¡°Just messing with you, just see how worried you look.¡± He helped brush my hair behind my ear, ¡°Next time something like this happens, you let the camera go, you can¡¯t leave me here.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, I was wrong. O Your Highness, I must protect you first.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± He looked at me, his gaze as serene as the moonlight.

    I hugged the camera, immersed in the happiness of victory: ¡°Li Chuan, our couple¡¯s photos are in here. I¡¯m not letting anyone steal this.¡±

    ¡°What if there weren¡¯t our photos in there?¡± He asked.

    ¡°This is your camera, not mine, who cares if it¡¯s stolen. Even if it¡¯s expensive, it¡¯s not like you can¡¯t afford to lose it, right? Besides, my life is also very valuable, no?¡± I said full of righteousness.

    ¡°I¡¯d say you¡¯re muddled in the head and dumb, but sometimes you¡¯re also not too dumb.¡± He sighed, ¡°I just pray that God watches over me, please don¡¯t let me ever get on your bad side, or I¡¯ll get a kick from you too.¡±

    My hands reached over, wrapping around his waist: ¡°Mm-hm, I¡¯ve always been gentle and sweet. I just became ferocious this once, and you had to see it.¡±

    ¡°Always been gentle and sweet? Not really? The first time I met you, you sshed coffee all over me. The second time, you climbed a wall in front of me. The third time, you assaulted campus security. I feel like you¡¯re a violent woman, violent and horny, truly very terrifying.¡±

    Even though Li Chuan always humbly ims his Chinese is poor, actually, his vocabry is quiterge, and very practical, his speech left me speechless.

    To stop him from continuing along this line of conversation, I hurriedly interrupted, ¡°Li Chuan, I¡¯m hungry, I want to eat rice noodles.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just finish eating dumplings? You¡¯re hungry again so soon?¡±

    ¡°I was worried Auntie was making you ufortable, I was so worried I lost my appetite. I used to love eating dumplings.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go to LDW.¡±

    ¡°Lao Dian Wei.¡±

    ¡°LDW.¡±

    Lao Dian Wei looks like a state-run operation. To get food, you have to first line up at the little counter on the side to purchase tickets.

    I asked Li Chuan: ¡°You¡¯ve eaten here before?¡±

    ¡°No. I saw ads. People say the taste is very authentic.¡±

    ¡°Crossing bridge rice noodles are on the second floor, the staircase is so slippery, let¡¯s not go anymore.¡±

    ¡°There are fewer people upstairs, you should go up first to find a spot.¡± He lined up for the ticket counter. The line was long, there were about ten people.

    Seeing him in crutches the people in line all offered, ¡°No need to line up, just go directly to the window to make your purchase.¡±

    Don¡¯t know who it was that also added: ¡°Priority to the disabled.¡±

    The people all spoke the Kunming dialect, I¡¯m sure Li Chuan only understood somewhat. He put on an indifferent attitude, and lined up at the very end.

    After we got our tickets, we went upstairs together, and found a spot near the side. Shortly, the server brought over rice noodles, and a small dish of stewed chicken. I asked Li Chuan: ¡°You only got one bowl of noodles, you don¡¯t want to eat?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already full from eating at Auntie¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°How about, you eat some cold dishes?¡±

    ¡°Too spicy.¡±

    Actually, along the whole way walking with Li Chuan, men and women all turned to stare at him. Stared until he was very ufortable. Even now that he was sitting, I can still feel lots of eyes staring at him. I couldn¡¯t care less that the noodle soup was boiling hot, I tried to finish the rice noodles very quickly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t eat so hurriedly, watch you don¡¯t burn your mouth. We don¡¯t have to rush for anything tonight.¡± He advised.

    Whether crossing bridge rice noodles were good or bad is determined by a few things. First is good broth, second is the freshness of the ingredients, third is the smoothness of the rice noodles. Sure enough, the soup was supreme, I drank half the bowl in one gulp.

    Then I said: ¡°I can¡¯t, I can¡¯t drink anymore.¡±

    ¡°Then just leave it here. No one is forcing you to finish.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s so bad to waste, I¡¯ll go to the bathroom first, I¡¯ll keep drinking when I get back.¡± Speaking, I stood up to look for the bathroom. He grabbed me, ¡°Don¡¯t go, I¡¯ll help you finish.¡±

    He moved the giant bowl toward him, drank the soup spoonful by spoonful, and finished the whole thing.

    I smiled looking at him: ¡°If I¡¯d known, I would have saved you some noodles, now there¡¯s only soup left.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, have you been to Macau?¡± He suddenly asked.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Right after the Chinese New Year I have to go back to Macau, investors have an important meeting I have to attend. Come with me, please?¡±

    ¡°How long will we stay in Macau?¡±

    ¡°Two days. After that, you go back to Beijing, I will go to Shenyang. Shenyang is too cold, don¡¯t go.¡±

    ¡°Why do you need to bring me, I¡¯m not your secretary.¡±

    ¡°My secretary, everyone calls her a peerless beauty, do you want to meet her?¡± He smiled mysteriously.

    ¡°Your secretary is a guy.¡± I remembered that earlier time, it was his male secretary who told me news of his hospitalization.

    ¡°That¡¯s my assistant. I have a female secretary, also acts as my trantor.¡±

    ¡°You? Need trantion?¡±

    ¡°In business negotiations I only speak in English, and let my secretary trante. Each word could mean thousands, can¡¯t have any mishaps.¡±

    A weekter, I flew to Macau with Li Chuan. In that week, he was sick for three days, ran a fever,id in bed in the hotel every day. After he recovered, he worked fanatically andpleted three diagrams.

    Li Chuan brought me to see the construction site, arge empty space near the ocean.

    ¡°Here, we will build arge resort, invest a few hundred million. Our offices will manage all the design and construction. Exterior, interior, gardens.¡±

    ¡°Mm, looks like a great location. Bright and open.¡±

    ¡°Wait three years and see, it will be full of the buildings I designed.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, I worship so you much!¡±

    ¡°I also.¡± He said.

    I looked at him stunned.

    ¡°You give me so much inspiration. Design and love are the same, they both need passion.¡±

    The ocean breeze was quite cool, he embraced my waist, we faced the ocean, leaning together close.

    Returning from the construction site, in the hotel lobby, I saw a tall woman quietly sitting on the sofa. Cashmere blouse, navy wool skirt, small ears wore a pair of small pearl earrings. Stunningly beautiful profile.

    The woman saw us and stood up: ¡°Mr. Wang.¡±

    Her face was delicate, with an indescribable sense of ss and beauty. Seeing her, one would be reminded of The ssic of Poetry or lines from Song dynasty verse.

    ¡°Let me do the introductions,¡± Li Chuan said, ¡°this is my secretary and trantor, Miss Zhu Bi Xuan. This is Miss Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    We shook hands and smiled.

    In Zhu Bi Xuans¡¯ eyes, was hidden a shred of hesitation. As Li Chuan spoke, he held my hand the whole time.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Li Chuan asked.

    ¡°A few documents need your signature. Also, the final trantion of the tender needs your review.¡±

    ¡°You can review the English. Leave the French and German for me.¡±

    ¡°He took the pen, sat down, read the documents at lightning speed, signed at lightning speed.

    I and Zhu Bi Xuan, smiled at each other very cordially.

    ¡°Miss Zhu studied in the English Department?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Beijing Foreign Language University English Department. Miss Xie? You also study English?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m at S University, freshman.¡±

    ¡°Your department¡¯s Professor Feng is an expert on D. H. Lawrence, when I was working on my dissertation, I studied his works.¡±

    ¡°Yes, his reputation is great. I n to take his ss next year.¡±

    ¡°Does Miss Xie like Macau?¡±

    ¡°I like it very much. Is this Miss Zhu¡¯s first time in Macau?¡±

    ¡°No, because of this project, I havee many times with the architects.¡±

    I feel like the way Zhu Bi Xuan speaks, from start to finish, carries an air of experienced professionalism. What sounds like easy conversation, is actually perfectly cautious and safe, not a single risky word. Unlike me, awkwardly rubbing my foot on the carpet the whole time as I speak, like a punished child.

    Li Chuan finished signing the documents, stood up and said: ¡°The Xun Da Corporation banquet, Mr. He will attend in my ce.¡±

    ¡°Um ¡­ their Chief Officer Ke has said many times, Mr. Wang must be present, he wants to take three hundred drinks with you, no leaving until everyone is wasted.¡±

    ¡°Exactly because of this, I¡¯m sending Mr. He, he can hold his alcohol.¡± Upon more thought, he sighed, ¡°Never mind, I didn¡¯t attend thest meal, they didn¡¯t hold a grudge. If I still don¡¯t go this time, they would suspect my sincerity. I should go. What time is this?¡±

    ¡°Seven.¡±

    Li Chuan came backpletely wasted at 9, rushed straight to the bathroom, and bent over the toilet to vomit.

    I stayed by him and held him, said: ¡°How are you so dumb. Did you really take three hundred drinks with them!¡±

    He vomited for a full ten minutes, then crawled up and took a shower. On one leg, he couldn¡¯t even stand steadily with a crutch.

    ¡°Sit down, I¡¯ll help you wash up.¡± I felt so bad for him.

    ¡°No.¡± With strength from who knows where, he shoved me out the door, and mmed the door with a ¡°bang.¡±

    A momentter, the sound of water started. A quarter hourter, he finished washing, and sobered up, put on pajamas and crawled under the covers, all the time sighing: ¡°Sigh, it¡¯s so difficult doing business with people here. To win a contract, you smoke with them, drink with them, eat with them, do everything short of sleeping with them. The upscale banquet hall, the room clearly says ¡°Non smoking,¡± but everyone inside is smoking. How can it be like this!¡±

    ¡°You have a profit to make and you¡¯re stillining, think of the poor kids in the impoverished regions.¡± [This is the Chinese equivalent of ¡°think of the starving kids in Africa¡¯]

    ¡°I donate to Project Hope every year.¡± [Project Hope is a Chinese public service project aimed at bringing schools to poverty-stricken rural areas in China.]

    He pulled me under the covers: ¡°Every shot I took, I thought to myself, let this finish soon, let me get back to Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°No way, so cheesy?¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t bear to let you stay all alone in a hotel room.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not lonely,¡± I said, ¡°After I ate, I took a swim, then I yed video games, and then, I went and watched a movie, a holidayedy, starring Ge You, it was really good. I just got back, and you returned.¡±

    He hugged my waist, turned toward me, I lightly ran my hand over him. Then, he turned on the TV with the remote:

    ¡°That Holding Hands [a ssic romantic TV drama from the 90s], what episode did we watch until?¡±

    Li Chuan is a bit different from other men I know. He doesn¡¯t really like to watch ser, or to watch other sports programs. He liked to watch drama series, romance or martial arts or history are all good. The drama crying type, the longer the better, he never turned down any. His reasoning was, drama series can help him learn Chinese, especially colloquial dialogue. Rather there¡¯s no point in watching sports channels, he just needs to make sure to exercise for his own health.

    Searching back and forth, switched through several tens of channels, still couldn¡¯t find Holding Hands. Finally wended in the middle of a Japanese drama series. An interlude song was ying, in Japanese, he heard, said: ¡°I¡¯m changing, it¡¯s a tragedy, let¡¯s not watch.¡±

    I said, ¡°Don¡¯t you say you don¡¯t know Japanese?¡±

    ¡°No matter how little of it I know, it¡¯s still more than you.¡±

    ¡°My second concentration is Japanese.¡± I said in Japanese.

    Then, he said a sentence in Japanese, I stared at him with wide eyes, surprised that I couldn¡¯t understand. I thought, shouldn¡¯t be some synonym of bakayaro [a Japanese term,monly known in China, meaning something along the lines of ¡°retard¡± or ¡°fool¡±].

    ¡°Basho¡¯s verse.¡± He said, ¡°Are youpletely convinced?¡±

    ¡°Is there any baseline for your excessive modesty?¡±

    ¡°No. If I were you, at your level, I just won¡¯t tell people I have a second concentration.¡±

    I jumped up, made a move as if to pinch him.

    He threw his hands up in surrender: ¡°Next time you have trouble with your Japanese homework, I can help you, free of charge. Really. Forgive me!¡±

    The next day, we bid farewell at the airport. I went back to Beijing, Li Chuan to Shenyang. While waiting for him to return from Shenyang, winter break ended. I still worked at the old ce. My dad still sent me money, 100 yuan a month, double the amount as before. He did not write to me. The letters I wrote him, he didn¡¯t return. I felt, my dad was strongly perceptive of me, he seemed to know what I was doing. Also, he knew I would be like him, no matter which road I went down, I would only keep going further, would never turn back. So, he didn¡¯t even try to persuade me.

    After Li Chuan came back, he stayed at his loft in Long Ze Garden for ten days. These ten days, we lived together every day, stuck together like glue, we lived those days like a married couple. Our couple¡¯s photo hung on the wall. Even though that thief stole our camera, his photography skills were actually not shabby. My favorite picture, there are distant streetlights in the background, Li Chuan is turning back, to brush away a strand of hair from my face. In that instant, with his side turned toward me, his face filled with caring and love.

    Afterward, he returned to Zurich, Switzend, his home, to visit his sick grandmother.

    He was there for a week, called me every other day. Then, he said, there are some other things going on at home, he needed to stay some more time. After a month, he said, he needed to go skiing with his brother. At the ski slopes, there¡¯s no phone signal.

    He stayed in Switzend for a full two months.

    Monday, I went to the airport to pick him up, I saw that he was emaciated. His face was obviously more angr.

    ¡°Hi!¡± He spotted me in the crowd, we embraced tightly.

    ¡°Howe you lost weight?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think so. Rather you got fatter.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been eating well.¡± Before he left, he insisted on leaving me money. I didn¡¯t take it. I went back to work at the cafe. This semester I didn¡¯t take too many sses, I could work for several more hours, so my ie was good.

    ¡°Your ears are healed?¡±

    He walked out to the street, inspected my newly pierced ears. I saw Zhu Bi Xuan¡¯s pearl earrings, I really liked them, while idling around Long Ze Garden, Li Chuan took me to the jewelry store downstairs to get my ears pierced. He said myplexion was fair, won¡¯t look good in pearls, I would look better in rubies. Those the color of roses. So my ears are wearing a pair of ruby earrings. Before Li Chuan left, he rubbed my ears with alcohol three times a day, afraid that they would get infected. But my ears were still swollen.

    ¡°Healed.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t hurt anymore?¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t hurt a bit. I¡¯ve even taken them off several times myself.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t they say, you can only take them off after six weeks?¡±

    ¡°Ge ge, you left for two months, the six week mark passed a long time ago.¡± I knocked him on the head.

    He smiled, a sliver of sadness hidden in his smile.

    ¡°My treat today.¡± I said, ¡°Let¡¯s go eat sushi. At that ce we went tost time.¡±

    We got in a cab, he said, ¡°Since you¡¯re treating, let¡¯s go eat rice noodles. That sushi ce is too expensive.¡±

    All the way there, he wasn¡¯t talkative.

    While we were eating, he was also not talkative.

    After the meal, he drove me straight to my dorm.

    ¡°What happened? Li Chuan?¡± My heart was heavy.

    ¡°Some matters at home, rather bothersome, some business things. In addition, my grandfather¡¯s health is not good, he¡¯s in critical condition.¡±

    I rarely hear Li Chuan bring up his family. But I know he¡¯s very adored in his family. Every time he mentions his family, his face was always filled with feeling.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say your grandmother was sick? Your grandfather is also sick?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I misspoke. My grandmother is really sick.¡± He said, ¡°I might have to go back to Switzend soon, I¡¯m waiting for a phone call.¡±

    He watched me, his face full of thought.

    ¡°So,¡± I said holding his hand, ¡°You came back specifically to see me?¡±

    Under the tree shade outside my dorm, he held my face in his hands, lightly kissed it: ¡°Yes.¡±

 Chapter 19

    <h4>Chapter 19</h4>

    The next day, Li Chuan didn¡¯t call me. At night, I called him. No one picked up. I couldn¡¯t sleep for the whole night. There was an ominous feeling in my heart.

    The day after that, he called with an exnation, ¡°Sorry, there were too many things to take care of in the office. I was too busy and didn¡¯t have time to return your call. I¡¯lle pick you up to eat lunch today, okay?

    He said it was an apology, but it felt empty to me. His voice was very calm and indifferent, a stagnant feeling. I felt a deep chill in my heart.

    I believed that he would take me to some restaurant to eat like usual. Unexpectedly, he brought me back to Long Ze Garden.

    The French windows of the loft were open wide. The sun shone through brightly and a gentle spring breeze caressed the jade green curtains.

    ¡°Sit here and rx.¡± He went to the kitchen and took out an apron, ¡°Today I¡¯ll be the chef and bake salmon for you.¡±

    Evidently, he had already bought the ingredients. The stic bags were marked with ¡°Ping Kang Supermarket.¡± We went to that supermarket often.

    He made m chowder, my favorite type of soup. Tossed a Swiss sd. And then, he poured some olive oil into the pan and fried the salmon until it was partially rare before cing it into the oven to bake. Li Chuan didn¡¯t cook often, but when he did, everything was of quality.

    I faced the sunlight from the windows and stared off into the distance. After quite a long time, when I came to, I realized that there was an area with trees right outside the window. There was actually arge garden.

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve been here for so long, howe I didn¡¯t notice. So you actually have a huge roof garden? It¡¯s filled with flowers?¡±

    ¡ª Besides making love in his loft, we basically didn¡¯t do anything else. I was afraid of cold, so Li Chuan never opened the windows.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go out when I¡¯m not around. Be careful not to fall from the building.¡± He said.

    I informed him immediately that I was afraid of heights and would never even ride chair lifts.

    The dishes were quickly done. He split the salmon into two halves, added juice, and piled sd on top. The reds and greens on the te made it look really nice.

    I cut the salmon with the knife and ced a slice into my mouth with a fork.

    ¡°Have you been busy with studiestely?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok, not too busy.¡±

    ¡°Did you do well on the final examsst time?¡±

    ¡°Second ce out of the whole grade, so I didn¡¯t get the schrship. The Hong Yu Award is only given to the grade¡¯s top student.¡± First ce was Feng Jing Er. There was still a gap between us. But, I wasn¡¯t actually too sad about it. I really did try my best.

    Li Chuan didn¡¯t say anything. He knew that I was verypetitive when it came to studies.

    Then, he continued to eat in silence. I did also.

    After awhile, I finally asked, ¡°Did you receive the phone call?¡±

    He stared nkly, ¡°What phone call?¡±

    ¡°The phone call you were waiting for.¡±

    ¡°Mmhmm.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s something really troublesome, right?¡± I sat down next to him, grasped his hand and ced it onto my lips. I softly kissed them.

    ¡°Mmhmm.¡±

    ¡°Everything will eventually be resolved. Cheer up, okay?¡±

    ¡°Mmhmm.¡±

    We went into the bedroom together. He didn¡¯t let me turn on the light. Thus, I lit two candlesticks at the bedside. He undid my clothes and kissed me tenderly.

    In my arms, his body quickly became excited. He then used both his arms to lock my hands, pressed his face on mine, and entered my body with extreme force. In pain, my body abruptly contracted and he took the moment of weakness to enter. ¡°Does it hurt a lot?¡± He nipped my ear and asked.

    ¡°Just a little.¡±

    I was in a lot of pain, but at the same time, my heart felt empty and really wanted him.

    Every time we were together, Li Chuan was always very cautious. Today was a safe day for me, so he was much more daring. His motions were fierce as if he was going to crush me to pieces. During the whole process, he waspletely engrossed and didn¡¯t say anything.

    A drop of water fell onto my face. I opened my eyes to look at him, but he buried his face into my bosom. That drop of water slowly flowed down. It flowed down to my lips. I slightly licked it. It was salty.

    Li Chuan¡¯s body was actually very weak. Sometimes he had to expend several times the energy to do something that seemed easy to us. I gently caressed his handicapped body in the darkness, feeling only tenderness towards it in my heart. Under the candlelight, he propped himself on both arms, appearing very helpless. After reaching his climax, he was reluctant to leave my body, and refused to withdraw for a long time.

    At longst, he released me and said softly, ¡°I¡¯m going to go take a bath.¡±

    After I finished freshening up, he had already finished dressing into a new outfit. In his hands were car keys, ¡°You have ss in the afternoon, right? I¡¯ll drive you back.¡±

    From afternoon till night, I continuously held onto the cellphone he bought me. I turned the volume and the vibration to the highest. But I didn¡¯t get a call from him.

    The next afternoon, the cellphone finally rang. I quickly picked it up, ¡°Hi.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s me, Li Chuan. Where are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in the dorm room.¡±

    ¡°Come down for a bit, okay?¡± His voice sounded particrly calm, filled with not a trace of emotion, ¡°I¡¯ll be in the usual ce, the parking lot.¡±

    I walked the road to the president¡¯s building a thousand times. Today, I felt a burst of ill wind.

    In the distance, I saw Li Chuan in a ck suit, light grey shirt and shiny blue tie. His pale, slender hands on the dark cane. He watched me with no expression on his face.

    The parking lot was empty. The winter jasmines were in bloom.

    I sucked in a breath, feigned a rxed mood, and said ¡°hi¡± to him.

    He looked at me, then hung his head. After that, he lifted his head and said. ¡°Xiao Qiu, I¡¯m here to bid you farewell.¡±

    My heart ached dully. But I raised my spirit and forced augh and a nod, ¡°When¡¯s your flight?¡±

    ¡°5:15.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll send you off.¡± I looked at my watch. There were still two hours till the flight.It took at least an hour to drive from here to the airport. Li Chuan did everything ahead of time. He would never wait until thest moment. This definitely wasn¡¯t his style.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Just say farewell here.¡± My long hair was disheveled by the wind. He lifted his hand to ce the strands on my forehead behind my ear.

    My heart quietly trembled, but my face remained tranquil. Iughed and tried to cover up the anxiety in my heart, ¡°That¡¯s fine too. When will you be back? I¡¯lle meet you.¡±

    He looked at me in silence. After a moment, he said, ¡°Xiao Qiu, I¡¯m noting back. Please forgive me.¡±

    I stood there stupidly. My mind was aplete nk. My tears flowed out uncontrobly.

    Li Chuan never knew I looked like this when I cried, because I have never cried in front of him. He inhaled deeply and looked at me in silence. His gaze was empty and felt cold. He had returned to the way he was when I first met him. That Li Chuan rarely smiled. He sat there by the window, drinking coffee, keeping himself at a distance, cold like an iceberg.

    I loudly asked him, ¡°Why? What actually happened? Did I do something wrong?¡±

    For a split second, his gaze flickered. Aplex feeling flitted across. It seems as if he wanted to say something, but was unable to say it. He restored his calm state and said in a cold voice, ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything wrong.¡± He paused and added, ¡°It¡¯s better if you don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°No! Tell me! I want to know! I want to know!¡± I howled angrily at him.

    He grabbed my hands tightly and kissed me on my forehead with force. ¡°I¡¯ve left a letter in the Long Ze t.¡± He said, ¡°After reading that letter, please forget about me as quickly as possible.¡±

    And then, he let go of me. Opened the car door resolutely.

    However, as he was getting in, in that moment, he suddenly turned back and his gaze finally held a trace of anguish. He said, ¡°Goodbye, Xiao Qiu. Take care.¡±

    ¡°No! Li Chuan! I love you! Don¡¯t leave me!¡± I cried bitterly.

    His car sped away.

    I stood there motionlessly.

    I didn¡¯t know whether it was raining or I was crying. Whether it was the leaves on the tree shaking or me trembling.

    I took a taxi to Long Ze Garden, swiped the key, went up the elevator.

    Inside, everything was still there. The furniture, the appliances, the cutlery, the antiques on disy.

    Inside, nothing was there. Everything of Li Chuan¡¯s had disappeared. His clothes, designs, wheelchair, toothbrush, books, even his drawing pencil, eraser, shampoo, cotton swabs for applying medicine, razor for shaving, and slippers in the wardrobe.

    The photographs on the walls had also disappeared. Our couple picture.

    So clean, so thorough, as if he had never lived here.

    On the coffee table, a white envelope quietly sat there. It was very thin. I opened it and despaired even more.

    A white sheet of paper. It had a name on it, ¡°Chen Dong Cun,¡± and a number.

    I called the number with my cellphone. It was a man who answered, ¡°Hello.¡±

    ¡°Are you Mr. Chen Dong Cun?¡±

    ¡°Yes, may I ask who this is?¡±

    ¡°I am Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    The man immediately said, ¡°Miss Xie, this is Chen Dong Cunw firm. I am awyer of Chen Dong Cun. Mr. Wang Li Chuan has entrusted two matters with us. Miss Xie, do you have time right now? Can you make a trip over? Of perhaps if you let me your address, I¡¯ll bring the documents over for you to look over.¡±

    I said in a cold voice, ¡°What matters, what documents? Can you roughly tell me about it over the phone?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like this. Mr. Wang has ced the two lofts that he owns in Long Ze Garden under your name. He has already signed all the documents. You only have to bring your ID and sign a couple of ces before getting the two lofts. Mr. Wang said that these two properties were gifts and you can do whatever you wish to them. You can live in them yourself, and you can also sell them to someone else. In addition, Mr. Li Chuan said that if you needed money, you can call us at any time.¡±

    Iughed bitterly inside. This was Li Chuan¡¯s style. Whether he was here or not, he would always ¡°take care¡± of me.

    ¡°Miss Xie, are you still listening?¡± Lawyer Chen was still waiting for my reply.

    ¡°Mmhmm¡±

    ¡°Then, Miss Xie, when can youe toplete the paperwork.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Chen, please tell Wang Li Chuan, ¡°I said, ¡°thanks for his good intentions. I don¡¯t want anything of his.¡±

    ¡°Miss Xie, please listen to me¨C¡±

    I hung up and left Long Ze Garden as fast as possible.

    April 1st. Today was April fool¡¯s day.

    ****

    Hi Li Chuan,

    The results for the mid-term exams are out. I did pretty well. I even got a 86 on my worst subject, intensive reading. Are you pleased? For lunch, I went to a small store at the North Gate with An An to eat beef noodle soup. I added a lot oftro. It was delicious. At night, I went for a study session and brought a cup of strong tea. There, I finished reading thest ¡°Demigods and Semi-Devils¡± book. That¡¯s right, I wasn¡¯t studying. I wanted to take a break. ¨C Xiao Qiu.

    ***

    Hi Li Chuan,

    I¡¯ve practically written an email every three days. Have you read them? My days at school are very boring. I am still working at the caf¨¦. Do you still remember Ye Jing Wen? You left a notebook in her hands there. I asked her for it now and she won¡¯t give it to me. I am a little jealous of her. You didn¡¯t leave anything with me, but she has your notebook. Today, I ran into Professor Feng Jie Liang in my department. He is Feng Jing Er¡¯s father. I don¡¯t really like Feng Jing Er too much, but her dad is really kind and even very charming. Perhaps it was because he studied novelist Lawrence. I made dinner for myself. A cucumber, two five spice tea eggs. There are a lot of smokers in the inte caf¨¦. I¡¯m going to a study session now. ¨C Xiao Qiu.

    ***

    Hi Li Chuan,

    Four month have already passed by without any messages from you. You are really determined. I have dreams every night. I dream that there is mail in my inbox. It doesn¡¯t matter, I think I will only have to use ¡°Hi, Li Chuan¡± as ¡°My dear diary¡± and it will be fine. Keeping a diary is a good habit. Isn¡¯t that right? If I end up famous one day, others will need to use this to research me. I chose seven sses this semester. My ssmates all say I¡¯m crazy. I¡¯m not crazy, because I finally got the Hong Yu Award. I no longer need to work anymore, so can spend more time studying. The bad part is that a music department student has moved into the dorm room next door. She keeps the window open and practices singing everyday. We¡¯re all nearly going crazy because of her. When will this midnight singing end? ¨C Xiao Qiu.

    **

    Hi Li Chuan,

    It¡¯s April 1st again, April Fool¡¯s day. Do you remember that we split up on that day? You can¡¯t hide it from me because I could see the pain in your eyes. You¡¯ve never hurt me before. If you had not choice but to hurt me, it must be for the good of something more important. Alright, the painful recollections will now stop here. One day, I had a really scary nightmare. I dreamt that you were in pain. That night, I ran to the inte caf¨¦ in the middle of the night and googled your name for the first time. Fortunately, there was no news of the famous, young, architect, Mr. Wang Li Chuan. You obviously haven¡¯t been participating in public activities either. With you leaving so abruptly, I was wondering what was going to happen with all the designs projects you had in China?

    But, it looks like yourpany still remains in Beijing and continues to do business. It¡¯s thatughable. These aren¡¯t things that I need to worry about. I only hope that everything is well with you. ¨C Xiao Qiu. Also, don¡¯t think that the Xiao Qiu in the email you are reading about is the actual Xiao Qiu. The actual Xiao Qiu has changed. You probably won¡¯t recognize her anymore. But Li Chuan, will you have changed? You won¡¯t right? You are forever the love of my life.

 Chapter 20

    <h4>Chapter 20</h4>

    After Li Chuan and I broke up, I sent emails to him at least twice a week, but I never got a reply. On the very next day after he left, I called him once out of despair, but was notified that his number was no longer in use. I called Ji Huan, but he knew nothing. He helped me contact Li Chuan¡¯s office anyway and was informed that Li Chuan was transferred back to CGP¡¯s head office in Europe on short notice; he would finish his current design sketches in Europe. Therefore, he was still CGP¡¯s head architect designer even though it was nothing more than a title. Nheless, CGP needed his name to attract business.

    Ji Huan said, he only knew Li Chuan based on his profile description posted on CGP¡¯s website because Li Chuan never talked about himself. What he knew about him was not far off from what I got from google: Wang Li Chuan, a young well-known architect designer born in Zurich, Switzend. He graduated from Harvard University in year XXXX, majoring in architect. He has won the following awards: first ce in year XXXX Switzend¡¯s Youth Architect Designer Awards, gold in year XXXX United States¡¯ P/A Awards, and first ce in year XXXX France¡¯s AS-4 Architect Design Awards. His known works include: city C¡¯s national stadium, Province M¡¯s Royal Museum, City S¡¯s football field, and other resorts,mercial buildings, music halls, and exhibition ces.

    This impressive resume was not the Li Chuan that I knew. The Li Chuan that I knew was someone who drove me homete at night, apanied me to buy train tickets, and grew sores after being scolded by my dad. Li Chuan always took care of me and never ced himself highly. Furthermore, he would tell me that he was tired when he took a stroll with me while using his cane; he would ask me to fetch him his ss of milk at night when he was sick and couldn¡¯t get up. One night, when I was sipping my coffee in sadness because I had a writer¡¯s block while working on my essay, he actually asked me if I wanted his ¡°sex service.¡± We made love romantically and I finished my essay in a marathon till dawn. I received the highest mark on it.

    That day, when Li Chuan broke up with me in the parking lot, it only took 5 minutes. But it felt like a thousand years to get home from Long Ze.

    I was in a daze when I bumped into Xiu Yue on my way back to my room. Two dayster, the news of Li Chuan and me breaking up spread all over the dorm. Xiu Yue came and asked if I would ept Sixpence now that The Moon was gone.

    I shook my head firmly.

    In the next two years, I focused on picking courses and studied like mad. At the end of my third year, I suddenly realized that I had already finished all my required courses. I asked the counselor what I should do and he suggested that I continue to graduate studies. He rmended me to study under Mr. Feng Jie Liang, Feng Jing Er¡¯s dad, the English program¡¯s most respected professor and expert on the novelist D.H. Lawrence. If it wasn¡¯t for the school who plead to his wife, he would have hopped over to Peking University long ago. I had taken Professor Feng¡¯s ¡°Modern British Literature¡± course before. He quite liked me and gave me a high score, so I decided to talk to him about graduate studies. The old man gave a pat on my head and said, ¡°Don¡¯t bother taking the entrance exam, your English is very good. You¡¯re not going to be willing to recite politics, so I¡¯ll save you from the trouble.¡± I received my eptance letter soon after, advising that I was automatically epted due to my outstanding performance.

    As a graduate student, I didn¡¯t need to pay for tuition, but I would only get $225 a month as living support. Even with a schrship, I still needed to work. My dad stopped sending me money because after my brother had a fight with him, my brother got epted to Sun Yat-Sen University¡¯s Medical Department. His tuition was twice as expensive as mine, so my dad¡¯s financial burden got a lot heavier. Just like me, Xiao Dong got a job to work after ss in order to help pay his tuition and living expenses. My dad sent him $100 a month, which was surely not enough, so I saved up my money and sent him $300 a month, but he gave it back to me. During the winter holidays, I visited him at Guang Zhou. He grew some muscles and got tanned from delivering flowers on bike from the shop he worked at. It made my heart ache, so I insisted on giving him $2000, but on the second day I returned to Beijing, Xiao Dong deposited it back into my bank ount not a penny less. He said, ¡°Jie, I have enough to spend. Keep the money for yourself.¡±

    My days were monotonous. I woke up at 5 to start reciting my vocab. Other than going to sses or to work, I stayed in the library. Every Monday, I was determined to stop writing letters to Li Chuan, but when weekend came, I couldn¡¯t resist going to the inte caf¨¦ to check my inbox. Whenever I saw ¡°0¡± new mail, it was like motivation and I couldn¡¯t help but write him another letter. In the first two years, I would ask how he was or what he was doing in my letters, but gradually, I only wrote about myself. Sometimes I wrote about what happened in school such as, ¡°This semester, I chose four courses and they are Reading, Verbal, Writing, and Shakespeare. I got a really high mark on my essay on D.H Lawrencest semester. I expressed openly in ss that I could not believe how Lady Chatterley made Clifford suffer so much, which made my professor mad.¡± Sometimes I wrote book reviews such as, ¡°I went to the library and borrowed a super difficult book, ¡®Lotus Sutra¡¯. It took me a week to finish, but I couldn¡¯t understand a word of it.¡± Sometimes I wrote about food and weather, ¡°Beijing is so dusty and windy this year, so I bought a big scarf,¡± or, ¡°Remember the thicket? There is a pool there now. There¡¯s also a Hunan restaurant beside it and their Simmer Fried Meat is delicious.¡±

    I felt like I wasn¡¯t writing letters, but rather, I was nting a clump of spring grass in my email box.

    Pain of parting like the grass in spring, they sprout all around us, wherever we roam. (From the poem ¡®ÇåÆ½ÀÖ¡¯ by Li Yu. There are many ways to trante the line in the poem¡­)

    In these three years, I rarely went home due to school. I only went back for a few days during Chinese New Year. Dad and I did not talk to each other for a year. In the end, I told him that I broke up with Li Chuan. He didn¡¯t say anything right away, butter he asked if I was heartbroken. I told him it was all in the past now. I turned my pain into motivation and got a schrship every year.

    During the summer of my first year in Graduate school, I got a phone call from Xiao Dong before the holidays, ¡°Jie,e home to see Dad. Dad is very ill.¡±

    My dad was diagnosed with dted cardiomyopathy. After being sent to the hospital, the school staff thought Xiao Dong was a doctor so they called him first. Xiao Dong had actually onlypleted first year in medical school, so other than panic, there was nothing else he could do. My dad fainted in the ssroom and was in critical condition after being admitted to the hospital. In the next few days, he had to rely on medicine to sustain his life. The school sent cheques in the first few days, but soon after, they told Xiao Dong that the school could no longer support dad¡¯s hospital fees. The doctor advised that the chance of curing this illness was miniscule. Besides receiving a heart transnt, there was no other treatment.

    I asked Xiao Dong how much a heart transnt would cost.¡°$200 thousand for the surgery fee. The survey is high risk. Even if it is sessful, you will have to spend thousands every month on anti-rejection drugs,¡± Xiao Dong frowned.

    ¡°Can¡­Dad still talk?¡± at a time like this, I had even forgotten how to cry.

    ¡°He did wake up once,¡± Xiao Dong said, ¡°I didn¡¯t tell him his condition. His heart felt stuffed and couldn¡¯t breathe. He probably knew that his condition was not well, so he asked to see you.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Dong, go research and find the best heart surgeon in China. I will get the money to help dadplete a heart transnt.¡± I hung up the phone and immediately dashed to Long Ze Garden, Li Chuan¡¯s t.

    I still had the keys to his t.

    I opened the door and just as usual, not a speck of dust. The t¡¯s maintenance fee was rather expensive, so there was always someone cleaning the ce every day. Everything was the way it was when Li Chuan left. My heart felt stuffed, but there was no time to reminisce or be upset.

    I found the letter on the coffee table and dialed the number on it. After two rings, a man¡¯s voice said, ¡°Hello, Chen Dong Cun¡¯sw firm.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking for Mr. Chen Dong Cun.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s me.¡±

    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Miss Xie, it¡¯s been a while,¡± he actually remembered me, ¡°Is there something that I can do for you?¡±

    ¡°I need money,¡± I said frankly.

    ¡°Could youe by my office? It¡¯s not quite convenient to talk about money over the phone.¡±

    ¡°May I ask where your office is?¡±

    ¡°You know where Long Ze Garden is, right? Ourw firm is on the second floor, unit 204.¡±

    I let out a breath of relief. How convenient, it was right below. I went down and found the ce. A bald middle-aged man greeted me and guided me to his office. He was obviously very experienced in the industry, otherwise he would not be able to afford renting an office at a first-rate ce like Long Ze Garden.

    ¡°Miss Xie, I need to see your documents to confirm your identity.¡± He was from Beijing and seemed like he graduated from the Language Department as he spoke perfect Mandarin.

    I handed him my identity card and student card. He nodded and took out a wooden box from the safe. He then took out a cheque book and asked, ¡°Miss Xie, how much money do you need?¡±

    ¡°How much can you give me?¡± I asked unsurely.

    ¡°Whatever you decide.¡± He nced at me, ¡°Or you can take the cheque book and use it whenever you want.¡±

    ¡°$250 thousand.¡± $200 thousand for the surgery and $50 thousand for medicine.

    He wrote the amount on the cheque, got me to sign it, photocopied it, and gave me the original. I looked at it and saw that Li Chuan had already signed his name on it in advance.

    I put the cheque in my bag. Chen Dong Cun asked, ¡°Miss Xie, you don¡¯t want toplete the transfer of ownership for the two condo properties as well?¡±

    I replied, ¡°I don¡¯t need those properties. I only need this $250 thousand, which I¡¯m borrowing from him. I will pay him backter for sure.¡± I wrote my ¡°IOU¡± as I spoke and stuffed it into his hands.

    Chen Dong Cun took the piece of paper with a smile and put it inside the box, ¡°Miss Xie, anytime you need money, just give me a call.¡±

    He sure was a veteranwyer; he spoke without emotions, knew what was appropriate and didn¡¯t push back.

    My dad¡¯s heart transnt surgery was done in Kunming. His condition did not permit him to be transferred to a better hospital. That day, thirty specialists observed him for four hours. The surgery was a sess, but my dad¡¯s body showed severe signs of rejection. Xiao Dong and I were notified that our father was in critical condition almost every day. We didn¡¯t lose hope and continued to care for my dad. Dad fought for his life but he still left us after twenty-five days. We knew that the surgery was high risk, but even after the funeral, we could not ept the fact that dad left us so quickly.

    That summer, nts grew prosperously and the sun burned like fire. All of a sudden, only Xiao Dong and I were left in this world.

    ¡°Jie, are we orphans now?¡± Xiao Dong asked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t we still have each other? Thankfully, mom gave birth to you as a second child.¡±

    My little brother was born because my dad forbade my mom in getting an abortion. As a result, my dad lost the chance to get a promotion at school and it took him much effort to add my little brother to our family registry. We found our dad¡¯s bank book in the drawer. His total savings was $20 thousand, which was probably our entire family¡¯s fortune. We used the money to find our dad a decent cemetery.

    In this long summer holiday, Xiao Dong only stayed for half a month before he returned to school. I, on the other hand, was inplete exhaustion, so I continued to stay in Ge Jiu to gather my emotions and prepare to face the unknowns of life. In July, my high school friends asked me to join their gathering at our school to visit our teacher. I tried turning them down as I wasn¡¯t in a good mood, but they said, ¡°It¡¯s okay for others to note, but if you, our top student, don¡¯t show up, Teacher Xiong will be upset.¡±

    I helplessly rode my bike to Nan Chi High School. Auntie Zhang, who guarded the front entrance, could recognize me, my brother, and obviously my dad since he was a teacher at the school. Due to having a second child, he was demoted to a lower grade vige high school. Auntie Zhang waved at me as I approached, ¡°Xiao Qiu! You¡¯re here to visit on your summer holiday?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, a ss reunion.¡±

    ¡°I heard about Teacher Xie¡­¡± she caressed my face, ¡°Sigh¡­he was such a nice man, yet he passed away so soon.¡±

    The moment she mentioned my dad, my eyes became watery. I lowered my head and tears fell to the ground.

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s my bad. It must have been tough for you to get through, yet I brought it up again,¡± she reached for my hand and stuffed an apple in it.

    I ate the apple as I waited for my ssmates at the front door.

    After a while, Auntie Zhang suddenly asked, ¡°Oh yeah, a few years ago, someone came looking for you. I told him your address. Did he find you?¡±

    My hands shook, ¡°Who was looking for me? Auntie, do you still remember what he looked like?¡±

    ¡°How could I forget, he was just too handsome. The female teachers were immediately mesmerized by him. But it looked like he couldn¡¯t walk very well.¡±

    I pretended to be calm and asked further, ¡°Do you remember when he came?¡±

    ¡°hmmm¡­I think it was about three years ago, after the winter holidays but before Chinese New Year. He even asked if there was a ce that sold Nan Chi school souvenirs and I said, ¡®you think this is the Forbidden City Museum in Beijing? What souvenir? There is only a stationery shop at the front door that sells paper, pen, and other things,¡¯ and then he asked if the street that the front door faced was called Xi Men street.¡±

    You really shouldn¡¯t remind a heartbroken person of sad things. My tears began falling again.

    So it turned out that Li Chuan was here before, here in my hometown.

    ¡°He asked if I remembered you. I said how could I not, I remember her whole family. Xiao Qiu was a mischievous student who always got punished by her teacher. Who would have thought her grades were so good that she became our top student.¡± She thought I was still upset about my dad so she quickly talked about something more rxed.

    I wiped my tears and smiled at her, ¡°He was a friend from Beijing.¡±

    ¡°Maybe he was delighted to hear what I said so when my grandson crawled over, he gave me 300 Yuan to buy candy for my grandson.¡± As a result, Auntie grandma remembered Li Chuan very well.

    This unexpected chat reminded me of the things in my heart. As a result, I didn¡¯t talk during the gathering and only drank until I was drunk. I woke up in a pool of vomit. Li Chuan hadn¡¯t contacted me for three years. Why was I still thinking of him. Why did I keep sending him emails? Anyone with eyes could see that it was unrequited love. I was dumb, stupid, and hopeless.

    I wanted to love someone but was out of luck; I wanted to hate someone but there was no reason.

    I wanted to escape but there was no ce to go; I wanted to fall to the bottom of the pits but I didn¡¯t have the guts to.

    I simply continued to be a good student.

    After dad passed away, I was mentally and physically tired. I didn¡¯t write a single email to Li Chuan for three months. But after I returned to school, I couldn¡¯t resist going to the inte cafe. My inbox still had ¡°0¡± new mail, so I wrote him a super short letter, ¡°Hi Li Chuan, my dad has passed away. He was diagnosed with a severe heart disease and needed surgery. Therefore, I borrowed 250 thousand Yuan from you. Once I start working, I will pay you back in installments. You probably don¡¯t use this mailbox anymore, but I still want to say, thank you for helping me out at such a critical time like this. I thank you very much. Xiao Qiu.¡±

    Two weeks after the email, Professor Feng called me one day. He said there was a letter for me, but the address was to ¡°S University English Department.¡± He kept it for me as a result and asked when I coulde by his office to get it.

    I was a little scared of Professor Feng because he liked me a lot and had hinted many times that I should apply for Ph.D. However, I had already grown tired of learning and made ns to finish graduate school and start working as soon as possible.

    Li Chuan spoke fluent Chinese and recognized many characters, but he said he didn¡¯t know how to write a lot of them. He said it was because his grandpa taught him traditional Chinese and he felt that it was tooplicated and had too many strokes, so he didn¡¯t have the interest to learn it. As expected, the writing on the letter was in traditional Chinese. The characters were indeed written very roughly but at least all the strokes were there and were in good proportions so that they were still legible. Most importantly, the ¡°yan¡± character that made up the left side of my surname, ¡°Xie,¡± was written in simplified Chinese, which was what I taught him. Actually, the character would have looked the same in handwriting.

    Although there was no return address, it had a Switzend stamp. I opened it anxiously and found a delicate card in it. It had a light scent ofvender, a light purple background, and white hand-painted lilies. There were no words, no footnotes. Nothing.

    It meant, he had received all of my emails.

    I held the card in my hand with my heart feeling heavy. The secretary of the program asked, ¡°Xiao Qiu, do you collect stamps? Are you going to keep that stamp?¡±

    I was still engulfed in my own emotions, ¡°Oh, what? Stamp?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, my son collects stamps. Kids don¡¯t understand anything. They just like things from abroad.¡±

    ¡°Here, take it. I don¡¯t need the stamp,¡± I handed over the envelope.

    ¡°Ah, the card inside smells so nice, you sure you don¡¯t want it?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I smiled, ¡°if your son likes it, you can give it to him as well.¡±

    I went to an essories store that day and got five ear piercings. On top of the two that I had already, I now had seven; three on the left and four on the right. The guy who did my ear piercings said, ¡°Sigh¡­a good and pretty girl turned delinquent.¡± I then went to another store and got a gold belly ring.

    I threw away all the clothes that I liked and bought a bunch of stockings. The fis kind. I spent an hour putting on makeup every morning, using purple and ck for eye-shadow to make my eyes look so dark that you couldn¡¯t see where it ended. I usually wore either a leather jacket or a vest to show my belly ring. I felt that I was very sexy. I liked skirts that were bold and had thick fabric. I learned how to smoke and became more and more addicted. I often went to the pub on the weekends and got drunk. Guys would touch my body while they gave me a hand. I wouldugh and said I didn¡¯t mind.

    Ever since I received Li Chuan¡¯s ¡°greeting¡± card, I never wrote to him again.

    Two yearster, I graduated a year early due to my exceptional scores. My teacher was reluctant to let me go.

    I submitted my resume to five trantionpanies, and all five of them invited me to their interviews. I chose the one that was thergest, the most experienced, the strongest, and the best in the city: Jiu Tong Trantionpany.

 Chapter 21

    <h4>Chapter 21</h4>

    On July 1st, I took the written trantion exam of Jiu Tong¡¯s for the first time. Jiu Tong Firm was located in the Yong Kang building in Dongcheng district. It filled the entire eleventh and twelfth floors. Behind the building was arge golf course. The air was clean and fresh, the surroundings were beautiful, and there were rarely any cars. It was the office location of my dreams. And clearly, I was not the only one who thought so. The were as many as fifty people who took the written exam with me. I heard that there were more than a hundred who applied and everyone here were chosen through the first round where human resources decided the oue by our resumes. They actually only needed two trantors, so one can imagine that thepetition was intense. The written exam was particrly difficult. After the exam, many people grumbled about not being able to finish. I barely finished, but I couldn¡¯t guarantee the quality of it. When I came out, a girl from Beijing Normal University asked me, ¡°That ¡®ËªÆ¤ÁïÓêËÄÊ®Î§£¬÷ìÉ«²ÎÌìÁ½Ç§³ß¡¯, how did you trante it?¡±

    ¡°The rimy bark, slippery with rain, is forty spans around. And kingfish-blue hues, high up into the sky, two thousand feet above.¡± I said.

    She looked at me and pursed up her lips in a smile, ¡°Why did you use kingfish-blue? Isn¡¯t it just ckness?¡±

    ¡°Umber-ck (÷ìÉ«) is notpletely ck (ºÚÉ«). Umber-ck is a nature ck (ÇàºÚ), which means it¡¯s blueck.¡± [This is one out of the many ces in the novel that I¡¯m not even going to attempt to correct the author¡¯s trantion.]

    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you use blueck, and instead used kingfish-blue?¡±

    I didn¡¯t answer and chuckled.

    ¡°I understand now,¡± she said, ¡°you¡¯re showing off, right? Mmm, I more or less tranted it the same as you, but I didn¡¯tpletely abide by the original lexeme.¡±

    ¡°The best part about ssical Chinese poems is their antithesis, so I tried not to alter the lexeme as much as possible. I prefer literal trantions.¡±

    We walked down the long hallway together. She suddenly said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that this exam this time was a bit strange? First, we had to trante a tender document. Then, we had to trante ssical Chinese. We¡¯re not taking an exam for a doctorate. It¡¯s not worth it right?¡±

    I put up my hand, ¡°I solemnly agree. The person who came up with the exam must be a sadist. I¡¯ve never seen such a depressing exam.¡±

    After saying this, I saw her stealthily signal at me with her eyes and quietly coughed. I turned around and saw a young man, in a ironed suit, with a yellow tie, standing behind me. He had a file in his hands and was looking at me in a baffled way.

    I said to him while chewing gum, ¡°This student, are you also here to take the exam?¡±

    He coldly said, ¡°No.¡±

    And then, he ignored me and went directly into the elevator, disappearing.

    Our eyes follow him as he left. That girl made an exaggerate ¡°wow¡± sound, pretending to be infatuated, ¡°Who was that man just now. He was so cool!¡±

    Iughed.

    Even though the time I had with Li Chuan wasn¡¯t very long, I had already be immune to all other handsome men. I had been so madly in love with him that I frequently turned on themp in the middle of the night to secretly look at his sleeping face.

    The next day, thepany called to notify me and nine others to participate in a one-on-one oral exam. My spoken English has always been my strong suit. When I was with Li Chuan, I would frequently get pointers from him so I became more and more strong at it. Plus, I spent several years working at the caf¨¦ and chatting with the foreign customers.

    My written exam grade wasn¡¯t actually that good, but Jiu Tong was very satisfied with my spoken English. Two dayster, with thest threepetitors, I went to see their CEO, Xiao Guan.

    While I wasn¡¯t too familiar with the trantor world, but I had still heard of the name Xiao Guan. He was born into an academic family. His parents were both professors in the English Department of Beijing University. His father graduated from the University of Oxford and his mother was a older ssmate of Professor Ping Jie Liang. Their names often appeared in English course books. When he was younger, Xiao Guan worked in the foreign branch of the nation¡¯s newspaper for a long time as a trantor. Afterwards, he founded apany, this one. I heard that business went smoothly and after a few years, it was built up. Of course besides trantion service, with the backing of his uncle, a huge Hong Kong business man, he also stepped into real estate and other investments. Currently Jiu Tong had twenty-seven branches around the country. He had an extremely outstanding track record and was named one of the ten most outstanding ¡°young entrepreneurs¡± in this city.

    When I saw Xiao Guan for the first time, I became discouraged on the inside. So he was the guy who stared at me behind me yesterday. He looked to be twenty-eight. He had a sharp, calm, and elegant manner about him. He had a schrly look about him, not like an entrepreneur. It was just as Professor Feng said, he did business in a cultured and refined way.

    ¡°You are Xie Xiao Qiu.¡± He said slowly while sitting in an executive chair, ¡°Professor Feng made two calls to me to rmend you.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know about this. I had only told Professor Feng that I was applying for Jiu Tong in passing. As expected, he was a good old fellow, helping me take of things wordlessly.

    I looked at him, knowing that the exam had definitely been written by him. So I started calcting inside how much hope I still had. I said, ¡°I inadvertently entered through the back door.¡±

    ¡°Professor Feng spoke very highly of you, but he also warned me that even though you mastered the field, you had some shorings. What exactly those shorings were, he wouldn¡¯t say. But he did say I would know after just looking at you.¡±

    I knew that the Xiao family and the Feng family were long time friends. The two families went through the Cultural Revolution hand in hand. Feng Jing Er had been calling Xiao Guan, Ge Ge, since she was a child.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have much shorings.¡± I said, ¡°You will definitely be able to tolerate my shorings.¡±

    He stood up from his office chair and walked to the window and sized me up, ¡°Has anyone told you what clothes you should wear to an interview?¡±

    I was dressed casually. In fact, I had just recently bought this most expensive set I own. It was a bit too brightly-colored. When paired with the woolen long skirt, I looked a lot like Sanmao. I thought that my outfit was in ordance with the Bohemian personality that I sought. Actually, for the past two days I had worn a normal suit. It was just that this time, since I had topete with the final students from famous schools and my qualifications and achievements did not stand out, I purposely thought of this haphazard n to beat out the others through surprise.

    ¡°Mr. Wang from human resources says that the main job of this position is written trantion and everything is to bepleted on aputer. Basically, there is no need toe face to face with clients. Plus,¡± I bit my lip, ¡°I only have one suit that I wear every time. Wouldn¡¯t you guys get tired of it if you see it everyday?¡±

    He probably thought that my exnation was pretty true, so he dropped the subject.

    ¡°Also, why do you have so many earrings in your ear? It looks so troublesome even to me. Do you really not think them troublesome?¡±

    Are you choosing by ability or looks? That thought rised to my throat and I had to swallow it down. My reply was brief and to the point, ¡°Fate has been unfavorable to me in recent years. My life has been full of trouble and misfortune. So I found a fortune teller who said I was missing the metal of the five phases.¡± [Five phases of Chinese philosophy: Wood, fire, earth, metal, water.]

    He was silent for a while. I thought that he could finally spare me. Unexpectedly, he said, ¡°Who told you that you could chew gum during an interview.¡±

    ¡°I was nervous.¡±

    ¡°You, nervous?¡± He said stoically, ¡°You were the first to turn in your exam, right?¡±

    Thement hit upon my sore spot. The exam paper that day clearly stated that there were 120 minutes for the exam. I handed my exam in after that much time even though I knew I had many imperfect answers. To my surprise, the others all said that they weren¡¯t done yet and refused to turn in their papers. In the end, the exam period was dragged on for more than ten minutes.

    ¡°I merely turned the test in on time.¡±

    I hated myself. I clearly had a problem. Why did I contradict everything he said?

    ¡°Okay,¡± he looked at his watch and said, ¡°besides these, what are your other shorings?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no more.¡±

    ¡°You know,¡± he hesitated before saying, ¡°the four remaining differ very little in terms of education and achievements. We can choose whichever one of you and it¡¯ll be fine. We will naturally choose someone who is easy to associate with.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m extremely easy to associate with.¡± I said, ¡°I swear, besides my odd clothes, I am loved by all.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± He nodded, strolled back to his chair, sat down, and drew a mark on my file with a pen, ¡°You can start work tomorrow. We have just received a few contracts recently. The English department is particrlycking in people. Do you have an English name?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Every English trantor who works here is required to have an English name especially those whose pinyin name contains X or Q.¡±

    I was XXQ. (Xie Xiao Qiu)

    ¡°Xiao Qiu isn¡¯t too hard for foreigners, is it?¡± I hid a subtle implication in this.

    ¡°It won¡¯t do.¡± He was resolute.

    ¡°Then, please give one to me.¡±

    ¡°Annie, how is that?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± How fake sounding. He might as well have called me Annie baby (Chinese author).

    My office was on the eleventh floor, number 1107, in the English department. The person who shared the room with me was another girl who came into thepany at the same time as me, Tang Yu Lian. Even though there were only two of us in the office, we faced the windows. The walls were soundproof, but one side waspletely ss. So no matter what you are doing, everyone outside can see.

    Tang Yu Lian wasn¡¯t too tall. Her features were very exquisite. I thought it had a bit of Annie Yi to it.

    I joked with her, ¡°Hey, are you Annie Yi¡¯s younger sister?¡±

    Sheughed, exposing her spotless white teeth and the tiny dimples in her cheeks, ¡°I hate Annie Yi. Everyone says I look like her. Every time I go to karaoke, I¡¯m forced to sing her songs.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re prettier than Annie Yi.¡± I turned on myputer. ¡°Really.¡±

    ¡°The training this morning was really exhausting. That Chief Xiao can really speak. I wanted to go to the bathroom early on, but after seeing his serious face, I was scared to go. It was really tormenting.¡± Sheined.

    ¡°Me too. I kind of wanted to put on headphones and listen to music. After thinking about it, I didn¡¯t dare. Oh, that¡¯s right, that director of the English department is really pretty.¡±

    ¡°She is Xiao Guan¡¯s current girlfriend. You must do well, otherwise she¡¯ll tell on you to him.¡±

    ¡°Current girlfriend?¡± I asked, ¡°You¡¯ve just gotten here, how do you know?¡±

    ¡°My ssmate is in the French department and frequently gossips.

    ¡°ssmate Xiao Guan is both young and rich, and aplished. He¡¯s had countless girlfriends before, all who voluntarily threw themselves at him. Even the current one, Director Tao Xin Ru, chased after him. A few days ago Chief Xiao had stomach problems and had to be hospitalized. Even though Tao Jie Jie isn¡¯t Cantonese, she studied how to make soup for him. Sigh, hopefully it¡¯s not a one sided love.¡±

    ¡°No wonder I didn¡¯t see you at noon for lunch. So you went to listen to gossip.¡± Iughed, ¡°I have Nestle coffee. Why don¡¯t you have a cup too.¡±

    The educated all had a habit of taking a siesta, but Jiu Tong had a rule that there was only one hour for lunch at noon.

    ¡°Okay, okay, let¡¯s start working.¡± She handed the pile of documents in her hands to me. ¡°There are for you. You must finish them on time, otherwise we¡¯ll be breaking a contract.¡±

    I didn¡¯t sit down, and instead went directly to make two cups of coffee.

    When I got back, I saw Tang Yu Lian typing at lightening speed on herputer. I fished out a huge Webster Dictionary from my bag and asked her, ¡°You don¡¯t need a dictionary?¡±

    ¡°I have the newest version of Jinshan Dictionary. Myputer is filled with all kinds of trantion software.¡±

    I wanted to ask her to also make me a copy. I thought about it and didn¡¯t say anything. I shouldn¡¯t so casually ask for help. She pointed to a usb on the table saying, ¡°Here! It¡¯s all in here, take it and install it. Whether you believe it or not, it¡¯s pretty useful.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    She had a very small Sonyptop. I didn¡¯t have aptop. I only used theputers in the school¡¯sputer room or at the inte cafe. My homework was always handwritten. That¡¯s right, I was still in the era of manualbor. When I entered thepany, I felt happy when I saw that everyone had a desktop and a 19 inch Dell monitor.

    I opened the file and finally understood why that Xiao Guan would pose such maddening exam questions.

    My main task was to trante the auctioning handbooks for several auctions. Everything on there was Chinese antiques: calligraphy, paintings, seals, furniture, jade artifacts, ancient bronze artifacts, etc. Every one of the items had a huge block of text exining in detail the source of the object and the worth. Within the exnations, paragraphs cited strange and prominent ancient ssical Chinese. It was unavoidable.

    I couldn¡¯t help but raise my head and ask, ¡°Hey, Yu Lan, what are you tranting?¡±

    She was typing madly on herputer and without raising her head, said, ¡°Tender documents. Engineering tender documents. You?¡±

    ¡°Auction handbooks. It¡¯s so depressing.¡±

    Tender document work was moremonly seen here. I had heard about it before, so when I was applying for the job, I especially looked over a whole bunch of engineering rted vocab.

    ¡°Fortunately that work wasn¡¯t assigned to me,¡± she said, ¡°My ssical Chinese is not good. I don¡¯t even understand the Chinese, how could I trante it into English? I heard that these handbooks are first tranted by the lower employees, then after that, the department director reviews them before handing them off to Chief Xiao to take another look. It¡¯s clear how worried he is about them. All other documents, like tender documents and so on, are delivered after the director reviews them.¡±

    I downed half a cup of coffee and took the first handbook into my hand. There were ten antique items. Bada Shanren¡¯s drawings, Emperor Huizong¡¯s painting of birds and flowers and so on. The first one was a set of jade seals of Emperor Qianlong. Every seal had inscriptions on all sides. I tranted for a whole morning. I flipped through the original source, Hanyu Da Dictionary, Chinese ssical dictionary, and the Lin Yu Tang¡¯s online dictionary, over and over again beforeing up with the trantion for one part of it.

    The contract said that it had to tranted in 15 days. I had to finish within ten days and hand over the draft for examination.

    In these ten days, I averaged only four hours of sleep. I was so strained that I didn¡¯t even have the time to take a shower. On the morning of the tenth day, I handed over an electronic and a hardcopy version to Director Tao Xin Ru of the English department. She spent a whole day proofreading it for me and then had me make corrections before handing it over to Xiao Guan to take a final look.

    Tao Xin Ru didn¡¯t change too much. She changed a some of my adjectives to sound even more ancient. She deserved the director title. She really did have the skills.

    I delivered the draft to Xiao Guan. After an hour, he sent an email back with the first page containing lots of modifications on the terms and syntax.

    Xiao Guan made a phone call over, ¡°I¡¯m only correcting the first page. Go research what problems there are yourself. And then, fix the rest of them before sending to me again.¡±

    I spend a whole night researching his corrections and then spent another whole day modifying the draft before sending him the third draft.

    The third draft was quickly sent back. He made many changes on the second page I tranted, and then said to follow the guidelines to fix the remaining pages.

    I continued making changes until the day before the deadline. I had changed it five times from beginning to end before he passed my draft.

    The next day, when I saw him at lunch, my face was green.

    ¡°Do you understand my standards now?¡± He said, idly looking at me.

    ¡°Your standard is perfect.¡± I answered listlessly.

    ¡°Your ssical Chinese foundation is pretty good. Were you in the Chinese Department?¡±

    ¡°My father studied in the Chinese Department of Fudan University.¡±

    ¡°So that means, you were taught at home?¡±

    ¡°Not really, maybe just a little.¡±

    He gazed at me and eventually said a rtively gentle thing, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a day of vacation. Go home and rest.¡±

    ¡°Will I still be paid.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s even a bonus.¡± He patted my shoulder unexpectedly, ¡°Well done, Annie.¡±

    I tranted auction handbooks for a whole two months. Each time, I had to change the drafts several times. It felt like I was nearly on the brink of madness. The hardest was ceramics. To my surprise, inside, there was a lengthy introduction of the process of firing porcin in the Song dynasty. I didn¡¯t dare refuse to do them, but I was secretly grumbling to myself for days. Every time I met with a difficult trantion, I gloomily went downstairs to the trash bin by the back door to smoke.

    When I turned my head, I would see Yu Lan still smoothly and easily tranting tender documents, contracts, and other routine documents. It was quick and good, her hands continuously typed on the keyboard. The sound traveled to my ears.

    After two months, things finally changed for the better for me. I also started tranting tender documents and contracts. These documents pertained tow and the requirement for the quality of trantions were extremely high. Every detail had to be urate. I tranted it for two months and became considerably familiar with the vocabry. One day, Tao Xin Ru suddenly called me to go to her office.

    ¡°Annie,¡± she indicated for me to sit and said, ¡°you¡¯ve been doing very well in your job. Yesterday, Chief Xiao personally suggested to make you full-time in advance. Starting from now, you are no longer on the trial period. Instead, you will receive all the benefits of a full-time employee.¡±

    I said, ¡°Thank you for looking after me, director.¡±

    She hesitated before saying, ¡°Chief Xiao has recently been discussing arge contract. Apany needs to take a few of our trantors to work in-house. The employee will still belong to Jiu Tong, but the sry will be paid by them. They need people urgently and gave us a high price. Of course, their standards for trantors are very high. The reward given is equivalently impressive. Of course, we didn¡¯t want to let our people go, so we suggested that, in a five day work week, three days will be over there and two days will be back here at headquarters. They didn¡¯t agree because there were many trade secrets involved in the documents that need to be tranted. So they suggested that the trantors stay with them for two years and are also required to sign a nondisclosure agreement.¡±

    ¡°Chief Xiao rmended you from the English department.¡± She said insipidly, ¡°I really hate to do this, but thepany doesn¡¯t want to ruin it¡¯s reputation. Are you willing to go?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh¨C¡±

    ¡°The pay over there is 1.7 times more than here. You¡¯ll have all the benefits the employees there have. Free lunches, expensed taxis, medical insurance, and ten days of vacation a year.¡±

    For a young person who had just started working, Jiu Tong¡¯s treatment was already really good. They were really attractive conditions.

    I was just about to say something before Tao Xin Ru continue, ¡°Of course, we hope that, if you have time, you will also take care of some work here. We might have some urgent trantions that we¡¯ll trouble you to do. There won¡¯t be much. We¡¯ll pay double thepensation. After all, you are still our employee. After two years, you don¡¯t have to worry about your position, you cane back at any time.¡±

    I thought about it. I had juste. Even if I was extremely outstanding, I couldn¡¯t already be at the point where I could represent thepany. It was a cushy job and not one where one has to suffer. Everyone wouldpete for it. Why did the one to be seat have to be me?

    ¡°Are you willing to go?¡±

    I nodded, ¡°I am willing toply with the headquarters¡¯ arrangement.¡±

    And then, I suddenly remembered a crucial question. How could I have not asked? ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right, whatpany is it?¡±

    ¡°A Swiss architecturepany, CGP Architects. Their original English trantor got married and went aboard with an F2 visa. Now the position is empty.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know if my face had any color left. I wanted tough, but I couldn¡¯t get it out, ¡°CGP Architects?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve probably heard of it. CGP and four other architectural firms are all currently in the process ofpeting for a huge construction project in C city of Wenzhou. It involves nning for three vacation resorts, ten housing projects, and five vis.

    ¡°The boss of CGP is a foreigner?¡± I felt that my tone was trembling.

    ¡°It¡¯s not.¡± Tao Xin Ru looked a little annoyed. Because I clearly appeared to be not too happy, she said, ¡°The chairman is name Jian Hao Tian.¡±

    Thank god.

    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled. I will report back to Chief Xiao in a bit and you cane over to sign the contract.¡± She suddenly looked at me in a meaningful way, ¡°I heard that Chief Xiao invited you to eat dinner at Fu Gui Vist weekend?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because of the auction handbooks matter. He said that I did pretty well. It opened up a good rtionship. As a result of it the auctionpany signed a long term contract with Jiu Tong. He hoped that I would continue to put effort into things regarding the auctionpany.¡±

    That day, Xiao Guan invited me to a meal alone. After a few drinks, he said a few things he shouldn¡¯t have that I yed a deaf-mute to and dodged. Therefore, it was definitely cannot be said that Xiao Guan ¡°strongly rmended¡± me to enter CGP.

    ¡°Mmm.¡± She looked at her watch and said, ¡°You can leave.¡±

 Chapter 22

    <h4>Chapter 22</h4>

    If each day¡¯s transportations costs weren¡¯t able to be expensed, based on my inherent frugalness, I would definitely have squeezed onto a bus instead of taking a taxi to work. Ever since discovering that working as a trantor was so mentally challenging, I started forming the same habit as Li Chuan. I would rather spend money than bother myself with the details. There was another advantage to taking a taxi. It saves the inconvenience of asking for directions.

    I took a taxi to the neen story Xiang Lai building, CGP¡¯s Chinese headquarters. The HR manager, Cai Jing Fei, greeted me. She took me to tour the offices of each department, the conference rooms, the lobby, and coffee shop. I discovered that there weren¡¯t many employees at CGP. Together, there were about 30 in total, including three foreign architects, two who spoke French and one who spoke German. Although they had thick ents, they were all extremely fluent in English. Cai Jing Fei said that these three foreign architects didn¡¯t understand much Chinese. If they have to deal with clients, they must go through an interpreter. In addition, all importantpany documents, especially tender documents and design files had to be prepared into threenguages, Chinese, English and French, and sent to the Switzend headquarters. In addition, more than half of the Chinese architects here were not proficient in English, French, or German. Therefore, all important announcements and mail had to be tranted into Chinese to be passed down. At the same time, if the Chinese architects had to contact headquarters, a trantor also had to be included. ¡°Therefore, the work of the trantor group was very important and very busy.¡±

    Of course, I knew that Xiang Lai building was where Li Chuan worked. When I was together with Li Chuan, he had mentioned it more than once. But Li Chuan always kept work and personal life separate. He was extremely unwilling to allow outsiders to bother his personal life. So, I only recognized one person in CGP and that was Li Chuan¡¯s secretary, Zhu Bi Xuan.

    After listening to Cai Jing Fei¡¯s introduction, I suddenly realized that the trantor who left the country on a F2 visa was Zhu Bi Xuan who had been working here for seven years.

    After seeing all the main offices andmon areas on the neen floors, Cai Jing Fei said, ¡°The chairman, the vice-chairman, the chief architect and their secretaries all have their offices on the twentieth floor. Pleasee this way. The chairman was originally going to meet you today, but he had some pressing matters and had to head out. We¡¯ll see vice-chairman first.¡±

    We went up in the elevator to the twentieth floor and headed into an office space decorated exceptionally luxurious. On door of the second office, I suddenly caught sight of a te saying ¡°L.C. Wang.¡± In that instant, my heart felt as if it was being squeezed and I couldn¡¯t breathe.

    ¡°Do you not feel well?¡± Cai Jing Fei asked, noticing that my pace has suddenly sped up.

    That¡¯s right, I didn¡¯t feel well. I wanted to run away in anxiety.

    ¡°No. Perhaps I¡¯m a little nervous that I am going to meet the vice-chairman.¡± I feigned a rxed smile.

    Cai Jing Fei said, ¡°The office just now is the office of ourpany¡¯s chief architect, Wang Li Chuan. He is a Swiss-born Chinese person and can speak fluent Chinese.¡±

    I asked, ¡°Mr. Wang isn¡¯t here today either?¡± The office door was semi-transparent. If there was light inside, one could see it from the outside.

    ¡°Mr. Wang used to be the chairman and the chief architect of CGP. He is now the chairman of the headquarters in Switzend, our superior. He still has many design projects in China on his hands, so we keep his office. Once in a while, he returns to Beijing to work. It¡¯s not too frequent.¡±

    ¡°So he was promoted.¡±

    ¡°It should be said that the job required it. CGP Architects is a part of the investments by CGP International. It¡¯s Chief Wang¡¯s family enterprise. Our current chairman and vice-chairman here were both once his trusted lieutenants.¡± Adoration was written all over her face and exuded from her speech.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Chief Wang doesn¡¯t like other people calling him Chief Wang. If you run into him, you can just call him Mr. Wang. Even though hees from money, his character is exceptionally gentle and he is extremely low-key. Before, he would always eat lunch in the dining hall with everyone else.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wang is brilliant and talented, a legend in the architecture circle. When he was transferred away, everyone here was was broken-hearted.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± I felt that Cai Jing Fei¡¯s tone was filled with emotion.

    In a daze, I followed her into the third office. The first room after entering was where the secretary worked. There was an interior room deeper in. ¡°Xiao Tian, this is our new trantion department¡¯s English trantor, Annie. Is it convenient to see Mr. Zhang right now? I made a reservation yesterday.¡±

    ¡°Pleasee in. Mr. Zhang is waiting for you.¡±

    Vice-Chairman, Zhang Qing Hui, was a highly capable, middle aged man. His skin was dark, he had a short stature and an aquiline nose, characteristic features of southerners. Sure enough, his speech carried a thick Chongqing ent. He shook hands with me cordially. The three of us exchanged a few simple greetings, so it can be said that we had be acquainted with each other. He had a call and we took the opportunity toe out.

    My office was in 1902. It was diagonally across from the elevator. There was a really nice desktop in the office. In addition, thepany had issued a Sonyptop to me. It was small and light. I would never have even dreamt that I would get a Sonyptop so quickly.

    I turned on theputer and started using ¡ª my exclusivepany ount ¡ª to check email. My task was to trante every mail that CGP specialists had sent to me waiting for me to trante. I was to trante from English to Chinese or from Chinese to English. Other trantors were in charge of French and German.

    There was an extremelyrge amount ofmunication between Switzend and Beijing, there was a huge list of emails. I took a cursory look over them. Among them was a letter from Li Chuan weing Mr. Rene to the France branch. Mr. Rene had taken over the post of Mr. Jian as the chief architect of the France branch. It was a standard email that had been sent to CGP worldwide through his secretary, Lu Si.

    It only took me three minutes to trante it into Chinese and forward it to everyone in thepany. At the same time, I also happily discovered that this job was fairly effortless. I finished tranting all the documents within two hours and then went to the dining hall to eat lunch.

    The dining hall was on the eighteenth floor. There was no need for the elevator, walking took a really short time. The dining hall wasid out like a buffet and provided both Western-style and Chinese food. I took some fried rice, a te of fragrant spicy fish pieces, and a cup of coffee and started to eat alone at a table. Shortly, a fashionably dresseddy, holding a te of sd, asked me extremely politely whether she could share a table with me. I promptly nodded.

    ¡°I am Emma of the French group. My Chinese name is Ai Yi Meng. You must be the new English trantor, Annie, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± I stood up to take the tea cup from her, ¡°I am in 1902, nice to meet you.¡±

    ¡°I am in 1904. Our offices are pretty close. You look really young, did you just graduate?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am here from Jiu Tong.¡±

    ¡°Bi Xuan just leftst week. It was really sudden and thepany needed someone urgently but didn¡¯t want to start the hiring process. So they directly scooped you out from Jie Tong¡± She smiled at me, breaking out her charm. ¡°I heard that they paid a high price.¡±

    ¡°Nah,¡± I said, ¡°Jiu Tong has recently taken on a lot of contracts and it¡¯s really busy over there. They¡¯re alsocking people.¡±

    ¡°We were all trying to guess who woulde. We prayed every day that Jiu Tong wouldn¡¯t seen an old fogey over.¡± She said, ¡°But you are so young, so we are also really surprised. Are you even twenty yet?¡±

    ¡°Twenty-two. You?¡± I thought that she didn¡¯t look too old either.

    ¡°Thirty-two.¡±

    I was surprised, ¡°No way. I think you only look around twenty-five.¡±

    ¡°First of all, I¡¯m not married. Second of all, I eat sd and take vitamins every day.¡± She used her fork to stab a few pieces of leaves with Italian dressing on them and ate with gusto.

    ¡°Em Jie.¡±

    ¡°Hey, call me Emma.¡±

    ¡°Emma, how long have you worked here?¡±

    ¡°I was amongst the first employees here. Ten years. I was only your age when I came here.¡±

    I thought to myself, ten years ago, Li Chuan was still not yet twenty years old and hadn¡¯t graduated college yet. Evidently thispany was already established when he came.

    ¡°Looks like you really like it here.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Do you know why I¡¯m still single?¡± She suddenly smiled mysteriously.

    I shook my head.

    She leaned over and whispered, ¡°I¡¯ve tried to seduce every chairman who has been here and have never seeded.¡±

    Seeing my stunned face, she chuckled, ¡°You are indeed still a young girl to believe in it. ¡ª Of course I¡¯m kidding. Do you like to go shopping after work? I know of a couple stores that sell fairly good clothes. Also, do you go to the spa? I have a few gift certificates to them, given by others. Li Sha store does pretty good facials. I have two certificates for there. I can¡¯t use both, so I¡¯ll give you one.¡±

    She stopped speaking and took out a certificate from her bag and ced it into my hand.

    ¡°Thank you Emma Jie!¡±

    ¡°Emma.¡±

    ¡°Right, Emma.¡±

    She tore into a small bread roll, eating it in a refined manner, and saying, ¡°The bag you have in your hand is very unique.¡±

    She really knew her stuff. Li Chuan had bought this Ghi bag for me.

    ¡°Is it? Someone gave it to me.¡±

    ¡°Boyfriend?¡±

    ¡°Ex. We split up a long time ago.¡±

    ¡°You boyfriend must have made a lot of money.¡±

    ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°I saw this bag five years ago. It was extremely expensive. I struggled over whether to buy it and wasn¡¯t willing to. The real thing costs more than twenty thousand. It¡¯s more expensive than a niceptop. It¡¯s quite fashionable paired with your pair of Calvin Klein jeans. It¡¯s fashionable but not eye-striking.¡±

    Li Chuan had also bought these jeans. He didn¡¯t like to go shopping, but his eye for clothing was impable. I looked at the bag in my hand and quickly said in a careless manner, ¡°This must not be the real thing.¡±

    ¡°If I couldn¡¯t tell the difference between real and fake, how could I stay at this internationalpany? When Cai Jie introduced you today, every female in the French and German groups saw this bag. They all said that you must be Xiao Guan¡¯s newest girlfriend.¡±

    I shook my head with all my might, ¡°I¡¯m not. Chief Xiao¡¯s girlfriend is Tao Xin Ru from the human resources department.¡±

    ¡°How is that possible? I¡¯m very familiar with Tao Xin Ru. She¡¯s always been in unrequited loves. Even though Xiao Guan is fickle, his reputation in the industry is considerably good. He would never date someone from his ownpany. Tao Xin Ru is very intentional, she probably hoped to use her sincerity to have Xiao Guan give in. So she finally got him in the end?¡±

    I denied again, ¡°In short, I definitely, definitely, am not Xiao Guan¡¯s girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Emma¡¯s looked past the top of my head,nding on the entrance of the dining hall. She chuckled and unexpectedly pinched my cheeks with her scented, delicate hands.

    I raised my head. I saw that Xiao Guan had entered at some point and had walked over to stand in front of me.

    ¡°Chief Xiao.¡± I stood up at once.

    ¡°Annie.¡± Xiao Guan greeted Emma and I insipidly, ¡°Meng Meng.¡±

    ¡°Chief Xiao, you are acquainted with Emma?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh, Meng Meng and I are from the same school. She¡¯s a year older than me, my senior. We often saw each other at school gatherings.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Guan, howe you had time toe to CGP today?¡± Meng Meng raised her head to look at him with a teasing smile on her face.

    ¡°I am here to discuss matters with Director Jiang. You know that I am also in real estate. I want to ask their architect to help with something.¡± He sat down and said to me, ¡°How is it, Annie? Are you getting used to this job on your first day?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really good. It¡¯s more rxing than Jiu Tong.¡±

    ¡°CGP¡¯s work shouldn¡¯t be rxing. When the bidding begins, you¡¯l have a lot of interpreting work to do. They are currently busy with the Wenzhou bid. Are you familiar with the Wenzhou ent?¡±

    I immediately started to be nervous, ¡°What? I have to interpret Wenzhou speech? I hear that there are many Hakka people there. I don¡¯t understand a word of Hakka dialect.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous,¡± heughed, ¡°the majority of those you wille into contact with are government employees. They will try their best to use Mandarin.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± I rxed, ¡°Then, who did you hand over the auction handbooks too.¡±

    ¡°Tao Xin Ru.¡± He said, ¡°Director Tao curses at me everyday.¡±

    ¡°Chief Xiao, have you eaten lunch yet?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Not yet. There¡¯s a Mongolian barbecue ce next door. Everyone says it¡¯s good. Are you interested in trying it? My treat.¡±

    ¡°Thank you¡­¡± I pointed to my meal te. I hadn¡¯t actually touched it, ¡°I¡¯ve already eaten quite a bit. Plus, my stomach doesn¡¯t feel too well today¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay, next time.¡± He looked a little embarrassed. It was clear that his ego suffered a big bruise.

    We continued chatting a bit, politely before he courteously bid farewell.

    I turned my head and saw Meng Meng staring at me, baffled.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°You, Annie. You actually rejected Xiao Guan in public? What is wrong with you?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say before? I¡¯m not his girlfriend. Why would I cause a misunderstanding by going out to lunch with him?¡±

    ¡°Do you know that Xiao Guan considers most people below him and carries himself so highly that he rarely takes the initiative with a girl. Females are always infatuated with him and would rather treat him to a meal, but he would never go.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I admit, I have a problem. I don¡¯t understand to grab onto a pole and climb up, okay?¡±

    ¡°Ai (Sigh), look at your foolishness. I remember I used to be so picky back then, but now I¡¯ve gotten nowhere. Don¡¯t get to my age before realizing what regret it.¡± She took out her cellphone and handed it to me, ¡°Hurry and call him. Say that your stomach doesn¡¯t hurt now.¡±

    Iughed, shook my head, and handed the cellphone back to her, ¡°The two of you look prettypatible to me. Why don¡¯t you call?¡±

    I returned to my office and continued to work. After working for an hour, the phone rang.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s me, Xiao Guan.¡±

    ¡°Chief Xiao, hello.¡±

    ¡°Is your stomach better?¡±

    I had forgotten about it and started breaking out in cold sweat, ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s better.¡±

    ¡°Can you eat Mongolian barbecue at night?¡±

    ¡°I¡­have¡­yoga ss tonight.¡±

    ¡°When does it start?¡±

    ¡°Seven o¡¯clock.¡±

    ¡°When does it end?¡±

    ¡°Eight o¡¯clock.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯lle pick you up at eight. Tell me the location of your yoga ss.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t do anything about it and gave him the address.

    ¡°Then, Annie, I¡¯ll give you ten minutes to change your clothes. I¡¯ll see you at eight-ten.¡±

    I wanted to say something else but he had already hung up.

    After finishing yoga, without changing my clothes, I stood outside the gym doors covered in sweat. At eight-ten, Xiao Guan arrive punctually in his car.

    I opened the door myself and got in.

    He drove slowly and didn¡¯t say anything for a long time. I sat next to him and didn¡¯t utter a sound either.

    After a while, when it was a read light, he suddenly said, ¡°Perhaps you don¡¯t know this, but in college, I pursued Meng Meng before. There were many people pursuing her and I reluctantly fell in line. Once, she saw a piece of clothing she wanted, but it was really expensive and I didn¡¯t have enough money to buy it for her. Of course, there were other things, but we broke up then.¡±

    I waited for him to continue.

    ¡°Later on, we both graduated. I left my secure job and made a name for myself. She heard about it and took the initiative to find me. I didn¡¯t pay attention to her and she got mad.¡±

    ¡°What does this have to do with me?¡±

    ¡°Today, you embarrassed me in front of her. She must feel happy after seeing me like this.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know¡­¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± He said, ¡°But, tonight, you must obediently eat Mongolian barbecue with him.

    I felt that I didn¡¯t really get his logic.

    ¡°Mr. Xiao, please stop the car.¡± I said coldly.

    His face went white and the car stopped abruptly.

    ¡°May I ask whether you are an only child?¡±

    ¡°Yes, what about it?¡±

    ¡°Since you are an only child, perhaps youe to understand a principleter than those of us with siblings.¡± I opened the car door and said to him, ¡°In this world, not everything revolves around you. Whether you are happy ying around with that girl has nothing to do with me and I don¡¯t care anything about it. Goodbye!¡±

    I mmed the door, turned and left.

    The next day, I thought that Xiao Guan would fire me out of anger since I was still an employee of Jiu Tong. Instead a whole month passed without anything happening. I hadn¡¯t heard any news of Xiao Guan and didn¡¯t receive any calls or emails from him. I concentrated on working. When I was tired I would go by the trash bins downstairs and have a smoke. No one caused me any problems, and no one bothered me. I had an office to myself and would y light music as I tranted. Sometimes I would finish work early, and I would go chat with Meng Meng next door or other trantors. When they were tired from work, or at lunch time, they would oftene to my office or drag me shopping. Besides the chairman, the architects and engineers, all other staff members were female.

    One day, when I finished work, I was browsing the web and wanted to find a rxing novel to read. I didn¡¯t find a rxing one, instead I found a green website.

    ¡°¡±

    I discovered that there were many romance fictions on there and, moreover, anyone could register a pen name and be an inte author.

    I registered and chose a pen name in half an hour, Xuan Yin. In other words, it mean to conceal. Then, I read ¡°¡± online. There were three parts. I had the window open very small and if someone came in, I would close ¡°Heaven¡¯s Dance.¡± It made my working efficiency increase greatly. Every day I wanted to finish my work at the greatest speed so that I can get to reading the next chapter in ¡°Heaven¡¯s Dance¡± earlier. Unfortunately, after not even a week, I finished all of ¡°Heaven¡¯s Dance.¡± Afterwards, I finished reading all of Lan Lian Hua¡¯s novels, and then I finished really all of Ming Xiao Xi¡¯s, Shui Xin Sha¡¯s, Qing Chuan¡¯s¡­etc. When I discovered that I didn¡¯t have any more to read, I used the pen name I registered to write a story.

    I decided to give my story the title, ¡°Li Chuan¡¯s Past.¡±

    I wrote a chapter and discovered that there were only 5 views. One readermented with two words, ¡°Add oil!¡± (¼ÓÓÍ, Jia You, to cheer on someone.)

    Well then, I will write for the reader that cheered me on. I rapidly wrote the second and third chapter. I felt that my story with Li Chuan was very beautiful if you got rid of the final part. I restrained myself a lot in some ces and in other ces I was audacious. Believe me, the real Li Chuan is definitely even more beautiful than the one in my writing. I cried as I wrote, immersing myself in the beautiful memories. Since I couldn¡¯t extricate myself from it, I incidentally pulled my readers into the emotional mess.

    I really wished that Li Chuan was a character in my story who I could write as I wished and arrange a happy ending for the two of us.

    Of course, it wasn¡¯t real. But the Li Chuan in my story allowed me to gradually forget the real Li Chuan. The pain was described over and over again by me, and gradually diluted. The love was recalled over and over again by me, and became tedious. I watched as another Li Chuan became more and more real to me in my head, more and more closer. And the real Li Chuan became more and more dim, more and more small, bing just a dot in the end and bing farther away from me.

    So many cigarettes, so much alcohol, so many sleepless nights. And that time when I stood alone on the roof garden of Long Ze. In the night wind, I gazed down at the specks of traffic below. If it wasn¡¯t for my dad and my brother, I might have jumped down.

    I finally found a way to bury my love and change my pain into happiness.

    Every morning, the first thing I did when I got up was turn on theputer and see how many followers my story had. There were many new followers. Of course, every so often, someone wouldsh out at me, but I didn¡¯t care. I didn¡¯t require much. As long as someone paid attention to me, that was good enough.

    I worked hard during the day and when I wasn¡¯t working, I would write ¡°Li Chuan¡¯s Past¡± in my head. At night, I practiced yoga, went to bars, watched movies, danced, and yed until I was tired and went home to pass out.

    I started living a fuller life.

 Chapter 23

    <h4>Chapter 23</h4>

    In the blink of an eye, year end came. CGP invited employees and their friends and family to a formal Christmas party every year. I found a few items in the closet that I hadn¡¯t used for a long time: a ck dress, a silver grey bag with greencing, a pair of denim ts decorated with gems. Li Chuan bought me thest two items when he came back from Switzend. Furthermore, he had also bought me an exquisite and shiny Rolex watch which had three rings of diamond pellets around it. You could tell it was expensive. I didn¡¯t want to lose it, so I only wore it on special asions. But I rarely had any special asions. I had only worn it once at a ssmate¡¯s engagement party before.

    After breaking up with Li Chuan, my body stopped growing. My menstrual cycle waspletely messed up for a whole year. It finally slowly got back to normal after eating many bottles of Tongren Wuji Baifeng Wan (medicine). Strangely, the thing that changed the most was my vision. From being 20/20 six years ago, my left eye was now 4.5 and my right eye was 4.0. I usually wore contacts, but often forgot to take them out before going to bed. I rubbed my eyes a lot during work, so I often lost them. As a result, I had a pair of agate colored resin sses as a spare that I carried in my bag.

    On Christmas day, my female colleagues were all dressed up and captivating, while I didn¡¯t wear any makeup. I sat by myself and drank three sses of wine. When I craved for a smoke, I quietly walked out to the balcony and smoked. Dinner began right when I came back inside, so I quickly took my seat. Emma smiled and deliberately sat next to me.

    ¡°You see? Besides Director Zhang, whose wife is on a business trip, you are the only one here by yourself. What happened? Did you have a fight with Xiao Guan?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Did you know how many people were screaming in their hearts the moment you walked in?¡±

    I immediately pulled out my mirror to check, ¡°What, is there something wrong with my face?¡±

    She rested her head in her palms and looked at me. After a moment of silence, she said, ¡°Tell me honestly, what is your background?¡±

    ¡°What background? I don¡¯t have any background¡­look at me. I eat fast food for lunch, hang out at pubs at night, and my phone never rings. Does it look like that I have any background?¡±

    She pointed at my bag, ¡°Did you buy this LV purse yourself?¡±

    I never took any interests in bags and didn¡¯t know what LV meant, so I shook my head, ¡°It was a gift from someone.¡±

    ¡°Also from your ex-boyfriend?¡±

    I was getting annoyed and didn¡¯t say a word. Emma¡¯s biggest interest was reading fashion magazines to browse thetest brand name clothes.

    She pouched her lips and asked while gazing off to a distance, ¡°Who was your ex-boyfriend?¡±

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t know who he is.¡±

    ¡°Try me.¡±

    Emma had been in many rtionships, so she knew many people. I avoided the question and changed the subject, ¡°What is LV?¡±

    She raised her eyebrows, ¡°Annie, do you really not know or are you just pretending you don¡¯t know?¡±

    I looked at her with my eyes wide open, ¡°I really don¡¯t know, please educate me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve seen your LV bag before. It was priced at $14 thousand,¡± she closed her eyes and sighed as if her dream was broken, ¡°in US dors.¡±

    She paused and looked at my shoes, ¡°Those shoes are also from LV. They cost $6,400 US dors. Your big sister here was already the highest paid in the industry when she started her job. But I never had the money to spend it on these items.¡± She pressed her lips and took a sip of wine. The purple and red wine swayed in her ss, ¡°What is wrong with Jiu Tong? What is wrong with CGP? Why did they pick you of all people, huh? S University is only a second-rated school. Peking University and Beijing Foreign Studies University students are just as good. But once they are here, they are just small fish in arge river. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t make it, yet you say you have no background? Who would believe?¡±

    I giggled, ¡°How about you, Emma Jie? Where did you graduate?¡±

    ¡°I entered Peking University¡¯s Youth ss when I was 14, and then I graduated with a master¡¯s in French. I¡¯ve won first ce at a nationalpetition before.¡±

    ¡°I was Yunnan¡¯s champion for the entrance exam. I didn¡¯t go to Peking University not because of my score, it was because of money. I also have a master¡¯s and have gotten first prize at a nationalpetition before. Emma Jie, a person of talent should appreciate another, why mind so much about where I came from?¡±

    Seeing how I was getting worked up, she grinned, ¡°Emma Jie is only caring about you. Since you don¡¯t have a boyfriend, I thought I¡¯d introduce one to you, so I was only trying to understand you more. Like the saying, ¡®once you¡¯ve seen the ocean you can¡¯t settle for a pond.¡¯ Your ex-boyfriend has raised the bar too high, so even though we want to help you, it¡¯s a bit of a challenge.¡±

    I felt relieved after learning her motive. I slouched into my round-backed armchair and continued drinking, ¡°Emma Jie, I¡¯ve been heartbroken before, so I¡¯ve decided to never fall in love again for the rest of my life.¡±

    ¡°Oh my, you¡¯re so young,¡± she smiled, ¡°why make such a cruel promise? How many good men are there in this world? You shouldn¡¯t be too serious with them. Once you be serious with them, you¡¯ll only hurt yourself. I bumped into Xiao Guan a few times this month, and he asked about you every time.¡±

    Xiao Guan had helped me a lot, especially on improving my English. I really wanted to thank him for it. Furthermore, he was good-looking and had a high-paid job. Most people would fawn over him. I didn¡¯t dislike him, but I had already gotten used to Li Chuan¡¯s gentleness and affection, so towards someone who was controlling, I refused to ept it.

    I pretended to concentrate on slicing my medium-rare ck pepper steak and didn¡¯t speak. After a while, something came to my mind so I asked, ¡°Emma, let me ask you something. Yesterday, a software engineer came over and made a copy of all of myputer documents. Do you know what it was for?¡±

    She answered quietly, ¡°I heard that it¡¯s because something happened to the bidding at Wen Zhou. Someone leaked our designs to Jia Yuan.¡±

    Jia Yuan was CGP¡¯s biggestpetitor in bidding for the Wen Zhou development n.

    I was a bit shocked.

    ¡°The directors were mad, so they asked a team to investigate and find out who had seen the designs before.¡± She nced at me, ¡°You were responsible for tranting all of the design sketches, so of course they would search your stuff.¡±

    I tranted many sketches, but I only looked for the English words on them, so I didn¡¯t remember which were for what development n. I was the least bit worried that I was the one who exposed them. CGP had a very strict procedure to walk through when tranting the sketches and I followed the steps intricately, so it was impossible that they slipped outside from my end. I was more worried about others finding out that I was surfing the web during work although I always cleared my browser¡¯s history before shutting down. In addition, I saved my drafts on a USB stick and did not make any copies on my workputer. Despite so, I still felt a little guilty.

    Emma interrupted while I was in a trance, ¡°It¡¯s actually toote to investigate now since there are only twelve days left before the deadline. We¡¯re at the end of the year and it¡¯s the holidays, so there¡¯s no time and mood to start over. They were originally pretty confident about Director Jiang and Director Zhang¡¯s designs for C City¡¯s $200 thousand budgeted redevelopment n. It¡¯s quite a big lost for ourpany. Director Jiang used toe to the year-end party every year, but haven¡¯t you noticed that he hasn¡¯t been at the office for the past few days?¡±

    I¡¯m no more but a trantor who only cared aboutpleting her own tasks, so I never paid attention to which director did note to work. I finished eating quickly. When I saw that there were still a bunch of people chatting in the hall, I pretended to go to the washroom. I wanted to sneak out and go home to write my novel. When I approached the door, someone suddenly shouted my name, ¡°Annie!¡±

    I turned my head instantly and saw that it was Zhang Qing Hui.

    ¡°Director Zhang.¡±

    ¡°Annie, something hase up for thepany, can you go on a business trip during Christmas holidays?¡± he said in a serious manner.

    ¡°Of course.¡± I looked at him and felt a little guilty, wondering if he found out about me writing novels during work hours.

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, we really shouldn¡¯t ask you to do this during the holidays,¡± he said, ¡°but you are the only English trantor who is single. Others have spouse and kids.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Where are we going and when do we have to go?¡±

    ¡°Wen Zhou, the flight is at 11pm tonight. We have already booked a hotel.¡±

    I looked at my watch. It had just reached 7pm.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go home and pack first then.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you an hour to get ready, is that okay? I¡¯ll send a car to pick you up at 8 and drive you to the airport.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps you¡¯ve heard already, something happened to ourpany¡¯s designs. We don¡¯t have much time left, so that¡¯s why this is sost minute.¡±

    ¡°I can totally understand.¡±

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll see you at the airport in a bit.¡±

    After I got back to my apartment, I changed into my casual wear and then packed my belongings as fast as I could. I still felt a little light-headed for drinking a few sses at the party. I submerged my face in warm water and washed it carefully. Director Zhang was already waiting for me outside when I left my apartment. He must have waited for some time as he was already standing outside having a smoke.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t know I was going on a business trip tonight, so I had a couple too many drinks.¡± I clumsily bumped my head on the car as I was getting in.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± heughed, ¡°our previous trantor, Miss Zhu, also had a good alcohol tolerance.¡±

    We were silent for the whole ride.

    We arrived to the airport. As I got out of the car, the cold breeze helped clear my head a bit. But I suddenly realized that everything looked blurry.

    I actually forgot to wear my contact lens!

    I must have dropped them when I was washing my face.

    I dug deep into my bag but sadly, my spare sses were left in the LV bag that Li Chuan gave me. I was carrying my cross-body canvas bag that I usually bring to work. It was light and had many pockets, so I liked using it.

    Iforted myself that it was okay. Wen Zhou was such a big city, it must have ces that sold sses. I could go and get a pair first thing in the morning. I dragged my suitcase and followed Zhang Qing Hui.

    Not long after, we met up with a few others at the terminal. I could only see a bunch of blurry shadows and heard Zhang Qing Hui called, ¡°Director Jiang.¡±

    The shadows with thick outlines walked towards us. I could just make out that it was Director Jiang and the other three architect designers and two graphic designers from CGP. Each one of them had a carry-on.

    ¡°The flight arrived already?¡± Zhang Qing Hui asked.

    ¡°Yes, they¡¯re probably retrieving their suitcases right now,¡± Jiang Hao Tian answered.

    It turned out that they were still waiting for some other people.

    The arrival terminal was very crowded. I gulped the upwelling taste of wine and waited at the gate with the others. Thirty minutester, the person we were waiting for had finally arrived and Jiang Hao Tian and Zhang Qing Hui rushed over to greet him. I could only see many shadows moving, hugging, and someone shouting. It felt surreal.

    It reminded me of something.

    Six years ago, I was also here waiting for Li Chuan. His flight arrived at 1pm but I was at the airport at 9am because I didn¡¯t want to miss him. After a long and dreadful wait, Li Chuan saw me first. I hugged him tightly and didn¡¯t want to let go. At the time, I really wanted to fold him into a handkerchief and carry him in my pocket forever.

    How many years had passed since? I lost track of it already.

    While I was in my own thoughts, the crowd in front suddenly dispersed. I raised my head and saw someone walking towards me. It was a shadow of someone wearing an overcoat. I immediately recognized him from the way he walked. And then, I saw a face very close to me but I couldn¡¯t make out what he looked like. But I suddenly felt lucky that I didn¡¯t wear my contacts today.

    I heard Jiang Hao Tian introduce him, ¡°Mr. Wang, this is our new trantor, Miss Annie. She majored in English. She is Miss Zhu¡¯s recement. Annie, this is Mr. Wang Li Chuan, the President and CEO of CGP.¡±

    A hand reached forward and I held out my hand as well.

    His hand was cold as usual; it had the light scent ofvender as usual.

    ¡°Hello,¡± he paused, ¡°Annie.¡±

    I felt that my body temperature dropped to below zero. The sudden rush of blood to my head also became frozen. I heard myself respond coldly yet professionally, ¡°Hello, Mr. Wang.¡±

    A man behind him, who was pushing a suitcase, stepped forward and shook my hand, ¡°Hi, Annie. I am Mr. Wang¡¯s assistant, Su Qun.¡±

 Chapter 24

    <h4>Chapter 24</h4>

    I¡¯ve heard the name Su Qun from somewhere before. However, I couldn¡¯t remember it.

    There was only an hour left before boarding the ne. Li Chuan walked rtively slowly and everyone slowly walked together with him. Only Su Qun was in a rush, pushing a tall luggage cart, to go check in.

    After passing through security, we waited a short while at the departure gate before hearing the announcement to prepare to board. Through the airport¡¯s huge ss windows, I saw a Boeing 737-900 stopped by the departure gate. On the way, the two executives, one on the left, one on the right, whispered to Li Chuan the entire time. Everyone else tactfully maintained a certain distance from them. Our tickets were all the same, 1st ss cabin. Everyone knew that the main goal of this trip was an action taken that was betterte than never. As long as thepany won the bid, it was willing to pay anything. The passengers were already starting to board, yet CGP¡¯s people were still biding our time. It was because Director Jiang had his head lowered and was speaking to Li Chuan. Foreignpanies and domesticpanies all had the same stringent ranking system. Ordinary employees were not to pass over the executives to board the ne. When he became aware of this, Director Jiang waved his hand at us to indicate that we could go first. Thereupon, everyone got into the line. I rolled my luggage and headed towards the ticket check with my head lowered. When I passed by Li Chuan, my suitcase suddenly shook as if it rolled over some person¡¯s foot.

    I raised my head to look, that ¡°some person¡± seemed to be Li Chuan. Then I lowered my head to figure out which foot my suitcase actually rolled over. If it was the left leg, then I needed to apologize. If it was the right leg, then I didn¡¯t think there was a need to. A prosthetic leg couldn¡¯t feel anything anyway. In any case, I didn¡¯t even want to say a word of apology.

    I couldn¡¯t see anything clearly. My hesitation caused every passerby to look. Is it right for someone to not be willing to say sorry after bumping into someone, especially a disabled one? Would the two sybled word suffocate me to death? I hesitated and was just about to start speaking when he actually spoke two words first, ¡°It¡¯s not.¡±

    I rxed and then, with my head held high like a peacock, I left rolling the suitcase.

    When I got to the door of the ne, I was stopped again, ¡°Miss, the overhead bins are too full. Please leave your luggage here. We will check it in for you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The air in the ne was warm and somewhat stuffy.

    I sat in the back row by the aisle. Next to me was Xiao Huang from the design department. Even though I have been at CGP for more than three months, I have only had contact with a few trantors. I¡¯ve basically ignored everyone else. I¡¯ve only spoken three sentences to Xiao Huang and only knew that his surname was Huang. I didn¡¯t even know what his given name was and couldn¡¯t even call him by it. So I smiled at him and then took out my MP3 yer and stuffed my ears.

    Starting from when the ne took off, my stomach was getting bursts of pain. I actually never get airsick. Perhaps I drank too much alcohol, or perhaps I ate indigestible beef while chatting with Emma yesterday. In short, I first sat in my seat vomiting into the bag and then followed that with hiding in the bathroom to vomit. It was a spectacr mess and after I could only produce saliva, I didn¡¯t feel like going out, so I sat panting on the cover of the toilet, like a dead fish. On a two hour ne ride, I barfed for no less than an hour. Only when I got back to my seat did I realize why I was vomiting.

    My period had unexpectedlye.

    My periods were normal when I was seventeen. Every month it was four days, no more, no less. It was more light and pleasant than anyone I knew of the same age. After seventeen, my period became a mess, especially for the first two days. I became dizzy and nauseated. I vomited and my underbelly convulsed. I had every bad symptom written in textbooks. It would inevitably be seven to eight days out of a month and wasn¡¯t normal.

    Of course, this wasn¡¯t the worst thing.

    The worst thing was that I didn¡¯t bring pads. And by coincidence, I was wearing a light colored skirt. The type that tightly wrapped around you. I had only been concentrating on vomiting earlier and didn¡¯t realize that it was already red down below. Now that I was sitting, I could feel the blood flowing outward. I was so scared, I couldn¡¯t move, and, even more, didn¡¯t dare to get up. But my skirt was soaked in blood. I could definitely feel it.

    Inside I repeated to myself, O, K, O, K, O, K. This was my fleeing chant. Every time I ran into something embarrassing, I would repeat OK to myself ten times. It was as if after repeating it, everything would be OK.

    The ne finally descended, but nothing was ok. The entire cabin was filled with men that I didn¡¯t really know. I wanted to beg Xiao Huang to lend his suit to me, but seeing his height, even if I wore the clothes, it wouldn¡¯t be able to cover everything up. While I was holding back and being embarrassed to speak, all the passengers of the 1st ss cabin had left. Only I was still sitting there not moving. The flight attendants standing in a row at the door saying goodbye to the passengers were looking at me in a peculiar way.

    I then saw a blurry Li Chuan with another person. It was probably Su Qun. They werest and were about to leave the cabin.

    Li Chuan suddenly stopped walking and turned around to look at me.

    He then headed directly towards me and stood in front of me.

    He was just about say something when I rushed to say, ¡°Li Chuan.¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡±

    ¡°Take off your clothes.¡±

    ¡°Which part?¡±

    ¡°Jacket.¡±

    He took off his jacket and handed it to me. I didn¡¯t see it clearly at first and thought it was a topcoat, but it was actually a ck wind jacket of medium length and light material. I stood up, put on the jacket, kept my head down in silence and followed him out of the cabin. He didn¡¯t ask and I also didn¡¯t exin.

    The scent of his body surrounded me once again. First, it was thevender on the cor and then it was the smell of nature on the sleeve cuffs. It was the scent of the pencils he liked to use for drawing. The tentacles of the memories crawled up my entire body in a sh. So he was still using that type of pencil. Fortunately, I couldn¡¯t see his face clearly and couldn¡¯t see it¡¯s greatness. I wouldn¡¯t be lured by him anymore in this lifetime.

    After getting into the hotel from a night flight, we all went to bed. First, I immediately took a shower and scrubbed my tragic skirt for a long time before rubbing off the stains. Li Chuan¡¯s jacket could only be dry cleaned. I called the service desk downstairs and gave them his room number.

    I thenid on bed feeling like my whole body was going to break apart from weariness. I turned off the light and tossed about under the moonlight in silence. After tossing about for a few hours, I still could not sleep. So I got up and took a sleeping pill. This time, when I went to bed, I feel steadily asleep. When I woke up, it was already noon. I still had ck bags under both eyes, like a panda.

    I had missed breakfast and lunch, and the most important thing, I had missed the morning meeting.

    I ran into Xiao Huang in the hallway and he asked, ¡°Annie, is your cold better¡±

    ¡°What cold?¡±

    ¡°When you didn¡¯te for the morning meeting, Director Zhang asked what had happened. Mr. Wang said that you got a cold on the ne. That¡¯s why he lent his jacket to you.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a cold, it was¡­chills. Director Zhang isn¡¯t mad is he?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. Everyone saw that you were airsick and knew you weren¡¯t feeling well.¡±

    ¡°What was said at the meeting?¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­because of the proposal leak, arge part of the design has to bepletely redone. Mr. Wang will be taking over the most importantndscape part. The building and interior design will also need to be changed a lot. But Mr. Wang¡¯s older brother has alreadypleted a rough sketch of the key parts.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wang¡¯s older brother.¡±

    ¡°That would be Mr. Wang Ji Chuan. Famous international interior designer. The two brothers are all very busy people and if things weren¡¯t this bad, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to get their help.¡±

    I thought about it and asked, ¡°Then what about me? What will I do?¡±

    I kept thinking it was strange. Li Chuan¡¯s Chinese was so good, why is there a need for a trantor. But then I thought of the Zhu Bi Xuan who used to do this. It seemed to be the usual practice.

    ¡°When theypete for the bid, there will be some talks with local owners. Mr. Wang doesn¡¯t have a good grasp of the Wenzhou ent. He will only speak in English and have you interpret everything. Also, Mr. Wang needs some material regarding the history, culture and ecology of Wenzhou. You need to go and research these and trante it for him.¡±

    After missing the meeting, I was already feeling guilty so I went to see Director Zhang at one. The assignment he gave me was indeed what Xiao Huang said.

    ¡°Then do I need to see Mr. Wang immediately?¡± I asked.

    ¡°He went to the construction site to take pictures. It will probably take the entire day. Time is tight right now. After you eat dinner, bring resources on Wenzhou to find him, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go to the library to find resources right now.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wang currently only needs this two books.¡± Zhang Qing Hui gave me a slip of paper.

    In his writing were the traditional characters, ¡°Wenzhou Records¡± and ¡°Yongjia Records.¡±

    I suddenly realized that even though I knew that Li Chuan was in architecture, I knew very little of what he did in his field. I knew every inch about the man Li Chuan. But what about the architect Li Chuan? Does he have a different temperament? A different character?

    As I was anxious to make up for earlier, I went and got a new pair of sses as fast as possible. I deliberately chose a red-purple frame so that it would give my face a more serious look, more intellectual and older. Xinhua Bookstore had ¡°Wenzhou Records.¡± It was made up of three books that I recklessly bought. At the city library, I borrowed ¡°Yongjia Records¡± and made a photocopy of the entire book from start to finish.

    No wonder Li Chuan only wanted these two books. Together, there were already more than 3000 pages.

    I spent the entire afternoon flipping through the dictionary. There were already many unfamiliar words in ¡°Wenzhou Records,¡± but ¡°Yongjia Records¡± was ssical Chinese written during the reign of the Qing emperor. I was overwrought in flipping through the dictionary.

    By evening, my brain was pretty much no longer working, so I went downstairs to smoke in the garden. After one smoke, I was still craving another, so I smoked another. The sky gradually darkened.

    I saw a car pull up at the door of the hotel. Li Chuan and Su Qun got out from the car.

    He saw me, lowered his head to say something Su Qun, and he headed towards me.

    I pretended I didn¡¯t see him and continued to smoke with my head lowered. Seeing him stand motionless in front of me, I could only raise my head.

    It had been six years.

    Li Chuan hadn¡¯t changed much besides be somewhat skinnier. Even his hairstyle hadn¡¯t changed. The problem was that Li Chuan¡¯s CK model face was thinner and more cool. From what I could see, he was even better looking than six years ago. Never mind that though, my gaze couldn¡¯t help but change.

    I quickly changed my state of mind back, ¡°Chief Wang.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Zhang Qing Hui tell you that I needed to see you tonight?¡± He said. His tone of voice was somewhat displeased, even a little harsh.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it after dinner?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already eaten dinner.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten.¡±

    ¡°When did you learn to smoke?¡±

    ¡°Why does it matter do you?¡±

    He looked at me, his thoughts hidden in the depth of his eyes. I looked at him expressionless.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you an hour to eat. At eight, bring your materials to see me in my room!¡±

    Thisst part was very fierce.

    I lightlyughed, crossed my arms and tapped the cigarette in the air, ¡°Okay, Chief Wang.¡±

    I pulled my hair up and put it in a bun behind my head with a flowered pin. Holding the three books of ¡°Wenzhou Records¡± and the pile of photocopied materials, I knocked on Li Chuan¡¯s door.

    Li Chuan¡¯s brows were creased ever since he opened the door and saw me because I called him ¡°Chief Wang¡± again.

    ¡°Chief Wang, I found all the materials you need. What specific aspect of the information did you need to understand?¡± My tone with aplete service attitude.

    He invited me into his living room. There was a circle of couches. He pointed to one of them and had me sit down.

    ¡°You can ce the book on the coffee table.¡± His voice had finally be gentler, but was once again immediately enraged by my next sentence.

    ¡°Yes! Chief Wang.¡±

    He restrained his anger and said in aposed voice, ¡°I bought coke. Do you want to drink?¡±

    Before, coke was my favorite drink. But I shook my head and said, ¡°No thanks, I don¡¯t want any.¡±

    ¡°Then what do you want to drink? I have coffee, milk, and tea here.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s not too inconvenient, I want to drink coffee milk tea.¡±

    He stared nkly, ¡°Coffee milk tea?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s made of all those together with sugar. Two piece.¡±

    He went to make coffee. He went to brew tea. He went to find milk¡­

    ¡ª ssmate Wang Li Chuan, I want you to get to know me, Xie Xiao Qiu, properly this time.

    Atst, he brought over a cup of ck stuff.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I finished drinking all the milk. I don¡¯t have sugar. Please put up with it.¡±

    There were two yellow slices of something in the ckness.

    I pointed to the things and said, ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°Lemon,¡± he sat down across from me and ced his cane on the coffee table, ¡°it¡¯s for losing weight.¡±

    ¡ª This definitely wasn¡¯t a cutting remark because my body was even lighter than six years ago. Besides my skin bing rougher, myplexion duller, chest bing tter, and the extra dark circles underneath my eyes, my body had stopped where it was six years ago. This clearly indicated that dating was a dangerous thing for me. In addition I had gotten addicted to eating Tongren Wuji Baifeng Wan because my menstrual cycle wasn¡¯t normal. I ate bottle after bottle, and now whenever I see small ck beads, I immediately want to stuff it in.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I took a mouthful and nearly spit it out. It was bitter, tart and sour. It was even more unpleasant to drink than traditional Chinese medicine.

    He took out a leather wrapped notebook next to the table and a pencil, and asked, ¡°Can we start working now?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Can you please read the table of contents of ¡®Wenzhou Records¡¯ for me?¡±

    I opened the book and read, ¡°Table of contents for the first book. Preface. Reader guide. Summary. Record of major events.¡±

    He stopped me, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I haven¡¯te to China in many years and I¡¯ve forgotten most of my Chinese. Please trante it into English.¡±

    His Chinese was a little stiffer than six years ago. He could string sentences together, but where the subject and predicates went were as if he was figuring it out as he went. Each word came out abruptly. But it wasn¡¯t as bad as he was saying.

    I changed to speak English, ¡°The contents of the first book is geography, society, persons, city architecture, transportation andmunication. The second book is on the region¡¯s economy, industry, agriculture,merce, finances. Thest book is an index of politics, government, military, and education. Each book also has a more detailed listing.¡±

    He wrote a couple lines in the notebook and said, ¡°The first book is most important. Look to see if there are details about the natural surroundings.¡±

    I flipped through the book, ¡°Yes. geology,ndform, climate, hydrology, soil, natural resource, natural disaster.¡±

    ¡°Tell me each part one by one.¡±

    I looked at him in anger. He really knew how to find my sore spot. I had spent the entire afternoon looking up words from this section! I had smoked two cigarettes, shortening my life by two years. But it was also because I was looking up words from this section.

    ¡°Wenzhou¡¯s base is made up of metamorphic rock formed by volcanoes in the Jurassic times¡­¡±

    [The description is actually longer and moreplicated.]

    ¡°Wenzhou is located on the southeast coast of Eurasia, with a monsoon climate, long summers, and short winters. On average is the 1500-1800 millimeters of rain a year.¡±

    I tranted for nearly an hour until I was seeing stars. My blood flow had not stopped and my abdomen was hurting so much I couldn¡¯t bear it anymore.

    Yet, he sat there, leisurely taking notes in his notebook.

    So I asked, ¡°Do you understand my trantions?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. The parts I don¡¯t understand, I can guess.¡±

    ¡°How¡­do you guss?¡±

    ¡°You know this subject very well, you can just give me a few keywords and it will be enough.¡± He raised his head and looked at me with bright eyes.

    I swallowed a couple times, ¡°I need to use the bathroom.¡±

    ¡°On the left, outside this door.¡±

    ¡°I mean the bathroom in my own room.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a bathroom here.¡± He said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to use a disabled person¡¯s bathroom.¡± I couldn¡¯t throw away a woman¡¯s things in his bathroom. Also, Wang Li Chuan, you dare argue with me!

    ¡°A disabled person¡¯s bathroom is the most convenient in the world.¡± His face was gloomy, but he remained calm and collected.

    I jumped up from the couch in a fit of rage, but saw his gaze fall onto where I was just sitting. In the middle of the pure white couch was a bloodstain.

    ¡°Wang Li Chuan, tell me. Why did you have me sit on a white couch? Do you have a problem? Such nerve!¡± I rushed back to my room with a redden face, took out a huge Yuan Dong Chinese-English dictionary, stomped back into his room, and threw it in front of him, ¡°I¡¯m not tranting anymore today! You look it up yourself!¡±

    I returned to my mom and filled a hot-water bag for myself. Hugging it, I took a sleeping pill and went to sleep.

 Chapter 25

    <h4>Chapter 25</h4>

    The lower part of my body has never bled like this nor ever hurt like this. When I woke up, it was past noon again. I got up to see the bed damp with redness. I quickly got up to take a shower, washing away the smell from my body.

    I turned off the water, put on clothes and wiped the mirror with a towel. A yellow face emerged, yellow as if it had jaundice. The dark circles were still in their old ce. I smeared on ayer of magnolia cream and whitened my face with nice smelling powder. Efficiently, I put on lipstick, eye shadow, and hairspray. My hair was brushed shining and bright.

    I confessed to the mirror. Yes, I, Xie Xiao Qiu, was quite ashamed of my mannerst night. Li Chuan clearly didn¡¯t want me, yet I was trying to throw a fit with him. He didn¡¯t have such nerve, I was the one with such nerve! He didn¡¯t have a problem, I was the one with the problem! My hormones were in chaos, I was being unreasonable in my infatuation. I told myself, Xie Xiao Qiu, don¡¯t head towards the mountain if you know the mountain has tigers! Don¡¯t mow the grass if you know the grass has snakes! Your love is merely just a fire in the winter that has been burning for a whole six years. It has burnt through your youth, burnt through your feelings, and burnt your hormones. Don¡¯t tell me it hasn¡¯t already be ashes? Do you have to wait until you are burnt to death?

    When I got to this thought, I dashed back into the bedroom and found my life saver in my suitcase. It was a full bottle of Tongren Wuji Baifeng Wan. The logo ¡°Tongrentang¡± was clearly visible. Using yesterday¡¯s leftover tea, I raised my head and took sixty granules. I asked myself again, why couldn¡¯t I hate Li Chuan? That¡¯s right, I couldn¡¯t hate him because I still owed him. I still owed him 250 thousand! Even though, starting from my first day of work, I had been scrimping and saving to give that Lawyer Chen Dong Cun two thousand yuan every month. After doing the calctions, to pay the debt back in full would take ten years! Even Chen Dong Cun called meughing. Miss Xie, why do you have to do this? Does Mr. Wang care about this money? When buying ts from Long Ze garden, he bought two, one on top to live in and one on bottom to leave empty, because he was afraid of being disturbed. No matter what Chen Dong Cun said, I still resolutely pressed money at him and even forced him to provide a receipt. In any case, that money allowed my father to live for one more month and allowed me to live with a father¡¯s love for one more month. I was lost in love with Wang Li Chuan, to love him, I had to be determined. When will I be able to break out of this hell!

    After finishing up getting ready, I put on sses and took a walk around the corridor. Li Chuan¡¯s suite was diagonally across from mine. On his left was Director Wang and on his right was Su Qun. One more over was Director Zhang.

    At eight every morning, CGP held a thirty minute meeting with each person reporting their work progress. However, Zhang Qing Hui said that I didn¡¯t have to go. Even though I was the trantor, in reality, I was only working for Li Chuan. How I was doing my work only required Li Chuan and I to talk over. Since it came from the boss and as azy person, I happily idled around and didn¡¯t attend any meetings.

    I slipped away to the dining room and got a te of chili fish pieces and a bowl of red rice porridge.

    It was lunch time, but when I looked around the dining room, there were only a few people from CGP. I only saw two drafting employees, Xiao Ding and Xiao Song. It seemed like everyone had gone to the construction sight. I sat down at a table and ate slowly. As I was eating, a shadow fell over me. I raised my head and saw Su Qun.

    At first nce, Su Qun looked a little bit like Andy Lau. It was just that his skin was darker and nose wasn¡¯t that high. His height was about the same. The northerners of CGP were actually mostly all southerners, which is why his height was short. I heard that he had started out as an architect and was also in design. But for some reason, he changed his profession to be an admin.

    Su Qun¡¯s post was the assistant to the chairman and his rank was on the same level as Director Wang. Because of his close rtionship with Li Chuan, everyone was careful and polite when speaking to him. as if he was the boss. He followed Li Chuan all the time and had the same way of speaking and smiling as Li Chuan. He wasn¡¯t like an assistant, more like a bodyguard.

    I thought he was here to eat lunch. Unexpectedly, he only got a cup of tea and sat next to me.

    ¡°Annie.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Su.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so polite. You can just call me Su Qun.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    He drank a sip of tea and looked at me eating before suddenly asking, ¡°Annie, did you know Mr. Wang before?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± I shook my head.

    ¡°But¡­¡± he muttered with a reluctant expression, ¡°you seem¡­hm¡­to have some disagreements with Mr. Wang?¡±

    ¡°No. He is the boss. I am a subordinate. I listen to whatever he says. There¡¯s no disagreement.¡± I said resolutely.

    He looked at me with a cold expression. After a short time, he said, ¡°Last night, I had something I needed to see Mr. Wang about, and, by coincidence, I saw you angrily rush out of his room.¡±

    Of course, no one saw all the good things I did but as soon as I did something wrong, someone would see.

    I knew what I did was very unprofessional, but I could only lie shamelessly, ¡°That wasn¡¯t the case! Mr. Wang said that he needed a dictionary, so I went to my room to get one for him.¡±

    He continued to look at me coldly.

    ¡°It was just that.¡± I mouth was parched. I spread out my hands and didn¡¯t say anymore.

    ¡°You are the trantor. Looking up things in the dictionary seems to be something you should do, right?¡± He asked back without batting an eye.

    ¡°We had a dispute about a word¡¯s trantion, so we needed to check the dictionary. You know that Mr. Wang recognizes quite a few Chinese characters.¡±

    Who said I couldn¡¯t lie.

    His tone suddenly stiffened and slightly rose, ¡°Are you sure you were giving him a dictionary and not smashing a dictionary on him?¡±

    ¡°What? I smashed it on him? Me? How could I dare do that?¡±

    I said this with a bit of a guilty conscience. I really didn¡¯t remember everything I had done in my fit of rage. I only remember throwing the dictionary on his body, turning around and leaving. After thinking about this, I started cold sweating in my palms. That dictionary was pretty thick and was probably around 1.5kg. If it was thrown carelessly, it could be like throwing a brick.

    I immediately lowered my voice, ¡°No, I didn¡¯t¡­smash it on him.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still saying you didn¡¯t smash it on him. It hurt him so much that he couldn¡¯t even stand for quite awhile! That dictionary even had your name on it. Aren¡¯t you Xie Xiao Qiu?¡±

    I became even more depressed by what he said. That dictionary was given to me by Li Chuan in N year. That time, we were browsing Xinhua Bookstore. When I saw the dictionary, I thought it was too expensive. I held it in my hands and thought about it for a long time, unable to bring myself to purchase it. It was Li Chuan who paid for it. Thus, on the title page, I wrote the three words, ¡°From Li Chuan.¡± After Li Chuan left, I still used the dictionary. When I saw Li Chuan¡¯s name, I would get angry, so I used a ck permanent marker and crossed out his name. It was thick and ck, basically covering up the wordspletely. I reckon Su Qun couldn¡¯t make it out.

    I cautiously asked, ¡°Then is¡­he hurt?¡±

    ¡°Hurt? He still hasn¡¯t recovered from his waist injury from skiingst month. Today, he had to go to the construction site, but now it has to be canceled. He also didn¡¯t go to the meeting this morning. I went to see him just now and he was still lying in bed.¡±

    ¡°Then, what¡¯s going to be done? Why don¡¯t you quickly send him to the hospital?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wang hates the hospital. No one dares to mention the word hospital to him!¡±

    That was correct. He was always that way.

    ¡°Do you not want this job anymore?¡± He asked calmly.

    ¡°¡­No.¡± 6000 yuan a month and generous year-end bonuses. Have me resign and go cold and hungry? I wasn¡¯t afraid of losing my job, but the bad reputation of ¡°violently attacking her boss¡± would follow me. Who would dare hire me if it followed me?

    ¡°Then go apologize to him.¡±

    I thought about it and said a bit listlessly, ¡°No.¡±

    He stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go find Director Zhang.¡± Director Zhang was in charge of personnels.

    ¡°Wait,¡± I stopped him, ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±

    I slowly arrived at Li Chuan¡¯s door. After I had knocked for a long time, a voice came from inside, ¡°Come in, the door isn¡¯t looked.¡±

    I opened the door and entered, passing through the living room and the office to arrive at the door of his bedroom. The door wasn¡¯t closed, but I still knocked on the door.

    ¡°I am Annie.¡±

    ¡°I temporarily can¡¯t get out of bed. If you don¡¯t mind, pleasee in to speak. If you do mind, you can stay outside and speak.¡± His voice was very low, I couldn¡¯t tell what was wrong with him.

    I¡¯m finished. He was pretty injured. I was dumbstruck. In the past, when I walked on the streets with Li Chuan, I would always block the crowd for him. If anyone bumped into him, I would quarrel with that person. Now I actually smashed at him with a brick. I have really progressed, ¡°I don¡¯t mind. Then I¡¯lle in.¡±

    He really was covered under the nkets, sitting half up in bed with several rolled up designs beside him. There was a short table in the center where he ced hisptop. There were two frames sticking out from each side of the bed where two 30 inch apple monitors were mounted. On there were brightly colored design pictures from various points of view. There were different points, profile view, 3D view and bird¡¯s-eye view.

    Hisplexion was somewhat pale. His eyebrows were wrinkled and lips were in a stiff straight line. He wore a ck striped cored shirt. The cor was ironed stiffly. The outline of his face was also stiff.

    He looked at me, clearly not expecting me, ¡°What is it?¡±

    I said stiffly without lowering my voice , ¡°Please return the material from yesterday to me. You are very busy, I am the trantor. I should do the trantions.¡±

    His gaze returned to the screen and his hands flew at lightning speed across the tablet, drawing designs, ¡°There¡¯s no need. I can look it up myself.¡±

    After a moment, he pressed a button and I heard the projector in the office next door start humming. He pushed away the screens by his bedside, looked at me and said, ¡°Is there something else?¡±

    I thought about it and said, ¡°If you have time right now, I want to finishst night¡¯s trantions. I don¡¯t want to waste your time.¡± This sounded like I was begging him. My face couldn¡¯t help but turn red.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time right now.¡± He said coldly.

    ¡°Then please let Mr. Su know that it¡¯s you who doesn¡¯t have time, not that I don¡¯t want to work.¡±

    ¡°Su Qun?¡± He wrinkled his brows, ¡°What did he say to you?¡±

    I didn¡¯t say anything. I was definitely not going toin.

    We stood in confrontation.

    After awhile, he said, ¡°Besides a dictionary, do you not have an electronic tranting software? Looking things up like this is too inconvenient.¡±

    When I heard this, I froze. I thought that he was acting out of rashness earlier, but it looks like he was really going to trante it himself. He could only recognized 950 Chinese characters, and I bet he¡¯s forgotten at least half in the past six years. Whether he could read ¡°Reader¡¯s Digest¡± was already a question.

    ¡°Yes! I have the newest edition Jin Shan Ci Ba.¡±

    ¡°Give me a copy.¡±

    The usb was on my key chain. I handed it to him and watched him put it into the usb port.

    ¡°The name of the file is JSCB, in my software folder.¡±

    I saw his mouse move a bit and then he handed the usb back to me, ¡°I don¡¯t have time to find the file right now. I¡¯ll copy the entire usb for now and will slowly search for it at night.¡±

    This made me frantic.

    I wasn¡¯t worried about any of the files except that the usb had the original copy of ¡°Li Chuan¡¯s Past.¡± I couldn¡¯t tell him and definitely couldn¡¯t express my worry. Otherwise, he would insist on looking out of curiosity. With Jin Shan Ci, I wasn¡¯t worried that he wouldn¡¯t understand it.

    ¡°Okay.¡± I bided my time, praying inwardly that he would never discover my secret.

    He appeared as if he was waiting for me to leave. But I didn¡¯t leave.

    ¡°Is there something else?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Since you want to trante this material yourself, may I ask what I should do?¡±

    He thought about it and said, ¡°You can rest.¡±

    My mouth dropped, ¡°Me? Rest?¡±

    ¡°Mhm, you rest.¡±

    ¡°Will I still be paid?¡±

    ¡°Still be paid.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go buy a ticket back to Beijing.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    I stared at him, ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me to go rest?¡±

    ¡°You can rest here, and be on call at all times. If I need to see anyone, you have toe and be the interpreter.¡±

    ¡°Then alright,¡± my heart softened looking at his solitary figure, ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to do anyway. Tonight, I¡¯ll start tranting ¡®Yongjia Records.¡¯ I¡¯ll finish it the night after tomorrow and give it to you.¡±

    ¡°I can also look at ¡®Yongjia Records¡¯ myself. I have Jin Shan Ci Ba.¡±

    I sarcastically said, ¡°¡®Yongjia Records¡¯ is ssical Chinese. ssical Chinese from the years of the Qing emperor. Can you understand it?¡±

    Actually, I also didn¡¯t know the differences between ssical Chinese of the Qing Emperor verus the ssical Chinese of Qianlong Emperor¡¯s reign (6th Qing emperor.) I was just trying to bluff at him.

    He supported himself with his hands, got up from the bed, and said, ¡°Looks like the ssical Chinese from the Qing Emperor¡¯s reign is a piece of cake to you. Since that¡¯s the case, then can you do it more quickly? Deliver the tranted draft to me before three in the afternoon tomorrow. If it¡¯s at night, don¡¯t me me forining to Director Wang.¡±

    After saying this, he lifted the nkets and looked for his slipper on the carpet using his single, slender leg. Then, he bent over to get crutches from the carpet. I looked at him and suddenly remember a certain night of N year. The sight of him getting milk from the fridge burst forward, making my heart ache.

    I rushed to pick up the crutches first and handed it to him.

    He stood up. He was wearing a pair of ck yoga pants. I could see that he was moving somewhat slowly as if he was clenching his teeth in suffering. He walked me to the door and opened the door for me. He lowered his head while I raised my head, my forehead just hitting his chin. I quickly dodged to the side.

    He said, ¡°Off you go.¡±

    I was just about to go when I remembered something, ¡°That¡¯s right, where¡¯s my dictionary? Return my dictionary to me.¡±

    He walked into the room, found the Yuan Dong dictionary, and ced it into my hands. If it was said that he was polite when opening the door for me, then when he ced the dictionary into my hands, he was clearly not being polite.

    There was an ivory bookmark in first page of the dictionary. My dad had given it to me. It was now gone.

    I red and was just about to speak angrily when he said, ¡°It¡¯s in the back. I searched for a few wordsst night.¡±

    ¡°What is in the back?¡±

    ¡°Your bookmark.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t angry because of this, ¡°Where¡¯s the first page? Why isn¡¯t it there?¡±

    ¡°I threw it away.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Why do you think?¡±

    I turned and left.

    The ¡°Yongjia Records¡± wasn¡¯t that thick. That, along with my two months of training from Jiu Tong, the culture and geology that Li Chuan wanted to see was more or less finished by 10 the next morning after I smoked, drank tea, drank coffee, and pulled an all nighter. The words were not quite aesthetic but it was definitely correct. I spent another three hours polishing and then seeing Li Chuan¡¯s profile online on CGP¡¯s MSN, I sent the word document to him through MSN.

    After a while, he replied, ¡°(English) Thanks. Could I also have a hard copy?¡±

    I typed in English, ¡°(English) Don¡¯t you have a printer in your office?¡±

    There was no reply. He ignored me.

    After half an hour, the phone by my bedside rang.

    ¡°Annie,e over here!¡±

    I quickly shuffled to his room. He wasn¡¯t on the bed this time. Instead, he sat in his wheelchair holding my manuscript. He indicated for me to sit and I could only sit on the white couch again. The red spot from the other day was still there, clearly sitting there.

    ¡°Who is Xie Ling Yun?¡±

    ¡°A poet of the Eastern Jin dynasty.¡±

    ¡°Eastern Jin dynasty?¡± To a Chinese person, this phrase shouldn¡¯t be unfamiliar with it.

    ¡°Do you know about Tao Yuan Ming?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not too familiar with him.¡±

    ¡°Xie Ling Yun and Tao Yuan Ming are the creators of Chinesendscape poetry.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m asking about Xie Ling Yun, why are you mentioning Tao Yuan Ming?¡±

    ¡°They are both Eastern Jin dynasty people.¡±

    ¡°When was the Eastern Jin dynasty?¡±

    I was speechless and depressed! Wang Li Chuan, I really overestimated your Chinese level!

    I spent fifteen minutes exining the history of Eastern Jin dynasty to him.

    ¡°Do you understand now?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± He said honestly, ¡°So that means, Xie Ling Yun stayed in Wenzhou ¡ª that is, the Yongjia of that time.¡±

    ¡°He was the governor of Yongjia.¡±

    ¡°Is this phrase, ¡®(English) Pond and pool grows with grasses of spring; Garden willows very the birds that there sing,¡¯ a famous saying of his?¡±

    ¡°Mhm, the Chinese reads ¡®¡¯³ØÌÁÉú´º²Ý£¬Ô°Áø±äÃùÇÝ¡¯.¡± [Note: Just go with the author¡¯s trantion? :/]

    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything great about it.¡± He said, ¡°Otherwise, you didn¡¯t trante it well. Tell me what is so good about the phrase?¡±

    ¡°Xie Ling Yun wasn¡¯t happy to be demoted to Yongjia and was bedridden for a whole winter. One day, he opened his windows and saw the pool outside his window. It had drown over with spring grass and the willows in the yard were germinating. The chirping of the birds were also different. As a result, his discouragement through the entire winter was swept out.¡±

    I saw that he didn¡¯t really understand so I also exined it to him using English.

    ¡°Do you understand now?¡±

    ¡°I understand the meaning, but I still don¡¯t know what¡¯s so good about this phrase.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s good about this phrase is that it uses inversion.¡± I was scolding myself. I shouldn¡¯t have tranted so many Xie Ling Yun¡¯s poems. Xie Ling Yun was a famous cultural person of Wenzhou. All local records will mention him, his poems. But I didn¡¯t have to trante so many. If Li Chuan asked me about every poem like this, I would be finished. Now, I could only stump him with ancient grammar.¡±

    ¡°What is inversion?¡±

    ¡°(English) Dislocation. The original grammar of this phrase was ¡®³ØÌÁ´º²ÝÉú£¬Ô°ÁøÃùÇÝ±ä.¡¯ The predicate because the subject. This is called inversion. The main purpose of inversion in Tang poety is to iste the meaning from the grammar to rush at you visually.¡±

    ¡°Mmm, rush at you visually. I like this phrase.¡±

    It seems as if he was going to continue asking. If he continued to ask, I would be finished. I quickly stopped him, ¡°What does this have to do with your architecture?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t hear about it even if it doesn¡¯t matter? I just want to get some more knowledge.¡±

    I shut up.

    ¡°Xie Ling Yun¡¯s surname is Xie. Your surname is also Xie. Are you rted to Xie Ling Yun?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no rtion.¡± I wasn¡¯t too angry, ¡°My dad said that our Xie family was supporter of the Chen Jin Xie n, of the same sect as Xie Ling Yun.¡±

    ¡°My grandfather says our Wang n name is from Lang Ya. It is also an ancient n.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why a Tang poem says, ¡®In the olden days, the Wang and Xie ns became swallows, flying into the homes of themon people.¡¯ It refers to our two household. Our ancestors both lived outside of Jinling, by the Vermilion Bird bridge, on the Wu Yine. They knew each other. It¡¯s the current Nanjing. Understand?¡±

    He sincerely nodded, ¡°Understood.¡±

    After a while, he said again, ¡°Annie, I find that your knowledge has be deeper. I had never heard of many of the words you said the night beforest. For example, what is (English) Actinidia Chinensis?¡±

    ¡°Mi Hou Tao (Kiwi fruit/Chinese gooseberry).¡±

    ¡°If you had said, (English) kiwifruit, then I might have understood it faster.¡±

    ¡°(English) Kiwi means a New Zender. Yet, Chinese gooseberry is from China. It¡¯s been here for the past tens of thousands of years. It¡¯s indigenous. Even the Tang poem says ¡®the walls of the courtyard well, is covered with Chinese gooseberry.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t until 1904 that New Zend missionaries started exporting them. You can call them whatever you want, but I won¡¯t call it (English) kiwi.¡±

    ¡°Mmm, I admire that. I didn¡¯t know that you loved your country so much, even down to its fruit.¡±

    COMMENTS

    I don¡¯t know who to feel sorry for. Li Chuan or Xiao Qiu. I¡¯m d they are finally interacting again, but not sure whether it¡¯s a good thing or not. What I did like about this chapter is that you can still see the spunk in Xiao Qiu, she¡¯s still got that headstrong personality despite having changed so much after Li Chuan left.

 Chapter 26

    <h4>Chapter 26</h4>

    I sat there for a whole two and a half hours in Li Chuan¡¯s room exining each poem of Xie Ling Yun¡¯s to him. In the beginning, I thought it was needed for work. Then, gradually, I started suspecting that he was just using me as amusement. In the end, I was both tired and hungry, and yawned in front of him.

    He had been taking notes with a pencil on my tranted manuscript the entire time and rarely raised his head. When he heard me yawn, he finally asked, ¡°What? Did you not sleepst night?¡±

    ¡°I slept.¡± I was so talented, was there need to ask me to do better? Was there need to pull an all-nighter for work?

    He then asked, ¡°Then have you eaten lunch yet?¡±

    When I came in, it was already one in the afternoon.

    ¡°¡­No.¡± I was starving.

    ¡°We¡¯ll stop working here for today.¡± He put away the pencil, stood up, and walked to the door to open it for me.

    I ran to the snack bar outside and wolfed down a scallion pancake. Then, I returned to my room, took a bath, lied down and fell asleep at once.

    I slept until the afternoon of the next day. No one came to look for me.

    I got up. I ran into Xiao Ding from the design group. Even though we weren¡¯t too familiar with each other, we went to the dining room to have a meal together. After eating, I asked him, ¡°Xiao Ding, I rarely go to the design department to y. I¡¯m sorry to ask, but what is your full name?¡±

    ¡°Ding Chun Qiu.¡± (Ding Spring Autumn)

    After he said this, he studied my expression, ¡°What, you don¡¯t think this name is somewhat odd?¡±

    ¡°Ding Chun Qiu is quite a good name! Isn¡¯t ¡®Mr. Zuo¡¯s Annals¡¯ called ¡®Mr. Zuo¡¯s Chun Qiu¡¯? (Mr. Zhou¡¯s Spring and Autumn Annals)

    ¡°Do you read Louis Cha?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±

    He shook my hands, ¡°Annie, you are the only girl who I have met who hasn¡¯t been corrupted by martial arts novels. Let me express my extreme respect for you.¡±

    I secretlyughed inside. Turns out he was afraid of others calling him ¡°Old Demon of Xing Xiu¡± [In Demi-Gods and Semi Devils, Ding Chun Qiu, also known as the Old Demon of Xing Xiu was known for his treachery and deception.]

    ¡°Where did everyone else go?¡± I looked behind him, sweeping the dining room. There weren¡¯t many CGP employees to be seen. I also couldn¡¯t see Li Chuan.

    ¡°The majority of the people are working in their own rooms. The couple directors all went to the construction site with Mr. Li Chuan. We are all very nervous, the deadline is really close. We have to redo everything we¡¯ve done for the past two months andplete it in ten days in order topete for first. Everyone is extremely busy.¡±

    I found that everyone in CGP liked to call Li Chuan, Mr. Li Chuan and not Mr. Wang. Because there were five Wangs in thepany.

    But then, honestly, I didn¡¯t feel that Li Chuan was that busy. At this time, he was still studying up on Xie Ling Yun.

    ¡°Then, has the overall design drawings and proposal taken shape by now?¡±

    ¡°There have already been many of Mr. Li Chuan¡¯s drawings. Some of the hand-drawn drafts for the importantndscape rendering and the major detailed perspective drawings have beenpleted. Traffic andndscape analysis diagrams will be done by Director Jiang and Director Zhang. The generalyout, bird¡¯s-eye view, vertical space design, and profile space have yet to bepleted. Finally, he still needs toplete a written case: creatives exnation, functionality description, and more. The rest of us only need to do severalte stage renderings.¡± He paused and then said, ¡°But the fix for everything is really up to Mr. Li Chuan. He is known for working fast and never procrastinating. He even frequently finishes designs early. With him here, our anxiety is halved. ¡ª It¡¯s only whether his health can take such burdensome work.¡±

    I felt my smile freeze in ce, ¡°His health? His health seems pretty good.¡±

    ¡°I heard that he was injured while skiing. Add that with him being anemic, makes it that much harder to heal. When Director Jiang made the call to ask for him, he was still in the hospital. It seems like it¡¯s be more serious after being so busy these past two days. He originally said that afterpleting the design, he would build the model together with everyone. Now Director Jiang says that he doesn¡¯t dare have him do any of that.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Making the model requires using a paper knife. If he identally cuts himself, it would be quite troublesome if the blood flow was unable to be stopped.¡±

    I had never heard of Li Chuan being anemic. During the time we were together, he had only gotten sick twice. One of the times was pneumonia. He was admitted into the hospital, but from what he said, the doctor was making a big deal out of nothing. The other time was when he had a fever. He had taken a couple pills on my insistence. He normally seemed energetic and didn¡¯t appear anemic at all.

    I wanted to continue asking for more details, but Xiao Ding looked at his watch, ¡°Annie, I won¡¯t chat with you any longer. I have to go do my work.¡±

    I returned to my room and proceeded to lie on my bed. An anxious feeling swelled up in my heart. While tensed up like that, my cellphone rang. I looked at the number, it was Director Zhang.

    ¡°Annie, are you still in the hotel?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Can you go pick up two people from the airport? Foreigners.¡±

    ¡°I can.¡± I tried my best to make my voice sound very enthusiastic. I was the only trantor here and wasn¡¯t busy. If I didn¡¯t go, who would?

    ¡°It¡¯s like this. The people who areing are Mr. Wang¡¯s older brother, Wang Ji Chuan and a French designer called Ren¨¦. Mr. Wang was originally going to go pick them up personally, but we are still at the construction site right now and can¡¯t get back in time. So we¡¯ll have to bother you to go. Their amodations have already been prepared.¡±

    ¡°The arrival time is¡­¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wang said he printed the flight number and time on a piece of paper on his office desk. He forgot to bring it when he left and can only remember that it was a six-thirty flight arrival in Wenzhou. I just gave a call to security. You can go to the reception desk to get a spare key and get the paper to pick up the people.¡±

    I looked at my watch. Five-forty. There wasn¡¯t much time. I hung up and went to the reception desk to get the spare key. I opened Li Chuan¡¯s door, got the piece of paper, quickly went back to my room to change into a presentable outfit, put on makeup, took my bag and got a taxi to the airport.

    In winter, the sky got dark early in Wenzhou.

    The airport waspletely packed.

    I found the flight number I was looking for on a huge electronic board, discovering that ¡°due to weather conditions¡± the ne was dyed in Beijing. It was a two hour flight from Beijing to Wenzhou, so I had to wait there at least two hours.

    I bought a magazine and found a cafe to sit down at to pass the time.

    After waiting for an hour, I went to see the board again and found that the ne had still not departed. Although the departure time had now been changed to 22:00.

    I felt a bit regretful that I didn¡¯t bring myptop when I left. There were many e-books in there. How was I to pass this long time?

    The urge to smoke red up again, so I went to the store to buy a pack of cigarettes and smoked one under a tree by the entrance. When I got back again, I bought another magazine, continuing to wait.

    At nine, I went outside and was smoking another cigarette when my cellphone rang. It was an unfamiliar number.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Annie.¡±

    Hearing this voice, my heart started beating rapidly.

    ¡°¡­Chief Wang.¡±

    ¡°Was the flight dyed?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Around when will it arrive?¡±

    ¡°Twelve o¡¯clock.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t wait anymore. Come back first.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going back, this is a task given to me by Director Zhang.¡±

    ¡°I am Director Zhang¡¯s superior.¡±

    ¡°If Ie back, then what about when the guests arrive? Who will pick them up?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to pick them up, they can take the airport bus.¡±

    ¡°Airport bus? Chief Wang, us Chinese people are a friendly nationality filled with passion. As a Chinese person, I cannot allow foreign experts, here to work for CGP, to receive such a cold reception. I, Annie Xie, will carry out the assignment given to me by thepany till the end.¡± I replied glib-tongued.

    There was silence on the other side.

    After a while, he said, ¡°Where are you?¡±

    ¡°At the cafe in the airport departure terminal.¡±

    ¡°Howe I don¡¯t see you?¡±

    ¡°¡­I am in the bathroom.¡±

    ¡°Put out your cigarette ande see me!¡±

    Li Chuan¡¯s voice was nice no matter what he said. Mmhmm, such tones were rare to hear from him.

    In order to prevent him from smelling the cigarette smell, I sprayed strong perfume onto myself. He was wearing his prosthetic leg, sitting on his wheelchair. His slim face, pure ck suit, light blue shirt, and striped tie. All the women in the cafe, whether they were old or young, were secretly looking at him.

    Li Chuan didn¡¯t like the wheelchair and would only sit in it as ast resort. I¡¯ve never seen Li Chuan sitting in a wheelchair in public.

    I said ¡°Hi¡±, walked up to him and sat down on the couch in front of him.

    There was a cup of lemon tea in front of him. It was clear my perfume choked him. He turned around, lightly coughed, and then said a word of (English) sorry.

    I wasughing silently inside. Li Chuan still had the old problem. Whether it was coughing, sneezing or identally bumping into someone, he would always say (English) sorry without dy. Sometimes, when he went to the ATM to withdraw money, he would say (English) sorry to the machine when he pressed the wrong key.

    ¡°What do you want to drink?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Coffee.¡±

    ¡°Two parts milk and two parts sugar?¡±

    Six years ago, the coffee that I liked to drink was thick and creamy. Very sugary.

    ¡°ck coffee, no sugar.¡±

    ¡°(English) Irish cream or Noisette?¡± These were the two vors that I liked to drink the most when Li Chuan and I were together. Li Chuan wouldn¡¯t say ¡°(English) hazelnut¡±. He had to say it the French way, ¡°(English) Noisette¡±.

    ¡°(English) Columbia, please.¡± My taste had changed to the kind that was the strongest and darkest.

    Everything had truly changed.

    He swiveled around on his wheelchair and went to buy coffee. He paid and asked the barista to bring it over to me.

    I didn¡¯t wear my sses, so I looked at him with eyes opened wide. His face was close to me. But since I couldn¡¯t see clearly anyway, I didn¡¯t feel the least bit apprehensive about gazing at him as if he was an alien.

    ¡°So,¡± he said, ¡°you are very nearsighted?¡±

    ¡°A little, not too severe.¡±

    ¡°Long time no see, Xiao Qiu,¡± he said. His voice sounded dreamlike, ¡°How are you?¡±

    ¡°Pretty good. You?

    ¡°Also pretty good.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s rare for you toe to China, why didn¡¯t you bring the wife with you?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ve always been single.¡± He looked at my face. ¡°You?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a personal question. Noment.¡±

    I blocked it.

    It was clear, my words were a blow to him. Afterwards, he sat there without moving and not saying anything.

    I didn¡¯t say anything either.

    He didn¡¯t open his mouth. I didn¡¯t open my mouth either. We sat there in a deadlock.

    After a whole hour, we seemed like strangers. We each drank our own beverages and neither said anything.

    At least, I opened my mouth first, ¡°Li Chuan, why did youe back?¡±

    He was startled. He hasn¡¯t thought that I would ask this. After long time, he said, ¡°For business.¡±

    ¡°Then when do you leave Beijing?¡±

    He thought about it for another long time and added, ¡°When work ispleted.¡±

    He looked very ufortable. The hand that was holding the tea cup was nearly going to shatter the cup. In addition, his face was firm. He was both ill at ease and nervous. Seeing him like this, I felt that if I asked a couple more questions that he couldn¡¯t answer, he would faint right there in front of me.

    Fine, I won¡¯t make things difficult for him. Iughed and continued, ¡°Then, may I ask, during this time of work, what is the rtionship between you and I?¡±

    Friends? Acquaintances? Colleagues? Supervisor and subordinate? Definitely not lovers.

    ¡°Our rtionship is professional.

    I took a deep breath.

    Professional rtionship.

    At this time, my cellphone rang. My thoughts were in turmoil and I didn¡¯t want to pick up, so I opened it and hung up.

    After half a minute, it rang again.

    I could only open it, ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°This is Xiao Guan.¡±

    ¡°Chief Xiao.¡±

    ¡°I went to CGP today. Meng Meng said that you went to Wenzhou?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°An auction event needs to produce a handbook and it just so happens that Tao Xin Ru is sick. I¡¯ve already epted the work. Can you help out? I will pay double the trantion fee.¡±

    ¡°When do you need it by?¡± I fished out my notebook and looked my the schedule.

    ¡°Is the end of the month okay?¡± He said, ¡°You can finish your work in Wenzhou first.¡±

    ¡°How many pages?¡±

    ¡°Fifty pages.¡±

    ¡°A lot of ssical Chinese?¡±

    ¡°All of it.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    I was about to hang up when he unexpectedly said, ¡°Annie, I was being rudest time. Please don¡¯t take offense to it. Meng Meng and I used to have aplicated rtionship.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°When do you return to Beijing?¡±

    ¡°Probably after ten days. Not sure.¡±

    ¡°Remember to let me know. I¡¯lle pick you up at the airport and then treat you to a meal. Consider it an apology.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. You are being too polite.¡±

    ¡°Annie, have you ever been pursued by a man before?¡±

    I nked. Then, said, ¡°Never.¡±

    I was thinking. Who actually did the pursuing between Li Chuan and I? I couldn¡¯t figure it out. At the beginning, it was definitely me doing the pursuing. I first invited him to go to the movies. Yet when I was abandoned, I still med him in anger.

    ¡°You can try with me first, as a warmup.¡±

    I didn¡¯t have time to reply before he hung up.

    After hanging up, I picked up my coffee and took a drink. I then saw my hang trembling continuously and decided to go out for a smoke.

    ¡°I¡¯m going out for a bit.¡±

    ¡°What are you going out for?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±

    I really looked down on myself. Looked down on myself for not being able to let go even after all these years. Looked down on myself for losing my cool and bing angry.

    I quickly went out the entrance and found a secluded area, smoking one cigarette after another.

    It was cold outside and even though I was wearing a coat, my hands were still frozen. But I didn¡¯t want to return to the cafe. I didn¡¯t want to see that person sitting on the wheelchair. I would rather stay in the foul ck smoke I created. I stood outside for around an hour until I finally finished thest cigarette before returning back to the departure terminal. I went to the bathroom to wash my face. Looking in the mirror, I saw that my lipstick, facial cream and eye shadow hadn¡¯t really changed. It was just that while I smoking, a few tears had fallen and the advertised waterproof mascara didn¡¯t work well and smudged when I rubbed it. But when I used a paper towel to wipe it, it started being waterproof again and couldn¡¯t be rubbed off.

    There was half an hour before the arrival time. But my appearance was that of someone who had just gotten a blow. Sad and sorrowful. A lost soul.

    I couldn¡¯t let Li Chuan see me.

    I called his cellphone. It only rang once before he picked up.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu¡­¡±

    ¡°Call me Annie.¡±

    There was silence on the other end.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel too well. Since you are already here, I¡¯ll return to the hotel first.¡±

    ¡°Are you smoking again?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with me smoking?¡± I said coldly, ¡°Smoking is my existence.¡±

    On the other end of the phone, only his breathing sound was left.

    After a while, he finally said, ¡°Then alright, you go back first. Wait at the entrance, I¡¯ll call a driver to send you.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. I¡¯ll get a taxi.¡± I replied coldly and didn¡¯t wait for his answer before hanging up.

    When I returned to the hotel, I passed the reception desk and suddenly remembered that I still had the spare key to Li Chuan¡¯s room in my hands and should return it to the reception desk. But then I remembered something. My ¡°Li Chuan¡¯s Past¡± was still on hisputer. The opportunity was hard toe by. I must quickly find it and delete it.

    Dear readers, if the following circumstance reminds you of MI1 or MI2, it is not my invention, nor am I imitating it. It only shows that if an honest person watches too many action movies, it will remain with their spirit.

    There was no one in the hallway.

    I swiped the electronic card. After a second, the red light became green and the door opened. I dodged in.

    Hisptop was on the bed.

    A small deskmp was turned on. I crawled onto the bed and opened theptop. After a few seconds, a blue Windows screen appeared.

    Then a small window opened asking me to enter in a password.

    I was stunned.

    I knew that it had to be a simple password. Li Chuan would never make things difficult for himself by choosing a hard to remember password.

    I first tried: 0907.

    Our shared birthdate.

    Wrong password.

    I thought some more and tried: xiaoqiu.

    That¡¯s right, I was narcissistic. Wrong.

    I started thinking about what other things he could use as his password. I tried the singer he liked: roxette. No chance.

    His brother¡¯s name: jichuan.

    No chance.

    His cat in Switzend: mia.

    The author he liked: proust.

    Also no.

    At this point, I want to say, dear readers, if you love a person, yet cannot guess the password that he uses, as the lover, you would feel very defeated.

    I sat on the bed, racking my brains for about half an hour. It was because I know that the attempts were finite and I didn¡¯t have unlimited tries.

    Finally, I remember three characters: ldw Lao Dian Wei. Do you remember? He had to say LDW.

    The blue light shed and the desktop quietly turned on.

    In that split second, my eyes were a little bit moist. There¡¯s right, I was a little touched. Li Chuan¡¯sputer was reced at least once each year. He was still using this password, and it somewhat showed that he still remembered me.

    The desktop was filled with documents. I went directly into ¡°My Documents.¡± The documents folder was alsopletely filled. Clearly he had a lot of work items, all those files. Path after path, folder after folder. Jin Shan Dictionary was already installed. I searched in it¡¯s path and found that it was ced into an unfamiliar folder.

    I went back and forth in the maze of files, browsing repeatedly, but, no matter what, I couldn¡¯t find those document names that I was familiar with.

    And then, I pped my head and promptly opened up ¡°My Desktop¡± and used the keyword ¡°lcws.doc¡± to search. This was the pinyin abbreviation for the novel name. It was hidden in the middle of my pile of e-books.

    The file was quickly found. I was extremely happy. I right clicked and quickly clicked ¡°delete.¡±

    After half a second, a window popped up: ¡°Error deleting file.¡±

    NO!

    I tried again, there was still ¡°Error deleting file.¡±

    I inspected the file properties. Turns out it was a read-only file. I clearly remembered that I had never converted this file to read-only. Could it be that Li Chuan did something to it?

    Hmph, that wouldn¡¯t stop me! Wasn¡¯t it just a read-only file? I just have to open it and change it to not read-only and it should be good.

    I opened the file, entered ¡°properties¡±, and changed the read-only option.

    After changing it, I deleted it once again.

    It was ¡°Error deleting file.¡± again!

    It still can¡¯t be deleted! Super depressing. I used Li Chuan¡¯s pillow and smashed it onto my head with all my might.

    The revolution had not been sessful, yet therade had already used all the effort.

    I sat on the bed, thinking with all my might, but still could not think of a method.

    At that time, the door suddenly made a sound. And then, a few people entered. At the same time, lively chatter drifted over.

    I couldn¡¯t understand a word of it. Because it was French.

    !?#£¤%¡­¡­¡ª*£¨£©

    Li Chuan was back!

    No way! This quickly!

    I quickly closed the document, shutdown theputer, and shut the lid. Sure enough, the few people stopped in the living room, speaking enthusiastically.

    I couldn¡¯t understand French. I could only make out that it was three people, one of whom was Li Chuan.

    And then, I heard Li Chuan go to the kitchen, likely to brew coffee.

    And then, my god, I heard him his wheelchair head towards the bedroom.

    I quickly hid into the bathroom.

    The shower curtain was closed. I jumped into the bathtub and hid behind the curtain. Right after, the bathroom light turned on.

    Li Chuan Ge Ge, I beg you, please don¡¯t go to the bathroom at this time!!!

    The water from the sink sounded. He was probably washing his face. And then, as if it was too warm, he opened the bedroom window. The cold wind blew in. It was so cold, I almost sneezed. And then, he returned to the living room, continuing to chat with the guests.

    Li Chuan liked to take showers. He had to wash every night. The bathroom was definitely not a ce to stay. I quickly jumped out and looked around. Like every hotel, the bedroom was spacious with few pieces of furniture. There was no where to hide. I could only hide in his closet. There were suits and shirts hung in there. I felt around everywhere. Not bad, besides the clothes, there were no skeletons.

    There was still chatter andughter outside, and was still in French. I sat in the closet and nearly became ustrophobic. What time was it already, those people were still chatting! Hurry and finish, okay!

    After a short time, one of the people finally left.

    The room immediately quieted. The person who stayed apanied Li Chuan to the bedroom.

    I heard Li Chuan say, ¡°Please help me draw these few diagrams. I already roughly finished the sketch. Add the details ording to what I¡¯ve written and it will be fine.¡±

    That personughed, ¡°Alright, order your older brother around as a drawing employee.¡±

    I guessed correctly, it was Li Chuan¡¯s older brother, Ji Chuan.

    ¡°Are you making the model, or Ren¨¦?¡±

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s him. I need to draw for you, how can I have the time?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you were going to take him to tour Yandang Mountains?¡±

    ¡°Once your main drawing isplete, the model can be finished in two to three days. We can go y for the remaining days.¡±

    ¡°Then you go tell him.¡±

    ¡°What is there to say. Last time you also helped him. He owes you one anyway.¡±

    ¡°¡­okay.¡±

    After a while, Ji Chuan probably saw the few empty beer bottles on the desk and said to him, ¡°You¡¯re drinking again?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only beer.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t have any alcohol.¡±

    ¡°Alright, Ge Ge, are you done?¡± He whispered.

    ¡°It¡¯ste, go to sleep.¡± Ji Chuan sighed, ¡°I told Su Qun that you could only work at most five hours each day. Looks like you didn¡¯t listen to him at all.¡±

    ¡°It will be fine after this current work. I¡¯ll have to trouble you to help me keep off the work from headquarters.¡±

    ¡°I am also busy, only Dad is idle. Dad is vacationing in Hong Kong with grandfather and grandmother. One call from me will bring all three of them back.¡±

    ¡°If I knew Dad needed to be asked, would I need you to go ask?¡± Li Chuan said, ¡°Tell me, who helped you keep off the work thest time you and Rene went to Rome?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t I here in person now? Hey, you¡¯re stretching it too far. You made a call from Wenzhou asking me for help and didn¡¯t Ie without any objection? Not only did Ie, I also brought a helper. Aren¡¯t I quite generous?¡±

    ¡°Quite generous.¡± The voice said grudgingly.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, is your waist injury better?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much better.¡±

    ¡°Then go to sleep quickly. I¡¯ll leave now. We¡¯ll chat tomorrow.¡±

    I heard Li Chuan walk Ji Chuan out and shut the door.

    I quietly rxed. While doing so, I took off a shirt from the clothes hanger and held it, lightly smelling it.

    Don¡¯tugh at me. I suffered for six years. Couldn¡¯t I secretly be infatuated for a bit?

    I happily thought about it in the closet. Afterwards, Li Chuan went to take a shower, and I used this time to hurriedly escape.

    However, I waited for a long time and didn¡¯t hear anything. There was no sound of water.

    From the crack in the door, I saw Li Chuan return to the bedroom and arrive by the bedside. He took off his prosthetic limb, undressed and changed into pajamas. Afterwards, he got into bed. Then, I didn¡¯t know from where, but I heard music. It was at a low volume but very noisy:

    (English) I see youb your hair and give me that grin.It¡¯s making me spin now,spinning within.Before I melt like snow,I say Hello How do you do!I love the way you undress now.Baby begin.Do your caress, honey, my heart¡¯s in a mess.I love your blue-eyed voice,like Tiny Tim shines thru.How do you do!Well, here we are cracking jokes in the corner of our mouths and I feel like I¡¯mughing in a dream.If I was young I could wait outside your school course your face is like the cover of a magazine.How do you do,do you do,the things that you do.No one I know could ever keep up with you.How do you do!Did it ever make sense to you to say Bye Bye Bye?I see you in that chair with perfect skin.Well, how have you been, baby, living in sin?Hey, I gotta know,did you say Hello How do you do?Well, here we are spending time in the louder part of town and it feels like everything¡¯s surreal.When I get old I will wait outside your house course your hands have got the power meant to heal.

    It was his Roxette again. When I was still around, he would often listen to that song. Li Chuan appeared somewhat depressed. Actually, he was easily cheered up. He liked light lively pop songs and also liked melodramas. Comparatively, I liked to listen to violin and piano sonatas and such. When I was together with him, I always disliked his noisy music.

    But what I was concerned about right now wasn¡¯t Roxette, nor was it him being noisy. It was when he would go to sleep. When he fell asleep, I could make my getaway. I withdrew into the closet and couldn¡¯t help but yawn. I had waited for five hours at the airport. I was also tired. Li Chuan Ge Ge, stop listening to music. Please go to sleep soon!

    COMMENTS

    Sadly, Xiao Qiu and Li Chuan¡¯s rtionship is no longer what it was anymore. I¡¯m sure it pains Li Chuan to see what Xiao Qiu has turned into because of his departure. He¡¯s definitely no longer blind to the fact that she¡¯s fallen into such habits. Questions is, what is he going to do about it?

 Chapter 27

    <h4>Chapter 27</h4>

    I huddled in the closet, listening indifferently to Roxette. After three times, I became sleepy. Through the crack, I saw Li Chuan sitting up on the bed with theputer and the tworge monitors on. He concentrated on drawing while listening to the music.

    Besides Roxette, in the entire room, there was only the sounds of the mouse clicks.

    Gradually, there was no more Roxette. She was reced for light music, spa style, the kind with birds and waterfalls.

    Sleepiness attacked me.

    What was I going to do! This person didn¡¯t seem like he wanted to sleep at all. But, as for myself, I could barely keep my eyes open from sleepiness.

    I nned to take a nap to restore some energy, wait until he was asleep, and then get up and slip away in the middle of the night. I quickly fell asleep leaning against the wall and hugging his shirt.

    I fell asleep because I believed that before Li Chuan went to sleep, he would definitely go take a shower. The sound of the water in the bathtub would definitely wake me up. But the sound of the water didn¡¯t wake me up. I slept very soundly and even had a beautiful dream. I dreamt that Li Chuan held me, carried me onto the bed, and then gently kissed me. I grabbed onto his cor and said, ¡°Doesn¡¯t count, another one.¡± He wasn¡¯t willing at first, and then said, ¡°If you promise me you¡¯ll give up smoking, I¡¯ll give you another one.¡± I heroically patted my chest and agreed, ¡°I promise!¡±

    He leaned over, and sweetly kissed me. His ice cold fingers touched my face, lingering for a long time and not releasing. Afterwards he asked, ¡°Is that enough?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but reach out to hug him, but he grasped my hands and stuffed them under the nket, saying, ¡°Sleep well.¡± I said, ¡°I am sleeping. I am currently dreaming.¡± Heughed. Theugh was faint, carrying a trace of helplessness, ¡°Then have a good dream.¡±

    The Li Chuan in my memory was filled with energy and could jump out at any time to interfere with my daily life. This was a challenge that I had not been able to ovee in the past six years. I¡¯ve never studied up on Sigmund Freud and didn¡¯t understand why some memories were dead and could be buried for tens of years while other memories were alive and floated to the top like oil, not sinking not matter how much you stir.

    ¡­Li Chuan, my rainbow, my gravity. Li Chuan, my Titanic, my iceberg. Li Chuan, you threw away a pebble towards the sky as you you were walking. That pebble was me.

    Beep beep beep, beep beep beep, beep beep beep. I was awoken by an rm clock. I looked at my watch. Time: 7:45.

    Character: Xie Xiao Qiu.

    ce¡­! ce¡­

    Mr. Wang Li Chuan¡¯s bed.

    I rubbed my eyes, rubbed my eyes, and rubbed my eyes again. It couldn¡¯t be like this!

    No, again!

    Time: 7:46.

    Character: Xie Xiao Qiu.

    ce¡­

    Li Chuan¡¯s bed.

    It must be his bed. Even though the bedrooms in the hotel appeared pretty much the same, the standards for Li Chuan¡¯s room were higher. Though there was little furniture, each item was very luxurious. And if this wasn¡¯t proof enough, there were two movable frames on either side of the bed. On the left and right, each side had a huge apple monitor.

    ?#£¤%¡­¡­¡ª&*

    I was still wearing what I wore yesterday and his button down shirt was still in my hands. The white wrinkled shirt now had my eye shadow and lipstick on it. I found my socks at the foot of the bed. I got out of the bed and looked around. The room was very quiet, not a soul in sight. I looked for Li Chuan¡¯sputer, wanting toplete my mission from yesterday. But I discovered that it was taken away by Li Chuan.

    I took a huge breath, then went to the bathroom to wash my face with hot water. Li Chuan hadn¡¯t left for a long time. His toothbrush was still dripping water and the vapor in the bathroom hadn¡¯tpletely dispersed yet. I tidied up my clothes and hair. Pretending to have a working appearance, I purposely took up the two ¡°Wenzhou Annals¡± book and held them. I looked at the time: 8:05.

    At this time, every CGP person would be in the meeting in the the conference room. Besides me, no one dared to bete.

    I listened to the outside, there was no movement. (English) Coast is clear. Thus, I calmly opened the door and calmly returned to my own room. I took a shower and put on makeup again. I changed into a light purple fleece shirt and a grey checkered skirt before going to the dining room to eat the first breakfast I¡¯ve had since getting to Wenzhou.

    The meeting had just finished and everyone from CGP was in the dining room.

    Li Chuan and the two directors as well was the two guests, who arrivedst night, were chatting while drinking coffee at the bar.

    To get coffee, I had to pass by the bar. I courteously smiled at the guests, but didn¡¯t go up to greet them. I was just about to get a cake from the table next to it, Director Jiang called out to me, ¡°Annie,e over here!¡±

    I stopped, turned around, and then strolled forward.

    Mencius says: No matter how high the position of the other person is, when speaking to him, one must not exhibit humbleness. Neither servile nor overbearing manner is best.

    ¡°This is Mr. Wang Ji Chuan, Mr. Wang¡¯s older brother.¡±

    I shook his hand, ¡°Hello, Mr. Wang. I am Annie, Mr. Li Chuan¡¯s trantor.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Annie.¡± His hands were warm and his grip was very solid when we shook hands.

    The two brothers looked very alike. However, Ji Chuan¡¯s outline was more gentle than Li Chuan and he was slightly taller than Li Chuan. He was theplete version of Li Chuan. Comparing them, I still thought Li Chuan was better looking. He had more of a noble air than Ji Chuan. His outline was more distinct and the lines were bolder.

    Next to Ji Chuan stood a chestnut haired, dark eyed foreigner of simr age. I didn¡¯t think he looked like a French person. More like a British person. His face was thin and long. His chest was straightened up the entire time, some what like the earl in ¡°The English Patient¡± before he was disfigured.

    ¡°This is Mr. Ren¨¦ Dubois.¡± Ji Chuan introduced.

    ¡°Hello, Mr. Du¡­bois. I am Annie.¡±

    Dubois. This name was hard to pronounce. Ji Chuan¡¯s French pronunciation was fast and gentle, I was a bit nervous.

    I wasn¡¯t just nervous because of this. I was afraid of the kissing as greeting of the French. I was a Chinese woman. I wasn¡¯t very traditional or conservative, but I stood to my principles. I would only be open with the man I fell in love with. Once, I went to y at a ssmate¡¯s home. Her boyfriend was French and kissed me twice as soon as he saw me, turning my face bright red.

    ¡°Ah¡­Annie, hello! Call me Ren¨¦. I am from Paris. Therefore, the second e has a rising tone.¡± He was very affectionate when shaking hands, but there were very long hairs on the back of his hands. So he could also speak Chinese. However, it was stammering and strange sounding.

    ¡°Mmm, rising tone. I¡¯ll remember.¡±

    He could only deal with this much Chinese. Afterwards, Ren¨¦ spoke in English to me. His English was smooth and fluent, and the syntax was very graceful. It just contained an obvious French ent.

    ¡°Alex said that you would take me to Yandang Mountains.¡±

    ¡°Alex?¡±

    I had never heard of this name.

    He stared nkly for a bit, then turned his head towards Li Chuan. Li Chuan had his head lowered, drinking coffee. He raised his head and looked at me, after awhile, he said two words, ¡°Middle name.¡±

    Very well. You think you know a person, but then you realize suddenly that you didn¡¯t even know his entire name.

    I maintained a professional smile, ¡°I¡¯ve also never been to Yandang Mountains. I would dly go with you. I heard that it would only take an hour to get there by bus.¡±

    ¡°Can you ride a bike?¡±

    ¡°I can.¡±

    ¡°How about riding bikes there? It can reduce air pollution.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    ¡°Annie, breakfast is over there. Do you want me to help you carry your coffee?¡± The French were so polite.

    ¡°Thank you, there¡¯s no need.¡±

    Ren¨¦ walked me to the table, pulled out my chair, and I sat down.

    Actually, every time we ate out, Li Chuan would always open the door for me, take off my jacket, and pull out the chair. He did this countless times, yet I was still not ustomed to it.

    The light breakfast on the table was Western style. Cake, bread and so on. There were many things whose names I could not say. Ren¨¦ said to Li Chuan, ¡°Alex, Leo, you need to go to the construction site soon. Do you guys want to eat a bit of the strawberry muffin beforehand to fill your stomachs?¡± He said in English.

    The two brothers both came over and sat, each holding a ce.

    ¡°Of course, we need to eat a bit. The muffin is too sweet, Li Chuan will not be eating it.¡± Ji Chuan said and then took the muffin from Li Chuan¡¯s te onto his. While doing so, he also threw a slice of dark bread to him, ¡°Eat this wheat bread. It¡¯s nutritious.¡±

    Li Chuan¡¯s tastes were actually very picky. He definitely wouldn¡¯t want to eat wheat bread. Sure enough, he wrinkled his brows, stood up, and then got half a te of fruit from the sd counter. He had just sat back down when Ren¨¦, holding his fork, stretched his neck over and examined the te while shaking his head, ¡°Hmm¡­This isn¡¯t good. This isn¡¯t good. You can¡¯t eat this. Or this grape. It¡¯s too sweet. This won¡¯t do. This kiwi is ok. It has lots of vitamins.¡±

    He forked half of the fruit on Li Chuan¡¯s te into his own mouth.

    What kind of people are these? I was depressed for Li Chuan.

    Afterwards, Li Chuan, took out a small steamed bun from the tray on the side and was just about to bite into it before Ren¨¦ swiftly took it away, ¡°My god, this definitely has pork! Let me try it.¡± After saying his, he pull apart the bun and smelled it. He nodded, ¡°It is indeed. Alex, you never eat pork. Right? You like to eat steamed bun. I¡¯ll go ask the server and see if there are ones with vegetables.¡±

    I thought that I was about to go crazy for Li Chuan from witnessing these two people. First, Li Chuan wasn¡¯t an infant. Second, Li Chuan could eat pork. Last time at my Auntie¡¯s, he ate the pork dumplings and kept saying it was delicious.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go.¡± Li Chuan stopped him and picked up the slice of wheat bread, ¡°I¡¯ll just eat this. Okay?¡±

    Ren¨¦ smiled and looked at me, ¡°Annie, what do you want to eat?¡±

    I quickly said, ¡°Wheat bread.¡±

    In order to show consideration towards me, everyone spoke English. Li Chuan kept silent, eating his bread. It was Ji Chuan and Ren¨¦ who were warm and talked to me without stopping. They asked about Yandang Mountains, asked about Wenzhou¡¯s climate, asked about the local customs, and asked about the current news in the area. Indeed they were French, they were experts at conversing.

    I didn¡¯t care. I chatted with him using it as a way to practice my speaking.

    After chatting for half an hour, we were still going to continue chatting when Li Chuan stood up first, took out his ckberry and examined his (English) ¡®to do list¡¯. ¡°Ji Chuan will apany me to the construction site. Ren¨¦, I¡¯ve already instructed people to buy the material for making the model. Paper knife, candle, various kinds of glue and paper of varying thickness have all been prepared. You have an assistant. That¡¯s right, in my design, there are a few arches that might be difficult to make. How do you n on making them?¡±

    ¡°Can there not be arches?¡± Ren¨¦ teased.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Does the thickness exceed 1.5 centimeters of paper?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Leave it to me. I have a way. Last time, Leo designed a melon shaped chair and I was able to create it. Right, Leo?¡±

    ¡°He is a genius. He¡¯s just a little dumber than Li Chuan.¡±

    ¡°Hey, I am a (English) doctor!¡±

    ¡°Only stupid people would get a doctorate in architecture.¡± The two brothers said in unison.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t good. The two of you together will just gang up. That¡¯s not nice. Don¡¯t go to the construction site, Leo. Stay here and help me.¡±

    ¡°No, Leo needs to help me draw the design. You can do it yourself. I¡¯ll get an assistant for you.¡±

    ¡°Then, we¡¯ll leave it at this. You owe me one, Alex.¡±

    ¡°Owe you what? Last time¡­andst year..and¡­three years ago¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay, Alex, you don¡¯t owe me. Next time, when I go to Las Vegas, you just need to lend me money.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of that, you still haven¡¯t returned the money I lent youst time. It¡¯s been a couple years, right?¡±

    ¡°Leo said he helped me pay it back. Leo, right?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh¡­It¡¯s nothing between brothers. Right, Li Chuan?¡± Ji Chuan patted Li Chuan¡¯s shoulders, all smiles.

    Ren¨¦ suddenly turned towards me and said, ¡°Annie, do you like to y with paper? You can be my assistant, okay?¡±

    ¡°Your assistant is Xiao Ding of the design department.¡± Li Chuan said, ¡°Today, Annie needs to trante all the design sketches I¡¯ve finished drawing.¡±

    ¡°Then remember to give me the designs.¡± I said ording to official business principles.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already sent it to your email.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t open CAD files. Can you print one for me?¡±

    ¡°How about this? Give me yourptop, I¡¯ll install CAD for you.¡±

    ¡°No, my eyes will hurt after staring at the screen for too long.¡± I quickly said. Actually I was afraid that Li Chuan will take advantage of the situation and make a copy of my entire hard drive.

    ¡°It¡¯s like that? Then okay, the drawing is on my office table. It¡¯s in a blue paper tube. I¡¯m going to the construction site now. You can get it yourself.¡±

    I spread out my hands, ¡°How can I get it? I don¡¯t have a key.¡±

    He was already going to leave, and then stopped, looked at me, and raised his eyebrow, ¡°You don¡¯t have a key? How is that possible?¡±

    ¡°Why would I have the key to your room?¡± I said. Neither my heart raced nor my face turned red.

    I could tell that this person was already angry beyond words.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have the spare key?¡±

    ¡°I returned it a long time ago.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯lle with you!¡± His face couldn¡¯t be anymore cloudy. The dark clouds were lowering and the storm was going toe.

    Outside the dining room was a small kiosk. Thinking about the heavy amount of work I had today, I had the urge to smoke again.

    ¡°Wait, I¡¯m going to the kiosk for a bit.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    Li Chuan followed me. He followed me up to the kiosk. The attendant sold cigarettes to me every time and was very familiar with me.

    ¡°Morning, Annie! The same brand? One or two packs?¡±

    I thought about it. And then thought about it again. Then I finally asked, ¡°Do you have candy for giving up smoking?¡±

    ¡°No, only the pharmacy sells it.¡±

    I didn¡¯t say anything and intended to drop the subject. Unexpectedly, Li Chuan, standing on the side, asked, ¡°Where is the closest pharmacy?¡±

    ¡°Turn right after exiting, past the park, turn left, follow that Hua Jiu (Nostalgia) street. It takes fifteen minutes. Tong Ji Tang is there.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too far. I¡¯ll see about it tomorrow. How about, you give me a pack¡­¡±

    Someone glowered at me.

    ¡°Of pads.¡± I quickly finished my sentence.

    After leaving the kiosk, Li Chuan said to me, ¡°Do you have interest in taking a walk with me?¡±

    I looked at him in shock, suspicious of the gift that dropped from the sky. Is Li Chuan speaking to me?

    I swept a nce at his leg, asking, ¡°Can you go for a walk?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not too far of a walk.¡±

    ¡°May I ask¡­this walk, is it of a business nature?¡±

    ¡°Yes, are you willing?¡±

    ¡°Very willing. Who wouldn¡¯t want to be on friendlier terms with the boss? Which way are we going?¡±

    ¡°Going right. Past the park, then left. We are going to Hua Jiu (Nostalgia) street.¡±

    The park was directly on the right side of the doors. We cut through the park. It was very lively in the park. Some people were performing a sword-dance, some were shadowboxing, some were dancing, some were practicing martial arts, some were drinking tea and some were strolling. Everyone was enjoying life.

    ¡°Are there a lot of drawings that need trantion?¡± I asked. Since it was a business stroll, I could only discuss business.

    ¡°Seven, eight of them. There not too many.¡±

    ¡°If it is urgent, I can finish tranting in the afternoon and hand them to you tonight.¡±

    ¡°Not too urgent, you can give it to me tomorrow.¡±

    He slowly walked as he spoke.

    ¡°Then, when do you think I will apany Ren¨¦ to Yandang Mountains?¡±

    ¡°When he has pretty muchpleted the model, the two of you can leave. By car, two days should be enough, right?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t we say that we would ride bikes?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him. The mountain paths are not safe. I¡¯ll have the driver take you.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to go yourself?¡±

    ¡°No time.¡±

    I wanted to find some other irrelevant thing to speak about, but he didn¡¯t speak anymore. With his cane on the ground, he concentrated on walking.

    Iughed bitterly inside. In fact, I didn¡¯t require much. Having Li Chuan walk with me, even if he didn¡¯t speak a word, was already enough for me.

    After leaving the park¡¯s dirt road behind, we headed left. Because the street on the left sold a lot of used CDs, they yed oldies all day long. That¡¯s why it was called Hua Jiu (Nostalgia) street.

    ¡°Why did wee here? You don¡¯t want to buy old CDs do you?¡±

    ¡°Since we¡¯re here already, might as well buy a few.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll choose it for you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you five minutes.¡±

    ¡°Boss, this one by Teresa Teng. Can you y it to see if it¡¯s scratched?¡±

    The CD was ced into the yer and Teresa Teng sang out, ¡°I smiled when I saw you. Your graceful elegance is too beautiful. Being together with you, I never have any worries¡­¡±

    ¡°Boss, this one too. Zheng Jun.¡±

    The yer started singing again, ¡°She seemed cold as ice She didn¡¯t let you understand her, but in fact her heart was lonely Full of joyous dreams, we met one day The lonely heart was saved when facing her craziness I didn¡¯t know whether to be happy or panic After an awkward silence, I said, what do you want to do She suddenly embraced me and said, Aha I can¡¯t take anything else into consideration because my loved has already been bared My love has already been bared¡­You can¡¯t let me be lonely again¡­¡±

    Nothing could be done. No matter what song the boss yed, Li Chuan¡¯s expression looked like he was at a funeral. There was nothing to be done. Towards such a person, I could only pull out the best weapon. I picked out the extremely moving (English) Trisha Yearwood: ¡°Without you There¡¯d be no sun in my sky There would be no love in my life There would be no world left for me And I Baby I don¡¯t know what I would do I would be lost if I lost you If you ever leave Baby you would take away everything real in My lifeAnd tell me now How do I live without you I want to know How do I breathe without you If you ever go How do I ever ever survive?

    How do I How do I O how do I live?...¡±

    This time, someone finally said without expression, ¡°(English) Could you stop it?!¡±

    Blockhead. I had nothing else. I was defeated. Time to pay. The pile of CDs were ced into a stic bag. I held it myself. And then, I followed him, walking forward nkly. After walking not even five minutes, he suddenly stopped. I raised my head and looked. The door had three words, ¡°Tong Ji Tang.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, do you need to buy medicine? What medicine do you need to buy? Tell me and I¡¯ll go buy it so that you don¡¯t misread the characters.¡± I took a basket and discovered that the pharmacy was like a supermarket. The medicine was all ced on rows and rows of shelves. There was also cosmetics.

    ¡°You go buy what you need. I¡¯ll buy what I need.¡±

    We each took a basket and went in, getting lost in the crowd. I found the Wu Ji Bai Feng Wan I wanted and also got a bottle of moisturizer and a bottle of face wash. I want up to the counter to pay. Li Chuan followed behind me. There were many ck cases in his basket. Each ck case had the huge words ¡°NO¡± written on them.

    After I checked out, I turned to him and said, ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°Candy for giving up smoking.¡± And then he added, ¡°Ji Xiang Tong Bao brand.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t scare me. This many cases?¡±

    ¡°Each treatment is six boxes. You don¡¯t need to buy any for eight weeks. Two pieces each time. When you want to smoke, you eat the candy and then drink lots of water.¡±

    ¡°Are you concerned about my health, or is this for business.¡±

    ¡°It has nothing to do with your health. Whether you want to smoke is none of my business.¡±

    I became angry.

    ¡°But, I have lung disease. I can¡¯t inhale smoke. Not even a bit.¡± He said coldly, ¡°Therefore, when you work with me, you must quit smoking. This is a business requirement.¡±

    I didn¡¯t utter a word.

    He checked out and came out. He got a taxi, ¡°I¡¯m tired, we¡¯ll take the car back.¡±

    I didn¡¯t say anything on the whole way back. When we got to the hotel, I saw Ji Chuan chatting with the service employee at the entrance. When he saw us enter, he smiled, saying, ¡°Where did you go? We said we¡¯d be going to the construction site. You caused me to wait here for nothing.¡±

    I smiled courteously.

    Li Chuan handed the bag of candy for giving up smoking to me.

    In front of them, I threw the entire bag into the trash can on the side. And then I calmly said, ¡°Wang Li Chuan, feel free to fire me. I won¡¯t starve to death.¡±

    COMMENTS

    It¡¯s too bad that Li Chuan is such a noble idiot. We can totally see how much he still cares for Xiao Qiu. Sadly, he¡¯d never tell her. With the introduction of Ji Chuan and Ren¨¦, hopefully they¡¯ll be able to push this rtionship along a little bit more.

 Chapter 28

    <h4>Chapter 28</h4>

    After saying this, I turned around and left.

    I took off all my clothes in the room. I brought each item up to my nose to sniff, to see if it had a nicotine smell. Then, I took another thorough bath, washing with soap over and over again. After I finished washing up, I changed into a white embroidered shirt. It was new, I had never worn it before. I ced the clothes that I had just taken off into a stic bag and brought it to theundromat to get dry cleaned.

    The dry cleaner wasn¡¯t far from the entrance. The boss¡¯ wife and I chatted. I asked her whether smoking would leave a cigarette smell on clothes.

    ¡°Of course,¡± she said, ¡°if you smoke, or those around you smoke, the fibers on your clothes will all have a tobo smell. It won¡¯te out no matter how much you wash it. You can¡¯t smell it yourself, but those who are sensitive to it, will smell it immediately. We always tell those who donate used clothes to us that we don¡¯t want the clothes of those who smoke.¡±

    I listened. My head was about to explode, ¡°Boss¡¯ wife, I don¡¯t want the clothes anymore. Please help me donate it. ¡­Never mind, return it to me. I¡¯ll throw it in the trash.¡±

    I went to the shopping mall and bought new clothes from head to toe. I wasn¡¯t in a good mood, and was using shopping as therapy. I strolled in a few department stores holdingrge and small shopping bags in my hands. When I returned to the hotel, it was already lunch time. I returned to my own room and inexplicably took another bath. I sat in the bathtub observing my fingers. That¡¯s right¡­it was a little yellow. It was steeped in nicotine. The most depressing part was that I smoked a pack a day and even if I watched what I ate, I still needed to smoke. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that I gave two thousand to Lawyer Chen and was hard pressed for money, I would probably have smoked even more. Boo, I didn¡¯t think it was too serious before. I had already abandoned myself to despair anyway. But now, it wasn¡¯t the same.

    Just thinking about all this, the urge to smoke came again. My fingers couldn¡¯t help but start to tremble. I had a headache and my fidgety and tired. My lips were dry and I couldn¡¯t sit still. I thought about the designs I needed to trante in the afternoon. I needed cigarettes to help me concentrate. Thinking about this, I touched my purse. Good, good, thank heavens, I still had one more pack. I took the purse and left the entrance, heading to the back. I used to always smoke next to the park entrance. The park was in front of the hotel entrance and there was a lot of foot traffic. It wasn¡¯t good to affect them. At the back, there were tworge trash cans, each one as tall as a person. No one wanted to stand there, inhaling the smell of the garbage. It was the perfect ce to smoke.

    There was an empty area in the back that was actually an abandoned parking lot. I went along the wall of the hotel to the left and heard a boy¡¯sughter travel through the empty air, ¡°Mister, throw it over here! Here! Here!¡±

    ¡°Come over here a little, look at the ball. Don¡¯t look at my hands.¡± It was a maic male voice, low and firm, yet distinct.

    The boy happily shouted, ¡°Ah ha! I caught it! I caught it! Mister, again, again!¡±

    It was that male voice again, ¡°This time I¡¯m going to throw it far. You must run faster.¡±

    ¡°Throw it! Throw it!¡±

    It was Li Chuan, half kneeling on the ground, ying ball with a three year old. The child¡¯s mother stood to the side, smiling and watching.

    ¡°Okay A Ji, let¡¯s go home to eat. Stop ying. Mister has already yed with you for an hour.¡±

    ¡°No, no, I want to y! I don¡¯t want to eat!¡±

    ¡°Mmm, you can¡¯t not eat. How will you grow up if you don¡¯t eat? How about this, let¡¯s go home to eat and then afterwards, Mommy will take you to the park, okay?¡±

    ¡°No¡­no¡­no¡­¡±

    ¡°Song Xiao Ji! Let¡¯s go home! How many times do I need to say it!¡± The mom¡¯s voice suddenly changed. Her face changed too.

    Finally, the little boy, dillydallying, took his mom¡¯s hand.

    Li Chuan picked up his cane and using it, slowly stood up. He saw me and said ¡°Hi.¡±

    I ignored him, walked to the side of the trash bins and stood there silently, waiting for him to leave. Even though I couldn¡¯t control my addiction, my morals weren¡¯t bad enough that I would stoop down to smoking in front of a sick person.

    But he wouldn¡¯t leave. Instead he followed me over.

    ¡°Are you angry?¡± He said.

    I ignored him.

    ¡°Even if you are angry, you should at least pick a ce with better air to stand. It¡¯s all trash bins here. The air isn¡¯t good.¡±

    I ignored him.

    He took out a ck box from his pocket. I looked. It was still that ¡°Ji Xiang Tong Bao¡± brand candy for quitting smoking.

    ¡°I tried it. It¡¯s mint vored, not bad. ¡­Do you not like to eat candy?¡±

    I took the Ji Xiang Tong Bao and threw it into the trash.

    He brought out another box and took out something that was thin, like a bandaid, ¡°This is a patch for giving up smoking. The brand also sounds pretty nice, ¡®Hua Yang Nian Hua¡¯. You¡¯ll definitely like to use it. Try one? Okay?¡±

    I snatched it over and threw it into the trash bin also.

    I fiercely said, ¡°What else do you have? Take it out so I can get rid of it all at once.¡±

    There was a pile of cement blocks next to the trash bins. It went up a few levels and was around the same height as the trash bin. The trash bin was about as big as a room and needed a special truck to tow it. If someone felt that the bin was too high, he could climb onto the cement blocks to throw stuff away.

    Li Chuan picked up a long tree branch from the ground and pulled me onto the cement pile, ¡°Here, Xiao Qiu. Let us see what there is in the trash bin?¡±

    What the heck was he doing? We both stuck out our heads and looked down.

    What would a trash bin have in it?

    Trash. Right?

    Egg shells, leftovers, tea leaves, ripped stic bags, charcoal bits, fish bones, pork bones, dead cat, chicken feathers, duck feathers, rotten vegetable leaves, empty cans, broken toys, furniture with broken legs, scratched CDs, pieces of ss, pieces of wood with nails, packing peanuts, moldy rice, dried bean curd, cucumber skin, rotten watermelon, rotten tangerine, wires, carpentry gloves, maggots, houseflies¡­

    The trash bin was only about half filled, not too full. Li Chuan poked around inside with the branch.

    I didn¡¯t know what he was looking for. At least, I wasn¡¯t going to talk.

    After poking around for awhile, he used the branch to hook up a huge bag of vegetable leaves. It was riddled with holes. He held it out in front of me.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°If you continue smoking, in a few years, your lungs will be like this. Aren¡¯t you afraid?¡±

    ¡°What should I be afraid of? This is pretty good.¡± I said, ¡°What is wrong with it?¡±

    Someone became angry.

    He stared at me for quite awhile and said word by word, ¡°Xiao Qiu, it looked like you are forcing me into a dead end. You either quit smoking. Or I jump in from here.¡±

    He had quite a deathly re!

    I blinked, ¡°Jump, go ahead and jump. This trash bin just so happens not to have a cover.¡±

    Li Chuan had mysophobia. It wasn¡¯t normal mysophobia. He showered many times a day. He didn¡¯t like toe into contact with anything dirty. I didn¡¯t believe that he would jump into something so filthy as trash.

    I was just thinking this when I heard a plop.

    That person really jumped!

    ¡°Hey! Li Chuan!¡±

    Li Chuan was wearing a prosthetic limb. He definitely couldn¡¯t do such ¡°jumping¡± motions. I looked at him, scared speechless. He was still okay. He turned over and sat up, sitting in the trash. He picked up something and threw it at me.

    ¡°Catch!¡±

    I quickly caught it. Looking at it carefully, I saw that it was the candy that I had thrown away earlier.

    ¡°Two pieces each time. Eat it now.¡±

    The case was still new, still in the stic wrapping. I tore it open and ate the candy.

    ¡°Are you hurt? I¡¯ll put you up!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯te up!¡±

    ¡°¡­I¡¯ve already eaten the candy.¡±

    ¡°You swear! Swear you¡¯ll quit smoking!¡±

    ¡°I¡­swear.¡±

    ¡°Just saying it doesn¡¯t count! You¡¯ve already said it before! You said it before and still broke it!¡±

    ¡°I never said it!¡±

    ¡°You said itst night!¡±

    ¡°That was a dream. Dream talk doesn¡¯t count!¡±

    ¡°May I ask, who stuck out their foot in front of me and said, ¡®Li Chuan, take off my socks!¡¯ Was that dream talk?¡±

    Fainting¡­speechless¡­was it that erotic?¡­super depressing.

    ¡°I surrender. I¡¯ll give up smoking. I swear. I swear to the heavens that I will give up smoking for the rest of my life. If I cannot do this, then allow a tiger to scoop out my heart, and be struck by lightening!¡±

    ¡°Throw down your scarf!¡±

    What did he need a scarf for? I took off my scarf and threw it down. He wrapped the scarf around his wrist.

    The scarf was dark blue. I saw wetness start soaking it. My heart started thumping, ¡°Li Chuan¡­your hand. Is it bleeding?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not. You can go.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll pull you up.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to. Go call Ren¨¦ to help me.¡±

    I quietly slipped back into the hotel, pretending to be calm, trying not to rm anyone. I knocked on Ren¨¦¡¯s door and found Ji Chuan also inside. The two were talking in French.

    ¡°Annie?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Dubois, I need you to help me.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    ¡°Follow me.¡±

    I pulled him quietly to the back doors and climbed onto the cement blocks. Li Chuan was calmly still sitting his the original spot.

    ¡°My god!¡± Ren¨¦ called out, ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Li Chuan identally fell into the trash bin. Quickly pull him up.¡±

    Ren¨¦ didn¡¯t say anymore and also jumped in. Standing in the trash bin, he picked Li Chuan up from the bottom and pushed him up. He stayed inside the bin himself, looking around. And then, he proudly held up a paper box, ¡°Hey, look at this you guys. This cardboard isn¡¯t bad. I can use it to make a fake mountain.¡±

    Ren¨¦ was tall and strong and quite nimble. He quickly climbed out of the trash bin, ¡°Alex, are you alright?¡­Hey, this shirt is too dirty. It¡¯s covered in egg yolk. Don¡¯t keep it. Others willugh at you when you go inside. Here, wear my jacket.¡± He didn¡¯t say anything else before taking off Li Chuan¡¯s suit and throwing it into the trash bin. Then he took off his own suit and gave it to him. And then, he saw his wrist. His face suddenly changed, ¡°What happened to your hand?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just a small injury.¡± Li Chuan looked at me and used amanding voice to say, ¡°Xiao Qiu, you go back to your room first.¡±

    But the scarf on his hand became more and more wet. A drop came out and dripped onto the ground. I stared at him with eyes wide open, cold sweat starting to appear on my back.

    Li Chuan said a word of French to Ren¨¦. I guessed that he was saying that I was hemophobic. Because the French h¨¦mophobie was pronounced like the English hemophobia.

    Ren¨¦ came over and pulled me, ¡°Annie, you must leave here right now.¡±

    I didn¡¯t move. I said, ¡°Ren¨¦, don¡¯t mind me. You take Li Chuan to the hospital right now.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Even though it¡¯s not a serious wound, it still needs to be wrapped. Then, we¡¯ll leave first.¡± He went over and lead Li Chuan away, leaving me.

    My heart was still beating wildly. I sat down and took deep breathes. After sitting for a minute, I thought I was feeling better and stood up. I got off the cement blocks and then ran into Ren¨¦ again.

    ¡°Ren¨¦? Didn¡¯t you apany Li Chuan?¡±

    ¡°Alex went to the hospital himself. He didn¡¯t let me go with him.¡±

    ¡°But¡­what if¡­¡±

    ¡°Annie, Alex is not a child. He was worried about you and wanted me toe and see if you were okay.¡±

    ¡°I¡±m okay. I was just a little dizzy earlier. I¡¯m fine now.¡±

    Ren¨¦ took out a long blue tube that he was holding and handed it to me, ¡°These are the design sketches that Alex wanted me to give you. He wants you to finish them as soon as possible.¡±

    Ren¨¦ and I walked towards the hotel together. After going halfway, I suddenly stopped and asked, ¡°Ren¨¦, why is Li Chuan anemic?¡±

    ¡°He has always been anemic.¡±

    ¡°Is it severe? Was he born with it?¡±

    ¡°Alex told me to tell you that if you ask these type of questions, you aremitting an offense by digging into his personal matters.¡±

    ¡°Then what happened with Li Chuan¡¯s car crash?¡±

    ¡°Car crash? What car crash?¡± His deep blue eyes bulged out, looking at me.

    ¡°His leg¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­that car crash. Mmmm, you¡¯ve seen it. It was pretty serious. He nearly died.¡±

    ¡°What year did that happen?¡±

    ¡°The year is was seventeen.¡±

    ¡°And then afterwards?¡±

    ¡°What afterwards?¡±

    ¡°He said that he studied economics and then architecture. It would take eight years for both. He graduated when he was twenty-one.¡±

    ¡°Alex went to college when he was fifteen. He studied two years of economics, the stuff happened, and he switched to architecture. He was a young genius. That¡¯s how it was.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­six years ago, he was suddenly transferred from Beijing. What was the deal then? Family crisis? Economic crisis?¡±

    He thought about it and then repeated what he had said before, ¡°Alex told me to tell you that if you ask these type of questions, you aremitting an offense by digging into his personal matters.¡±

    ¡°Then, which hospital is Li Chuan going to right now?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    After he said this, I knew that I could not get any more information out of Ren¨¦. Besides, we had also already arrived at the entrance of the hotel. Ren¨¦ said that he had to go make the model. I returned to my room and called Li Chuan¡¯s cellphone.

    No one picked up. He must have screened me again. I couldn¡¯t be at ease and went to the service desk to get the address of the closest hospital. I got a taxi and went to find Li Chuan.

    When I got to San Ren Ming Hospital doors, I called Li Chuan¡¯s cellphone again. This time he picked up on the first ring.

    ¡°Li Chuan!¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡±

    ¡°Which hospital are you at? Is it San Hospital?¡±

    ¡°¡­Yes. I¡¯ve already seen the doctor.¡±

    ¡°This quickly? No way!¡± This hospital was really big and there were a lot of patients. It seemed like it would take a long time to wait in line.

    ¡°I said I was a foreigner and showed them my passport. I said that I couldn¡¯t wait and had a pressing matter. So, they put me as priority.¡± Li Chuan said that neither urgently or slowly.

    Quite clever.

    ¡°Which floor are you on. I¡¯lle find you.¡±

    ¡°Where are you?¡±

    ¡°San Hospital¡¯s entrance.¡±

    ¡°Mmm, I already see you.¡±

    I looked left and ride and saw Li Chuan sitting far away on the couch of the waiting room. He waved at me.

    I walked to his side and saw him sitting there impably dressed. His wrist was wrapped in ayer of white cloth. It was clear that he had taken a shower before going to the hospital.

    ¡°Does the doctor say it¡¯s serious?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not serious. It¡¯s just a small wound.¡±

    ¡°Has the bleeding stopped?¡±

    He hesitated and then said, ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°Then why are you still sitting here.¡± I examined his face. Hisplexion was pale. ¡°Do you not feel well?¡±

    ¡°Surgery is on the third floor. I couldn¡¯t find an elevator so got a little dizzy walking up and down.¡±

    I sat down and asked, ¡°Do you need water?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t just next time, okay?¡± I gazed at him, my heart aching.

    ¡°Will you still smoke?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t smoke anymore. I won¡¯t smoke even if you beat me to death. I¡¯m beingpletely sincere, okay?¡±

    Heughed lightly, yet hisplexion was more and more pale.

    ¡°Are you hurt anywhere else?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, yourplexion isn¡¯t very good. Let¡¯s go see the doctor again, okay?¡± I became more and more worried as I looked at him. I couldn¡¯t help but grip his hand.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re already here at the hospital anyway. Seeing the doctor twice is the same as seeing him once.¡± I continued to try to persuade him but he pretended to take up a newspaper and pulled his hand out of mine.

    ¡°Not going to see one. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ll be okay after resting a bit.¡±

    At this time, his cellphone rang. Evidently it was Ji Chuan calling. He first said a few words of Chinese, and then the two started arguing in French right afterwards. I must say that even if French was used for swearing, it still sounded pretty. But as for what they were arguing about, I had no clue. And then, I saw Li Chuan hang up abruptly and lean against the back of the couch wearily. It hadn¡¯t been five minutes before Ji Chuan quickly walked towards towards me. The two faced each other and continued arguing. It was still in French. After arguing for awhile, Li Chuan didn¡¯t have the energy to pay him any heed anymore. Ji Chuan was still saying:

    ¡°Stupide!¡±

    ¡°Abruti!¡± He retorted.

    ¡°D¨¦bile!¡± He swore again.

    ¡°Idiot!¡± He retorted again.

    ¡°Imbecile!¡± He swore again.

    Alright, this was a good opportunity to learn French. All the words to swear at someone was here.

    After a while, Ji Chuan came over and said to me, ¡°Annie, go back first, okay? I have things to talk to Li Chuan about.¡±

    I nodded and got a taxi outside.

    Afterwards, I didn¡¯t see Li Chuan for three days.

 Chapter 29

    <h4>Chapter 29</h4>

    It was December 28, 29, and 30th, which was exactly the end of the year. Other than CGP, the whole city had begun its holiday celebration. All the streets were announcing ¡°clearances¡± and ¡°super sales.¡± The store windows were brightly lit with colorful decorations. The people walked leisurely on the streets while wearing pretty clothes.

    I suddenly realized that it was Christmas night when we were at the airport¡¯s arrival terminal. No one reminded me, so everyone forgot about it. Yes, all the CGP employees who were on the business trip were middle-aged, which meant that Christmas was not yet a celebrated holiday in China when they were still young. Their only wish was to finish this fierce bidding battle before Chinese New Year so that they could get their fat bonuses and return to the embraces of their kids and wives. As a result, everyone was crouched over their work in this lonely high-ss hotel.

    I, of course, was no different. I had been tranting sketches in my room three days straight and slept no more than four hours each day on average. Up to this point, eighty-percent of the descriptions for the designs and sketches had been done. They were all rolled and piled on top of my bed. Li Chuan had the most important part of designing, yet he was the quickest. But obviously, thest few were drawn by Ji Chuan based on the drafts. They were brothers after all, so their work was wless. Even their writing looked like it was written by the same person.

    The main building that C City was renovating was the theater at the foot of the mountains of Xi Cheng district. It was one of thendmarks of Qing Lian Vi, therefore, it also had thergest investment amount. Jiang Hao Tian¡¯s original design had an open-design with tall ss. From afar, it looked like the crown from the Statue of Liberty or like a blossomed sunflower. Even an amateur like me felt that it was very eye-catching. Li Chuan¡¯s design on the other hand, was a closed-design built with steel. It was simple and had no obvious shape. It kind of looked like a giant pebble with natural watermarks. The top was made of especially smooth ss shaded in light grey that looked like a mirror reflecting the clouds in the sky. The other smaller buildings surrounding the theater also had a ¡°small pebble¡± like design. In the aerial view sketch, they looked like pebbles scattered on the beach, as well ass in the gxy. They were natural yet mysterious; elegant yet vast. They blended with the mountain and river in its surroundings, reflecting each other. It demonstrated his view of living things and the environment. I liked it very much. Although it was not as attractive as Director Jiang¡¯s design, it was intriguing in its own way due to its return to simplicity.

    However, some did not have high praises for the ¡°pebble¡± design. They nicknamed the theater, ¡°stone.¡± I overheard some of the designers talking during dinner,menting that Li Chuan was never a POMO, so why did hee up with such a post-modern design this time? They also said that the investor and C City¡¯s mayor Xie He Yang were stubborn and old fashioned, and were not easy to approach. Therefore, they were skeptical about the design being epted. Furthermore, CGP¡¯s biggestpetitor was Jia Yuan¡¯s chief architect designer Tian Xiao Gang, who was a well-known expert in ssic garden designs. He was actually Jiang Hao Tian¡¯s senior (in the field). He debuted early, popr, and knew Jiang Hao Tian¡¯s style well. On the bidding for Xiamenst time, he lost to CGP by one vote. Therefore, he was determined to win this time, even if it meant spending arge amount of money to buy confidential information.

    The tender letter required all documents to be in both Chinese and English. I did not finish all of my trantion work until the morning of the 31st. I then spent the whole morning checking, editing, and re-wording before handing it to Director Jiang for review, who then handed it off for photocopying.

    I could finally rest afterpleting my work. I went to the restaurant and drank a bowl of fried fish soup. The thin slices of fish, mushroom, and ham went down my stomach in one gulp. My face immediately started to sweat. It reminded me of Li Chuan. Li Chuan liked having fish and liked drinking soup. He liked the Cantonese style congee with fish a lot too. I wondered if he had tried fried fish soup before. I went to the kitchen and asked the chef how to make it, but it turned out that it was very difficult to make it well, so he rmended making a lot of it at once. Whatever, I jotted down the recipe and nned to try it out when I got back to Beijing and would make it my best dish.

    Li Chuan was unfortunately still in the hospital. I heard that he was in a ¡°VIP ward¡± because Ji Chuan was afraid that his wound would not stop bleeding and was afraid that he would get infected, so he forced Li Chuan to stay in the hospital for better ¡°observation.¡± The chamber had no cell phone reception, but wifi was avable. I knew that Li Chuan was very busy like me and was sleeping only a few hours a day, so I only sent him a simple email to ask if he was feeling better. But he never answered the question. Instead, he replied back with three attachments, which were three sketches. This was how wemunicated ever since we came to Wenzhou, everything was all business and nothing private. Regardless, my heart was warm inside. He jumped into the garbage dump for me; I couldn¡¯t help but feel blissful, what more could Iin about?

    I took a wonderful afternoon nap. Zhang Qing Hui suddenly called me at 5pm, ¡°Annie, the investors are holding a cocktail party tonight, you need to attend. Can you drink a little?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Besides being a smoking addict, I was also addicted to drinking. I had even tried Marijuana before, but I was afraid of going to jail so I didn¡¯t try other drugs. I could be considered as having tried all five poisons nheless. Li Chuan had found out only one of them. [Amon definition of five poisons: eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, smoking]

    Moreover, Zhu Bi Xuan had great alcohol tolerance. Therefore, as her recement, how could I be worse than her?

    ¡°You must stay beside Mr. Wang. He cannot have any drinks, not even a single drop. When it cannot be refused, can you drink it on his behalf?¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    ¡°Mayor Xie will be there, he¡¯s a very important man. But he has a heavy Wenzhou ent, so I can¡¯t understand him well. Mr. Wang will definitely not be able to understand him, so you need to be careful when you trante for him.¡±

    My face immediately became pale. I couldn¡¯t understand the Wenzhou dialect either. It wasn¡¯t just me who didn¡¯t understand the dialect, I heard that people from other cities who moved here still couldn¡¯t understand it after three years.

    ¡°How heavy is his Wenzhou ent?¡±

    ¡°He graduated from the National Tsing Hua University, how heavy do you think it is?¡± Zhang Qing Hui said, ¡°Plus, he is in the same field. He majored in architecture, so he has already heard of Mr. Wang.¡±

    ¡°Oh! When does the cocktail party start?¡±

    ¡°6 o¡¯clock. The investors didn¡¯t notify us until this morning. Go get ready. The four of us will go: Director Jiang, Chief Wang, you and me. You can ride with Director Jiang and I will pick up Mr. Wang from the hospital. We¡¯ll meet up at the entrance.¡±

    For the asion, I tied my hair into a bun and secured it with a purple wooden hairpin. I wore a white Cheongsam decorated with blue flowers; the shape of my body was okay besides my chest, but it was an easy fix. All I had to do was wear a bra with padding. The Cheongsam fitted me tightly, which emphasized my small build. I wanted to dress myself like ssic beauty Lin Dai Yu, so that those who would force me to drink wouldn¡¯t bear to.

    I continued practicing with ¡°Wenzhou dialect encyclopedia¡± while I was in Director Jiang¡¯s car; ¡°Liao Liao Zhi Zhi (ÁËÁËœþœþ)¡± was ¡°clean and tidy¡±; ¡°Yun Dan Feng Qing (light clouds and wind)¡± meant ¡°frivolous¡±; ¡°Wu Yan San Si (ë…µ­ïLÝp not this nor that)¡± was ¡°not upright¡±¡­etcetera, etcetera. When we arrived at the hotel entrance, I saw that CGP¡¯s ¡°Tou Li Zhu Er (head of pearl, Wenzhou dialect: Boss)¡± ssmate Li Chuan and Zhang Qing Hui were already waiting for us there.

    Li Chuan had a habit of wearing an all ck suit and holding a red cane at formal events. His ck shirt, tie with ck and white stripes, along with his slim face, high forehead, straight nose and strong chin made him extremely stylish. Actually, Li Chuan¡¯s eyes were the most attractive to me. Regardless of how cold or tough he looked, his gaze was always pure and focused. His deep eyes showed sincerity and affection as if devoted to a religion.

    Among the designers participating in the bid this time round, 31 year-old Li Chuan was the youngest and most well-known. To the public, he was known for being the handsome but expressionless, non-talkative and reserved bachelor. Therefore, when I met up with Li Chuan at the entrance, he was already in his ¡°public mode.¡± His eyebrows twitched when he saw me, but they quickly returned to its original state.

    ¡°You two didn¡¯t wait long, did you?¡± Jiang Hao Tian asked.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wang, are you feeling better now?¡± Jiang Hao Tian shook hands with Li Chuan.

    ¡°Much better.¡±

    At the reception, Li Chuan helped me take off my coat in front of everybody. He handed my and his overcoat to the attendant. It made me a little ufortable as I felt that people had mistaken me for Li Chuan¡¯s wife. As a result, every time Li Chuan shook hands with someone, I would proactively introduce myself, ¡°I am Annie, Mr. Wang¡¯s trantor.¡± After all, people who attended the party were mostly from the same industry, so everyone knew each other. Hence, many would question, ¡°Mr. Wang¡¯s Chinese is so fluent, does he still need a trantor?¡±

    Of course, some had also mistaken me for Zhu Bi Xuan and called me Miss Zhu while shaking my hand. Li Chuan would immediately rify, ¡°This is Miss Xie, my new trantor.¡±

    We greeted others until we reached the wine table. There was a square-faced man in his sixties who was surrounded by a group of designers fawning over him. Jiang Hao Tian suddenly appeared out of nowhere and whispered into Li Chuan¡¯s ear, ¡°That is C City¡¯s Mayor Xie He Yang.¡±

    Xie He Yang¡¯s nickname was ¡°shoebox¡± because his face was squared and hisplexion was dark. Obviously no one would dare to call him that in front of him. Li Chuan grabbed a ss of water and drank it slowly. Once some of the people around Xie He Yang left and gave an opening, Li Chuan finally took me over and introduced ourselves.

    ¡°Hello, Mayor Xie. I am CGP¡¯s designer, Wang Li Chuan.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Mr. Wang!¡± Xie He Yang greeted warmly and shook his hand, ¡°I¡¯ve long heard about you and now I¡¯ve finally met you.¡± He spoke in Mandarin, but his speech did indeed contain a thick ent. Li Chuan smiled hesitantly and I immediately tranted Mayor Xie¡¯s words into English for him.

    ¡°You¡¯re too kind,¡± Li Chuan answered, ¡°I am a foreign architect who doesn¡¯t know much. I admire the intricacies of the Chinese culture very much.¡±

    I looked at Li Chuan silently feeling a little surprised. I couldn¡¯t believe that such refined words came from Li Chuan who knew only 950 Chinese characters.

    Xie He Yang smiled, ¡°Mr. Li Chuan is too modest. When I was young, the king of architecture, Doctor Wang Yu Hang, was invited to speak at National Tsing Hua University. I was part of his entourage despite being poorly qualified. I heard that he was also a Chinese from Switzend, do you happen to know him?¡±

    ¡°He is my grandpa.¡±

    ¡°I remember Mr. Wang¡¯s oldest son, Wang Chu Ning, also came. We were around the same age so we got along quite well. Chu Ning was very fluent in Chinese. He was very quaint and was also a well-known designer.¡±

    Li Chuan nodded slightly, ¡°He is my dad.¡±

    ¡°When did your family immigrated to overseas?¡±

    ¡°I believe it was around the end of Qing Dynasty.¡±

    ¡°Your family couldn¡¯t happen to be elderly Qing loyalists, could they?¡± A middle-aged man who stood beside Xie He Yang suddenly interrupted. [Elderly Qing Loyalists: elderly during the Republic of China who were loyal to the Qing dynasty and wanted to preserve the old system]

    Li Chuan spoke without any emotions, ¡°No. ording to our family history, we are from the Wang n, whom are pure blooded descendants of the central ins.¡±

    Xie He Yang said, ¡°Oh right, let me make introductions. This is Jia Yuan¡¯s chief architect designer, Mr. Tian Xiao Gang.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Tian, long time no see.¡±

    ¡°Hello, Li Chuan. I haven¡¯t seen you for six years, it¡¯s as if you¡¯ve disappeared from China.¡±

    ¡°How could that be? Mypany is still here. During key times, I alwayse to take care of things.¡± Li Chuan paused and then said, ¡°Mayor Xie, Mr. Tian is an experienced designer from the local area. He has everything to his advantage. Although CGP is from abroad, it is made up of Chinese people. During the judging, Mayor Xie won¡¯t show any favoritism, right?¡±

    Xie He Yangughed and waved his hand, ¡°Not at all, not at all. CGP is apany with great strengths. C City¡¯s redevelopment n in Wenzhou will be the standard for others. We very much weepanies from abroad to participate in the bidding. Rest assured, the bidding is absolutely fair.¡±

    The three of them chatted for ten minutes and another group of people started to gather around Xie He Yang again. My throat was dry from all the tranting, so I grabbed a drink from the wine table. Li Chuan followed me.

    ¡°Pure blooded descendants of the central in?¡± I teased, ¡°After the , how could you still be pure blooded descendants?¡±

    ¡°I was only bluffing. Of course I can¡¯t be considered pure blooded,¡± Li Chuan raised his eyebrows, ¡°For example, my grandma is French.¡± I stared at Li Chuan while feeling relieved. No wonder Li Chuan looked Chinese, yet his facial features were very distinct at the same time.

    He then added, ¡°That Tian Xiao Gang does definitely not have good intentions. I¡¯m afraid that he and Xie He Yang have made an agreement under the table. I¡¯ve heard others say that the government here is quite corrupted.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection is fighting corruption strongly right now. A lot of people are watching over this big development n. If they find any corruption, they will all go down together and execute thempletely.¡±

    He looked at me doubtfully, ¡°What is ¡®Ji Wei¡¯ (Discipline Inspection)? What is ¡®Da Ji Li Du¡¯ (fight strongly), what is ¡®Man Men Cao Zhan¡¯ (execute the whole family) and¡­What is ¡®Tian Zai Ren Huo¡¯ (natural and man-made disasters)?¡±

    ¡°Tian Zai Ren Huo?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t that Mayor Xie say that among the entourage, there was ¡®Tian Zai Ren Huo¡¯? I didn¡¯t understand that.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I trante it for you?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t understand your trantion either.¡±

    I was going mad. It almost drove me through the roof, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you understand my trantion? Was my trantion wrong? Are my trantions bad?¡±

    ¡°No, no¡­it¡¯s because you¡¯re wearing such a beautiful Cheongsam, so I lost my concentration while listening to you.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t ¡®Tian Zai Ren Huo,¡¯ it was ¡®Tian Zai Qi Mo.¡¯ It¡¯s used as a disy of modesty. He was saying that even though he didn¡¯t have the qualification, he was still part of the entourage,¡± I exined in a harsh voice.

    ¡°Okay. Please write down these four words for me when we go back.¡±

    I sighed. No wonder Li Chuan needed a trantor. I thought it was unnecessary, but it looked like he really couldn¡¯t be without one.

    We grabbed a ss of red wine each and stood beside the wine table.

    The architecture industry was indeed a world of men. At a quick nce, not one female designer could be spotted in the entire hall. Just when I wanted toment about my thoughts, Li Chuan asked me another question.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, what was your thesis? Was it on D.H Lawrence?¡±

    ¡°Not entirely. You¡¯re interested to know?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve always been interested in the British literature.¡±

    ¡°I wrote my thesis on Cixous. Cixous and Joyce.¡±

    ¡°I know James Joyce, but who is ¡®Xi Su¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Helene Cixous.¡±

    It was a French name. It must have been my pronunciation because he had clearly heard of Cixous, ¡°Cixous is French. Aren¡¯t you from the English program?¡±

    ¡°Cixous studied English literature just like me. She was also an expert in James Joyce¡¯s works.¡±

    He nodded and said, ¡°So you wrote your thesis on French feminism?¡±

    ¡°Mm. Is that surprising? Isn¡¯t that cool?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised. Look, you¡¯re a woman, and I¡¯m disabled. We are both people on the margin. We arerades fighting the same battle.¡±

    I giggled as I found what he said was amusing. Li Chuan had high interest in literature. He said he liked reading novels from high-modern. I couldn¡¯t help but asked, ¡°Have you read Cixous¡¯s works before?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve only read Le rire de le meduse, which is The Laugh of the Medusa.¡±

    ¡°My thesis was precisely based on that article.¡±

    He looked at me in disbelief, ¡°No way. Six years have passed already, howe your views haven¡¯t been liberated one bit?¡± He shook his head, ¡°I think you haven¡¯t truly understood the essence of feminism. You¡¯ve done your thesis for nothing.¡±

    ¡°How am I not liberated? I¡¯m liberated!¡± I raised my voice as I got provoked.

    He stopped talking and sighed with his head down.

    ¡°Tell me then, what do I need to do to be liberated?¡±

    ¡°If I say it, are you going to pour the wine in my face?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Six years ago, I already said goodbye to you, so why did you still have to send me emails?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t write a lot of them,¡± I murmured without confidence.

    ¡°Three hundred and forty two emails. That¡¯s not considered a lot? The shortest one had thirty characters, and the longest one had twelve thousand characters. If youbine them all, it equals to a long romantic novel series. I can¡¯t believe that you were studying feminism while writing these emails. If I were Cixous I would be embarrassed to hear what you did.¡± He said each and every word seriously while looking into my eyes.

    I took a deep breath and felt that something was odd. Li Chuan had always been gentle towards me and paid attention to what he said and where he said it. I didn¡¯t understand why he chose to humiliate me today ¡ª on New Year¡¯s Eve.

    ¡°Li Chuan, tell me,¡± I hid my emotions, ¡°did you enjoy reading my emails?¡±

    ¡°They were alright¡­I used a dictionary.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that good then?¡± I took a sip of wine, ¡°My love for you has surpassed any ideology, including feminism. In actual fact, there¡¯s a name for people like me in China.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°A love saint.¡±

    I rendered him speechless. As a result, he smiled and changed the subject, ¡°Let¡¯s end our discussion for now. I think that that olddy (ÀÏÌ«Ì« respectful way of saying olddy) needs my help.¡± He turned and walked away as he spoke. He helped the olddy who was trying to grab a ss of coke, ¡°Hi Madam (ÀÏÌ«Ì«), the ss is very heavy. Please put it down and I¡¯ll pour the pop for you.¡±

    The olddy was about eighty years old. She had thin hair and was wearing a handmade traditional Chinese. She looked very tidy and wealthy. Li Chuan poured her a ss of coke and asked if she needed anything else. The olddy said, ¡°Young man, could you please also help me get that piece of cake?¡±

    On the nearby tall table, there was a twoyer cake. No one ate it because most people thought it was for dessert. Li Chuan reached out his arm, held the knife in his hand, and cut the cake without hesitation. He ced the piece on a te and handed it to the olddy. He grinned and asked her, ¡°Do you want any fruits? There are watermelon and grapes.¡±

    ¡°Give me a few slices of watermelon and a few grapes.¡± The olddy looked at him affectionately.

    Li Chuan held a full te of food and found a spot to sit for her.

    ¡°Young man, why is your leg not well? How did you get injured?¡± The olddy smiled while asking. Li Chuan was perfect in many people¡¯s eyes, except for his leg. Therefore, I felt that the olddy was clearly taking advantage of her age to ask Li Chuan the details. Her gaze was not pure.

    ¡°It was¡­from a car ident.¡± Li Chuan looked a little embarrassed. He then shook hands firmly with the olddy, ¡°My name is Wang Li Chuan. I¡¯m a designer from CGP.¡±

    The olddyughed happily. Her denture looked neat and white. I was scared that they would fall out while she wasughing. As I was just thinking about it, I heard a ¡°clump¡± sound and her denture really fell out!

    #$%^&¡­.!

    Li Chuan and I reached out our hands at the same time; Li Chuan¡¯s arms were longer so he quickly picked up her denture from the ground and said softly, ¡°Madam, please wait here, I¡¯ll be right back.¡± He grabbed a paper cup and headed to the washroom.

    The olddy didn¡¯t mind much. With her lips pressed in, she said to me, ¡°Youngdy, is that Mr. Wang your boyfriend?¡±

    ¡°No, grandma, I am his trantor.¡±

    Air was leaking out of her mouth as she spoke without her denture.

    ¡°What, is he a foreigner?

    ¡°He is Chinese-Swiss¡±

    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s very cute!¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Could you not tell that he likes you very much? He can¡¯t even stand straight without a cane, yet he carried food for me even when you were right beside him.¡±

    I sensed that the olddy was taking the opportunity to criticize me, so I quickly exined, ¡°Li Chuan is a very confident and capable person. If he needed help, he would have asked me.¡±

    ¡°Old grandma here has met many people and know the good from the bad. Trust me, he is definitely a good man.¡±

    I was ted and smiled brightly.

    Li Chuan walked over and gave the olddy back her clean denture in the paper cup. He handed her a napkin while he was at it. The olddy used the napkin to cover her face and put the denture back into her mouth. She smiled at us with her teeth showing; they were gleaming white.

    She reached out and shook Li Chuan¡¯s hand, ¡°My surname is Hua. My name is Hua Xiao. I¡¯m a painter.¡± Every word started with a ¡°H¡± pronunciation, so I looked at her nervously, worried that her denture would fall out again. As a result, I didn¡¯t hear what she said and thought that her name was Hua Jiao (as in Sichuan Pepper), which made me want tough but didn¡¯t dare to.

    Li Chuan was intrigued and asked further, ¡°Madam, do you paint traditional Chinese paintings or oil paintings?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m so old-fashioned, obviously I paint traditional Chinese paintings.¡±

    ¡°There is a painter among the judges. He is Mr. Long Xi, who also paints traditional Chinese paintings, do you also know him?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he is my student.¡±

    My heart skipped a beat. Mr. Long Xi, the famous painter, was indeed part of the judging panel. He was a disciple who graduated from China Academy of Art. He was very popr in the painting industry. With that said, this olddy must be very well-known.

    Li Chuan suddenly coughed. He quickly said, ¡°Excuse me.¡±

    While he was chatting with the olddy, he took a bite of food. He must have choked on it slightly. He coughed again but couldn¡¯t turn away in time.

    ¡°(English) I am so sorry. It happened before I could stop it.¡±

    His gentlemanly manners surfaced again. It took me a minute to realize that he was apologizing again for coughing.

    I giggled in my heart. Li Chuan and the olddy went along so well; one was too careless, who didn¡¯t mind when her denture fell out and even continued talking; one was too careful, who apologized all day for coughing.

    ¡°Madam, please seat yourself. I will apany Mr. Wang to the resting room.¡± I pulled Li Chuan and dashed away.

    We went into an empty room outside the hall. Li Chuan covered his mouth with a handkerchief as he continued coughing. I looked at him and sighed, ¡°There was mustard in that te of food and you can¡¯t eat it. How could you forget?¡±

    ¡°How would I know there was mustard?¡±

    ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± I was a little worried, ¡°Why don¡¯t we head back?¡±

    ¡°The party hasn¡¯t even started.¡±

    ¡°Honestly, the tender requires talent and design. It won¡¯t matter how well you present yourself at the party.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s only true if we¡¯re abroad. I can¡¯t be sure about that here. Furthermore, it was Jiang Hao Tian who asked me for help. If I leave now, regardless of what the reason is, it¡¯ll be letting him down.¡±

    Li Chuan came to lend a hand at this critical time after one phone call from Jiang Hao Tian. However, Tian Xiao Gang and Xie He Yang must be close friends since they kept standing together, which was discouraging for us. During thest ten days, Li Chuan observed the area, measured the ground and studied the culture. He gave his full efforts and was determined to win the bid. Therefore, he felt tremendous pressure.

    ¡°I think when you return to Switzend, you should write an essay on ¡®the challenges in China of a designer from abroad¡¯.¡±

    He lifted his head and suddenlyughed as he looked at me. I stared at him and felt a little dizzy. This was the smile that I had been longing for for six years. It was showcased right in front of me right now, I was so happy that I could go to heaven.

    He stood up and the gauze that was still wrapped around his wrist caught my eyes. Was the wound that deep? It had been three days and it was still not heal?

    ¡°Li Chuan, your hand¡­¡±

    He interrupted me, ¡°Xiao Qiu, tomorrow is New Year¡¯s Day. Can you show a new change for the new year?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Can you carry out the views of feminism to the fullest?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± I refused immediately even though I knew my happiness was slipping away.

    ¡°(English) Just let it go, please.¡± He looked into my face, ¡°I beg you.¡±

    ¡°(English) No.¡±

    I felt that his expression turned cold. It was exactly like the day we broke up six years ago.

    At this moment, I suddenly understood why he came back to China.

    Even if CGP won the bid and gave Li Chuan all the money they gained from the revenue, it would not be an amount that he would care about. He wouldn¡¯t give up his current work, give up recuperating his health at the hospital, ande here from afar just for money.

    He was here only because I had sent him an email twenty days ago while I was drunk. The email had four words followed by a string of exmation marks:

    ¡°Li Chuan,e back!!!¡±

    That was the first email I sent him after we stopped contact for three years. I regretted it after sending the email. But the email was actually returned as undeliverable three secondster. The system letter said that the recipient rejected the email and that it would try to deliver it again.

    Therefore, he came back because I actually hadn¡¯t forgotten about him and because it was his responsibility to sever all ties with me on this New Year¡¯s Eve night.

    I lost my smile and my face immediately became pale.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already bought a ticket back to Zurich. I will leave right after the presentation.¡±

    Iughed coldly and ced out my hand, ¡°Where¡¯s the ticket? Let me see it.¡±

    He really did reach into his wallet and showed me the ticket. I ripped it apart within seconds, ¡°There¡¯s no longer a ticket.¡±

    I admit. I was going crazy. I felt helpless so I acted out of fiery. I couldn¡¯t let Li Chuan leave me this time!

    ¡°It¡¯s an online ticket,¡± he said.

    ¡°So is this farewell again?¡± I closed my eyes and said with my voice shaking.

    ¡°(English) You need a closure.¡±

    ¡°Tell me the reason you leftst time.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± He wouldn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°Li Chuan, do you have a very severe illness?¡± I looked at him with watery eyes, ¡°You know that no matter what illness you have, I don¡¯t care. I don¡¯t care that you have only one leg, and I won¡¯t care about what illness you have.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any illness. You don¡¯t need to worry about me.¡±

    ¡°I want you to look into my eyes then,¡± I stared at his face, ¡°look into my eyes and tell me that you, Wang Li Chuan, don¡¯t love me.¡±

    He lowered his head in silence. A momentter, he lifted his head and looked into my eyes. He spoke slowly word by word, ¡°Yes, Xiao Qiu. I don¡¯t love you any more. I hope that everything between us cane to an end before the New Year. I hope that you can forget about mepletely, not have anymore hopes for me, and never send me emails again. Can you¡­do that?¡±

    My heart shrunk bit by bit. In an instant, it became an hardened core.

    I said, ¡°I can do it. But I have one condition.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°I can end everything, but you have to stay in Beijing, stay at CGP.¡±

    He examined my expression and said, ¡°For how long?¡±

    ¡°Until I say that you can leave.¡±

    ¡°During this time, can you promise that we will be no more than friends?¡±

    ¡°I promise.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I ept your request,¡± he said, ¡°(English) But you must move on.¡±

    I didn¡¯t answer. I stood up and said, ¡°Excuse me, I need to go to the washroom.¡±

    I dashed into a stall, locked the door, and sat on top of the toilet. My tears shed non-stop.

    Why did I have to study feminism? I asked myself. Other than crying, there was nothing else that I could do for Li Chuan. I cried while sitting on the toilet. It was as if my mind hadpletely snapped,pletely dejected. I thought I could stop after an hour. Five hours had passed when I could finally stop and stand up from the toilet while shaking. I had used up all the toilet paper beside me. When I saw myself in the mirror in front of the washbasins, tears were all over my face, my hair was messy and my eyes were swollen like walnuts. My tears had not stopped. They continued shedding. I grabbed a big roll of toilet paper and cried for another twenty minutes beside the door. When I could finally stop, I covered my face with a scarf and lowered my head as I walked out the entrance doors.

    Someone walked over and helped me put on an overcoat. We walked quietly to the car. He opened the door for me and I quickly sat in.

    My heart gradually calmed down in the cold dark night.

    He sighed softly and leaned over to help me put on my seatbelt. At that moment, I said, ¡°Li Chuan, I want to caress the back of your head.¡±

    Regardless of whether he agreed or not, I used my hands and felt his head carefully like an archaeologist. He closed the door and sat beside me.

    ¡°Why did you want to touch the back of my head?¡±

    ¡°I wanted to know what your head was made of.¡±

 Chapter 30

    <h4>Chapter 30</h4>

    My eyes were swollen like huge walnuts for an entire week. Whether others believed it or not, my official exnation was that my eyes had been stung by a poisonous insect. I never went to the dining room to eat in order not to be aughing stock. If I had to go out, I would put on sunsses and wrap myself with a scarf, bundling myself up tightly. If I had to speak, I would use my greatest efforts to appear cheerful, ¡°Hi Xiao Ding. I just went and had a bowl of fish soup in the restaurant next door. Do you want to go together next time?¡±¡­Of course he would not go. He had to feed himself and his elders at home. Let go of the chance to have three free meals at the high-end hotel in order to pay for himself at a small time restaurant? No way. When I ran into Su Qun in the corridors, I called to him and purposely said affectionately, ¡°Mr. Su, do you want to go for a stroll in the shopping mall? Buy some local specialties home to your wife? I¡¯m familiar with the route, I¡¯ll go with you!¡± He nced at his own wedding band, waved his hands, ¡°Thank you for your concern, I¡¯m too busy to go.¡±

    If I ran into Li Chuan, I would turn around and walk away. The less I saw him, the less I was angry. I could live for a few more years.

    During this week, CGP employees finally turned in all the documents before the deadline. Ren¨¦¡¯s model was alsopleted. Originally, he had still hoped that I would take him to Yandang Mountains. But when he saw Li Chuan¡¯s gloomy face and myrge walnuts, he was too scared to bring it up. It was Ji Chuan who took him to y two dayster. When he came back, he brought me a bag of puffed rice candy. That night, Ren¨¦ knocked on my door and give me a ss model. I took a look, it was Li Chuan¡¯s ¡°pebble.¡± He made it out of ss and wires. There was a small light bulb embedded inside. The light shone through hazily, making it extremely lifelike and extremely beautiful.

    ¡°Annie, this is for you. Do you like it?¡±

    ¡°I quite like it, thank you.¡±

    ¡°Annie, listen to me. Li Chuan isn¡¯t purposely trying to offend you.¡±

    ¡­So, it was so that he could seek an audience for Li Chuan.

    ¡°Ren¨¦, you seem like you are familiar with the situation, right? Then tell me, why did he offend me?¡±

    ¡°Go ask him yourself. Ask quickly, he¡¯ll be leaving after tomorrow¡¯s presentation.¡±

    ¡°He won¡¯t be leaving. He will be staying in Beijing.¡±

    Ren¨¦ looked at my face, not believing me, ¡°How can that be? The ne ticket has already been purchased.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, go ask him.¡±

    Ren¨¦¡¯s expression suddenly became very solemn, ¡°Did you have him stay behind?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Can you change your decision? Li Chuan must return to Switzend.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    He wanted to say something, but stopped himself, ¡°If you want Alex to be well, then you¡¯ll let him go back to Switzend. You can go to Switzend to visit him, I¡¯ll pay for the ticket. You can live at my home for however long you want.¡±

    I tried to read into his words. After awhile, I nodded, ¡°Fine, I can persuade Li Chuan to return to Switzend. But, you have to tell me what really happened to him.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you.¡± He hung his head in dismay, ¡°If you are thinking of Alex¡¯s well being, then you¡¯ll let him go back¡­That¡¯s all I can say.¡±

    ¡°Ren¨¦,¡± I said, ¡°before you came to Wenzhou, did you already know who I was?¡±

    ¡°I knew Leo. Leo is Alex¡¯s older brother¡­Yes, I knew who you were. I¡¯ve even seen your picture. It wasrge, it hung in Alex¡¯s bedroom. You are Alex¡¯s first girlfriend. Before Alex knew you, he was a virgin. I made fun of him everyday. Annie, I¡¯ll invite you to Zurich, okay? My ce is really close to Alex¡¯s. You can ski in the winter. Have you ever seen Alex ski? With his one leg, he¡¯s even better than those with two.¡±

    I can¡¯t do it. I was being moved. Wahh¡­

    ¡°But, Li Chuan said he didn¡¯t want me anymore.¡± My tears circled around in the rim of my eyes again, ¡°I won¡¯t go to Switzend. But, I can help you persuade him to go back. In any case¡­seeing him here everyday, ignoring me, causes me heartache.¡±

    ¡°No! Don¡¯t be heartbroken! It¡¯s okay, everything will get better. Believe in God!¡± Ren¨¦ opened up his arms and embraced me,forting me.

    When I raised my head, I saw that Li Chuan had just came out of his room.

    I pulled my arms out from Ren¨¦¡¯s embrace and said in a small voice, ¡°Ren¨¦, Li Chuan is looking at us.¡±

    Ren¨¦ stuck out his tongue, grimaced at me, and said, ¡°I¡¯m done for. Alex won¡¯t let me get away with this.¡±

    I took the model and closed my door. Sure enough, I heard Li Chuan and Ren¨¦ start arguing in the corridor in French. So depressing. Why didn¡¯t I just suck it up that year and choose French as my second foreignnguage? Then again, if I really studied French, then Li Chuan would switch to using German to argue. I would still not understand.

    I withdrew into my room to prepare tomorrow¡¯s tranting materials. After a week of examination by the specialists, there had been a consensus reached on the n to rebuild C city district. The fourpanies, who passed the preliminaries and werepeting for the win, all depended on the ten o¡¯clock morning final ruling conference tomorrow. At the conference, the chief architect of each designpany will have thirty minutes to make their final statement and answer any questions. After that, they¡¯ll leave and the specialists group will hold their final discussion meeting to determine the final candidate.

    The statement for those thirty minutes were written in English by Li Chuan. I then tranted it into Chinese. I altered some of the words so that the entire thing would be read in a more colloquial speech, more poetic and kept more with the esthetic customs of the Chinese. Li Chuan had had training on recitations before and had even been an announcer in his school¡¯s radio station. He was best at reciting Shakespeare. No matter what he held in his hands, whether it was product manuals, news stories or business reports, he could read them with a great voice and expression, causing others to tear up. When we lived together before, he would often entertain me with this. He would use medieval English to read Niu Huang Ji Du Wan¡¯s (Chinese medicine) manual, making meugh till I rolled on the ground. All of ourmunication was through email. It was all discussions on business. At the end of Li Chuan¡¯s there would sometimes be a parting ¡°take care¡± added, as if to give it a human touch. None of my emails had a parting added, nor a signature. Things were as it stood, no words were needed.

    The final presentation finally came.

    Li Chuan¡¯s statement was thest one. Before that, many people were moved by Xiao Gang¡¯s dazzling ¡°monarch style¡± design and were very impressed. As the appointed trantor, I was arranged to sit next to Li Chuan just in case there were questions he didn¡¯t understand when the judging panel questioned him. I heard Li Chuan use a calm and clear voice to say, ¡°¡­CGP is ustomed to cing thesting preservation of modern architecture in high respect. Our design is faithful to the rational structure and diversity, andbines distinctive local characteristics. We do not use decorative parts to show the short lived post-modern style. We also aren¡¯t trying to impress the audience by creating passion. In the design, we¡¯ve integrated the Taoist belief of going back to the basics and seeking to reproduce the spirit of Chinese ssical poetry of thendscape in the mood¡­¡±

    Li Chuan memorized everything I had written down, word for word. I¡¯m sure everyone here was moved by his cadence, and voice and expression. I sat on the stage, taking note of Xiao Gan¡¯s expression the entire time. Even an amateur like me could hear the problem in Tian Xiao Gang¡¯s design. He had spend a lot of time on designing the exterior of the theater, making the theater stunning underneath the sunlight. However, Li Chuan ced his main attention on the lighting since the theater¡¯s activities were at night. Li Chuan exined while turning off the indoor lighting. Ren¨¦¡¯s model glistened and illuminated from the tens of small spotlights. It was like a fairnd,pletely embodying the nighttime effect Li Chuan desired.

    Afterwards, it was questioning time. The first few questions were very simple. I practically didn¡¯t have to tranted. Li Chuan used concise Chinese to exin one by one. Right after, a judge asked, ¡°Mr. Wang, may I ask, your design of the theater is just that of a goose egg-shaped shaped building. How does it embody Taoist believe and the spirit of thendscape?¡±

    This judge is known as the ¡°killer¡± in the architectural world. He had great prestige in this industry and was known to be harsh and to the point. He had just asked a difficult question to the first presenter ¡ª that is, Jia Yuan Corporation¡¯s Tian Xiao Gan ¡ª silencing him for two minutes. Only after two minutes did he reply and the response was notpletely up to people¡¯s expectations.

    I heard Li Chuan say, ¡°Judge, sir, I was inspired to design this goose egg-shape when I was carefully reading the poetry of Xie Ling Yun, thendscape poet of Eastern Jin dynasty.¡±

    His expression waspletely calm, but I could hear some anxiety within his tone. It was obvious he was worried that this person would be too entangled with this question. After all, Li Chuan grew up overseas. After all, everyone knew that he wasn¡¯t well versed in ssical Chinese poems, especially the obscure Xie poetry that used allusions and rhetoric.

    ¡°Then, Mr. Wang, may I ask, which of Xie Ling Yun¡¯s poems gave you the inspiration?¡± That ¡°killer¡± looked at him and asked while half smiling.

    I only head Li Chuan reply, ¡°Everyone, please don¡¯tugh at him. I am a gentile. Even though I strived to study Chinese, my Chinese level isn¡¯t at the sufficient depth topletely understand the exquisite ssical Chinese poetry. Therefore, in order toplete this time¡¯s design, I asked my trantor Xie Xiao Qiu to trante the poem into English. Please believe me when I say that even when tranted into English, Xie Ling Yun¡¯s poem is still elegant upon reading. I remember that I got the inspiration from these two verses:

    (English) Cliffs are steep, mountain ridges

    crowded together,

    Inds wind around, sandbars are

    joined one after another.

    White clouds embrace the secluded rocks,

    Green bamboos charm the clear ripples.

    I felt that the first description of the two verses was very suitable to the geographical situation of C city district in Wenzhou. It directly inspired my design. After saying this, he turned towards me and said, ¡°Miss Xie has a very deep understanding of ssical Chinese poems. I¡¯ll ask her to tell everyone the original text in Chinese.¡±

    Damn it! Just like that, he threw the scalding hot sweet potato into my hands!

    I stood up with my two swollen walnut eyes and smiled towards everyone, ¡°Mr. Wang is reciting from this poem by Xie Ling Yun, ¡®Passing My Ancestral Estate.¡¯ The original verse is ¡®High mountains spread for miles and miles; The stream is dotted with isles on isles. White clouds embrace the boulders steep; Green ripples lull bamboos to sleep.¡¯¡± [Credit: Golden Treasury of Chinese Poetry from Han to Sui]

    Li Chuan picked up from where I left off and continued, ¡°Thank you, Miss Xie. My design is precisely this secluded rock. This glossy grey surface can reflect the clouds in the sky, embodying the verse ¡®White clouds embrace the secluded rocks.¡¯ It also uses the name ¡®Clear Ripples¡¯ Vi so that it can pay homage tondscape poet Xie Ling Yun who wrote this exceptionally famous saying in Wenzhou, ¡®By poolside vernal grasses grow; On willows sing birds manifold¡¯. [Credit: Golden Treasury of Chinese Poetry from Han to Sui]

    He had just finished speaking when everyone unexpectedly started pping! I saw Tian Xiao Gang¡¯s face turn ck.

    After each person had made their statements, everyone returned to the lobby to wait for the final oue.

    After fifteen minutes, the chairman of the panel of judges, Mayor Xie He Yang, came out of the door and directly went over to grasp Li Chuan¡¯s hand, ¡°Mr. Wang, the panel has unanimously decided upon CGP¡¯s design. Congrattions.¡±

    It was within everyone¡¯s expectations.

    Li Chuan shook his hands, smiling. I followed Li Chuan closely the entire time, after that that Mayor Xie would speak Mandarin that Li Chuan didn¡¯t understand.

    After exchanging a few more greetings, Xie He Yang walked with Li Chuan to the doors and then suddenly asked, at the door, ¡°Mr. Wang, have you ever been to Nan Xi?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never been.¡±

    ¡°I was born in Nan Xi¡¯s He Yang ancient town. I am a descendant of Xie Ling Yun, so I felt extremely close with your n. Of course, my own opinion couldn¡¯t sway the vote of the other judges, but your statement allowed to once again understand the charm of our evesting Chinese culture.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mayor. I am also a Chinese descendant, I am extremely proud of the culture of my ancestors.¡±

    I could not have imagined what was said afterwards.

    Xie He Yang said, ¡°That day at the New Year¡¯s Day banquet, thank you for taking care of my mother. She still talks about you now.¡±

    ¡°Your¡­mother?¡±

    ¡°My mother¡¯s surname is Hua. She is a retired professor of Zhejiang Academy of Art.¡±

    That olddy with dentures!

    Li Chuan received the congrattions of everyone in the car. He humbly said that it was the result of the coboration of everyone.

    After returning to the hotel, he especially came to thank me, saying that my trantions helped him a lot. That he wanted to give me a bonus.

    I thought about it, and then suddenly asked, ¡°I tranted so many Xie poems, howe you had such a deep impression of this one?¡±

    He smiled for a while and said, ¡°Because you rarely make spelling mistakes. But in this one, you made a mistake.¡±

    I had used Word to auto check my spelling. I sent it to him after making sure there were no red lines.

    Thus, I was not convinced. I crossed my arms and with wide open eyes, said, ¡°Really? That¡¯s not possible. Which word was misspelled?¡±

    ¡°¡®Ripples.¡¯ You wrote it as ¡®Nipples.¡¯ It caused me to ponder over it for half a day. What did bamboo and nipple have to do with each other.¡±

    Embarrassed. I was too embarrassed, ¡°No way! Definitely no way!¡± How could I make such a vulgar mistake?!

    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t it happen?¡± He said, ¡°You¡¯ve never had innocent intentions.¡±

 Chapter 31

    <h4>Chapter 31</h4>

    I was from the South, so I had trouble getting used to the dry and cold weather of the North. I grew to like Beijing because of Li Chuan. I was given the opportunity to go to Shanghai after I graduated ¡ª Shanghai was actually my real ancestral home ¡ª but I didn¡¯t.

    Sometimes, I felt that the entire Beijing was permeated with Li Chuan¡¯s scent. We had been apart for so many years, thus, whenever I came across a Starbucks or could smell the familiar scent of coffee, my heart would pound out of nervousness, thinking that I would bump into Li Chuan again.

    It was time to leave Wenzhou. I was reluctant to leave because of meeting Li Chuan again.

    Ren¨¦ said that when he took a stroll in a small town in Switzend, the elderly woulde and talk to him. He couldn¡¯t understand, so he found a trantor. It turned out that they only wanted to shake hands and wish him a good day. When a pedestrian didn¡¯t know how to read the signs at an intersection, cars would immediately stop ten feet away. If the same situation happened in America, drivers would have shouted profanity right away, whereas people in Switzend would smile kindly and wave at you to let you cross. ¡°(English) Swiss people are freaky nice!¡±

    Besides Li Chuan, the only Swiss that I could recognize was the tennis yer, Roger Federer. I felt that Li Chuan¡¯s smile was very much like Federer¡¯s: It was very gentle, kind, humble, not super exaggerated, a bit reserved, and a bit timid.

    On the night of victory, everyone went to the most extravagant restaurant to celebrate. We drank a lot. Ren¨¦ drank half a bottle of Wuliangye, five to six others got drunk and couldn¡¯t get up including Director Zhang. Only Li Chuan, who was under the strict supervision of Ji Chuan, did not drink a single drop.

    Other than the waitresses, I was the only woman among all the guys. As a result, everyone treated me like their secretary. But I heard that Zhu Bi Xuan had to do the same. I had to make all the arrangements beforehand, including ordering the dishes and negotiating the prices for drinks. I carried thepany cheque in my bag. Therefore, although I loved to drink, it wasn¡¯t appropriate for me to get wildly drunk. I restrained myself very well and only drank a small ss of dry red wine.

    After dinner, those who were unconscious from drinking were sent back to the hotel via a cab. Those who were still sober stayed in a KTV room and sang their lungs out. I didn¡¯t want to be with a bunch of half-drunk guys and be their free hostess. Therefore, I told Manager Jiang that I was getting tired and was worried about getting air sickness, so I wanted to rest early. I then escaped.

    I bumped into Li Chuan when I came out of the washroom.

    ¡°Are you going back to the hotel?¡± he asked.

    ¡°¡­No.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to call you a cab?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m going to take a walk back.¡± I was wearing a short wool skirt and a shawl. Winter in Wenzhou was actually not that cold.

    My eyes were still swollen like walnuts and looked like I would cry any minute.

    He didn¡¯t persist.

    The front entrance of the hotel was a big revolving door that had a gold painted stainless steel frame. It was heavy to push. I thought for a moment and believed that it would be inconvenient and hard for Li Chuan to go through those doors. Hence, I said as we approached, ¡°Wait, is there another door? I don¡¯t like going through these doors.¡±

    ¡°(English) ustrophobia?¡± he turned around and asked me.

    ¡°No¡­¡±

    He gazed back and forth and realized my intention. He walked straight through without stopping. I followed and pulled the doors slightly so that they wouldn¡¯t turn as fast. His pace was indeed a little slow inside the doors, but he got out quickly, and I also followed him closely.

    When we got to the open staircase, he said: ¡°Next time, when wee across the same situation, let me walk in the front, okay? I am a man and the doors are very heavy, so it¡¯s only right for me to push them.¡±

    How depressing.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t itdies first?¡± I asked him back.

    ¡°If the doors are already turning, you can go first and I will follow.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious. What kind century is this rule from?¡± I wanted tough seeing how serious he was about it.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a rule. It¡¯s just trying to make it more convenient for you, no more than that.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of convenience, I think those who are able should be helping those who are not,¡± I rolled my eyes and talked back.

    ¡°Thank you for reminding me that I¡¯m disabled,¡± he shut my mouth.

    He finished talking and waved his arm for a cab. I watched him get in and then I got in myself.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you wanted to walk back?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to visit the Guan Di Temple that¡¯s just in the front of us. Since it¡¯s on the way,e with me.¡±

    He sat in the cab confused, so he didn¡¯t say anything. I told the driver, ¡°Mr. Driver, please stop and wait for us at the front of Guan Di Temple.¡±

    We arrived at the Guan Di Temple in less than ten minutes. Li Chuan and I got out of the car. It was a small temple but had good incense for burning. There was a row of big rednterns in front of the door. In the middle, a wooden statue with a broadsword in its hand stood there. He had a serious expression, a long beard, and looked mighty and powerful. There were four big characters on top of his head: ¡°Righteous Bright Heaven Earth.¡±

    The knee high door sill made it difficult for Li Chuan. He had to lift up his prosthetic leg with his hands in order to get in. We stood before Guan Gong. I lit three incenses and paid my respect. I then asked, ¡°Li Chuan, have you heard of ¡®Romance of the Three Kingdoms?¡¯¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have.¡±

    ¡°Do you know about how Liu, Guan, and Zhang sworn together?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, I want to be sworn brothers with you.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± he couldn¡¯t believe his ears, ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I, Xie Xiao Qiu, want you, Wang Li Chuan, to be my sworn brother.¡±

    He was puzzled, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°You know that in our current state, being brothers is better than being colleagues.¡±

    He shook his head, ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°The reason is very simple. If we are colleagues, we can turn into lovers at any time. You definitely don¡¯t want our rtionship to go that route, right?¡±

    He nodded, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why being colleagues is not the best way to resolve the issue,¡± I stared into his eyes, not letting him look elsewhere, ¡°But, it won¡¯t be the same if we are brothers. Brothers cannot be lovers. If we do, we would bemitting incest. Neither you nor I would want that, right?¡±

    He looked at me coldly and did not answer or say a word, trying to figure out what I was up to. I didn¡¯t mind and continued luring, ¡°Thinking back in time when Liu, Guan, and Zhang sworn allegiance, they used a ck cow and white horse as sacrifice for the ceremony and swore that even though they were not born on the same day, they would die for each other on the same day. Every time I watched that part, I was especially moved by it.¡±

    Li Chuan frowned at me as if I was from outer space.

    Anyway, I stuffed three incenses into his hand and swore in front of the wooden man:

    ¡°The heaven above and earth below as witnesses and Emperor Guan before us, I, Xie Xiao Qiu, and Wang Li Chuan are sworn brothers starting today and at this hour. From now and forever, we will share our fortunes and hardships. May the gods of heaven and earth attest to what is in our hearts. If we should ever do anything to betray our friendship, may the gods in heaven strike us dead.¡±

    That¡¯s right, everyone. I repeated the content of a novel. I had read too many Wuxia novels, so I could not pinpoint which one it came from exactly. I felt that the problem between Li Chuan and me could not be resolved with modern methods, so I could only use ancient ways. That was why I chose this ce: ancient temple, ancient statue, ancient incenses, and ancient censer. We time traveled to ancient times under the candlelight. From olden days to now, many people had often been acting in their love rtionships. I on the other hand, was acting for love. Think about how tiresome it was for me.

    I finished my emotional speech, but found out that Li Chuan had tilted his body and wasughing at me coldly.

    ¡°I¡¯m a man and you¡¯re a woman, so may I ask how we¡¯re supposed to be brothers?¡± he asked as he pinched the incenses and put them into the censer. He wiped his hand with a handkerchief and was about to leave.

    Li Chuan was gentle on the outside, but stubborn on the inside. Once he had decided on something, there was no turning back.

    ¡°Wait!¡± I tugged onto him, ¡°this was why I brought you here. As long as you be sworn brothers with me, I promise, from today onwards, I will only be a man and not a woman in front of you. You and I are buddies like man to man.¡±

    He squeezed his eyebrows until a big ¡°v¡± appeared between them, ¡°Man to man?¡±

    ¡°I know that there are many types of rtionships between two people. Love is only one of them. To us, it can be very important or be not important at all. If we eliminate thisyer of rtionship, we will be much more at ease. Like the saying goes, ¡®the wind and tides are calm as long as you can endure it, whereas your bones will shatter into pieces if you push forward,¡¯ so why not take a step back and see the vast world, what do you think?¡±

    I licked my lips and didn¡¯t know how I came up with those words. In all honesty, I did not want to be promoted so soon.

    But Li Chuan was dazed and confused from my long speech. I continued to persuade, ¡°If you and I be sworn brothers, I will have a ¡®closure.¡¯ I promise I will immediately start a new life and start finding a new boyfriend. And then I will fall in love, get married, buy a house, have a baby, be filial to my husband¡¯s parents, buy pension, and live happily in a perfect family.¡±

    He gazed off as he listened to me. After a while, he asked, ¡°You promise? Can you really promise?¡±

    ¡°Of course! You think I¡¯m lying? Who did you think Grandpa Guan (Emperor Guan) was? Grandpa Guan was known as the great demonic leader of all three kingdoms. If I lie in front of him, I¡¯d be afraid of being struck by lightning.¡± I gave a big pat on Li Chuan¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Li Chuan, you Swiss have always been generous and straightforward. You should be more frank and stop giving your culture a bad name, okay?¡±

    He behaved.

    For the sake of this old Chinese tradition, he behaved and followed me and swore in front of Grandpa Guan.

    ¡°Starting today, you are my big brother. You have to cover me, okay?¡±

    ¡°No matter whether we are brothers or not,¡± Li Chuan widened his eyes and said in a serious manner, ¡°I will always cover you. (English) You can always count on me.¡±

    Li Chuan wasn¡¯t Christian, but he had the same symptoms as all foreigners who love Chinese culture. He loved our culture so much that it was like an obsession. For example, he praised our buddhist architectures highly; whenever he came across a religious ceremony, he would devoutly pay homage, afraid that others would take him as a foreigner.

    He said those words from his heart, and it made my heart pound. Those were not words that you could easily hear from a lover, a friend, or a buddy. The following words came out from my mouth out of emotion. It was definitely not ¡°¡±:

    ¡°Li Chuan, you should go back to Switzend. Don¡¯t worry about me. Like the saying goes: ¡®all men are brothers,¡¯ you just need to remember to drop me an email every now and then.¡±

    He looked at me surprised, ¡°You¡¯re¡­letting me go back to Switzend?¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± I breathed in the cool air, and my nose started to burn as my heartstrings were about to break. I decided to be more cheerful and kindly send him off, ¡°You were the one who wanted a new change for the New Year, weren¡¯t you?¡±

    He stood there for a second without a word. He finally responded with ¡°Mm¡± after a while and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    I gave him a hand at the door sill. He didn¡¯t reject me. When we were about to get into the car, he suddenly said, ¡°Xiao Qiu, can you not turn manly so soon?¡­you should at least give me a grace period.¡±

    I looked at him with my heart hurting, ¡°Li Chuan, do you feel more at ease now?¡±

    He didn¡¯t respond.

    We had a good night¡¯s sleep.

    We packed our belongings the next day and got on the return flight. We arrived in Beijing two hourster. Friends and families were already waiting for us at the arrival terminal. Everyone hugged each other and returned to each of their homes.

    Ren¨¦ and Ji Chuan connected to another flight to return to Switzend directly. Li Chuan said that there were still a lot of designs that he needed to follow up on since the Wenzhou development had just started, therefore, he had to stay in Beijing. We walked together and had nned to ride a cab together, but the moment we got to the exit, someone called my name.

    ¡°Annie.¡±

    I looked around and saw that it was Xiao Guan.

    We hadn¡¯t seen each other for a long time, so I couldn¡¯t believe that the person standing in front of me was Xiao Guan. His skin was tanned, and he was wearing short sleeves despite it being winter, which revealed his arm muscles. My image of Xiao Guan had always been a man who was sessful and stylish, definitely not a muscle man. However, I could sense his joyfulness and excitement from the holidays. He was wearing tennis clothes, and was carrying a big tennis bag on his back which he then ced down beside.

    ¡°Chief Xiao?¡±

    ¡°I just came back from a tennis game, so I came to meet up with you. This must be the famous Mr. Wang Li Chuan,¡± he reached out and shook hands with Li Chuan; he was enthusiastic and experienced.

    ¡°You are¡­¡±

    ¡°Xiao Guan. I¡¯m from Jiu Tong Trantion. Annie¡¯s human rtions is still with Jiu Tong¡¯s human resources, so¡­.you and I are both considered to be her boss.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Mr. Xiao.¡±

    ¡°Director Jiang, Director Zhang, and I are very close. Besides tranting, we also have other coborations. I¡¯m also in the real estate business. This is my card.¡±

    Li Chuan put down his suitcase and cane in order to ept the card with both hands.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t bring any business cards. I¡¯ll give it to you next time,¡± said Li Chuan.

    ¡°I heard that CGP won the bid for the Wenzhou development project?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Mr. Xiao sure is quick to find out the news.¡±

    ¡°I used to work at the state press agency. Congrattions! How was Annie¡¯s performance?¡±

    ¡°She was great. Thank you for rmending her to CGP.¡±

    Xiao Guan waved his hand and smiled, ¡°With Jiu Tong¡¯s rtionship with CGP, of course we have to give you the best. Is anyone giving you a ride, Chief Wang? I can give you a ride home.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, but it¡¯s okay. I can take a cab.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t hesitate to take Annie away then.¡± Xiao Guan grabbed my suitcase from me forcefully.

    ¡°No problem. Annie needs to go and rx,¡± Li Chuan said dismissively, ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    ***

    On our way to the parking lot, Xiao Guan said, ¡°What happened to you, your eyes are so swollen?¡±

    ¡°They were stung by wasps.¡±

    ¡°Ha, you should havee up with a better lie. Where can you find wasps in the winter? Don¡¯t tell me they¡¯re swollen from crying. What was so serious that made you cry so hard?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business,¡± I wasn¡¯t in a good mood and disliked how he wouldn¡¯t let go of the subject.

    ¡°I emailed you, but you didn¡¯t respond. Aren¡¯t you holding up your boss too long?¡± He opened the car door and gestured for me to sit in, ¡°Did you notice? I got a new car.¡±

    It was an Audi sportscar and had the smell of real leather.

    ¡°Oh, really?¡± I didn¡¯t remember what his previous car was.

    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten two tickets already since I bought it.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Speeding.¡±

    He then talked about his Audi for a whole 15 minutes; he talked about all its functions, standards, andpared it to other simr cars. I waspletely bored by it.

    ¡°That Wang Li Chuan, do you and him know each other very well?¡±

    ¡°Not really. We¡¯re just colleagues.¡±

    ¡°Is he easy to deal with?¡±

    ¡°I guess. I¡¯m not so sure.¡±

    ¡°I have a project that I¡¯ve gotten most of the funding for. I¡¯d like to ask if he would be interested in investing in it. I¡¯d also like to ask if he could be the designer.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d have to ask him yourself.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not in a rush,¡± he said. He turned into a small street, ¡°there¡¯s a new Jiangsu restaurant that just opened. I heard the food is not bad, and I¡¯ve been wanting toe try. My hometown is Shuzhou (Major city in Jiangsu) after all. Are you interested?¡±

    ¡°How could I ask you to treat me?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so polite.¡±

    We parked the car and entered the restaurant. I followed him, not feeling very excited. At first nce, the restaurant wasn¡¯t big, but the decoration was very detailed. All the waitresses were wearing satin Cheongsam.

    Other than Li Chuan, Xiao Guan was actually the second guy who took me out for dinner. I couldn¡¯t help but think that men were just like women, there were all kinds of them. It suddenly reminded me of Li Chuan asking me to ¡°move on,¡± so I repeated his words in my head: move on, move on, move on¡­

    The menu came, and Xiao Guan asked what I wanted to order. I didn¡¯t have any impressions of Jiangsu dishes, so I let him order. He quickly ordered a few dishes and drinks. I originally didn¡¯t have any appetite, but I asked the waitress for some hot sauce to go with the sweet-tasting Jiangsu dishes.

    ¡°Sorry, I forgot to ask, where are you from?¡±

    ¡°Yunnan.¡±

    ¡°Yunan? No wonder you like spicy. I can¡¯t eat spicy at all. I¡¯ll cough right afterwards. Last time I went to a friend¡¯s ce, his wife was from Sichuan. Their home was filled with the smell of chili, so the moment I walked in, I started coughing. I went out to the staircase and coughed half a day before I was okay.¡±

    ¡°I should stay far away from you then. I can¡¯t live without spicy,¡± I looked at him smiling lightly.

    ¡°That¡¯s why hot sauce is so great. I¡¯ll remember to bring a bottle of hot sauce the next time we go out for dinner.¡±

    His ego was so big, so I didn¡¯t say anything more. To someone who ate spicy, ¡°hot sauce¡± was a humiliation. I not only loved eating chili, I especially liked the chili from autumn; they were strong tasting and had a spike to them. They didn¡¯t sting your mouth, but hurt your stomach.

    He started talking about world news that happened this year, the trading market in America, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, crude oil prices, North Korea nuclear tests, Thai army changes, and EU¡¯s policy towards China. He spent a lot of time talking about Saddam Hussein, and then he turned to talk about sports news: Italian football, NBA, Form 1, and talked a lot about Tennis. I listened very hard and nodded my head very hard. It was great; it saved me from reading the newspaper. Why couldn¡¯t I have met him while I was studying for my Master¡¯s degree? That way, I wouldn¡¯t have needed to review current events.

    ¡°What do you do on your spare time?¡± he asked. Seeing how I hadn¡¯t said anything and was only focused on nodding and eating, he had no choice but to change the subject.

    ¡°Watching movies, reading books, sleep¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you watch ¡®Xinwen Lianbo¡¯ (daily news program)?¡±

    ¡°Never.¡±

    His jaws almost dropped, ¡°Never? You don¡¯t care about events happening in the world?¡±

    ¡°No. I have narrow knowledge.¡±

    ¡°How did you get into graduate studies?¡±

    ¡°I was epted on rmendation.¡±

    ¡°What do you watch on TV then?¡±

    ¡°I watch prime-time series like ¡®Chinese Style Divorce,¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s Not Talk About Love,¡¯ and sometimes I watch a bit of martial arts films like the funny ones from Stephen Chow.¡±

    He sighed.

    ¡°Do you read the newspapers daily?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I read Entertainment, Home, and Lifestyle. Just these three sections. I toss out the others.¡±

    ¡°How about magazines?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a big fan of ¡®Reader¡¯s Digest.¡¯ I also read ¡®Family¡¯ and ¡®Romance.¡¯ I sometimes read ¡®Ancient and Modern Legends,¡¯ but not every issue.¡±

    ¡°Who is your favorite author?¡±

    ¡°Annie Baby, Du Ruo, and Lan Lian Hua.¡±

    ¡°Howe I haven¡¯t heard of them before?¡±

    ¡°Oh, they are all online writers. They¡¯re very popr. Du Ruo¡¯s ¡®Tian Wu¡¯ (Heaven Dance) is highly rmended.¡±

    ¡°I never thought¡­that your taste in literature¡­hm¡­how should I say this? It needs improvement. I rmend Su Tong¡¯s novel, ¡®Wives and Concubines in Flocks.¡¯ Every woman loves that book. Eileen Chang is also a good choice. Meng Meng likes Yi Shu and Lilian Lee.¡±

    I quickly said, ¡°Oh yeah, how are you and Meng Meng? Have you guys gotten back together?¡±

    ¡°Back together? That¡¯s impossible. A good man never looks backwards.¡±

    ¡°Meng Meng is a good woman. She¡¯s young, pretty, smart, and stylish. You guys look great together. Really.¡±

    He took a sip of wine and smiled, ¡°Please, there¡¯s a book that said that there are two types of people in love. One is ¡®sentimental,¡¯ who only looks for their ideal type within their lover. Even if they are not sessful, they will never give up. The other type is of the ¡®narrative archetype,¡¯ who enjoys the variations in life. Meng Meng is thetter type. I¡¯ve already been passed by her before. How about you? Are you the sentimental type, or the narrative type?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I haven¡¯t thought about it.¡± I wiped my mouth and said, ¡°I¡¯m done eating.¡±

    He didn¡¯t look too pleased because he hadn¡¯t eaten much since he was upied with talking. I on the other hand was listening while I was eating, so I was full very soon.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you didn¡¯t like to talk much,¡± he said, ¡°Oh right, about that handbook, could you please work on it as soon as possible? They are waiting for it.¡±

    ¡°I need one week¡¯s time, is that too much to ask for?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. Are you free tonight? I have a home theater with a great sound system. A friend of mine brought me a few new movies from abroad and a couple of them areing to watch them. There will be guys and girls, do you want toe?¡±

    ¡°Sigh¡­I got a bit of air sickness still. Maybe another time.¡± I pretended to look like I was dizzy.

    He examined me and gave a bitter smile, ¡°Am I really not attractive, Annie?¡­I¡¯ve never felt so frustrated in front of a woman before.¡±

    ¡°Not everything will be splendid in life.¡±

    He asked the waitress for the bill.

    He wouldn¡¯t give up and asked, ¡°Do you dislike dating guys or do you just not want to be with me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not hinting that I¡¯m a lesbian, are you?¡±

    ¡°How could I be?¡± he looked at me and said, ¡°Are you?¡±

    I waspletely speechless. I rolled my eyes and stood up.

    He gave me a ride home; we were silent the whole time.

    After I got out of the car, he rolled down his window and said, ¡°Annie, I¡¯m also the sentimental type. When a sentimental person meets another, sparks will fly between them sooner orter.¡±

    He stared at me with his burning eyes. They were full of heat. Oh no, he had fallen for me.

    I felt my guilty conscience, ¡°Xiao Guan, I wasn¡¯t in a good mood today. You can see that my eyes are swollen. Don¡¯t take the things I said to heart.¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re not in a good mood, why don¡¯t youe watch some movies with me at my ce. You¡¯ll feel better once you chat with others.¡± He didn¡¯t give up and gave onest try.

    ¡°Thank you, but no thanks.¡±

    After I got into my room, I closed the door andy on my bed. I thought of what Li Chuan had said before, ¡°If you get used to guys treating you this way, you will marry a good man.¡±

    Li Chuan, it was all your fault.

 Chapter 32

    <h4>Chapter 32</h4>

    ¡°Did you know that:

    1) To manufacture 1 calorie of beef protein, 78 calories of oil are used; Yet, to grow 1 calorie of soybean, only 1 calorie of oil is required to be used. If you persevere in being a vegetarian and not a carnivore, you will be contributing to the conservation of the world¡¯s decreasing natural resources that cannot be regenerated.

    2) Did you know that to manufacture animal protein, 3 to 15 times more water is used up than to manufacture nt protein? If you persevere in being a vegetarian, you will help humanity conserve precious water natural resource.

    3) If you knew that in order to manufacture one pound of beef, 16 pounds of soybean and grains need to be feed. Why don¡¯t you eat the soybean and grain directly. That way you can save on the manpower and packaging needed to produce beef. Contribute to the protection of the environment.

    4) If you knew that in order to have more pastures to increase number of animals raised, people are cutting down forests and rain forests. The carbon dioxide on earth is filtered through these trees. If you persevere in being a vegetarian, we can protect the forests and purify the atmosphere.

    5) Vegetarians won¡¯t be undernourished. Vegetables can offer all the nutrition we need.

    6) Do you know that amongst food, animals are ced higher than vegetables. Thus, there are higher amounts of agricultural chemical residue in meat products than in vegetables. For example, pesticide and herbicide.

    7) Do you know that, in order to raise better animals, people use more than twenty thousand drugs to maintain their health and their high yielding rate, including steroids, antibiotics, and hormones. Think about it, if you love to eat meat, it means that you are eating antibiotics every single day.

    8) Think about all those parasites and microorganisms that cause diseases on the body of animals that can harm the health of humans (Have you ever seen pork tapeworms?). The amount greatly surpasses that of vegetables.

    9) ce a white radish and a drumstick outdoors, at the same time, for an entire day. See which one will make you sick after eating it.

    10) Medical studies have proven that eating meat will increase the chances of getting heart disease.

    11) Vegetables can help prevent cancer. Right now, everything found to prevent cancer, Vitamin C, B-17, Beta Carotene, and NDGA, alle from nts, not animals. And cooking meat products will release all kinds of benzene and carcinogens.

    12) Vegetables can decrease illnesses, osteoporosis, kidney stone, gall stone, diabetes, all kinds of sclerosis illness, arthritis, e, obesity blood poisoning.

    13) As a result, you will live longer. As you live longer, you can also save on a lot of medical expenses.

    14) Vegetarians save money, the prices of vegetables are generally lower than animal products.

    15) Scientific research shows that vegetarians¡¯ IQs are higher than carnivores. People from the ancient times all said, ¡°Being carnivorous is being rustic, it cannot be a long term solution.¡±

    16) Consider ethics: Protect animals, never kill them.¡±

    Vegetarian Society: Care about your body, care about the animals, care about the environment, care about the earth. Beijing Chaoyang district N Street Number 32. Meetings once a week. Phone number: XXXXXXXX, please ask for Mr. Nan Gong.

    I lived in a one bedroom one bath apartment near Jiu Tong. It cost $2000 a month, one third of my sry. It was the dormitory of the graduate students. Thendlord had two apartments. It was originally set aside for after his son got married, but the son went to Shanghai. Therefore, it was rented out to me. It was small, but was brand new and clean. It had a kitchen and bathroompletely installed.

    Every day, when I opened my mailbox, I would have received a few strange advertisements. Before, I would throw these advertisements into the trash without sparing a nce. But, recently life was rather depressing. It was boring enough for me to even grab ads when I go shopping and then, whether I needed them or not, going out to snatch up discounted goods.

    Sinceing back from Wenzhou, I spent two weeks tranting the auction handbook for Xiao Guan. Afterpleting it, I sent it to him and he exchanged it for $10,000. I took it readily. I suddenly realized that money was very important. I also really needed money. Before, I ced all my thoughts on missing Li Chuan and didn¡¯t take life seriously. Naturally I also didn¡¯t take money seriously. Now, Li Chuan wanted me to move on. How could I move on without money?

    Besides needing money, I also needed a way to live.

    These past several years, I lived in a muddle. My daily life was both clear and orderly, yetpletely chaotic. The clear and orderly part was because I was still making progress and was dedicated to my work in an attempt to prove that I hadn¡¯t failed. Thepletely chaotic part was that if I wasn¡¯t looking for work or studying, I would immediately sink into absent-mindedness. sink into my memories, into the middle of this boundless spiral. Therefore, my daily life had to be fully packed, making me extremely tired. My time was broken up into small parts. Each part was a half hour interval. This way, I didn¡¯t have superfluous time to let my imagination run.

    I had yoga ss three times a week. Each time 60 minutes. There were many mothers who hade to lose weight. After yoga, everyone sometimes found a ce to drink tea and have have refreshments together. Afterwards, I would go to the sauna. After twenty minutes in the sauna, I would then go swimming. The yearly membership for the sports center was very expensive, so I used it as much as possible. It would be eight or nine o¡¯clock by the time I got home. I would be extremely tired and would quickly fall asleep. If I couldn¡¯t sleep, I would drink beer and nibble at chicken wings. Or I would go eatmb kebabs at the small restaurant outside, and chat with strangers. On the weekends, I would go clubbing. I didn¡¯t go to just any clubs. I like to go to the one called ¡°Bohemia¡± the most, that had a semi-salon characteristic to it where many in art and poetry would go to. I went there for three years and was familiar with everyone, but didn¡¯t have a single close friend. I loved going there because it allowed smoking, had good coffee, had good drinks, and was decorated in my favorite Bohemian style. The entire lounge was dark and noisy. The smell of patchouli oil permeated the air. The eyes of the women were drawn pitch ck, their long hair permed into waves, and bright, glittering jewelry hung around their wrists and necks. The conversations were all very refined. From (Victor) Hugo to (Emile) Z, from (Charles) Baudire to (Arthur) Rimbaud, from (Jack) Kerouac to (Allen) Ginsberg¡­ Of course not all discussions were about them. Men would also talk about women and women, men. Or recite poetry. I didn¡¯t take part in any of these. I just mncholy sat there smoking, drinking coffee and alcohol as if I was a suffering author. If I saw anyone I knew, I would chat for a while as it suited me. It wouldn¡¯t be a for long time. As long as ¡°Soul Mate¡± (ÖªÒô magazine) or ¡°Reader¡¯s Digest¡± was mentioned within an hour, the battle would terminate immediately.

    I don¡¯t know why I lost all interest in associating with men after Li Chuan left me. Whether they were neighbors or coworkers, I would maintain a certain distance from them. I would participate in some social activities and behave politely. Apart from this, I wouldn¡¯t say more than I needed to nor take more steps closer than I needed to. My goal was to hide my deficiencies, work hard to earn money, not be indebted to others or weighed down by anything.

    Despite this, I still had one or two free nights every week. It made me feel that life was worthless and meaningless. Li Chuan, was I only living for Li Chuan? Trapped by emotions and using tears as face wash ¡ª is this the situation I was in? No! I needed to break away from everything entangling me. I needed to exist for a much nobler purpose. I couldn¡¯t think of anything that was a nobler purpose in my life until I saw that advertisement.

    In this world, there wasn¡¯t just a Li Chuan. There were endangered animals. There were exhausted natural resources too. And, there was a polluted atmosphere and wars to be worrying over!

    I wanted to protect animals. I wanted to care for the earth. I wanted to be a Vegetarian Society member.

    From that ad, I called the number to look for the man called ¡°Nan Gong¡± (Pce). A pleasant baritone voice came from the other end.

    ¡°Wee, vegetarian member. We are a free club where everyone is a lover of vegetarian food. We get together and chat once a week to exchange our vegetarian knowledge. Each time it¡¯s one to two hours, there are no limits on the length.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, we have our own activities room and our own kitchen. Many times we exchange our cooking knowledge.¡±

    ¡°You shoulde, we have a social gathering tonight.¡±

    That Nan Gong was really called Nan Gong. At first I thought it was an alias.

    ¡°I am Nan Gong Liu Ru.¡± I was admitted by a medium statue man with ordinary looks and around thirty. Hisplexion was rosy, looking healthy and energetic. His voice was great and deep.

    ¡°I am Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°May I ask, are you a vegetarian?¡±

    ¡°Now¡­I¡¯m intending to head towards it now.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem, we will help you.¡±

    ¡°I quite like to eat meat, but, after seeing your flier, I felt guilty.¡±

    ¡°The flier is used to spread the word. It¡¯s not that severe. Hehe.¡± He said, ¡°We have many members, but normally there are only ten people in the small group activities. Everyonees together to chat. We chat about anything. All of use together only because were are all vegetarians. We have nothing else inmon with each other, so don¡¯t that we talk about being vegetarian all the time like we¡¯re a pack of herbivorous dinosaurs.¡±

    He invited me sit on the couch and handed me a cup of boiling water, ¡°Let me introduce myself. I am a vegan, the strictest type of vegetarian. I don¡¯t eat meat, fish, or eggs, drink alcohol or milk, don¡¯t eat honey, and don¡¯t eat anything that was produced or extracted from the body of animals. I don¡¯t wear leather.¡±

    He nced at me, his gaze falling on my silk scarf, and said, ¡°I also don¡¯t use any silk products. Silkworms are also animals.¡±

    I hurriedly took off the scarf.

    ¡°Of course we have some people who are not too strict. Some people eat fish. Some eat eggs. Some drink milk. But no one eats meat for sure.¡±

    ¡°I will learn from you. The things that you won¡¯t eat, I won¡¯t eat either.¡±

    ¡°Have you kept a pet before? Such as a cat or dog?¡±

    ¡°No, but I love small animals. ¡®Animal¡¯ is my favorite program.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s still half an hour before the start of the activity. Do you have any specific questions you wanted to ask me regarding vegetarianism?¡±

    ¡°I want to know how to be a vegetarian. What are the specific steps?¡±

    ¡°First of all, when do you intend to start?¡±

    ¡°Today.¡± I looked at him, ¡°Right now, this moment, this second.¡±

    ¡°Generally, I would rmend progressing step by step,¡± he said, ¡°considering you¡¯ve eaten meat for a long time, your nature is strongly dependent on meat. You can stop eating red meat in the first week. Stop eating white meat in the second week. Start slowly.¡±

    Strongly dependent nature. I thought this statement was very important.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I precisely want to ovee this strongly dependent nature. I want to decisively enter into the vegetarian stage.¡±

    ¡°Then the first thing you have to do is send emails to all your friends, especially those who you frequently go out to eat with. Tell them that you have made the decision to be a vegetarian starting today.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Do you cook for yourself at home?¡±

    ¡°I cook once in awhile. Most of the time, I eat take-away. Work provides lunch.¡±

    ¡°I suggest that you stop eating take-away. There is no nutrition whether it¡¯s meat or vegetables, it¡¯s all been stir-fried. You can try to make some vegetable dishes yourself. We have many recipes here. It¡¯s very easy to learn. Furthermore, this list here is of all the vegetarian restaurants in Beijing. There¡¯s not many, but they taste quite good and aren¡¯t too expensive. Especially the few that are run by monasteries. We often go there for meals together.¡± He handed me a green leaflet.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Normally, what makes us worry the most is when our colleagues and friends decide to go out for meals. We can¡¯t require others to put up with our preferences, so the most awkward situation is when we go to a restaurant and discover that there¡¯s nothing we can eat there and we can only go hungry. Thus, I suggest that you always keep a small supply of snacks in your bag just in case. Peanuts, almonds, and walnuts are all okay.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I took out my notebook to take it down.

    ¡°When you are eating vegetables, you must chew slowly. Pay careful attention to your body¡¯s response. Experience the original taste of organic food. Think about your own self at all times. Think about how you are saving animals. Think about humanity. Think about the earth. Man is an integral part of nature. By doing this, you are making the world better and promoting peace. You should feel proud.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± I thought about it and suddenly asked, ¡°Why haven¡¯t you asked why I want to be a vegetarian?¡±

    ¡°We never ask this question. This is your choice. You don¡¯t need my approval. Everyone has his or her own reason. We only have amon interest, so when we are together, we are like a study group, a chess society, a poker society, a fishing society and such.¡±

    It really was an ideal club.

    ¡°Do I have to participate in every activity?¡±

    ¡°Our organization is very rxed. You cane if you want. You don¡¯t have toe if you don¡¯t want. Some people participate a few times a first, find it too hard to continue, and then disappear.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Nan Gong, can I ask you a personal question?¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Why are you a vegetarian?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like this. I am from the rural area and would eat anything before. I have a younger brother who I was really close with. It¡¯s just that he was very mischievous so I pressured him to join the army. He went. Something happened during a military exercise and he was killed in an explosion. The kind that shatters everything. Ever since the second I heard this news, I could no longer stand to look at meat.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have asked this.¡± I murmured.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. It¡¯s already been many years.¡± Saying this, he suddenly turned around and said with his voice choked with emotion, ¡°I need some quiet and peace for a bit.¡± And then he went into another room.

    I didn¡¯t participate in the first activity, and escaped home, ashamed.

    When I got home, I earnestly sent emails to several of my trantor colleagues, dering my change to vegetarianism, asking them to look after me. And then, I cleared out my fridge, throwing away all meat and eggs. I cleared out my snacks and threw away all beef jerkies, dried fish, and shredded pork. I carried my vegetable basket to the marketce and bought a huge pile of vegetables, fruit, tofu, and soy milk. I ate a whole day of vegetarian food and didn¡¯t think it was too hard. It was only when I smelledmb skewers and roasted chicken wings on the streets at night did my heart extremely quicken. I hurried home, got into bed, and covered my head with the covers. Afterwards, I couldn¡¯t help it and ran outside onto the streets to watch. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there was also vegetarian food being roasted, such as, roasted tofu, potato slices, corn, greens, lotus root, and mushrooms. Besides not being meat, the vor was still the same. My god! So good! I had dinner there and was quickly full.

    At work the second day, I didn¡¯t put on perfume. My body emitted a vegetable smell.

    For the two weeks after returning to Beijing, I didn¡¯t see Li Chuan at all. Li Chuan¡¯s office was upstairs. He didn¡¯t have a set time toe to work every day. I could only seem him during meetings or sometimes lunch. Li Chuan always deliberately maintained a distance from me. He didn¡¯t take the initiative to speak to me, and I didn¡¯t try to worm my way into his grace either. Most of the time, our eyes would meet and we would nod at each other, getting our own dishes and heading to our own seats. We didn¡¯t even exchange any conversations. Li Chuan never called me. Besides when work required it, he would also never email me.

    I was quite broken-hearted, but I didn¡¯t care. As long as I knew that Li Chuan and I were in the same building and I could see him once every day, even if we didn¡¯t speak a word to each other, I was satisfied. Without this condition, I couldn¡¯t move on. I was a good-for-nothing like that.

    CGP¡¯s lunch was absolutely a huge trial for a vegetarian. Eighty percent of the employees were men who were full of energy, they were not happy without meat and the rest of them were women who were all seafood lovers. I discovered that the things I could eat were only bread, rice, fruit, and sd. In addition, after I finished eating, I would be hungry again very quickly.

    Fortunately, I hadrades. In order to go on a diet and shape her body, Emma had basically be a vegetarian too. She would asionally eat a bit of fish, but it wasn¡¯t often. She used a lot of sd dressing that actually contained a lot of dairy. I also didn¡¯t eat sd dressing. I would only eat vegetable leaves. Us few female trantors normally sat together gossiping. I would eat and listen, sometimes sneak a nce at another table in the distance where Li Chuan would have his meal alone. Li Chuan was still just as good looking. He was just leaning towards being a bit too skinny. He looked very mysterious and charming in his fitted suits. He would never look at me.

    ¡°Hey! Did you guys see the notice sent by headquarters today?¡± Emma said in a low voice, ¡°Li Chuan resigned from the chairman position of CGP. He has switched to being the Chief Designer of the Beijing branch. He dropped two positions. I wonder what happened.¡±

    Another trantor called A Qian smiled and said, ¡°I also thought it was strange. Doesn¡¯t that mean Director Jiang has be his boss?¡±

    ¡°What boss? Chief Wang is the CEO, he is the owner, alright? Director Jiang is merely working for the Wang family. The reason he¡¯s no longer going to be the chairman is probably because he¡¯s tired. I heard that his health hasn¡¯t been too good recently. He can only work for five hours every day.¡± Emma said.

    ¡°His health seems fine to me. That¡¯s right, why is that leg of his crippled? Was it polio?¡± Ming Ming from the German group asked.

    ¡°My guess is rheumatoid arthritis.¡±

    ¡°My guess is Parkinson¡¯s disease. Annie, what¡¯s your guess? Let¡¯s all bet ten bucks.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I thought for a bit and said, ¡°Car ident? Prosthetic leg?¡±

    ¡°Prosthetic leg? No, no, no! Li Chuan can¡¯t have a prosthetic leg. Having a prosthetic leg would break our hearts. I would rather he had Parkinson¡¯s.¡±

    Everyone unanimously opposed this suggestion. I had nothing to say.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t not too kind to use someone else¡¯s handicap to gamble over?¡± I whispered.

    No one paid attention to me, they continued their discussion, ¡°Emma, you go. Go and purposely spill a cup of water on his leg. And then pretend to help him wipe his shoe and touch it in passing. We¡¯ll know then.¡±

    ¡°Touch? How to touch it? I¡¯ve been here for nearly ten years. Li Chuan has also been here for nearly seven or eight years. I¡¯ve never seen him fool around with any woman. That Zhu Bi Xuan ,who left, chased him to death. Even when Li Chuan transferred away, she still persistently kept watch for six years. Didn¡¯t she still gave up in the end?¡±

    ¡°Speaking of chasing him. We¡¯ve all chased after him, haven¡¯t we? Emma, didn¡¯t you also chase after him?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve even written such baring emails as ¡®Li Chuan, I love you!¡¯ Which Valentine¡¯s Day didn¡¯t I give him choctes? But nothing works, he has never noticed me.¡±

    ¡°That was before. He was prideful of his looks and kept himself deliberately mysterious. Now, I think he looks a little depressed. It¡¯s the perfect time for you to attack. Seize the moment. Swoop in. In the end, Emma, you aren¡¯t young anymore either. You and Li Chuan are around the same age, right?¡±

    ¡°Older than him by one year.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps he likes someone more mature. Seize it tightly, Emma. We¡¯re still looking to you to be Mrs. Wang and raising our sries. See, he¡¯s sitting there by himself. So lonely. Go talk to him.¡±

    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m afraid to go?¡± Emmaughed, ¡°As soon as I heard Li Chuan was back, I was smiling in my sleep.¡±

    She stopped speaking and picked up her te, turned her waist, and really headed towards Li Chuan¡¯s table.

    ¡°Remember our bet!¡±

    ¡°Hey, Annie, what¡¯s wrong with your hand? Why is it shaking? Nerve problems caused from being vegetarian?¡±

    I forcefully forked a slice of apple, sticking it into my mouth, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. First day being vegetarian. Not used to it yet.¡±

    ¡°Why be a vegetarian? You¡¯re not even fat. You even neurotically sent emails to everyone. Did you have to go so far?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve joined the Animal Rights Protection Association.¡±

    They looked at me and burst outughing.

    I quickly cleared out my fruit and headed back to my office with my head lowered.

    I ordered myself to focus all my attention on the path of bing a vegetarian and not to think about Emma. And especially not think about Li Chuan. I kept telling myself, It¡¯s over! Over!

    I turned on theputer and saw someone looking for me on MSN. The avatar was a beaming tangerine. Surprisingly, it was Ren¨¦.

    ¡ª Annie, how are you?

    ¡ª Very well. You?

    ¡ª Pretty good. Do you like cats?

    ¡ª I quite like them. Why?

    ¡ª It¡¯s like this. Li Chuan originally said that he woulde back together with us. But now that he¡¯s staying in Beijing, he gave his Mia to us.

    ¡ª Isn¡¯t Mia Li Chuan¡¯s cat?¡±

    ¡ª See, you even know about this. This Mia is the granddaughter of that Mia. That old Mia was quite a good reproducer before she died, making it so that every rtive of his waspelled to adopt one. Annie, ever since Li Chuan left, this Mia has had quite the temper. He chews on my models every day. Models that I painstakingly made are chewed into pieces by her within half an hour. Can I ask someone to bring her to give to you? I know you will treat Mia well.

    ¡ª Will Li Chuan agree?

    ¡ª Mia is my cat right now. I have disposal rights.

    ¡ª Alright. Send me an email for when she arrives. I¡¯ll go pick her up at the airport.

    ¡ª I just happen to have a friend going to Beijing for business. Leaving today. Arriving tomorrow. I¡¯ll quickly go handle the procedures right now. Bye.

    His avatar disappeared. I sighed a deep sigh. When Li Chuan left, he left so thoroughly that he didn¡¯t even leave me anything. Now, I will unexpectedly have his Mia!

    I took a leave of absence and left work early to go to the pet store to purchase cat food, cat food tins, cat pillow, and cat sand. I bought books on cats, toys, and even some backup medicine. At night, I nibbled on a corn-on-the-cob while delving into the books.

    The next day, I took a leave of absence to meet the ne. I received a pretty and tall man holding a grey pet cage. We informed each other of our names. He was also evidently Chinese, but his Chinese could not beplimented.

    ¡°I am Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°I am Allen Wang.¡± [Note: The sentences spoken by Allen emphasizes his ent and struggle when speaking Chinese.]

    ¡°Howe your surname is also Wang?¡±

    ¡°I am his cousin from his father¡¯s side.¡±

    ¡°You¡­are also an architect?¡±

    ¡°Yes, how do you¡­know?¡±

    ¡°It was a guess. You aren¡¯t going to see Li Chuan? He is in Beijing.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­no. I am very busy. I leave tomorrow. I will give him¡­a¡­call.¡±

    He then gave me another bag, ¡°Inside¡­is something for you from Ren¨¦.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s something else besides the cat?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes. This¡­box¡­chocte is from me to to you.¡± He gave me a pretty golden box.

    ¡°Thank you, you are too kind. I didn¡¯t prepare anything.¡±

    ¡°No worries, no worries. Ren¨¦ said that in the bag there is ¡­a¡­scarf for you. When you see Li Chuan, you must not¡­must not wear it. He will¡­be angry.¡±

    It gave me a scare, ¡°Why?¡±

    He smiled and didn¡¯t speak anymore Chinese, ¡°(English) You will know itter.¡±

    I looked at Allen. He wasn¡¯t too much older than Li Chuan, might even be the same age. Their brows and eyes were a bit simr, however, you could tell that he was like Li Chuan, shy around women.

    I happily held Mia and returned home. Mia was a short haired small tabby cat. She had a round face withrge eyes and always looked sleepy. I changed her name to ¡°Amy.¡± Amy was very docile and was scared of the cold. She would sleep with me at night.

    When I opened the package that Ren¨¦ gave me, I discovered a handwoven scarf inside with five different colored stripes. It was brightly colored andrge. It was really nice and warm when worn around the neck. The two ends were even decorated with small silver beads. It was a bit strange. Don¡¯t tell me that Ren¨¦ could knit scarfs? And then, there was a huge round azure coffee mug. It was a beautiful ceramic with white designs. There was a row of text etched on it:

    ¡°No dream is ever too small; no dream is ever too big.

    Practice random beauty and senseless acts of love.

    Happiness is not given but exchanged.

    Truth fears no questions.

    Dare to be wise.

    Laugh.¡±

    The mug was very worn, as if it had been used for many years.

    The next day, I brought the mug with me to the office. When I ate lunch, I used it to drink coffee. I saw Li Chuan. Li Chuan also saw me and ignored me as usual. See what kind of brother he is. [Xiao Qiu used to call him Ge Ge aka brother]. I hadn¡¯t returned to my office for long before someone knocked on the door. Unexpectedly, it was Li Chuan.

    It was Li Chuan, but his face was overcast and looked very fierce.

    ¡°Allen said that Mia was at your ce?¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about my cat, Amy?¡±

    ¡°What is Amy?¡±

    ¡°Mia is called Amy here.¡±

    ¡°Xie Xiao Qiu, Mia is my cat. Return her to me.¡± Such an imposing manner. Do you think I¡¯m afraid of you?

    ¡°No way. I¡¯ve already got a ownership certificate. Owner name, Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­can you lend her to me for a month? I really miss her.¡± He was quick topromise for the cat.

    ¡°No way.¡± He didn¡¯t want to see a living person but would see a cat. I was jealous.

    ¡°Lend her to me for three days?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Lend her to me for one day?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t even lend her for a minute.¡±

    He became silent and then angry. After awhile, he said, ¡°There¡¯s a brand of fish canned food that she only eats.¡±

    ¡°Amy is like me, a vegetarian. Her main food right now is spinach.¡±

    ¡°What? Spinach?¡± Li Chuan¡¯s face started reddening, ¡°You¡¯re mistreating Mia?!¡±

    ¡°How is that mistreating? Mia really likes to eat spinach. She even ate saut¨¦ed bean curdst night.¡±

    He was at a loss for words. red at me and then his gaze lowered to my mug. He became angry again, ¡°Who gave you this mug?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like this is your mug!¡±

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s mine!¡±

    ¡°How is it yours? Your name isn¡¯t written on it.¡±

    ¡°Look at the words at the bottom of the mug. Don¡¯t tell me you also graduated from Harvard?¡±

    I urgently turned over the mug to take a better look. Who knew there was still half a cup of coffee inside that suddenly spilled all over theptop. The screen immediately turned ck.

    ¡°Li Chuan, you owe me aputer!!!¡±

    ¡°That has nothing to do with me? Who knew you were that stupid?¡± He ducked out and left.

    COMMENTS

    This chapter was pretty random. If you were confused by the beginning of this chapter, don¡¯t worry. You weren¡¯t the only one. Vegetarianism and a cat. Who woulda thunk?

 Chapter 33

    <h4>Chapter 33</h4>

    After a brief search on the inte, I found out that myptop was worth over ten thousand RMB. It was this year¡¯stest model; its second-hand price was also not low. There went my pay cheque for all the trantions I did for the past two weeks. But it was not what I was most worried about. All of my documents were saved inside theptop; ny percent of it was office documents, pictures, tender letters, and my trantion drafts. However, there were also my saved searches, dictionaries, e-books that I liked, downloaded trantion softwares, etcetera, etcetera.

    I bumped into Li Chuan at the door during lunch. He actually asked, ¡°How is theptop? Can you still use it?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s a goner.¡±

    ¡°What do you n to do?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m nning to buy a used one. But I don¡¯t know what to do about my saved documents.¡±

    ¡°Go buy me a sandwich, and I¡¯ll help you get your documents out of theptop.¡±

    I jogged back to my office and handed him myptop that was still dripping coffee, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    I bought a box of sd, a tuna sandwich, and two bottles of water. I knocked and entered Li Chuan¡¯s office. It was the first time I went into Li Chuan¡¯s office since we came back two weeks ago. The office in front of his sat Tong Xiao Wei, his secretary. Tong Xiao Wei used to be Director Jiang¡¯s secretary. But when the head office transferred Li Chuan over here, Jiang Hao Tian gave his secretary to Li Chuan. Tong Xiao Wei was formerly a secretary at Beijing¡¯s Municipal Commission of Development and Reform. She was cute, efficient, and quiet. She never participated in our gossips during lunch. She always went to lunch half an hourter in order to avoid us.

    ¡°Hi, Xiao Qiu!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking for Mr. Wang. Myptop broke so I have to trouble him to help me get my documents from it.¡±

    ¡°Go in, he¡¯s opening up theptop right now. I just came back from buying him a few screwdrivers.¡±

    ¡°Sorry to trouble you.¡±

    ¡°Not at all.¡±

    I went inside. Li Chuan¡¯s office was exactly like how Emma had described it. It was spacious, and a white couch sat on top of a diamond shaped hand-woven carpet. There were also a resting room and a bathroom that were especially designed for him.

    My Sonyptop had already beenpletely disassembled by him. All the parts were neatly ced and organized on his big desk. Li Chuan was using a screwdriver unscrewing one of the parts. When he saw me, he put down the screwdriver, stood up, grabbed the sandwich from my hand, and said thank you. He pointed towards the couch, ¡°Please sit.¡±

    He pressed a button on his office telephone, ¡°Xiao Wei, I also need the T6 screwdriver from Philips. If you can¡¯t find the T6, get PH000, the one with three zeros. Xiao Ding from the sketch department will probably have it. Can you please get it for me?¡±

    I was dumb-found as I never knew that Li Chuan knew how to repairputers.

    ¡°Can the documents be taken out?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re all in the hard drive. I¡¯ll take it out first and then put it into anotherptop. It should be fine then.¡±

    It sounded simple enough. I swallowed and quickly said, ¡°I need anotherptop? I haven¡¯t bought one yet. I tranted half of a draft, and it needs to be handed in today.¡±

    ¡°What rare to find softwares did you install on yourptop?¡±

    ¡°I used Endnotes to write a bunch of my notes. It was version 8.0.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll tell you what I¡¯ll do.¡±

    I opened my eyes wide as I looked at him.

    ¡°First, I will take your hard drive out.¡±

    ¡°Second, I¡¯ll take my own hard drive out.¡±

    ¡°Third, I will insert your hard drive into myptop, and I¡¯ll put my own hard drive into an enclosure.¡±

    ¡°Fourth, I¡¯ll turn on myptop, boot it using Linux, and read the documents in your hard drive.¡±

    ¡°Fifth, I¡¯ll copy some of the documents from my hard drive into yours. If everything goes well, I¡¯ll unplug my hard drive, reboot theptop, and you¡¯ll be able to open your documents on it.¡±

    I took a bite of spinach and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to use Linux.¡±

    ¡°I need to start it up using Linux first. It will be Windows by the time you use it.¡±

    ¡°But if I use yourptop, what are you going to use?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m getting a new one. I¡¯ve already ordered it online. It¡¯ll be delivered tomorrow.¡± Just look at how efficient he was.

    He finished his sandwich in two to three bites. Xiao Wei came and handed him the screwdriver. He took out my hard drive and put it into hisptop. He worked on it for an hour. When he turned on his Fujitsu, the screen was blue.

    ¡°(English) Oops,¡± he said, ¡°I still need to download some other programs.¡±

    I ate my sd quietly as I sat on the couch, watching him focused on working on theptop for another two hours. We finally saw all of my documents, and they were all readable.

    ¡°You can use it now,¡± he closed theptop¡¯s lid and handed it to me.

    Li Chuan¡¯sptop was the fully equipped kind, so it was a bit heavy.

    ¡°This is great! Thanks!¡± I carried theptop and was about to leave.

    ¡°Wait,¡± he stopped me, ¡°give me back Mia.¡±

    He still remembered his cat!

    ¡°Since you like Mia so much, why did you give her to Rene then?¡±

    ¡°Who said I gave it to him? I only let him take care of it temporarily!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll let you visit Mia for an hour.¡±

    ¡°One hour? You¡¯re kidding me. I spent three hours on yourptop. One hour is too little. I should have at least a week.¡±

    ¡°Two hours.¡±

    ¡°Three hours.¡±

    ¡°Deal. You cane this weekend. Mia is at my ce.¡±

    He asked hesitantly, ¡°Can¡¯t you bring her to me?¡±

    ¡°No. You won¡¯t give her back if I bring her to you.¡±

    ¡°¡­.Okay.¡±

    I gave him my address, ¡°You cane at nine.¡±

    Meng Meng came looking for me after work. She gave me three pink cards.

    ¡°You¡¯re free on the weekend, right?¡±

    ¡°Not in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Not morning, it¡¯s four o¡¯clock in the afternoon. I¡¯ll let you meet three people. The first two are my referrals, both are guys. Thest one is Ming Ming¡¯s referral, and it¡¯s a girl. Go take a look. They¡¯re pretty good.¡±

    I opened the cards:

    1st card:

    Name: Chen Jiu Zhou

    Age: 32

    upation: General Manager of Fei Xing

    Education: Master¡¯s degree

    2nd card:

    Name: Eason

    Age: 29

    upation: Assistant Researcher of Chinese Academy of Science X Department

    Education: Ph.D from abroad in Germany

    3rd card:

    Name: Susan

    Age: 24

    upation: professional writer.

    Education: Bachelor¡¯s degree

    Meng Meng always said that she ¡°cared¡± about me. As an older sister, she felt that it was her responsibility to introduce me to new candidates. Although she mentioned it many times, I didn¡¯t take her seriously. I browsed through the cards and had a bad feeling about it.

    ¡°Howe there is a woman?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re such a great girl, yet you don¡¯t want to be in rtionships. Celia suspects your sexual orientation, so she wants you to give this a try. She¡¯s actually passing this one up in order to give it to you. She has dated a couple before and said it was not bad, they were all interesting. She met them online. As for the other two, one of them is a friend of mine, and the other is my little brother. There¡¯s nothing to say about their personalities. How about it? Aren¡¯t I good to you?¡±

    ¡°Maybe next time.¡±

    ¡°How many next times have you said already? You should at least give me some face, and treat my little brother as the one to anticipate. Let¡¯s settle it for Saturday at 2pm then. It¡¯ll be half an hour per person. Otherwise, you¡¯ll be going to pubs anyway, so just take it that you¡¯ll have someone to chat with, it won¡¯t be tiresome. You know the Starbucks on K street, right? That¡¯s the ce. I told them that you¡¯ll have a purple chopstick on your head.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a hair pin.¡±

    ¡°(English) Whatever. Just don¡¯t forget to show up!¡±

    I nodded my head and put the cards in my bag. I told myself: move on, move¡­And then my phone rang.

    I watched Emma step into the elevator and opened my phone. It was Xiao Guan calling.

    ¡°Hi.¡±

    ¡°Hi.¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard from you for a long time. How are you?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I send you an email not long ago?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re talking about the four words, ¡®I got your deposit¡¯?¡±

    ¡°You need something from me?¡±

    ¡°Are you free on Saturday? I¡¯ll treat you to dinner.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a Yunnan restaurant on M street. Their rice noodles are pretty good. I¡¯ve been there a couple of times.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve gone vegetarian, so I only eat vegetables.¡±

    ¡°No problem, Lingbao Temple is just beside it. There¡¯s a Ku Gua (Bitter Melon) Master there who makes pretty tasty vegetarian dishes.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    ¡°6pm. I¡¯ll see you at Linbao Temple.¡±

    I wanted to say something, but he had already hung up.

    That was Xiao Guan¡¯s style; he would make arrangements for everything, and would not listen to other people.

    I looked at my watch. I told everyone to meet on Saturday as if Saturday was still a few days away. Today is Friday.

    ***

    I cancelled all of my activities on Friday, including yoga and the gathering with the Vegetarian Society. I found the beauty card from Emma and went to the spa to get a face mask. The spady also trimmed my eyebrows for me. I went to the hair salon to get an oil treatment. It took two hours, but at least my long hair was ck and shiny, and it was so smooth that I could film a hairmercial with it. When I got home, I lit up a bunch of scented candles and scrubbed my bathroom until it was spick and span. I cleaned and tidied the whole ce until it was spotless. I didn¡¯t want any dark circles, so I went to bed early. I woke up early the next day. The sky was still dark after I had taken a bath. I looked at the clock, it had just reached 5am.

    I sat on my bed and practiced yoga. I ate breakfast at 6. After breakfast, I had nothing to do, so I gave Mia a bath and dried her with a hairdryer. I took Mia out for a walk at 7. I never felt that morning wouldst for so long.

    It had been six years, and this was the first time that I really watched the sun rise. The rosy clouds of dawn covered the sky. The red sun floated on the clouds, shining down on the coldness of winter. The city was engulfed in the white haze.

    Li Chuan had always been punctual.

    He gave me a box of chocte at the door. When he saw that I was only wearing socks at home, he took off his coat and bent down to take off his shoes. The moment he bent down, he wobbled and was about to fall, so I held on to him, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    He stood up while resting one hand on the wall. He lowered his head and panted a little, ¡°I feel a little dizzy.¡±

    ¡°Anemia?¡±

    He nodded.

    ¡°Don¡¯t take off your shoes. Stand here and don¡¯t move, I¡¯ll go get you a chair.¡±

    I grabbed the chair from the living room. He sat down and said, ¡°I¡¯m fine. The snow is melting outside, so it¡¯s quite muddy.¡± He continued to bend down.

    I stopped him, ¡°Let me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± He pushed my hand away lightly and took off his shoes himself.

    The entrance was short and the living room was small.

    ¡°Hi, Mia!¡±

    Mia was so smart. She came running over once she heard him. She arched her back, and rubbed against his leg affectionately. I picked up Mia and gave her to Li Chuan. He held up her paws, teased her, and caressed her. He was happy and showed deep love for her. I was jealous as I stood and watched them from the side.

    ¡°Do you mind if I speak to her in French?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Okay. She probably knows Chinese by now,¡± he smiled brightly. I had never seen him smile like this before since we came back from Wenzhou.

    ¡°Look. She loves it when you scratch her here.¡± He scratched the cat¡¯s forehead with his fingers. Mia tilted her head back and yawned in enjoyment.

    ¡°Her longest yawnsted fifty-seven seconds!¡±

    ¡°¡­.¡±

    ¡°She knows how to do somersaults too. The most she can do is twenty-four of them at once. Like this. Mia, do one for Xiao Qiu to see!¡± He whistled and Mia did really do a few somersaults. I was mad, yet I wanted tough.

    ¡°Hm¡­Mia is sozy. Xiao Qiu must have been feeding you too much. Otherwise, why did you stop after just a few?¡± He sat on the couch and frowned at the cat.

    ¡°Did you want something to drink?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Water is fine. Thank you.¡±

    While I felt depressed, Li Chuan¡¯s motive foring became apparent. He obviously only wanted to look at Mia, and only wanted to talk to Mia. I was clearly standing beside him with my willow leaf eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, long hair resting on my shoulders, and a face of a beauty, yet it seemed as if he didn¡¯t notice me.

    I brought him his water and asked, ¡°Mr. Great architect designer, what do you think of the decorations in this ce?¡±

    My furnishing was rather simple. The most expensive piece was probably the couch that Li Chuan was sitting on. It was green, made of real leather, a little hard, and a little tall. It was the kind that Li Chuan liked. He stood up and walked to the door. He observed the ce from where he was and nodded, ¡°Hm, not bad. If my guess is right, this is Bohemian style, is it?¡±

    Li Chuan also had another habit; he rarely picked out my mistakes, unless I let him. For example, every time I sent him my trantions, he would keep them and rarely changed them. He had never sent them back to me. Like in the past, when I spoke to him in English, many of my pronunciations were off, but he never corrected me. But when I spoke English in front of others, many handsome guys would criticize me without holding back. I remember one time, I pronounced the stress part of a word wrong, and he only corrected me privately, ¡°The stress part of the word should be on the second syble, but it¡¯s okay, I understood you anyway.¡± This was his harshest criticism. Therefore, I spoke more freely whenever I was with him.

    ¡°You can tell?¡±

    ¡°This is my job.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you an exterior architect designer?¡±

    ¡°I do interior designs too, just not as much and not as well-known as my older brother.¡±

    ¡°Can you give me some suggestions? I want it to make it look better.¡±

    ¡°You really want to hear it?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Turn the couch 90 degrees towards this side. Move this table to the right, beside the wall. Put the vase on top of the table. You can put this floormp here. There are so many books on the bookshelf, you should put the single couch beside it so that you can sit and read books anytime you want. Wouldn¡¯t it make it more convenient? And also, the fournterns on the ceiling are spread too far apart, which makes it look like there is no harmony. Why don¡¯t you group them together with two each. It¡¯ll bring more focus and make them look less disorganized.¡±

    I tied my hair up with an stic and told him, ¡°Go sit in my room with Mia, I¡¯ll reorganized the furniture.¡±

    He was in shock, ¡°You¡¯re¡­moving them now?¡±

    I nodded, ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Why the hurry?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. You¡¯re not talking to me anyway, and there¡¯s not really that much furniture.¡± I looked at him stunned, yet sarcasm was written all over my face.

    He understood me and felt a bit embarrassed, ¡°Go ahead, I¡¯ll help you.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need your help.¡± He was going to faint from just bending down, how could I dare to let him move furniture? But it was indeed a slow process to move the furniture without anyone¡¯s help. There were many movers sitting and waiting for someone to hire them on the street; I just didn¡¯t want to ask them for help in case Li Chuan thought that I felt that his body was not fit enough. I gritted my teeth and moved the couch, the table, themp, and thenterns. Li Chuan was sitting on the chair, and he finally took his eyes off of Mia and watched me nervously.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, can you switch off the lights first?¡±

    ¡°I have to?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be safer to turn it off.¡±

    ¡°But the ce will be all dark.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s day time right now.¡±

    ¡°This is the first floor.¡±

    I refused to turn it off. Just let it electrify me, and see if you, Wang Li Chuan, would take a glimpse of me!

    ¡°Why do you have to live on the first floor?¡± he suddenly asked, ¡°You said before that you dislike living on the first floor the most, and said that the higher the better.¡±

    ¡°This condo doesn¡¯t have any elevators, so it¡¯s inconvenient to walk up and down.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re disabled.¡±

    Speechless¡­I admit, I had watched too many Hollywood films, so I often dreamt that one day, Li Chuan woulde knocking on my door with a bouquet of flowers. He would kneel down in front of me and say affectionately, ¡°Xiao Qiu, marry me!¡± I obviously couldn¡¯t let him climb up several flights of stairs on his cane, and then kneel down while he was about to faint.

    I climbed up and jumped down around the living room for almost two hours, and finally redecorated the ce just like how he suggested. I sat down and admired the oue of my work. Mm, not bad. He was indeed a master (in design); the living room now looked coordinated and organized under his simple suggestions. It lookedpletely different.

    ¡°Sigh, Li Chuan, what style is this called? It¡¯s very Asian. It doesn¡¯t look Bohemian.¡±

    ¡°There are many types of Bohemian style. There¡¯s dandy, there¡¯s Nouveau, there¡¯s Gypsy, there¡¯s Beat, and yours is Zen. Take the strings of beads from the side of your bed and hang them on thenterns. That¡¯ll make it even more like it.¡±

    Those strings of beads were souvenirs from the pub that was exactly called, ¡°Bohemia.¡± They gave them out to customers during special events and holidays. I had already collected a box full of them. I hung the beads on thenterns. They were made of ceramic, so whenever someone walked fast below them, the light breeze would cause them to make a sound from hitting each other.

    He pointed to arge long-necked vase in the corner and asked, ¡°This vase looks quite nice. Do you not have anything to put inside it?¡±

    The vase was a gift from a friend. It was half as tall as a person; it was big and deep. I really couldn¡¯t think of what kind of flowers could go in and still have their top showing, so I left it empty all along.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°You can pick up some dead wood, scrape its skin, trim it a bit, and put it inside. It¡¯ll look pretty nice.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Really.¡±

    I put on a big coat and went to the woods nearby the area. I picked up a bunch of dead woods and brought them back. Li Chuan helped me pick out which ones to use. He got a small knife from the kitchen and was going to scrape off the dead wood¡¯s skin for me. I was afraid that he was going to hurt himself, so I didn¡¯t let him do it. I used the knife to scrape all the wood clean, I used scissors to cut off the small branches, and finally put them into the vase. Indeed, the finished product did have a dry vine, old tree, crows at dusk feel to it (Ma Zhiyuan poem).

    My face was covered in dust after moving the furniture; my nails were all dark after trimming the woods. All the manicure and beauty spas I didst night went to waste. Just as I was about to go wash my face, I saw Li Chuan stand up, caress the cat, and take a look at his watch. He said, ¡°It¡¯s been three hours, I must leave now. Thank you for letting me visit Mia.¡±

    Three hours? Did three hours go by so quickly? Howe I didn¡¯t feel it at all? When I thought about it again, it really was, wasn¡¯t it? I spent two hours cleaning the ce, used half an hour to pick up dead wood, and another half an hour to scrape them. I was such an idiot, didn¡¯t that add up to three hours?

    Li Chuan had already put Mia down on the floor and walked towards the door, looking like he didn¡¯t want to bother me any longer.

    I suddenly shouted, ¡°Wait!¡±

    I didn¡¯t think I had such a loud voice; the beads above my head rattled from the sound of my voice. He turned his head to look at me.

    I said with my face bleeding red, ¡°You¡­You¡­¡±

    I wanted to say, you were only here to see Mia? Couldn¡¯t you apany me a little longer? I stuttered and couldn¡¯t say the words.

    I heard myself scold him fiercely, ¡°(English) You killed everything in me! How could you do that?¡±

    He froze his step. He stared at me. He wanted to say something, but he didn¡¯t. He then walked towards me. Just when he was about to speak, I interrupted furiously, ¡°Right now! You¡¯re not allowed to say a word! Wang Li Chuan, I want you to kiss me immediately!¡±

    He looked at me in shock. I could only hear myself breathing quickly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Xiao Qiu.¡± He opened his arms and hugged me tightly. He murmured in my ear, ¡°It¡¯s my fault.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say you¡¯re sorry. There is no need for apology between us. Kiss me! Right now!¡±

    But he only kissed my eyes lightly, gently, as a token, and soothingly. His love was once so ardent. My heart shattered into pieces again.

    ¡°(English) You must move on.¡±

    ¡°(English) No!¡±

    ¡°Remember your promise.¡±

    ¡°(English) No!¡± I said aloud, ¡°Go! Go back to Switzend! Don¡¯t evere back! I never want to see you again!¡±

    ¡°You were the one who asked me toe back!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I wanted you toe back. What I want is you, as a living person, not as a spirit!¡±

    Every time he was hurt, he would be silent. I saw glitter deep in his eyes for a second before it disappeared. His eyes were deep like the bottom of a waterfall. They were so deep that you couldn¡¯t see where they ended. Even his soul was buried deep down inside. Instead, I reflected in the pilpul of his eyes like a ghost. I looked crazy and mad. At that very moment, I really wanted to strangle him and strangle myself.

    ¡°If I¡¯m going to die tomorrow, would you¡­would you still treat me like this today?¡±

    He didn¡¯t say anything. He grabbed my hand and ced it on the right of his body. I stretched out my fingers like a starfish to feel what used to be his leg, but now was a hard and cold prosthetic leg.

    ¡°I¡¯m not living. I¡¯ve never been. Xiao Qiu, do you really love me so much? Was six years not enough for you toe out of it?¡±

    ¡°No, not even a thousand years would be enough! I don¡¯t want toe out of it. Why do I have toe out of it?!¡±

    ¡°Can you grow up a bit? In your lifetime, some things just have to go, and you have to lose it. (English) Let it go!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose you!¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re afraid of losing me, but you already did. You have to face this oue.¡± He then said, ¡°When you¡¯ve read the best novel, have seen the most handsome man, or have arrived in the prettiest city, you would say to yourself that you¡¯ve already seen the best in the world. You would believe that you would spend the rest of your life with them. But after a while, something happens, and you read another book that is even better, meet a man who is even more handsome, and go to a city that is even prettier. A new life will start again.¡±

    He continued talking with a painful smile, ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid of the oue. The oue is just a mirage. All endings represent a new beginning.¡±

    ¡°No! Don¡¯t make excuses! You and I can only have beginnings and no endings. There will never be an end. If there has to be one, there will only be one. That is you and me living happily ever after!¡±

    ¡°(English) You are so damaged!¡± he twisted my shoulders and scolded, ¡°You stupid woman! Why do you not understand what I¡¯m saying? What is in your head? Water? Grass? (English) Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!¡±

    ¡°I am stupid, you didn¡¯t know!?¡±

    He was panting hard. He was very angry. His face was red.

    ¡°Okay,¡± he let go his hands, ¡°as long as you promise me that you¡¯ll move on, I¡¯ll do anything you say.¡±

    ¡°(English) Kiss me, make love with me! Now!¡±

    He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

    We didn¡¯t know what to say anymore, so we stared at each other nervously.

    It felt like a century had passed before he said, ¡°Turn off the lights. (English) Stupid woman!¡±

    We hugged each other silently in the dark. Li Chuan¡¯s body was very weak, yet I was rough out of anger. I squeezed his hands and wouldn¡¯t let him move; I scratched him with my nails whenever he tried to push me away. He yelled at me in French, so I yelled back at him in Yunnan dialect. We were like two fierce beasts fighting on the bed. I felt a bit guilty, it was the first time I bullied Li Chuan, and bullied him for being disabled. Near the end, I heard Li Chuan sigh in the dark. He grabbed my hand and attempted to stop me:

    ¡°(English) Are you making love with me? Or are you killing me?¡±

    ¡°(English) Both!¡±

    ¡°(English) Stupid!¡±

    ¡°(English) You stupid!¡±

    In the end, wey on the bed in exhaustion as we panted. Everything was in pieces. I didn¡¯t know if it was my victory, or if I had beenpletely shattered by him. I only knew that my face was covered in tears. Both my tears and sweat dripped onto his body. I let go of my dignity and begged him continuously. I begged him not to let me go and not to leave me. I told him everything would be alright. He turned his body, caressed my face lightly, and just like in the past, he kissed me gently and affectionately. He called my name one after another: ¡°Xiao Qiu, Xiao Qiu, Xiao Qiu, Xiao Qiu¡­¡±

    He then said, ¡°(English) You must move on.¡±

 Chapter 34

    <h4>Chapter 34</h4>

    When I walked Li Chuan to the door, light rain was falling. There were a few scratches on Li Chuan¡¯s neck, traces I had left behind when I was angry. Li Chuan was anemic and his wounds were not easily healed. I felt a bit of regret and was conflicted inside. This might be thest time I could bully him, might as well be fierce.

    Like in the past, I faced the mirror and helped him fix his tie and insincerely warned, ¡°Remember to wear sweaters with high cors when you go to work. Otherwise, people willugh at you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± He refused to reply.

    I pretended to examine his wounds and seized the chance to change the subject, ¡°Is your anemia very severe? Why does your brother get so nervous each time you bleed?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not severe. He¡¯s afraid it will get infected.¡±

    ¡°Do you get infected easily?¡±

    ¡°Not easily.¡± His lips were sealed tightly, ending the conversation. Li Chuan¡¯s reply about his health and sickness was forever simple and not wanting to expand on it, seemingly to be the truth but there was something being hidden.

    Walking out the door, he stood on the steps and said, ¡°In the future, stop sending money to thatwyer each month. You know that I don¡¯t need that money.¡±

    It was that sensitive topic again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need that money either.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s expensive to live in Beijing and your sry isn¡¯t considered high.¡±

    It¡¯s not considered high, but I don¡¯t see you giving me a raise.

    ¡°Mine is considered high among those in my profession. I am very satisfied.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu,¡± He grasped my hands, looked into my eyes and said seriously, ¡°If I could make you happy, I would try my best. I wouldn¡¯t let any opportunities pass by. But I can¡¯t, therefore¡­I withdrew. I didn¡¯t expect that I would waste so much of your time¡­I¡¯m really sorry.¡±

    I was driven mad inside. Li Chuan hadn¡¯t been back for a month yet, but, unexpectedly, he had already cautiously broken up with me time and time again. Even the most emotional dramas only did this once or twice. It was unbearable. Really unbearable.

    ¡°In what way can¡¯t you? Weren¡¯t you quite normal just now?¡± I looked at him with wide eyes, ¡°Plus, even if you can¡¯t, I wouldn¡¯t mind. If worsees to worse, I¡¯ll turn over a new leaf and be a decent woman.¡±

    A certain person became frightened and his face looked dumbfounded.

    I seized this opportunity to ask, ¡°Li Chuan, what really happened?¡±

    His eyes fogged over. It was misty and moist like distant mountains in the rain. He took his eyesight away from my face and looked at his watch, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, I need to leave now.¡±

    Every time I saw this expression from Li Chuan, my heart wouldpletely soften. Colleagues of his all treated Li Chuan like an ordinary person. Only I know how hard it was for him. Not even ounting for the triple effort he has to put in to walk, in order to increase the strength of his bones, Li Chuan had to eat a kind of white pill every morning he woke up.In order to prevent the pill from damaging his esophagus, he had to drink arge cup of water at the same time. After taking the medicine, he would have to stand for thirty minutes without reclining. Otherwise, there would be serious side effects. Besides staying up all night to draw designs, for the most part, Li Chuan got up earlier than me. So I didn¡¯t really see much of how he took the medication. There was only one time that he had a headache and nausea after he took the medicine. He was already on the verge of copsing, yet he refused to recline at all. I could only support him and stand against the wall with him for thirty minutes. After standing, Li Chuan still apologized to me saying that he shouldn¡¯t have troubled me with this.

    Google told me that in the first three years Li Chuan had left me, he hadn¡¯t attended any public events. Even when his designs received awards, he didn¡¯t attend the award ceremonies. Afterwards, any news of him online, such as designs for a few European projects, were all concentrated in Switzend. The volume of work was iparable to what he used to have. Li Chuan had only resumed working in the past year. And when I saw him, there was no noticeable difference in him besides him looking somewhat thin. It didn¡¯t look like he had a great illness.

    The weather was cold, I sniffed my nose and sucked back the grievances that were rushing forth in my eyes.

    After so much difficulty, I could finally be together with Li Chuan. Besides arguing, there was only arguing. Li Chuan wouldn¡¯t tell me the truth no matter what.

    Perhaps, our fate together had really been used up.

    Li Chuan drove the car to K cafe. In the car, I told him that I had really moved on. I had three dates at this ce.

    Li Chuan didn¡¯tment on it the entire way. When we were almost there, he couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°You would date both men and women?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m giving it a try. Maybe I have a problem with my inclination. Emma suspects that I am a lesbian.¡±

    ¡°How could you be?¡± He was finally distressed.

    ¡°Perhaps bisexual?¡± I added.

    ¡°Stop joking around. You have no problem with you inclination.¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s your inclination that has a problem. You are gay. Your brother is, and so are you.¡±

    For a long time, the only reason I could ept for Li Chuan¡¯s departure was that Li Chuan was gay. It was because Ji Huan was the only friend who Li Chuan had a little personal association with in Beijing. Ji Huan was gay. Ji Chuan was also gay. Li Chuan had many gay characteristics. For example, mysophobia. For example, being meticulously attired. For example, before he met me, he was frequent visitor of ¡°Lang Huan¡± (Happy Wolf). Li Chuan never evaded talking about Lang Huan with me. He said that the coffee there was top-notch, the drinks were good, and there were many people in the art circle. There were many who got along with him. Even though he wasn¡¯t gay, he sympathized a lot with the gaymunity because Ji Chuan was gay and Ren¨¦ was gay. Ren¨¦ was even his good friend in college. He even felt very close to them.

    ¡°I have no problems with my inclination.¡± He stated again, ¡°You know I don¡¯t have a problem.¡±

    ¡°Since neither of us have a problem, then why can¡¯t we be together?¡± Here we go again. That¡¯s right, I¡¯m unoriginal. It¡¯s not an illness. It¡¯s not being gay. It¡¯s not that he was incapable. He didn¡¯t have another women. When every possibility is removed one by one, what is left? Parents don¡¯t approve? (It seemed like everyone in his family was afraid of him.) He was a spy from the security bureau (With that level of Chinese of his¡­)? Kidnapped by aliens before (Couldn¡¯t they pick a healthier breed)? Perhaps we couldn¡¯t get married before we were siblings (But our blood types werepletely different)? None of them seemed like it! I thought until I couldn¡¯t think anymore and still couldn¡¯t understand.

    The corner of Li Chuan¡¯s mouth twitched. He was just about to re up when the car stopped with a screech. He nearly ran a red light. Afterwards, for the remaining ride, no matter how much I pestered him, he only concentrated on driving and did not say a word.

    At the cafe, he got off and opened the car door for me with a cold expression.

    I put on my overcoat, took out the scarf that Ren¨¦ had given me from the pocket, and put it on my neck. My curiosity was too great. I wanted to know why Ren¨¦ didn¡¯t want me to wear the scarf in front of Li Chuan.

    Sure enough, Li Chuan¡¯s eyes shifted and asked, ¡°Where did you get this scarf?¡±

    ¡°Shuang An shopping center, third floor, specialty store.¡±

    He swiftly took the scarf off my neck, ¡°You can¡¯t wear it. I¡¯m confiscating it.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t let me wear a scarf in such cold weather. Do you want me to freeze to death?¡±

    ¡°You aren¡¯t allowed to wear this one!¡±

    ¡°Why not? What is it to you?¡±

    ¡°This is¡­¡± He was just about to say it when he promptly stopped and looked at me with an odd expression.

    I suddenly came to a realization, ¡°This¡­couldn¡¯t be what is used at pride (parade)?¡± I took the scarf and looked it over, searching for the rainbow symbol.

    ¡°Puah¡­¡± He couldn¡¯t help butugh at my flustered expression. ¡°It¡¯s not. If you want to wear it, then wear it. I¡¯ll go settle this with Ren¨¦.¡±

    After saying, he drove away, disappearing in an instant.

    There was a familiar smell in the cafe. A young barista stood at the door holding a tray of coffee samples for passer-bys to try.

    I pushed open the door and entered. I got a medium cup of coffee and found a seat next to the window. The radio was ying a Tian Zhen song: ¡°Many questions shed in front of my eyes. There is happiness and disappointments. The state of my mood always depended on you. I¡¯ve never considered myself¡­¡± She had just gotten to the chorus when someone walked towards me. At first, I thought I was looking at Zhu Shi Mao. That person was like a bright star with eyebrows like swords, tall statue, and with a grave expression that was the same as Zhu Shi Mao on CCTV¡¯s Chinese New Year¡¯s G. I thought that his grave expression was a little hrious.

    I continued to drink coffee. Zhu Shi Mao came up to the table and smiled, ¡°Excuse me, are you Miss Xie?¡±

    ¡°Yes, are you Zhu¡­Mr Chen?¡±

    The song over the radio seemed as if it was hinting at something: The staggering flowers, also need yourfort. Don¡¯t like them wait and wilt away.

    ¡°Chen Jiu Zhou.¡±

    He said down and then stood up again, asking if I wanted a dessert. I said no and he went to buy atte for himself.

    ¡°Meng Meng said that Miss Xie¡¯s English was quite good.¡±

    Hearing him address Emma in such an affectionate tone, I suspected that he was another lover that Emma had dumped. Emma had dated many men and when they stopped dating, she sessfully turned all those men into friends. Emma said that men were natural resources that couldn¡¯t be wasted. They would alwayse into use sometime. As a result, Emma¡¯s spare time in life was very enriched. She had to socialize with all these boy friends.

    ¡°It¡¯s not bad.¡±

    ¡°Are you from Beijing, Miss Xie?¡±

    His Mandarin was quite pleasant to listen to. It was just very articte and had a nasally sound, as he was part of a stage y.

    Our conversation was heading towards a traditional marriage partner seeking date. We would each introduce our educational background and economic situation. And then change to marital status,plete with discussion of house and car. Wages had to be a certain amount and seeking someone younger than X year old with normal features and had to bepassionate¡­.

    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡±

    ¡°Then Miss Xie, where are you from?¡±

    ¡°Is that important?¡±

    Chen Jiu Zhou finally said something funny, ¡°It¡¯s not important. But, the conversation must go on. Right?¡±

    Even though the blind date was fixed to be within thirty minutes, Chen Jiu Zhou and I spoke for nearly an hour. During this time, I didn¡¯t say more than ten words. Half of it was ¡°Uh-huh, Ha, Really¡± and so on. Mr. Chen majestically introduced his work, hispany¡¯s operation n, what he learned from ying the stock market, his vacation vi in B city, a luxurious club in the city and even said that he could take me on vacation abroad. I said that I wasn¡¯t interested and he sighed and shook his head, ¡°You study English, yet you haven¡¯t even gone to an English speaking country and seen their culture. It¡¯s really a bit of a pity!¡±

    While listening to him speak, I also looked at the scenery outside the door and yed with my fingernails as if there were jewels stuck on them. After a while, he courteously took his leave. He didn¡¯t ask for my number. And then I looked around, waiting for the second contestant.

    There was a tall male student at the table next door. Hezily put up his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±

    I was someone who was easily struck by a good looking person. The tall male student looked simr to Takeshi Kaneshiro. He was very handsome and also pure. Of course he couldn¡¯t be considered a student, but he had a student air to him.

    Takeshi Kaneshiro had a huge pile of papers in his hands that had calctions written all over it. The type ofplicated forms with various symbols.

    He really was a good student. He didn¡¯t even forget to bring his school work to a date.

    But I still voiced my surprise, ¡°You¡¯re doing it by hand? You don¡¯t need a calctor?¡±

    ¡°Calctor?¡± He shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s too slow.¡±

    ¡°You can calcte it faster than a calctor?¡± No way? The physics phd candidates of this country aren¡¯t at the stage to do arithmetic by hand, right?

    ¡°First of all, I¡¯m deriving forms, not doing arithmetic.¡± He said, ¡°Second, yes, if I was to put this form in a calctor and then give it some data, it would take quite a few days for it toe up with an answer.¡±

    ¡°Then ¡®The Terminator¡¯ robot taking over the earth is false?¡±

    ¡°Of course. How canputerspete with the human brain?¡±

    ¡°What are you studying?¡±

    ¡°Particle physics. You?¡±

    ¡°English literature.¡±

    Then, this person didn¡¯te over to sit down. Instead, he actually lowered his head and proceeded to work on his form.

    It was my turn to be dumbfounded. Was he not the right person? This handsome person didn¡¯t look a bit like Emma.

    ¡°Excuse me, are you Eason (Ai Song)?¡± [Emma¡¯s Chinese name is Ai Ma. Same surname]

    He nodded.

    I, then, cautiously asked, ¡°Excuse me, did youe here for¡­¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± He looked at his watch, ¡°The time given to me was from 2:30 to 3. It¡¯s now 3:10. So we¡¯ve ended before we¡¯ve started, right? My older sister said that you still had another one. I¡¯ll leave it for him.¡±

    ¡°The next one is a woman.¡±

    ¡°Men and women are all made up of particles.¡±

    My cell phone rang. It was Emma notifying me that Su Xin was busy and couldn¡¯te anymore. She¡¯ll set it up for another day.

    I hung up and said to him, ¡°Your sister said that the next person has canceled. You have thirty minute now. If you want to talk, then hurry up. If you don¡¯t want to talk, then both of us can leave. When you return, don¡¯t forget to report to your sister that you didn¡¯t take a fancy to me.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t misunderstand. It¡¯s not that I didn¡¯t take a fancy to you. I am just a resolute celibate.¡±

    I was relieved. This person at least had manners and didn¡¯tpletely crush my self-esteem.

    ¡°Then why did youe today?¡±

    ¡°My sister forced me. My mom forced me. Let us take the marriage of unmarried youngsters in theirte twenties as the main topic of this year.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. They are just concerned about you.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I am most bothered by. There¡¯s always that group of people in this world who are afraid that the way you live your life is different from theirs. Didn¡¯t Bertrand Russell say that being open minded was the source of happiness?¡±

    I was a bit moved. A physics doctorate could also be concerned about the source of happiness. Student Li Chuan, where is your mind!

    ¡°Hey, how about this? someone is also forcing me. How about we pretend to date and help each other out? What do you say?¡±

    Heughed. Hisugh was innocent, like the little brother next door, ¡°Alright! Do you have a cell number?¡±

    We exchanged numbers and even finished our coffees together. It was pouring outside. I asked Eason how he got there. He said that he rode his bicycle and nned to sit there and wait until the rain stopped. I took my leave first. I went out to take a taxi.

    The cafe was by the main street, but the rain was pouring hard and I stood there waving my hand for a long time. No taxi stopped.

    After approximately ten minutes, a car suddenly stopped in front of me, blocking me. I walked past the car, walking forward and continued to wave my hand for a taxi. And then I heard someone call my name. I turned to see Li Chuan braving the rain to beckon at me.

 Chapter 35

    <h4>Chapter 35</h4>

    I stood below the roof and shouted through the heavy rain, ¡°Li Chuan! Li Chuan! What are you still doing here?¡±

    ¡°Get in the car first.¡±

    He opened the car door and helped me put on my seatbelt. I was worried as I saw his bodypletely wet, with rain dripping from his hair. The weather was so cold, yet he was only wearing a wool coat; the kind that did not shield well against the wind and definitely not waterproof.

    He returned to the driver¡¯s seat all wet. He closed the door, turned on the heat, and asked, ¡°You didn¡¯t get wet, did you?¡±

    My bag was big and waterproof. I had been holding it above my head, ¡°No. What were you still doing here? You didn¡¯t leave?¡±

    ¡°I went to the convenience store to buy a few cans of cat food. I saw you waving your arm on my way back. I didn¡¯t know you were trying to catch a cab and thought you were looking for me,¡± he said and couldn¡¯t hold back his sneeze. Before he was about to say sorry, I quickly handed him a tissue.

    The rain was so heavy that it made the road blurry. It hit rhythmically against the windshield.

    ¡°Quickly take your wet clothes off,¡± I grabbed a towel from the side and gave it to him to dry his hair, ¡°don¡¯t catch a cold.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He said, ¡°How did it go? Did all of them show up? Did any one of them catch your eye?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­Do you care that much about my happiness and future?¡± I asked feeling a bit angry.

    ¡°Yeah, hurry and tell me.¡±

    ¡°¡­One of them was not bad.¡±

    ¡°The one with a Ph.D, right?¡±

    ¡°How did you know?¡±

    ¡°I guessed.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s pretty good looking,¡± I said, ¡°but obviously that¡¯s not the main point. The main point is that I think he¡¯s quite sincere in his words, and straightforward.¡±

    It stung him. Someone became awkwardly silent. He quickly changed the subject, ¡°Do you want me to drive you home, or do you have somewhere else to go?¡±

    ¡°Can you drop me off at a restaurant? I¡¯m hungry.¡±

    He decelerated, turned towards me, and asked, ¡°You were on a date with two guys, and not one of them treated you to lunch?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Did they treat you coffee?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    I waited for Li Chuan to express his criticism, but he kept his eyes straight on the road in the heavy rain, ¡°There¡¯s a Yunnan restaurant in the front, do you want to go?¡±

    I was especially hungry at the moment, so I quickly nodded my head.

    He stopped the car, walked me to the front of the restaurant, and then said, ¡°Go in to eat yourself.¡±

    I looked at him bberghasted. That couldn¡¯t be right. Li Chuan, who had always been a gentleman, could not possibly be in a hurry to leave, right? Li Chuan had never walked me to the front of a restaurant and then turned around and leave¡­ Furthermore, I had been good and amodating, hadn¡¯t I? I had already shown him that I had ¡°moved on¡± by my proactive actions.

    Although I understood him, I still decided to be thick skinned and asked to confirm, ¡°You¡¯re¡­noting in with me?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± he said, ¡°you enjoy yourself.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll treat you, how about that?¡± I asked unsurely with my voice shaking. My desperation could clearly be seen.

    ¡°I still have some business to tend to,¡± he said without any expression.

    If I had continued to ask him to stay, it would have been ill-mannered of me. Li Chuan had already made it explicit many times that we had broken up. Whom was I trying to persuade? I couldn¡¯t even watch myself any longer.

    At that moment, I had already lost all appetite. I even wanted to vomit.

    I smiled forcefully, ¡°Hurry back then.¡±

    ¡°Goodbye.¡± I heard him press the car remote, and his car nearby started itself up.

    ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    The bus stop was just across the road; I¡¯d just need to ride a few stops to get home. After I watched Li Chuan turn around and get into his car, I didn¡¯t go into the restaurant. Instead, I walked into the rain. My mind waspletely nk. I only wanted to keep going forward, hoping that the rain would wash away my anger. I was in a bit of a daze when I got to the other side of the road. The buses drove in and out of the stop under the rain. Li Chuan¡¯s words were still resonating in my ears: ¡°No, you enjoy yourself¡­I still have some business to tend to¡­.¡±

    I looked up into the sky; it was bright despite the rain. Why did it have to be winter still? It even snowedst night, and yet it¡¯s raining today. The ground was all muddy with the rain washing the roads. It would have been so much better if it was snow; everything would be in white and clean.

    I continued walking and heard a car screech from braking. Someone suddenly grabbed onto my arm and tugged me forcefully to turn in another direction. I saw a face in the rain. It looked familiar, but it was unfamiliar at the same time. I was stunned by his frightened expression.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, where are you going?¡± Li Chuan couldn¡¯t walk very fast nor run. I didn¡¯t know how he was able to catch up to me. Seeing how I didn¡¯t respond, he shook my body and almost scolded, ¡°It was a red light, what were you thinking?!¡±

    ¡°Let go of me!¡± I shook off his hands, ¡°Let go! I want to go home!¡± His hands held on like pincers. They wouldn¡¯t let go no matter how hard I shook. He embraced me, ¡°Don¡¯t do stupid things! If you want to go home, I¡¯ll drive you home.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch me! Don¡¯t touch me!¡± I tried to get away, but then realized that I couldn¡¯t budge at all. He hugged me tighter and tighter, almost suffocating me.

    ¡°How many times do I have to say it, Xiao Qiu? (English) It¡¯s over! Let it go!¡±

    ¡°(English) It¡¯s not over! Every person in the world can say it¡¯s over to me. My mom is over, my dad is over, but you! Wang Li Chuan! I poured out everything I had for you, so you can¡¯t, you can¡¯t¡­say it¡¯s over to me so easily!¡±

    ¡°(English) Please! I know it¡¯s not been easy. Please, working on it!¡±

    ¡°No! Why? It has been so many years already, why won¡¯t you tell me the truth? Am I that fragile in your heart? You think I would faint from the truth? What¡¯s more important than six years of my youth? Tell me! Tell me! Why? Why?¡±

    He wouldn¡¯t let go of me. I kicked him, punched him, twisted his arms, hit him with my bag, and then I ran off in the rain.

    (English) Over is over.

    I requested a week of vacation and didn¡¯t go to work. Iy at home by myself like a zombie and didn¡¯t eat or drink. I unplugged the home phone and turned off my cell phone. I slept during the day, but had insomnia at night. I felt that the sky was dark and my heart was cold. Mia walked around me. The room smelled like something was rotting. All the cat food was gone by Saturday, so I got up reluctantly to go to the supermarket. I went to the food court and ate lunch. It finally lifted up my spirit a bit. I spotted the schedule on the wall and went into the gym. People in the yoga ss saw me and greeted me. All the moms came and asked how I seeded in my diet.

    ¡°What diet? I¡¯m not even fat!¡± I wasn¡¯t in the mood to chat.

    ¡°Stop lying. Your chin is all pointy now. Xiao Qiu, don¡¯t be so harsh on yourself. Last time, Xiao Ma ate tomatoes for her diet, she lost eight pounds in five days, but she fell sick on the sixth day. She rested for a month. Not only did she regain all of her weight, she also packed on an extra five pounds. Listen to me, don¡¯t go on diets like this. You have to take it slow.¡±

    I sneered. It had only been a week since west seen each other. They were already making fun of me since I was younger.As a result, I weighed myself in front of everybody. I was speechless afterwards. I had really taken the harmfulness of love too lightly. I had actually lost ten pounds. No wonder my body felt so light.

    I got to work on time on Monday. My colleagues all came to ask how I was. I said I caught a cold and that it wasn¡¯t serious. I told them I didn¡¯t want to infect others, so I didn¡¯t go to work. They stopped asking after that because I often worked over time, so taking a rest every now and then was only normal.

    I didn¡¯t see Li Chuan at lunch.

    But I came to learn that Xiao Wei, who wasn¡¯t into gossip before, had joined our trantion team¡¯s gossip table.

    ¡°Sigh, Xiao Qiu, it¡¯s only been a few days that I haven¡¯t seen you, howe you¡¯ve lost so much weight?¡± Emma said with a smile, ¡°Is it because you¡¯ve gone vegetarian? I bumped into Xiao Guanst Monday. I purposely mentioned you, but he was so angry, so I quickly said that you were sick.¡±

    I breathed in a breath of cold air from being shocked. Xiao Guan had asked me to meet him at Lingbao Temple at 7pm on Saturday. Ipletely forgot about it! I quickly exined, ¡°Hm, he was looking for me, but I didn¡¯t go because I got sick and forgot to let him know. He must have been mad because of that.¡±

    ¡°What? You actually stood Xiao Guan up?!¡± Emma was ted, ¡°Hahaha! Prince Xiao has always taken himself so highly. You should stand him up a few more times to help us get back at him.¡±

    I smiled forcefully and ate my sd. You couldn¡¯t really consider that I stood him up. Didn¡¯t I tell him that I was busy? He didn¡¯t even let me finish before hanging up. How could you consider that as asking someone out on a date? It was more like he asked himself.

    I asked Xiao Wei, ¡°Howe you¡¯re so free today to join our gossip?¡±

    Before I heard Xiao Wei reply, Emma responded on her behalf, ¡°Xiao Wei is very free this week. Li Chuan also took the whole week off like you. Xiao Wei has nothing to do, so she¡¯s been ying poker online every day. We were justforting her that although Director Jiang has a new secretary right now and even if Li Chuan goes back to Switzend, she wouldn¡¯t beid off. We don¡¯t need to look any farther, our trantion department definitely needs a secretary. Why don¡¯t you request to transfer over? We¡¯ll digest this internally.¡±

    My heart trembled slightly, ¡°Li Chuan didn¡¯te to work? Why?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± Xiao Wei frowned, ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s funny? I¡¯m his secretary, yet I don¡¯t even know why he hasn¡¯te to work for a week.¡±

    ¡°Were there no signs of it at all?¡± I asked, ¡°That can¡¯t be possible, right?¡±

    ¡°Signs¡­Of course there were!¡± Xiao Wei said, ¡°Mr. Wang¡¯s brother suddenly came on Thursday. He took a few rolls of sketches from his office. And then I heard Xiao Tang say that Director Jiang and Director Zhang were going to Switzend on Friday. They haven¡¯t returned yet. So¡­I don¡¯t know what happened at the head office in Switzend. I think Mr. Wang must be in Switzend with them.¡±

    ¡°No way. Mr. Li Chuan didn¡¯t even send you an email about it?¡± Ming Ming continued, ¡°The Boss left without leaving a word to his secretary and it¡¯s been a few days now. That¡¯s very strange!¡±

    ¡°Nope, he really didn¡¯t! My mailbox is already full of emails from others to him. I told Director Jiang and he said for all emails to Chief Wang, forward the overseas ones to Mr. Wang Ji Chuan and forward all the China ones to himself. I suspect that his mailbox is also full by now.¡±

    ¡°Full? How can there be so many? Xiao Wei, you¡¯re exaggerating, right?¡± Emma was clearly shocked.

    ¡°How could it not be full? There are at least a hundred emails a day in English, French, German, and Chinese. For the longest time, I thought Chief Wang¡¯s main job was to reply emails.¡±

    ¡­.

    I wasn¡¯t listening after that. All I heard was my heart pounding.

    I opened my MSN when I returned to my seat. Whether it was Li Chuan or Rene, they were both offline. I immediately sent a message to Rene:

    ¡°Rene, I heard Li Chuan has returned to Switzend? Nothing is wrong, right?¡±

    I was in a daze for the whole afternoon as I waited for Rene¡¯s response. But his avatar ¡ª that silly tangerine ¡ª was grey the whole time.

    After I got home, I sat and stared nkly at theputer screen. I opened MSN, went to a music broadcasting site, went to the online novel site, opened a ridiculous romance novel, and stared at the screen to wait for Rene¡¯s reply.

    I went to the washroom once during this time. I waited until 2am, but no one responded. I made myself invisible and continued waiting. Meng Meng, Ming Ming, Xiao Guan, and the rest were all online, but I didn¡¯t know whom they were chatting with.

    Now that I thought about it, I had been living a dull life for the past six years. It wasn¡¯t like I couldn¡¯t afford the tools needed for a trantor such as aputer or subscription to broadband inte. I would have been able to get these things as long as I save up a bit, but I just couldn¡¯t find the interest to chat with others. Whenever I chatted with someone online, after it goes over thirty minutes, I would get annoyed.

    I still did not receive any response at 3am. Iy on my bed and finally slept. I had the scariest dream that night. I dreamt that Li Chuan was lying in the emergency room with a bunch of tubes plugged into him. He coughed up blood non-stop. His pillow and nket were covered in blood. A bunch of doctors wearing white coats were holding surgical knives. They stood beside his bed and didn¡¯t move. I was behind a ss door. Under the lights, I saw blood drip down from Li Chuan¡¯s fingers. His body was having spasms under the pain. He struggled to sit up, but was forced to lie down. And then, he suddenly tilted his head with his face covered in blood and shouted towards me, ¡°(English) Help me!¡±

    It was 5am when I woke up. The moonlight was shining peacefully outside the window. I felt my forehead and realized that my body was covered in cold sweat. I then let out a long breath of relief. Great! Really! It was just a dream!¡­¡­Everything was not real!

    When I thought about it carefully, I realized that some parts of my dream were scenes from the ER series, and some were like a replica of some medical horror film. But, but, what did this signify?

    I crawled to my desk and opened theputer. I finally saw a notification blinking at the bottom.

    My beloved Rene!

    I anxiously opened the window and it said:

    ¡°(English) Yes, and No.¡±

    It took me a moment to realize that he was answering my question: Yes, Li Chuan had returned to Switzend. No, he was fine.

    But something was strange. In my mind, Rene had always been very talkative. Howe his reply was so short this time? Did they have a fight because of Mia and the scarf? Did Li Chuan threaten him and not let him say too much to me?

    I wanted to ask further, but the tangerine was grey; Rene had long gone offline already.

    I suddenly remembered that when I met Li Chuan on Saturday, he had given me a few cans of cat food, saying that it was Mia¡¯s favorite. I searched the grocery bag and found the receipt. It was dated 3:32pm.

    I got out of the coffee shop at 3:40pm. I thought that Li Chuan had waited for me outside because it was raining hard. But it looked like it was really just a ¡°coincidence.¡±

    Li Chuan had never been weak. When I met him, it had already been seven to eight years since his car ident. Other than having difficulties with walking and needing to take calcium pills, Li Chuan spent a lot of time training his body. He practiced yoga, swam, and did weights and pull-ups at his home fitness room every day. Whenever he was free, he would take me out for a jog in the park downstair as the sun set. We would jog far; so far that I would feel tired, yet he would still insist on continuing. I didn¡¯t feel anything would be wrong with Li Chuan¡¯s body. Furthermore, didn¡¯t Rene say that he was fine? Li Chuan must have returned to Switzend due to work; the kind that was urgent and important. Moreover, didn¡¯t Director Jiang and Director Zhang also go after him?

    The sun came out. I felt that it would be best for me to not worry too much.

    I went out for breakfast and took a stroll on the streets. The morning was cold, so the few people that were walking on the streets were all wearing big coats. I went passed a small Taoist Temple. A few fortune-tellers were sitting at the front entrance. One of them was wearing a robe; his eyes were closed, his long hair rested on his shoulders, his face was dirty, but his head was tilted high like a nobleman from the Qing dynasty.

    I never believed in gods, but during desperate times like exams and interviews, I would go in and burn some incenses and pray temporarily. It was nothing more but to calm down my nervousness and take away some stress. When I walked past the old man, he suddenly spoke:

    ¡°Miss, please wait.¡±

    My footstep stopped on its own.

    ¡°How about some fortune-telling? It¡¯ll only be ten dors.¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t really believe in these.¡±

    ¡°You wille across a life-threatening situation. You don¡¯t want to hear about it?¡±

    He slowly turned his face towards me. He suddenly opened his eyes, blinked, and looked up into the sky with much effort. His eyeballs were white, which meant that he was blind.

    I gave him fifty dors, ¡°I don¡¯t need my fortunes told, but there¡¯s someone else that I would like to ask about.¡±

    ¡°I can read palms, birthdays, or trigrams. Which would you like?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not here, so I¡¯ll give you his birthday.¡±

    I told him Li Chuan¡¯s birthday; he was born early in the morning. I also gave him my birthday.

    ¡°What is his rtionship with you?¡±

    ¡°Boyfriend.¡±

    ¡°What would you like to ask? Marriage? Wealth? Health? Children?¡±

    ¡°Everything. Tell me everything you know.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll start with one. If I¡¯m wrong, you can take your fifty dors back.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°He was in an ident when he was seventeen.¡±

    I looked at him with my eyes wide open. I felt my legs go numb.

    ¡°I¡¯m right, right?¡± The old man fumbled for the fifty dors and put it into his wallet.

    ¡°And¡­what about now?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not well either,¡± he said.

    ¡°What¡­do you mean by ¡®not well¡¯?¡± I looked at him anxiously.

    ¡°Miss, it¡¯s best that you don¡¯t be together with him. It¡¯ll just bring you more troubles,¡± he said slowly.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Your birthdays bring bad luck to each other. Very bad luck. The kind that could be harmful.¡±

    I almost lost my voice, ¡°What? Bad luck? Who¡¯s bringing bad luck to whom?¡±

    ¡°He is water, and you are earth. Earth brings bad luck to water. And this year is the year of earth, so Saturn is the overseer while the white tiger is unleashed. It is his bad year. He is too weak and you are too strong. Don¡¯t look for him.¡±

    I was dumb-found. So it turned out that our birthdays didn¡¯t match. No wonder. I spilt coffee on him the first time we met. We first fought in bedst week, and then we fought again in the rain. Li Chuan was always the one who got hurt.

    I didn¡¯t dare to ask anymore, so I quickly said, ¡°Master, is there any way to avoid it?¡±

    ¡°Avoid it? Didn¡¯t I tell you already? Just don¡¯t be with him. If you guys stay together, you will end up harming him.¡±

    ¡°¡­Oh, is that the only way?¡±

    ¡°Buy a jade to get rid of the bad luck. The kind that is white and best to have some red veins on it,¡± he said. ¡°After you buy it, wear it on your chest. Take it off after 30 days and let him wear it.¡±

    ¡°I can be with him then?¡± I pressed.

    ¡°No, no. This will only help get rid of some of the bad luck. But for the sake of his future and safety, it¡¯s best that you two don¡¯t be together. There will be no good oue.¡± The old man shook his head, ¡°Miss, you are still young. You should find another man. The harm you bring to him is too fierce.¡±

    ¡°Really? That can¡¯t be. I¡¯m not fierce at all¡­I¡¯m very willing to take care of him,¡± I said depressingly.

    The old man closed his eyes and returned to his seat.

    I ran in madness. I was defeated! I didn¡¯t go to work. Instead, I went to different marketces looking for a jade. I finally found a white jade from the Qing Dynasty; its shape was round, transparent, shiny, and most importantly, it had tiny red veins in its middle and bottom. It was priced at 6,300 RMB. I didn¡¯t think twice before I swiped my credit card.

    I had never bought myself any expensive jewellery before. Besides my watch, the most expensive item on me was the ruby earrings that Li Chuan gave me six years ago. I didn¡¯t know how much it cost, but I knew it was not cheap. It seemed like I had never bought Li Chuan anything before. Seriously, Li Chuan had always been the one giving. He gave me money, gave me books, gave me clothes, gave me purses, helped me with my assignments, and helped edit my essays. Every time and in everything, he was always the one putting in effort. No wonder my ssmates said I was living off a rich man. I had never even knitted him a scarf. I really felt ashamed. Once I got the jade, I immediately wore it.

    I then told myself that I was never a superstitious person, so I should not believe in birthday readings! I should not believe that I brought bad luck to Li Chuan! Furthermore, I went to the dor store and bought two wooden bracelets. Didn¡¯t the fortune-teller say that wood went against earth, and earth went against water? I thought if I used wood on myself, that would do it!

    Thirty-seven days had passed. I didn¡¯t receive any news about Li Chuan. Rene never sent me another message.

    CGP on the other hand, wrote an announcement regarding this: Due to two design projects in Europe that needs to bepleted, Chief Wang Li Chuan has returned to Zurich and will stay there for several months. The designs for the redevelopment n for C City in Wenzhou will be managed by Director Jiang Hao Tian.

    Li Chuan¡¯s secretary, Tang Xiao Wei, had been temporarily transferred to the trantion department. Therefore, she ate and chatted with us at lunch every day.

    Days without Li Chuan were quiet. I used the time to finance a Peugeot 206 with a 15 thousand dor deposit. I had gotten my driver¡¯s licence together with Tang Yu Lian when I was still working at Jiu Tong¡¯s office. One time, I wanted to rest and do something else after I had finish tranting a super hard auction description. Tang Yu Lian suggested that I go take the driver¡¯s test with her. We had a discount for attending ss together. I had always been interested in mechanics, so I passed my test the first time.

    I was thest person to buy a car in the trantion department, and the car I bought was the cheapest and the most ordinary. Emmaughed very hard andmented that the car was too cheap and that I would be better off taking the bus. Emma¡¯s Toyota was from one of her boyfriends; she epted it after pretending to turn it down. That boyfriendter found a new girlfriend and bought her an even better car. Emma was sick for a month due to anger. But she still drove the car. Emma said she would change it after her next boyfriend buys her a Mercedes.

    I used my spare time to focus on practicing driving. Every day after work, I drove around in the car, zooming through all the streets of Beijing. Mid-February came in the blink of an eye. CGP won a few other projects, so my workload suddenly got heavier as I needed to trante a bunch of sketches. I worked through day and night. One day, when I turned on myputer after getting home, I received a MSN notification.

    I clicked on it. It was Rene.

    ¡°Annie, how are you?¡±

    ¡°Not bad, you?¡±

    ¡°Good, thanks. Can you give Alex a call today?¡±

    I always had the feeling that Li Chuan returned to Switzend this time because he wanted to avoid me. Therefore, I was self-restrained, and did not contact him for the past forty or more days.

    ¡°Rene, him and I are over.¡±

    ¡°XXXXXXXXXXXX. This is his phone number. It¡¯s up to you whether or not you call. I need to go now.¡±

    The tangerine quickly turned grey.

    My head wasn¡¯t clear yet, but my hand was already dialing the number. Someone picked up after three rings. It was a woman¡¯s voice. She spoke in German. Besides themon phrase, ¡°Guten Tag,¡± which everybody knew, I couldn¡¯t understand a word. I spoke to her slowly in English, ¡°May I ask, can I speak to Mr. Wang Li Chuan please?¡±

    She replied with not-so-good English, ¡°Please wait.¡±

    Ten secondster, another woman came and spoke in not-so-good but better English, ¡°It¡¯s not convenient for Mr. Wang to take the phone call. May I ask who¡¯s calling?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­Annie, calling from China.¡±

    ¡°Please wait, Mr. Wang just woke up. I will go ask if he would like to take the call.¡±

    After about two minutes, a very soft voice spoke, ¡°Hi¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Hi¡­Li Chuan, it¡¯s me.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know why, but the moment I heard his voice, my tears wouldn¡¯t stop flowing.

    ¡°Hi, Xiao Qiu.¡± His voice was very weak. It was so soft that I could barely hear him.

    ¡°Li Chuan¡­What¡¯s wrong? Are you sick?¡± I asked in a teary voice, ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me. This must be the hospital.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s acute pneumonia,¡± he said, ¡°but I¡¯m a lot better now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­I was the one who caused you to be in the rain¡­I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± I whimpered. I didn¡¯t know what I was saying and kept repeating that I was sorry.

    ¡°Nonsense, it has nothing to do with the rain.¡± He was saying other things tofort me, but I was crying too loud, so his voice waspletely drowned.

    ¡°Li Chuan, are youing back?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I promised you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll call you every day until youe back then.¡±

    ¡°Please¡­give me a break, Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve moved on, really. I¡¯ve been going out to dinner with that Ph.D guy.¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­That¡¯s more like it.¡± I heard him cough on the other end.

    ¡°Is someone taking care of you at the hospital? Have you been eating well? Is there anyone helping you take a bath and get changed?¡±

    ¡°Other than people from the hospital, I also have three special nurses, a nutritionist, a chef, and a therapist. They are all hired by my dad.¡± Heughed lightly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    ¡°Mia loves the canned food that you bought her. But they¡¯re so expensive, what should I do? I¡¯ll let you have her back after you return.¡±

    ¡°If you like, keep her. I¡¯ll supply the canned food.¡±

    He started coughing again and held the phone away. After a while, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll bring you chocte when Ie back. Which kind would you like?¡±

    ¡°Truffino.¡±

    ¡°Those are chocte cookies, not pure chocte.¡±

    ¡°I like cookies.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, I love you!¡±

    ¡°You¨C {cough,cough}. You¡¯re at it again.¡± I heard him sighing from the other end.

    ¡°Li Chuan, I love you! Rest well! Goodbye!¡±

    I looked at the calendar. It was Valentine¡¯s Day. Yeah!

    My battle with Li Chuan in the level-ying field was over. It was now in a guerri warfare state. Therefore, I must persist in Grandpa Mao¡¯s words of wisdom:

    Withdraw when the enemy advances, harass when he hold his position, strike when he is fatigue, chase when he escapes.

 Chapter 36

    <h4>Chapter 36</h4>

    As a broken hearted person, I had a problem that all broken hearted people had. It was to stand alone in a ce with a lot of people. Wallow in sorrow in all that noise. No wonder, in African tribes, when someone is about to die, they will be surrounded by others and dance in a circle of fire. It must be better to die in the middle of a roar of voices than facing fear and grief alone.

    That¡¯s why, every Valentine¡¯s Day night, I would go out alone to watch a movie.

    In these past few years, even though I didn¡¯t have Li Chuan apanying me, I still liked to watch movies. Because of this, I specially subscribed to the movie theater¡¯s newsletter. Whenever there was a film, I would go watch. It didn¡¯t matter whether it was new or old. There was a row of couple seats in the theater. I sat alone in the back, holding a huge tub of popcorn. It was a Jackie Chanedy and was very funny. Laughter broken out constantly in the theater.

    I hid alone amongst the crowd of couples, quietly shedding tears in the sounds ofughter. I didn¡¯t know what acute pneumonia was and I didn¡¯t know it would be such a serious thing. But the Li Chuan I knew had always been strong minded, never wanting me to see the weak side of him. If he could, he would cover up everything. If he couldn¡¯t he would flee and disappear without a trace. But his voice was that weak and his tone was feigning gentle. I suspected that his real condition was ten times worse than what I heard.

    When I returned home, I saw that Ren¨¦ was actually on MSN. I was exultant and quickly tapped on him, ¡°Ren¨¦! Thank you for giving me the phone number. I already called Li Chuan¡¯s phone.¡±

    Ren¨¦ typed in English, ¡°How was it? Was it a good chat?¡±

    I said, ¡°Quite good. Ren¨¦, is Li Chuan¡¯s acute pneumonia really serious? He didn¡¯t even have the strength to speak.¡±

    Ren¨¦, ¡°Uh-huh. It¡¯s already good that he could speak on the phone. He couldn¡¯t even speak a while before.¡±

    It was like that? How could it be like that? I quickly asked, ¡°Was it caused just from a cold? Why couldn¡¯t he speak? Was his throat swollen?¡±

    The other person halted for a moment as if deliberating what to say.

    And then Ren¨¦ seemed to speak the truth, ¡°¡­the most severe time was when Alex required a venttor. His immune system is quite bad, so he needs to be really careful about his health. He can¡¯t stay in cold, can¡¯t catch a cold, he can¡¯t have a fever and, even more, can¡¯t get infected.¡±

    I typed a huge question mark, ¡°What is a venttor?¡±

    ¡°¡­It¡¯s a machine used to help him breathe when it¡¯s difficult for him.¡±

    An ER storyline quickly shed through my mind. It was in the emergency room where patients were choking. The doctors on the side had swift eyes and hands, using a small knife to cut open windpipes and inserting a transparent tube in. My whole body suddenly started cold sweating just thinking about this. I promptly repented, ¡°Next time, I will definitely be careful! I won¡¯t let Li Chuan get rained on!¡±

    The other side stopped for a bit and then continued with an angry red face, ¡°What? You let Alex get rained on? In winter?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t know that he couldn¡¯t get rained on.¡± Really. That day, I waspletely drenched. Iid down on the bed immediately when I got home. I was depressed. I didn¡¯t even want to drink a cup of Ban Lan Gen (Chinese cold medicine). Yet I didn¡¯t catch a cold or have a fever. I was perfectly fine. Why was I so healthy? Why was my immune system so strong? I was a bit ashamed!

    Ren¨¦ did not spare me, ¡°Annie, why did you Alex get rained on?¡±

    ¡°We were¡­in the rain¡­fighting¡­¡±

    The window vibrated. Ren¨¦ was angered again, ¡°What? What? How old are you guys, yet you still fight? ¡ª That¡¯s right, did you create the wounds on Li Chuan¡¯s neck? Before I sent Mia over, I had just cut her fingernails.¡±

    I cautiously and solemnly apologized, ¡°Oh¡­that¡­has already been a month. It¡¯s still not healed?¡±

    The window stopped flickering. There was no words for a long time.

    And then Ren¨¦ seemed to sigh, ¡°I always thought that Chinese women were more tender than French women¡­¡±

    I quickly type, ¡°I really didn¡¯t do it on purpose. Li Chuan kept on wanting to be over with me. I only did it because I was really angry! It¡¯s an individual case. Don¡¯t be prejudice against all Chinese women as a result.¡±

    The window shed, Ren¨¦ said, ¡°I won¡¯t. Alex always said that you were the most tender and most cordial woman. Also¡­the emails you wrote to Alex were very tender. They were quite moving!¡±

    What? Li Chuan¡­actually¡­I was dumbfounded.

    I was angry. Even without looking in the mirror, I knew my face was dumbfounded, ¡°Li Chuan gave you the letters I wrote for you too see? I¡¯m going to settle this with him!!!

    My impression of Li Chuan wasn¡¯t that bad! It¡¯s not like in the movies where a male student would receive a love letter of a female student and then read it out loud in his dorm room where everyone who heard would burst intoughter.

    The screen shed with English. Ren¨¦ said, ¡°No, no, don¡¯t let your mind wander¡­During that time, Alex was quite sick. I read all of your emails to him.¡±

    This time, it was my turn to be angry, ¡°Quite sick? How sick was he? Could he not even move?¡±

    ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t like it. He just didn¡¯t have strength and had to lie down all day.¡± Ren¨¦ avoided the subject and said, ¡°But Annie, why didn¡¯t you write it in English? Those emails really put my Chinese to the test! Do you know how hard it was for a foreigner like me to read your emails? You would frequently write long ones and there were all stream of consciousness. There wasn¡¯t even a single punctuation mark. I didn¡¯t even know where to pause. Then, I could only force myself to continue reading. As I read, I would get scolded by Li Chuan saying that your Chinese definitely didn¡¯t have mistakes in it, why couldn¡¯t he make sense of it¡­¡±

    Puah¡­I didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry, ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you to read it! And it wasn¡¯t written for you!¡±

    Ren¨¦ typed out a suffering expression, ¡°Annie, my Ph.D thesis was on ¡®Lu Ban ssics¡¯ (Father of Chinese carpentry). I can read and understand ssical Chinese. I can also read traditional Chinese characters, but I could not read nor understand conversational writing.¡±

    I was just drinking tea when he said this, I went ¡°puah¡± and my screen was covered in water,

    ¡°No way? Normally everyone things that conversational writing is easier than ssical Chinese.¡±

    Ren¨¦, ¡°That¡¯s you Chinese people. You can believe me or not. ssical Chinese is simr to English in syntax structure. In short, you wrote in conversational speech and used simplified. I can only read ssical Chinese in traditional. So I had to keep on looking things up in the dictionary. Every time an email came from you, I had to use a software to change the simplified to traditional, and then look up the words I didn¡¯t know in the dictionary. I had to figure out the pinyin (Chinese romanization) and then read it aloud to Alex. Alex still alwaysined that I read it wrong! Sometimes, neither of us understood the word you used and the dictionary didn¡¯t have it either. Alex ordered me to go to the library to go look in arger dictionary. So pitiful. I had to even go out in the hail! Sometimes converting from simplified to traditional would go wrong and it would be a pile of mumbojumbo. I would receive a scolding again. Li Chuan would order me to find a person to restore it. I had to spend money to get someone to do it. In short¡­I was exhausted during that period too. I put work into you guys¡¯ romance too. You must thank me.¡±

    I suspected I had read too many Yaoi (Boys¡¯ Love) novels. Somehow it seemed like Ren¨¦ was the perfect ¡°bottom¡± (in a gay rtionship), and I couldn¡¯t help but also want to bully him. ¡°Yeah right, I¡¯d thank you. I¡¯m not the one who told you look things up in the dictionary.

    Ren¨¦ didn¡¯t take offense, ¡°But you two are quite a couple. So linked at the heart! Every time Alex was seriously ill, your email would be particrly long, particrly (English) sunny. Alex got through those years depending on reading your emails. You guys are still a perfect match. One refused to reply no matter what. One continued to write no matter what. Both of you continued this for three years. Afterwards I ruined it. Since then, Li Chuan has scolded me to death.¡±

    I suddenly understood, ¡°You sent that card!¡±

    Ren¨¦ typed an ashamed expression, ¡°I sent it on impulse. I told Alex after I had send it. Alex said, it¡¯s over. You definitely wouldn¡¯t write another letter. I still argued with him. I firmly didn¡¯t believe it. Annie, tell me. You had already wrote them for three years. We had gotten ustomed to waiting for your letters. There was at least two a week. When your father was about to pass away, every letter was extremely long! In the end, suddenly, one day, you no longer wrote any more. Alex lost over 20lbs that month. He nearly died. Of course, I can¡¯t me you, you didn¡¯t know the situation. However, since you had decided not to write anymore, howe you thought to write an email to Alex a few months ago? You really were a wind that caused a ripple in his heart (line from poem). At that time, Alex was still lying in the hospital due to his ski injuries. But regardless of what the doctor said, he said he had to go to China no matter what. How many days had it been before he was near death again!¡±

    Ren¨¦ had been typing in English the whole time. But suddenly, within the middle of the dense English, a line of Chinese appeared. It was actually even from a Song poem. That really startled me.

    I typed really quickly, ¡°Hey! They means that I¡¯m still quite a ways away from bing an angel! Ren¨¦ what illness does Li Chuan really have?!!! For god¡¯s sake, tell me!¡±

    Ren¨¦, ¡°I can¡¯t. This is the most I can say. If Alex knew, he would strangle me to death.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to force Ren¨¦ too much. If I forced him too much, he might cut me off. Ren¨¦ had just finally started opening up about it. Without dy, I took the conversation topic to a further ce, ¡°Then Ren¨¦, have you been taking care of Li Chuan since he has been sick? Did Li Chuan and you know each other from a long time ago?¡±

    Ren¨¦ said, ¡°Uh-huh, Alex and I were college ssmates. We were even in the same dorm. We¡¯re brothers. I knew Alex before I knew Leo. When Alex got sick, I was teaching at the university. It was quite rxing. Plus, Leo simply had too much work and too little time. It could only be me. It can¡¯t really be said that I took care of him. There were nurses by his side. I only went to chat with him and read him emails.¡±

    I asked, ¡°Then, has Alex been sick for a long time?¡±

    Ren¨¦ was immediately on guard again, ¡°Uh-huh, stop trying to get things out of me.¡±

    Li Chuan was really lucky. He had such a good friend like Ren¨¦. I quickly thanked him, ¡°Ren¨¦ thank you for helping Li Chuan read the emails. I know it wasn¡¯t easily. Just from how hard it is for me to learn English, I know how hard it was on you.¡±

    Ren¨¦ typed a shy smile, ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Back then, if it wasn¡¯t for Leo, I wouldn¡¯t have learned Chinese either. Now look at me, all my design styles have be eastern styles. Leo knows Chinese himself, yet he has abandoned his ancestor¡¯s culture to make post modern designs. There¡¯s no reasoning for this!¡­That¡¯s right, you must not tell Leo about Alex getting rained on. Leo is a tyrant, very (English) bossy. Now that Li Chuan¡¯s sick, Leo has final say on everything to do with the Wang family. He¡¯s even more (English) bossy now.

    How could that be? My impression of Ji Chuan was actually quite good. I even thought that he was milder than Li Chuan. Plus, when they were together, Ji Chuan was very considerate of Li Chuan. Even though they quarreled sometimes, it was all under good intentions.

    I quickly asked, ¡°Ren¨¦, then tell me what I need to take note of when I¡¯m together with Li Chuan in the future. I¡¯m really afraid of Li Chuan getting sick again!¡±

    Ren¨¦ was very happy this time. The letters on screen cheerfully shed, ¡°Such a good girl! Oh¡­don¡¯t let him catch a cold. Don¡¯t let him get wounds that will bleed. Don¡¯t let him fall. Don¡¯t let hime in contact with the sick. Don¡¯t let him go where there are crowds. He must carefully wash his hands before eating. He can¡¯t used a razor to shave¡­.¡±

    It was a huge paragraph of instructions. Looks like the time Ren¨¦ spent with Li Chuan was really not short. He actually knew such minute details.

    I (English) copy+paste his words into a document, ¡°I¡¯ve taken it down. Then, what about consuming things? Is there anything to be wary of?¡±

    Ren¨¦ said on that end, ¡°I think¡­in order to consume enough vitamins, he needs to eat at least two types of fruit and three types of vegetables a day. He needs to not eat too much salt or oil. He needs to eat smaller but more frequent meals. He can eat a bit of lean meat and fish. Also, he should eat a lot of fresh pineapples¡­.Actually, you don¡¯t need to worry about all this. Alex has his own chef who makes him three meals a day ording to the prescription from his nutritionist. The most important thing is that he absolutely must not touch alcohol. Not even a drop.¡±

    I unexpectedly make a joke, ¡°Wow, he¡¯s indeed the pampered son of a wealthy family. He has so many people waiting on him.¡±

 Chapter 37

    <h4>Chapter 37</h4>

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be done about that. Ever since Alex got sick, his whole family been very cautious. Actually, in contrast, Alex is quite independent. But once he gets home he can¡¯t be. He has his grandfather and grandmother watching over him and a crowd of people surrounding him, afraid that some mishap will ur. Naturally, Alex would escape to China whenever he could¡­Was he independent in Beijing?¡±

    He was not only independent. It was practically the other way around. When he was in Beijing, Li Chuan always took care of me. When we stayed together, he would get up to make breakfast. I had been doing all the housework since I was young because my father wasn¡¯t very good at daily chores. He could leave dirty dishes there for several days and would never make his bed. Home was always a mess, rather like a doghouse. My (maternal) grandmother said that my dad¡¯s family in Shanghai had a housekeeper. Besides studying and teaching, he didn¡¯t know how to do anything else. Even to borrow a hammer required me to go knocking on others¡¯ doors. Thus, I had depressingly believed that once I was married off, I would still not be able to escape from being the housewife. I never thought that I could experience days of being taken care of by another. I was quite confused at the sudden feeling of happiness. When I told Li Chuan about it, Li Chuan felt sorry for me for quite a long time, saying that I had suffered too much as a child that even God felt sorry for me, so he intentionally sent him to take care of me. He would definitely take good care of me for my whole life. I didn¡¯t take these words to heart at that time. Ever since my mom passed away, I secretly believe this one truth, that even the people closest to you will ultimately leave you and be gone forever.

    Sure enough, Li Chuan had just said those words for two months before he also disappeared from me.

    The first half of that year, my mood was like a car going over the mountains, fluctuating sharply. I was tormented by joy and grief.

    In this world, only Li Chuan could make me the happiest, and only Li Chuan could make me suffer the most pain. There was no one else would could aplish both.

    Thinking about this, I suddenly asked Ren¨¦, ¡°Do you think Li Chuan and I should be together?¡±

    Ren¨¦ immediately replied, ¡°Of course, you should! But Annie, I have to tell you, Alex is a particrly stubborn. Once he makes a decision, he doesn¡¯t turn back. Even a stubborn old man like his dad will somewhat avoid him. Alright, I have to go check on the soup I¡¯m making. I¡¯lle back in a bit.¡±

    I sat on the chair, looking at the empty screen, thinking about what Ren¨¦ said before. My heart was obviously empty, but it also felt like several thousand kgs were weighing down on it with nowhere to fall to. It only felt like, as I sat there, everything behind me was a bottomless ck hole. And my task was to obstruct this tunnel and not let Li Chuan slip through the middle of it and disappear in front of me.

    Could I block it?

    Li Chuan must have been very sick in those five years. He must have been bedridden for a long time. He couldn¡¯t even use theputer himself and needed someone else to read to him.

    What was his illness? I didn¡¯t have the courage to guess anymore. Perhaps he had already made many rounds to the gates of hell¡­so he didn¡¯t want to tell me because he didn¡¯t want to be a burden to me.

    An eerie feeling fell over me, making me ice-cold from head to toe. I had run to the kitchen to pour a cup of hot water to warm myself.

    When I got back, the screen was shing again. Ren¨¦ was back, ¡°Where were we just now?¡±

    ¡°At Li Chuan being stubborn and Ji Chuan being (English) bossy.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not really (English) bossy. Ji Chuan just has quite a lot of ideas that are often better than others, so he always wants to have others listen to him.¡± He probably became aware of how many bad things he had been saying about Ji Chuan that Ren¨¦ quickly tried to remedy.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Ji Chuan is really good. I quite like him.¡±

    ¡°Then, Annie, why don¡¯t youe to Switzend?¡± Ren¨¦ asked.

    ¡°Come to Switzend when Li Chuan gets out of the hospital okay? I¡¯ll transfer you to the Swiss headquarters and give you the same amount of pay as Li Chuan.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help butugh. A few years ago, when I was with Li Chuan, Li Chuan repeatedly asked me whether I was willing to go on vacation with him in Switzend. It didn¡¯t matter whether it was a long or short vacation. I didn¡¯t agree to it a single time. I was a bit embarrassed to meet Li Chuan¡¯s family. Actually, Li Chuan had his own home. But from when he spoke normally, it seemed like he was very close to his rtives. During Chinese New Years he would go visit his paternal grandparents, his maternal grandparents, his father¡¯s older brother, his father¡¯s younger brother, his (maternal) uncle, his (maternal) aunt, and going to bars, traveling and skiing with a whole bunch of his cousins. They were very important in his life¡­I was a bit scared off by it.

    ¡°I¡­am a foreigner¡­.I¡¯m not used to it. Plus, I don¡¯t know how to speak French or German.¡±

    ¡°Everyone in his family knows how to speak English. Plus, the older generation can all speak Chinese.¡±

    ¡°Um¡­I¡¯m also a little afraid of meeting the older generation.¡± I was suddenly reminded of a line from ¡°Pair of Peacocks Fly Southeast¡±. [Chinese poem about a wife who vowed not to remarry and drowned herself after the mother-inw cast her off. The husband ended up hanging himself.]

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, don¡¯t be afraid. There are very few girls in the Wang family. The older generation is all very loving towards the children, especially the girls. Especially the girl that Li Chuan likes. They can¡¯t wait to love you.¡±

    Ren¨¦ said this like I was already the daughter-inw of Li Chuan¡¯s family. I couldn¡¯t help but be depressed again, ¡°Don¡¯t say anymore, Ren¨¦. Li Chuan and I are already (English) over. His health is not good right now. I don¡¯t want make things difficult for him. He wants me to be over him. I will be over him.¡±

    The other side quickly type a kowtowing emoticon, ¡°Annie you must not be (English) over with Li Chuan. Our whole family is begging you!!!¡±

    I suddenly felt that the other person¡¯s tone was a little fishy, ¡°Hey, are you Ren¨¦?¡±

    After a short pause, a line of text popped up in the chatbox, ¡°I am Ji Chuan. Ren¨¦ is washing the dishes. He won¡¯t use the dishwasher. Such a (English) Helpless DIY. How can you not rule by might towards this kind of person?¡±

    Older brother Ji Chuan!!! My mouth hung widely open. I was shocked, ¡°You¡­when did youe on?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just kidding. Ren¨¦ had mee and take a look, to see if there was any new news. I just came on. Xiao Qiu, add my MSN.¡±

    The portrait changed to an owl with a personalized signature of: ¡°I¡¯m not bossy. I just have better ideas.¡±

    I quickly typed, getting straight to the subject, ¡°Ji Chuan Ge Ge, can I go to Switzend now to see Li Chuan?¡±

    The other end paused for a long time, and then afterwards a line disyed, ¡°We are all hoping for you toe. But Li Chuan will definitely not agree. He doesn¡¯t want to see you during this time.¡±

    Seeing me not reply for a long time, Ji Chuan sent another line of text, ¡°If Li Chuan were willing to see you, he wouldn¡¯t have left you six years ago.¡±

    Ji Chuan proved himself to be Li Chuan¡¯s brother.

    I chatted with Ren¨¦ for an hour and learned a lot about Li Chuan¡¯s past. I chatted with Ji Chuan for half an hour. Ji Chuan didn¡¯t reveal a bit of anything that Li Chuan didn¡¯t want me to know. We chatted about Switzend¡¯s climate and scenery.

    Ji Chuan suggested that I call Li Chuan once a week. He said that Li Chuan definitely wanted to hear my voice, but his health is still not very stable. He was very weak and couldn¡¯t speak for a long time. When it was severe, he still needed to depend on a venttor.

    Honestly, after experiencing the death of two close family members, I was already quite immune to fear. Li Chuan¡¯s situation reminded me of the month before my father passed away. At the time I received three critically ill notifications a day. Every time they tried to save him, Xiao Dong and I would guard outside the operation room, staring at the clock on the wall. Watching time and life pass away by the second. After a month, our spirits had already been tormented to exhaustion. We were already numb to fear. We only knew to follow the doctor¡¯s advice and take care of the patient, trying our best to conform with the treatment procedures. Sometimes, when I saw my father strenuously struggling on the sickbed, neither living or dying, I would even secretly think to myself that if I were him, I might as well die. Perhaps it would be a relief.

    The week after I chatted with Ren¨¦, I had nightmares every night. When I woke up, I couldn¡¯t fall asleep again. I started taking sleeping pills every day. And then I used fierce exercise to divert my attention.

    On Saturday, I went to the gym and found that, because my teacher had taken a sudden leave of absence, the yoga course for this semester was ended early. What took over it was Latin dance. Therefore, former members of the yoga ss all entered into the Latin dance ss to learn Cha Cha from a handsome male instructor from the Physical Education department. It was said that this change didn¡¯t make anyone unhappy. Instead, everyone¡¯s enthusiasm increased. They could exercise while checking someone out. Really, what could you have against it?

    When I was a senior in university, I took Latin dancing for a bit. At that time, our school was holding a Latin dancepetition. Because I was the head of sports in the student union, I was assigned to represent the English department with another guy. In order to rank, we found a senior Latin dancing teacher to choreograph for us. We practiced day and night, continuously. In the end, we got second ce. The champions were masters in the Physical Education department. We conceded defeat.

    After so many years, I had already forgotten some dance steps. But because I often went to the dance hall, I would asionally get up and show a move.

    The gym that I went to was thergest gym in our district. There were triple the number of people in Latin dance ss than yoga ss. There were many more university students. And there were many more male students.

    That Saturday, I entered the ssroom after changing into my exercise clothes and saw someone. Someone tall standing in the corner with both of his hands in his pants pockets, with his head down, as if he was a little ufortable.

    Eason.

    At first, I suspected that I had stepped into the wrong ssroom. But those mothers were all chatting in a corner in the ssroom. I definitely didn¡¯t walk into the wrong one. And then I suspected that Eason had walked into the wrong ssroom. A physics Ph.D dancing Latin dance was a bit funny.

    ¡°Hi, Eason!¡± I went up to greet him.

    When he saw me, he was a bit embarrassed, ¡°Hello, Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°Howe you have time toe here?¡±

    ¡°I followed my instructor here.¡±

    ¡°Your instructor? Who is your instructor?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s that person¡­¡±

    My eyes followed the direction he was pointing to. ¡°That person¡± was our Latin dance instructor. Eason exined that he was originally under Teacher Ding at Haidian (district) gym. Now this side wanted Teacher Ding toe and teach. Since he had only just taken the ss for a month at the other ce, he didn¡¯t want to change teachers, so he followed him here.

    I blinked my wide open eyes, ¡°You¡­are learning Latin dance?¡±

    ¡°Is it very strange?¡± He knew what I was thinking, yet his expression was unperturbed.

    ¡°A little.¡±

    He licked his lips and exined, ¡°Us in the Physics department are always being said to have very developed brains with simple limbs by other people. I want to bnce that¡­¡±

    ¡°There should be many ways to bnce it, right? Such as mixed martial arts ss, kungfu ss, tennis ss, fitness ss, swimming ss, golf ss, bowling ss¡­¡±

    There were so many manly sses. Yet, he didn¡¯t go to them and came here instead.

    He faintly smiled, ¡°Mmhmm, I go to those sses. But I also like Latin dancing.¡±

    I didn¡¯t have anything else to say. After awhile, I looked for something to say, ¡°Latin dance is quite nice.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he said, ¡°the instructor just told everyone to find a dance partner earlier. Since we know each other, can you be my dance partner?¡±

    ¡°Um¡­um¡­¡± I was looking for an excuse.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t step on your feet.¡± He looked at me sincerely, ¡°I¡¯ve learned it before. I¡¯m not at beginner¡¯s level for this.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­okay.¡± It was hard to say no.

    The music started. It was a passionate Latin love song. The instructor said that he wanted to have everyone listen to the music and dance to the music as we wished, to warm ourselves up.

    I asked Eason, ¡°You said that you weren¡¯t at beginner¡¯s level. Then what level are you at?¡±

    ¡°I once represented the school in apetition before.¡±

    I drew a huge breath, ¡°Then you should at least be in an intermediate ss.¡±

    ¡°The instructor said that from what he could see by the sign up sheet, there are quite a few people who were at intermediate level. So everyone can dance as they wish right now and he¡¯ll observe first before splitting the ss. Starting next time, this time slot is for the intermediate ss. The next ss will be for the beginner¡¯s level.¡± He said this slowly. Looks like he was very close with Teacher Ding.

    ¡°Oh¡­it¡¯s like that.¡±

    Without better option, I started dancing with Eason.

    After a few steps, I was dumbstruck.

    Even though Eason¡¯s level couldn¡¯t overtake the level of skills that the champions of my school that year had, his skills were evenly matched with mine. He even knew the extremelyplicated movements. His waist and thighs twisted and kicked with precision.

    The problem wasn¡¯t here.

    The problem was that during the entire time we danced, he continuously looked at me with a smile that was also not a smile. His expression was ambiguous.

    I wasn¡¯t the only one who became foolish by it. All the females present also became foolish.

    We didn¡¯t prepare at all, but we were very harmonious partners. At the climax of the dance, he even lifted me up and then threw me out, ying out a dangerous ballet movement.

    The music was still ying and our waists were still twisting when the rm on my watch suddenly sounded.

    At this time, today, I had arranged to call Li Chuan.

    I apologized and dropped Eason there, running out of the gym. I took out a telephone card and entered in a long line of numbers into my cell phone.

    ¡°Hi.¡± A pleasant male voice.

    ¡°Li Chuan!¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, how are you?¡± His voice was still very soft. It was even a bit hoarse. However, it sounded a bit more energetic thanst time.

    I immediately rxed a bit.

    ¡°Very well, you?¡±

    ¡°Quite well.¡±

    ¡°Are you still using a breathing machine? Li Chuan?¡±

    There was a moment of silence on the other end. His voice was clearly displeased, ¡°Who told you I had to use a breathing machine?¡±

    My head expanded ten times it size with a buzz. What time was it that this person, who didn¡¯t even have the strength to speak, would still be trying to keep me in the dark? He still didn¡¯t want me to know. How long was he going to keep me in the dark?

    For no reason, I got angry. My voice immediately got louder by several degrees, ¡°Li Chuan, seeing as how I never told you a lie in all the years we¡¯ve known each other, please tell me the truth. Okay?¡±

    Before myst words had fallen, I was already scared by the aggressiveness of my own tone. Sure enough, on the other end, Li Chuan said a very vague syble as if he wanted to say something but was unable to say it. Only the sounds of difficult breathing could be heard.

    Afterwards, there was only sounds of a call having been hung.

    We weren¡¯tpatible. We truly weren¡¯tpatible. If Li Chuan meeting me wasn¡¯t a natural or man-made disaster, what else could it be? Wah¡­I am a jinx. I subdued him again!

    My brain waspletely nk. Flustered, I punched in numbers on the phone. Cheap international calling cards required inputting thirty some numbers. In my confusion, I dialed incorrectly three times in a row before getting it right.

    This time, the nurse picked up and said in stiff English, ¡°Mr. Wang needs rest. Please call again after a while.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± I called out loudly, ¡°Was Mr. Wang alright just now?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­he was in front of the phone for a long time. I reckon he was was a bit tired. We are currently giving him oxygen. Nothing will happen to him.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±

    The phone had already hung up.

    I sat, disappointed, on the flight of stairs.

    The moon drifted between the treetops.

    The night air was very warm. It must already by spring.

    I hugged my legs and sat on the ice-cold te. I sat there thinking about the years that had passed away. Both at a loss and gloomy.

    Sad¡­sad¡­

    Helpless¡­helpless¡­

    I asked myself over and over again, without Li Chuan, could I continue living? Without Li Chuan, would life still have meaning?

    The answer was that without Li Chuan, didn¡¯t I live for six years? Without Li Chuan wasn¡¯t my life still very rich?

    Why was my heart still so heavy and so depressed?

    For a whole six years, I had neverughed as much as I liked. Really. Even if I went to see a livelyedy, I would still cry. I would think that I was the most ridiculous person in the world. It was wistful thinking. My heart wouldn¡¯t die. I knew that I was looking through a rosy view, but I still cut off my means of retreat.

    The streetlight flickered and cumin smell floated in the air.

    I held in my tears in my eyes and sat on the steps for staring nkly for a long time. My legs gradually felt somewhat numb. I was just about stand up when someone suddenly patted me on the shoulder.

    I turned around to look. It was Eason.

    ¡°Hi, this is your clothes and your bag. ss is already over.¡±

    COMMENTS

    I like that Li Chuan¡¯s family, Ren¨¦ especially, all love Xiao Qiu. I just wish Li Chuan would stop being so stubborn and allow Xiao Qiu to go see him. It¡¯s not like keeping her in the dark like that is doing her any good. Hold her there and she might really move on¡­.to perhaps Eason?

 Chapter 38

    <h4>Chapter 38</h4>

    I stood up, grabbed all my stuff, and said thanks.

    ¡°Do you mind if I give you a ride home on my bike?¡± he asked with a soft and gentle gaze.

    ¡°It¡¯s not far from my home here,¡± I sniffed my nose and smiled at him, ¡°I can walk back by myself.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll walk with you. I¡¯m heading the same direction anyway,¡± he persisted. He took over my bag and hung it on his bike.

    We walked quietly. I wasn¡¯t in a good mood, so I didn¡¯t say a word. After we made a turn on a street, Eason suddenly said, ¡°My sister said that you¡¯re weird.¡±

    ¡°Weird? Why?¡±

    ¡°She said that you don¡¯t have any friends in CGP, whether they¡¯re male or female. It¡¯s not that you¡¯re not likable, it just seems like, hm¡­like you don¡¯t need any friends. As if you¡¯re not interested in the world outside.¡±

    I looked at him surprised. Was this the impression that Eason had on me? Was I this dispirited?

    ¡°Not interested?¡± I defended, ¡°That can¡¯t be! I joined the Vegetarian Society, I go to yoga sses, I hang out at pubs, I dance, I swim, I jog¡ª I¡¯ve been mingling with the world.¡±

    Deep in my heart, I knew I was lying and making up excuses. I might be over exaggerating to say that I had lost my soul after Li Chuan¡¯s departure. But it was definitely not wrong to say that it caused my spirit to hibernate, my senses to go out of order, my ability to social deteriorate, and caused me to lose faith in living.

    He turned around and looked at me inscrutably, ¡°I meant your spirit, not your body.¡± He continued, ¡°You look like you¡¯re smiling, but when you really do smile, you frown as if you¡¯ve just swallowed a cup of bile¡­¡­¡±

    Eason talked enthusiastically, but he forgot one thing, and that was: people who are troubled do not want others to analyze their troubles.

    I interrupted him bluntly, ¡°(English) Stop, ssmate Eason! I know you are a researcher, but I hope that you don¡¯t find interest in analyzing me. I don¡¯t want to be particles. I don¡¯t like to be analyzed. Whether I¡¯m happy or not, it¡¯s none of your business!¡±

    I immediately regretted what I said. I never attacked people on a regr day. Who told him to provoke me at a time like this; my mind waspletely upied by Li Chuan.

    But he wasn¡¯t mad and said in his usual tone, ¡°Do you know of the butterfly effect?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°A butterfly that ps its wings in South America could cause a tornado to appear in Texas. Your drop of tear today may cause a flood in Brazil or it may cause a snowstorm next year. Your happiness is rted to the world, so of course it¡¯s my business. We are all interconnected.¡±

    ¡°ssmate Eason, first of all, I don¡¯t want you to turn me into ¡®physics.¡¯ Secondly, when you talk about something, can you not use the whole world or the universe as the background? Whether or not they¡¯re rted, it¡¯s not for you to say. For example, you and I are not rted because I say we¡¯re not. I and someone else are rted because I say so. Even if he doesn¡¯t want to be rted to me, I will still force us to be rted¡­¡­¡±

    My eyes were already burning before I could finish. I cried, ¡°Who did I offend in my previous life? Why do I have such bad luck¡­¡­¡±

    I had never talked about myself and Li Chuan in front of anyone in the past six years. I had kept it in myself securely like it was top secret. I never told Xiao Dong as I didn¡¯t want him to be upset. I never told my ssmates because I didn¡¯t want them tough at me. I didn¡¯t dare to tell my coworkers as I was afraid that they would show sympathy towards me and say, ¡°Just look at how depressing her life is. She¡¯s still so young, but her mom and dad are gone, and she got dumped by her boyfriend.¡± Ning Huan Huan was my only close friend, but she went to Shanghai after we graduated, and she actually married Xiu Yue, so I didn¡¯t feelfortable talking to her about it¡­¡­ But I actually blurted everything out to a stranger today, which goes to show that my willpower had already been used up by Li Chuan.

    Seeing that my face was covered with tears, Eason handed me a tissue and asked me something totally unrted, ¡°Oh right, do you eatmb kebabs?¡±

    The street was filled with the scent of grilled food, which was so tempting¡ª¨C

    ¡°¡­¡­No, I¡¯m vegetarian.¡±

    ¡°There are veggies. They have grilled tofu, spinach, and potatoes.¡±

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll treat.¡±

    ¡°Okay. Those of us in physics are poor anyway, so we¡¯re used to being treated¡­¡±

    ¡°Pffff¡ª¡ª¡± I couldn¡¯t helpughing.

    We found a spot to sit. The stool was a bit dirty, and just as I was about to sit on it, Eason stopped me. He used a napkin to clean it. He ordered a bottle of beer and tenmb kebabs. I ordered a te full of veggies: dried tofu, corn, potatoes, and spinach. We both emphasized on adding ¡°extra spicy.¡±

    Eason loved everything spicy just like me. The spicier the better.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you from Beijing?¡± I asked.

    Eason didn¡¯t look like he was from Northern China, but he spoke Mandarin artictely.

    ¡°I¡¯m from Chengdu, but I went to university in Beijing. My mom and dad are both from Chengdu. When people from Chengdue together, they like to do four things¡­¡±

    ¡°Which four things?¡±

    ¡°Drink Mtang (hot and spicy soup), y mahjong, watch porn, and talk about young and pretty girls,¡± he spoke in Chengdu dialect; it was soft sounding, weird, but funny.

    ¡°No wonder you insist on staying single. As long as no one controls your life, you¡¯ll continue to y around.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, this is a very good way of living. I suggest you try it.¡±

    ¡°But,¡± I took a bite of tofu and asked a very practical question, ¡°how do you deal with your physiological needs?¡±

    He was drinking his beer and almost spouted it, ¡°Physiological needs?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, as in¡­¡­hm, you know?¡±

    ¡°I know? Oh¡ª¡ªthat. For the sake of keeping this living style, I can only sacrifice it. Just like you have to sacrifice eating meat in order to be vegetarian.¡±

    It was my turn to choke, ¡°Is that¡­easy?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not easy¡­¡­but I can endure it. Even when it¡¯s hard to, I just need to endure it longer and it¡¯ll be fine, right?¡±

    ¡°Is it because you guys in physics don¡¯t get a lot of chances to meet girls that meet your eyes?¡±

    ¡°That is true. There aren¡¯t a lot of girls in physics. If there are any, they are usually quite ordinary, but even so, they are usually taken by others very soon.¡±

    ¡°Even someone as talented as you can¡¯t find one?¡±

    ¡°I was already taken by a girl when I was in high school.¡±

    I asked feeling strange, ¡°Does that mean you had a girlfriend before?¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± He answered, ¡°I took my girlfriend with me when I went abroad, but after a year, she fell in love with a Japanese man. In order to marry him, she aborted our baby.¡±

    He didn¡¯t show a lot of emotion. He exined as if he was telling a joke. I was a bit shocked, ¡°How could that happen? How long were you together?¡±

    ¡°Eight years, since high school.¡± He drank a mouthful of beer, ¡°After eight years of rtionship, it was all wasted.¡±

    ¡°Howe you¡¯re still so happy?¡± I was amazed by him.

    ¡°What can I do besides being happy? Should I jump off a building? Jump into a river?¡±

    ¡°Sigh, Eason, I think we should shake hands,¡± I really held out my hand and shook his.

    ¡°What, you were dumped too?¡±

    ¡°I guess you can say so. We are in the process of being (English) over.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s eat,¡± he said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do about love. You should try and shift your focus to your mouth.¡±

    ¡°You mean like food therapy?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Let me rmend you something that is exactly for healing people who are lovelorn.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Beef jerky,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯m serious. Those jerkies are especially tough to chew¡­Like you¡¯re chewing your enemy¡¯s flesh. If you don¡¯t believe me, give it a try. I¡¯ve rmended it to many people.¡± [×³Ö¾¼¢²ÍºúÂ²Èâ Chewing your enemy¡¯s flesh refers to a Song poem by Yue Fei called ¡®Man Jian Hong.¡¯ The full verse basically says that the person has such a great aspiration and will drink the enemy¡¯s blood and eat the enemy¡¯s flesh.]

    Iughed out loud.

    After eating for almost an hour, Eason walked me home. I said to him, ¡°Thank you for walking with me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡±

    I took out my keys, turned around to open the door, and Eason suddenly said, ¡°We have a gathering on Saturday. A lot of professors and family members will be there. Would you be able toe (English) cover for me as my girlfriend so that the Chair of the union doesn¡¯t start asking me questions?¡±

    I thought that his request was reasonable and maybe I would also need him to ¡°cover¡± for me in the near future, so I answered, ¡°Yeah, sure.¡±

    ***

    There was a big Chinese parasol tree beside my front door. Before I entered my home every time, I would gaze from the bottom of the tree all the way up to the sky, and then from the sky to the roots of the tree. That was my one and only eye exercise that I did every day.

    I opened the door and saw Mia on the bed, dipping her head dozing off. I went to the kitchen to wash yesterday¡¯s dishes, which was one bowl. I found my cup, and poured out yesterday¡¯s tea. I gave Mia a bath, and used the hairdryer to dry her. I then turned on myputer and started working on my trantions as over-time. I had been worrying about Li Chuan every day for the past week, so it was hard to stay focused, which dyed my work. I worked hard in front of theputer for two hours and waspletely exhausted. After taking a shower, Iy on my bed, listening to the ssical music ying on the radio. I stared at the ceiling with many thoughts troubling my mind, so I couldn¡¯t sleep.

    The shorter hand of the clock gradually pointed to 3am. I got out of bed to look for some sleeping pills. The bottle was empty; I finished them all and had forgotten to buy more. I started practicing yoga in the living room, but it made me be more awake, so I decided to put on my workout clothes and running shoes, and went outside for a jog. I would be able to sleep after getting tired from jogging.

    The front of my building faced a road that was well lit. Cars asionally passed by. There were a 24-hour night club and inte cafe on each side, and it was a very safe area. Jogging was the best way to fight insomnia. I jogged around the area, panting to catch my breath, and then the phone in my pocket rang.

    It was an unfamiliar and long number.

    Which lunatic would call me in the middle of the night?

    Whether it was a prank or someone deliberately calling to disturb me, I pressed the end call button directly.

    After a minute, the phone rang again. This time, I felt irritated, so I opened my cell phone and scolded, ¡°Hey, Mister, can you pay more attention to the number you¡¯re calling? Can you take a look at the time, it¡¯s 3am in the morning!¡±

    The other end was silent. After a while, a soft voice came on, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s me, Li Chuan.¡±

    As I heard Li Chuan¡¯s voice while I was jogging, I forgot to watch the crossing signal when I got to an intersection. A car came from behind and immediately braked. The driver shouted, ¡°You slow idiot. Did your man die[aka trying tomit suicide]?!¡±

    I quickly returned to the sidewalk to wait for the red light.

    ¡°It¡¯s sote already, you¡¯re still outside?¡± Li Chuan had clearly heard the Chongqing driver¡¯s scolding. [The insult was a specific Chongqing dialect phrase]

    ¡°I¡­¡­¡± I swallowed, ¡°was jogging.¡±

    ¡°I saw that you were still online, so I thought you hadn¡¯t gone to bed yet.¡± He then asked, ¡°you finished all your sleeping pills?¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re outside runningte at night? Do you not know how unsafe it is? Go home immediately, do you hear me?¡± He must have caught his breath as he suddenly sounded harsh.

    I wanted to tell him that it was none of his business. I wanted to ask who I was to him, and ask why he¡¯d care. But I immediately thought, Amitabha, I, Xie Xiao Qiu, shall not argue with a sick person.

    ¡°I¡¯m jogging back home right now.¡±

    Aftering back from Wenzhou, Li Chuan was determined to sever all ties with me, so he never called me. I was truly surprised that he called me this time. I felt overwhelmed by his blessing. It was my good fortune. I was depressed by it but I could not help but feel gratitude.

    I rushed back home, opened the metal door, sat on my bed, and spoke into the phone without getting a cup of water first to relieve my thirst, ¡°Li Chuan, what are you looking for me for?¡±

    ¡°Nothing¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you feeling better?¡± I was still out of breath, ¡°Are you able to talk longer now?¡±

    ¡°A lot better.¡± He paused, and then said, ¡°I just need the breathing machine once in a while, just once or twice. Don¡¯t listen to others, it¡¯s not as serious as you think.¡±

    I admit, regarding breathing machines, it was best not to browse too many images on it.

    ¡°Li Chuan¡­¡± I asked, ¡°are you in a lot of pain?¡±

    ¡°Where would I feel pain?¡±

    ¡°Did they¡­plug a tube¡ª¡ª¡±

    He immediately interrupted me, ¡°No, I¡¯m not in pain. Don¡¯t have such a wild imagination, okay?¡±

    ¡°Is there anywhere else that you feel ufortable?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯m quitefortable right now.¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­lying quitefortably in the hospital, hm? Li Chuan, is this what you want to tell me?¡±

    ¡°Mm. I¡¯m usually very busy and don¡¯t have time to rest. Now I¡¯m getting a bit of a break, so don¡¯t worry about me,¡± he said casually.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to take my anger out on you. Was I very loud? Did I sound mean? Are you mad?¡± I was a goner. I turnedpletely into cheesy romance novel mode and lost all my temper.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu,¡± he said word by word, ¡°don¡¯t ever say you¡¯re sorry to me. You have nothing to be sorry about towards me.¡±

    ¡°Then howe you¡¯re¡ª¡ª Why are you calling me then? Are you calling tofort me?¡±

    ¡°I just wanted to tell you that everything is well, and for you to not worry.¡±

    ¡°When can you leave the hospital?¡±

    ¡°A little while longer.¡±

    ¡°Then it means that you¡¯re still sick.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, stop dwelling on the topic, okay? Think of happier things.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re sick and yet you want me to be happy? Who do you think I am?!!!¡± I raised my voice.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± He didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°Li Chuan, say something!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Continue to (English) move on, do you hear me?¡±

    I felt that he must have gotten a lot better, otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be so fierce and sounded annoyed. I thought, maybe I should argue with him.

    It was best not to.

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll go find a guy tonight.¡± I was mad, ¡°That Ph.D guy had just walked me home. I¡¯ll call him right now and ask if he wants to be with me tonight. The two of our skinny bodies lying together feel so boney anyway.¡±

    ¡°I want you to (English) move on, not mess around. Do you want to get AIDS?¡± He started putting me down again.

    ¡°Li Chuan,¡± I said to him seriously, ¡°give me five years, okay? Let me take care of you. I only want five years. If you still want me to leave afterwards, I will leave and definitely not cling onto you.¡±

    He didn¡¯t say anything for a long time.

    ¡°Li Chuan¡ª¡ª¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said faintly, ¡°I¡¯m very sorry¡­¡­I don¡¯t have five years to give you.¡±

    The tears flowed out of my eyes. I yelled at him with a tearful voice, ¡°Then stop caring about me! I still have to go outside to jog!¡±

    ¡°Wait, don¡¯t go!¡± He said, ¡°I have a way to make you fall asleep. Lie down first, with the nket over you.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± I sniffed my nose.

    ¡°Stop crying. Have you lied down yet?¡±

    ¡°I have¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll read a paragraph from ¡®A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu¡¯ to you.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, I want sex¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in Zurich and you¡¯re in Beijing, how can we have sex, Miss?¡±

    ¡°Mentally¡­Why don¡¯t you read me an erotic novel?¡±

    ¡°No, that will only make you more excited¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait till I¡¯m asleep before you hang up then¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Okay. Close your eyes, I¡¯m going to start reading.¡± Li Chuan¡¯s low and sexy voice read, ¡°(French) Longtemps, je me suis couch¨¦ de boone heure¡­¡­¡±

    It was like magic. I fell asleep within a minute.

 Chapter 39

    <h4>Chapter 39</h4>

    Early Saturday morning, Eason called me to confirm whether or not I would be going to the research institute¡¯s formal dinner.

    I was suppose to (English) move on anyway. Even though Eason was a resolute celibate, it¡¯s not like I couldn¡¯t use him as practice.

    I was very straightforward and cooperative on the phone, ¡°Sure! No problem! What requirements do you have for my image? Do you like the smart and virtuous type, fresh and pure type, capable and experienced type, or tomboy type?¡±

    ¡°¡­You can be so many types?¡±

    ¡°Oh course. I¡¯m cooperating with you!¡±

    ¡°Then¡­smart and virtuous type. To handle the elderly, dress more conservatively for the time being.¡±

    ¡°What kind of style do you want? Girl from a wealthy family or pretty daughter from a humble family? Modern or ssical?¡±

    ¡°Girl from a wealthy family. ssical.¡±

    He made the decision so fast. He had quite the taste.

    ¡°What time?¡±

    ¡°Is seven tonight okay?¡±

    ¡°I will definitely be there on time.¡±

    ¡°How will you get here? I can expense a taxi for use.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll drive myself.¡±

    ¡°You have a car?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Due to past experience, I¡¯ve never worn a single one of the the clothes, handbags, shoes and watches Li Chuan bought for me. So that I would not cause needless sensation amongst women who love fashion. I wore a dull colored sweater and a nice skirt suit. I had my hairbed up into a ponytail and wore a jade bracelet with red coloring (lit. Chicken Blood Jade) on my wrist.

    Eason was waiting for me at the door of the research institute. When he saw me swaying over on my 8cm high heels, his expression became one of shock.

    He looked me over from head to toe and his face actually blushed.

    I asked him, ¡°Where is the party?¡±

    ¡°The dance hall on the second floor of the research institute.¡±

    ¡°What? You¡¯re research institute even has a dance hall?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re also people. We also need entertainment. Right?¡± His expression had returned to normal. And then he said, ¡°Do you want to rest for a bit in my office? Take off your jacket?¡±

    ¡°You have your own office? Aren¡¯t you a Ph.D student?¡±

    ¡°I am a researcher. I lead students.¡±

    ¡°Then, you are a scientist?¡±

    ¡°I do work in science. Can¡¯t be said to be an ¡®ist.¡¯¡± He was very humble. He brought me to his office. I took off my jacket and then followed him to the second floor.

    There were scientific reports stuck on the bulletin boards in the corridors:

    ¡°Time symmetry of endless quantum space¡­¡±

    ¡±Dark matter¡­¡±

    ¡°Chiral symmetry within the atomic nucleus¡­¡±

    ¡°Supersymmetry chord theory¡­¡±

    ¡°Field theory method and critical phenomena¡­¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but stop walking, ¡°You¡¯re interested in this?¡±

    ¡°The reports are free. You cane and listen.¡±

    I shook my head, ¡°I¡¯m not interested in physics. I just thought that these titles had quite a feel to them when reading them.¡±

    He looked at me, baffled, ¡°What feeling?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel that these titles all have great sex appeal? Supersymmetry¡­chord¡­dark matter¡­space¡­critical¡­¡±

    ¡°Pfff¡­.¡± Someone sprayed out.

    The dance hall on the second floor was actually converted from some conference room, so one of the walls had ckboards. It seemed like the meeting had just ended not too long ago since the ckboard still had a bunch of forms on it.

    I thought about how when CGP had wanted to hold an entertainment activity, they rented out a special location. The lower secretaries of the admin department were busy until near death. Comparatively, the scientists really didn¡¯t stress on the details.

    Eason quietly instructed me, ¡°If someone asks, say that we¡¯ve been dating for three years. If they continue to ask about marriage, say that we¡¯re still young and will think about it after we¡¯re done ying.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°That woman over there in the blue checkered outfit is the office director and the union chair. She cares about my ¡®happiness¡¯ the most.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll help you take care of it.¡±

    ¡°The old man in the grey jacket is a famous senior. It¡¯s not easy to deceive him. Stay far away from him.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡±

    ¡°Do you drink?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m mainly here for the alcohol, food, cake, and dessert type of things. Besides you, my main reason foring here is to eat good stuff.¡±

    He thought I was joking. Unexpectedly, I picked up a te, went to the food station, filled my te with various appetizers, and started eagerly eating.

    There wasn¡¯t anything Eason could do besides pouring a cup of wine and stand by my side to apany me. Seeing that I was solely preupied with eating, he couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Xiao Qiu, the two of us have to hold a bit of conversation.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Sorry, I was only thinking of eating. Mmhmm, conversation. What should we talk about?¡±

    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t want to hold a conversation, you have to at least make it seem like you are very close to me.¡±

    I frantically looked at him, ¡°What does it look like to be very close to you? How would I know?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s toote, the union chair ising.¡±

    Sure enough, that office director and union chair was directly heading towards us with a caring smile on her face.

    ¡°Director Hong, let me introduce Xie Xiao Qiu to you. My girlfriend. Xiao Qiu, this is Director Hong, our union chair.¡±

    I gracefully stepped forward and shook her hand, ¡°Director Hong, hello.¡±

    The director looked me over, looked at Eason, then smiled and said, ¡°Xiao Ai (nickname for Ai Song/Eason. lit. Little Ai), you¡¯ve done a great job of keeping a secret. So you already have such a easy-going and beautiful girlfriend. You caused everyone in the office to feel worried for you. Xiao Qiu, where do you work?¡±

    ¡°I am a trantor for a construction designpany.¡±

    ¡°Trantor? Such a good job! Our Xiao Ai is the only handsome male in our department. How much starting funds were you given when you first came to our department, Xiao Ai? Xiao Qiu, Xiao Ai was the rmended talent from Bai Ren Ji Hua (Highest award of Chinese Academy of Science). Even before he got here, a house was already allocated for him. Being with him is definitely not a mistake.¡± The director could nearly have printed out her words and sent them to the newspaper for their rtionship seeking column.

    It was hard for me to respond to this. I could only bashfully smile to express my acknowledgement. When I turned to look at Eason, he looked a bit embarrassed.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, have you ever been to Xiao Ai¡¯s home?¡±

    ¡°Not yet.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Ai¡¯s father Lao Ai (lit. Old Ai, who people call Ai Gong (honorific) is a schr. He studied abroad in Germany when he was young and can speak German fluently.¡± She pointed out that old man in the grey jacket with her pursed lips, ¡°There, he¡¯s over there. Xiao Ai, why don¡¯t you take Xiao Qiu over to see your dad?¡±

    ¡°Mmm, we¡¯ll go after we finish eating.¡±

    Eason quietly led me to the side and said in a low voice, ¡°My mom and dad are both over there. I originally wanted to avoid them in the crowd, but it seems like they can¡¯t be avoided. In a bit, can you go over and trick the two of them?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing to trick others, but isn¡¯t it not too good to trick your parents?¡±

    ¡°They are the ones who pressure me the most. They are the main target for you to trick. I just didn¡¯t think they woulde here today.¡±

    ¡°Since you¡¯vemanded it. I will go and trick them.¡± I said happily.

    ¡°My dad is quite stern. All his students are afraid of him. Be careful.¡±

    The first important person that I tricked was my university¡¯s Principal Liu. I still remembered that Li Chuan was the originator of it. Because of it, I had to specially write a very formal English proposal. Afterwards, the school really increased the time for getting water. I didn¡¯t dig further to see whether it really was my proposal that had something to do with it. The second important person I tricked was my master¡¯s degree advisor. The old mister liked to joke with me. He would trick me every time he saw me. When I was in ss, I would try to find strange questions to trick him. Once, I got him so edgy that he hit me with the ckboard eraser. The third target of my trickery was Xiao Guan. He wasn¡¯t some important person. He was also quite an aplished entrepreneur in the industry. When I went to interview, I thought that I had tricked him from his actual meaning. I went against each thing he said, not treating him like a higher up. Yet, the only person who I¡¯ve tried to trick and failed time after time till I copsed in shambles was Li Chuan.

    I wore a smile and followed Eason through the crowd to his parents.

    ¡°Dad, Mom, this is Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    The two old couple looked like they were both past sixty. Eason¡¯s dad was a bit stern while Eason¡¯s mom quite friendly said, ¡°You are Xiao Qiu? Meng Meng¡¯s colleague, right?¡±

    I got quite a scare. Surprisingly, they actually knew me.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Meng Meng Jie is in the office next to mine.¡±

    ¡°Meng Meng¡¯s mentioned you before. She said that your English was quite good, a talent that herpany especially scooped out.¡±

    ¡°That¡­Meng Meng Jie was bragging.¡±

    The old madam said, beaming, ¡°Our Eason¡¯t quite pitiful. He went to study abroad and then became a Ph.D. He¡¯s been tossed here and there for eight years. He¡¯s finally stabilized now. Xiao Qiu, when do you have time toe y at our home? I¡¯ll make some delicious dishes for you?¡±

    ¡°Eh¡­this¡­¡± I hung my head and poked Eason with my finger.

    Eason said, ¡°Don¡¯t be anxious. Xiao Qiu is busy with work and frequently goes on business trips. How about after period of time? Dad, Mom we¡¯re going to go speak to my advisor.¡±

    Eason pulled me through the concentrated crowd and slipped out the entrance.

    ¡°We¡¯re leaving so fast?¡± I wasn¡¯t willing anymore, ¡°I haven¡¯t eaten anything yet!¡±

    ¡°You only think about eating! What¡¯s good to eat here? Why don¡¯t you eatmb skewers? Go home and eat, your mission isplete!¡± Eason pulled on my sleeve and sped up to his office. As he walked, he whispered, ¡°I hate this type of event! I hate social parties! If I didn¡¯t report up to these people, I wouldn¡¯t havee today!¡±

    When we returned to his office, I put on my jacket and prepared to leave. Seeing my face of regret, Eason suddenly proposed, ¡°There¡¯s a telescope upstairs, do you want to see it? It¡¯s quite clear today, you can see some beautiful nebs.¡±

    This, I was interested in, ¡°Can you see the moon? The craters and such.¡±

    ¡°That¡­we¡¯re already tired of seeing that.¡±

    We went to the roof together. Eason adjusted the telescope and found a good spot, ¡°This is the moon! You can see any craterrger than 80cm in diameter.¡±

    Mmm¡­it wasn¡¯t that bright. The craters were all so lonely, one after another. There wasn¡¯t a bit of liveliness. There wasn¡¯t a rabbit nor Chang¡¯e dy in the moon ¨C Chinese mythology). My mind filled with ssical poems regarding the moon. From all these poems¡­yet, when I saw the real moon¡­I really couldn¡¯t find the feeling!

    I turned to look at Eason. He asked me, ¡°Is it pretty?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty, but it isn¡¯t as brightly colored as I imagined. I always thought that the sky was multi-colored. It¡¯s probably because I¡¯ve seen too many Van Gogh paintings¡­The sky is actually ck and white.¡±

    ¡°The sky is multi-colored.¡± He said. And then he went to adjust the telescope.

    ¡°This is the Centaurus cluster. It¡¯s extremely bright. It¡¯s four hundred light years away from us. You can see it with the naked eye.¡±

    ¡°Cancer constetion is mainly made up of the red giant and white dwarf stars.¡±

    ¡°This is M13 in Hercules. The brightest cluster in the northern hemisphere. It¡¯s 25,000 light years away from us.¡±

    M13 was purple and looked like a regiment of fireworks. Extremely beautiful.

    I couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Then that means, the M13 we see now is the M13 from 25,000 years ago?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh¡­that¡¯s right.¡± He exined, ¡°In the seventies, Cornell University used thergest radio wave telescope in the world to emit a long three minute interster telegraph to M13. The energy of the waves were ten times that of the electricity power in the world. In terms of electric waves, the signal was ten million times stronger than the sun¡¯s.

    I faint. Being with a scientist was exactly like this. Speaking about numbers everyday!

    ¡°Why did they send a telegraph? Who were they sending it to?¡±

    ¡°Scientists want to see a response from life forms in outer space. It was actually an ¡°Earth Business Card.¡± I remember there were around ten sentence in it. Thest one was, we live on the third in the sr system and are using a 305m radio wave telescope to send this to you.¡±

    ¡°Heavens, how long will it take this electric wave to arrive at M13?¡±

    ¡°Twenty-five thousand one hundred years. Haha, at that time, we will all have passed.¡±

    When I returned home, I called Li Chuan, ¡°Hey, Li Chuan. Today I saw a spherical star cluster!¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± He was also energetic, ¡°I never knew you also liked astronomy.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s 25,000 light years away from us! So far!¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡±

    ¡°Stars are so pretty. When I seem them, I understand how minute humans actually are. A lifetime is actually that short!¡±

    ¡°Mmm, you have a lot of thoughts today.¡± Li Chuan energetically led me, ¡°You should look more at the starlight in the night sky. That way you won¡¯t be entangled in romance.¡±

    However, I came to the opposite conclusion, ¡°Li Chuan, I will love you for 25,000 light years! If you are an electric wave fading away, I am M13! I will wait for you on the other side!¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± Someone quickly quieted.

    ¡°Li Chuan say something.¡±

    ¡°You stupid idiotic woman. What do you want me to say?¡±

    ¡°In short, I¡¯ve been picked up by you for this lifetime. You¡¯ve spent on me and your influence still lingers. I¡¯ll bug you until the end. Even if you get so sick and only have one tuft of hair left, you still have to be together with me!¡± As soon as I said this, I felt that this sounded very familiar. It was as if¡­as if¡­it had been spoken before by Wei Xiao Bao (Character from Louis Cha¡¯s ¡®The Deer and the Cauldron¡¯).

    There was silence for awhile on the other end. Then I heard a sigh, ¡°Xiao Qiu, if I knew you were so die-hearted early on, I should have just died six years ago¡­¡±

    ¡°Wang Li Chuan! You dare! You dare threaten me! You¡¯re not allowed to speak of death! If you dare to die, I¡¯ll immediately go jump from a building! Let¡¯s see which one of us dies first!¡±

    I was still loudly shouting when the other end became a buzzing noise.

    Someone had hung up.

    I knew I had gone overboard again.

    From then on, Li Chuan never answered my calls again. Even Ren¨¦ and Ji Chuan didn¡¯t dare speak to me.

    I really didn¡¯t have a normal amount of intrepidness.

 Chapter 40

    <h4>Chapter 40</h4>

    Every night the outdated fridge in the kitchen would produce a dull humming sound. Some part of it had be damaged, thepactor would activate at every ten minute interval. I informed thendlord about this many times, but he refused to send anyone to repair it. The reasons being, one, it activating all the time doesn¡¯t mean that the fridge didn¡¯t work. It was exactly the opposite, the fridge was was still cold. Two, the cost of fixing the fridge was too expensive, might as well buy a new one. But he wasn¡¯t rich and didn¡¯t intend to spend that money.

    I was unable to sleep with the humming and could only examine the patterns on the ceiling. I repeatedly went to the fridge to look for stuff during the middle of the night thinking that, if I was full, I would be sleepy. That wasn¡¯t the reality. I felt worried with a stomach ache, and felt panic in the pit of my stomach. I tossed and turned in bed until sunrise.

    For the next two weeks, I didn¡¯t receive a single call from Li Chuan. Every time I called him, a nurse would pick up and repeat the same thing: Mr. Wang is undergoing treatment, it¡¯s inconvenient for him to answer the phone. I sent Ren¨¦ a text. Ren¨¦ told me that Li Chuan¡¯s sickness was unstable. He was sometimes well and sometimes unwell, frequently running a high fever. He also had a strong reaction to the medications, so couldn¡¯t leave the hospital at all. One of Ren¨¦¡¯s best attributes was that he was honest. If there was something he felt that he couldn¡¯t say, he would conceal it, but he wouldn¡¯t lie on purpose.

    I suffered from insomnia for two weeks in a row and got a migraine. This ailment was one that I would also have when I used to write papers or trante overnight. But as soon as the stress was removed, the symptoms would immediately disappear. It wasn¡¯t like that this time. When it started, half my head was numb as if I had pulled a muscle. When I got off work on Tuesday, I had a splitting headache. I bought a bottle of aspirin and went to a blind man owned massage parlor in the district that was on the way.

    The massage mister¡¯s surname was Xu and had been in this district doing this business for seven years. Everyone in the neighborhood, especially the elderly, knew who he was. Mr. Xu came from a small town in Hunan to work in Beijing. Other than being blind in both eyes, he looked tall and strong, and an image of talent. Relying on this massage skill, he rented a one story ce in the neighborhood to do his business. He didn¡¯t work intensely. When he was tired, he would close shop for several days and go out to drink tea and rest. He didn¡¯t have ambitions for the business to be big, so he didn¡¯t earn too much money. But he was excellent at his trade. His service was thorough and customers often came again. The more than ten hours worth of slots in the day would bepletely filled. In fact there were many massage shops surrounding the neighborhood and people didn¡¯t think he was really that special. But because he charged less, many people went to him. However,st year, unexpected news broke about him in the neighborhood. He took a wife, a woman who lived in the neighborhood. Even though the woman had divorced before, she was pretty good looking and was younger than him. Plus she was a university teacher. Everyone felt that Mr. Xu¡¯s luck with women was quite good.

    ¡°Rx, rx your shoulders. I¡¯ll massage your shoulder first and then the neck, then the head¡­You can close your eyes for the whole process.¡± Mr. Xu said to me in a hypnotizing Hunan ented Mandarin.

    ¡°I¡¯ve recently been suffering from insomnia. Having headaches.¡±

    ¡°Have you taken medication?¡±

    ¡°Do sleeping pills and aspirin count?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. If it¡¯s serious, you should go see the doctor.¡± He said, ¡°You haven¡¯t been here in a long time. It must be half a year already.¡± So he could apparently recognize my voice.

    I saw that each of his elbows had a ck callus the size of an egg on it. He¡¯s probably seen more than ten thousand people these few years.

    His fingertips were soft, and sometimes quite hard, massaging along my meridian. I was just about to close my eyes when I suddenly saw a dog kennel on his window ledge. There was actually a small dog being raised in it. A chihuahua.

    I wasn¡¯t too interested in the dog, but I knew that Emma liked dogs. She was also raising a chihuahua and said that it was quite expensive. It was also expensive to groom it every month. It¡¯s not that she couldn¡¯t afford it, but she would oftenin about it during lunch and say that this type was finicky and difficult to wait upon.

    I couldn¡¯t help but ask him, ¡°Ah, you have a chihuahua?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± He said proudly, ¡°isn¡¯t it cute?¡±

    ¡°Expensive, right?!¡±

    ¡°A bit, several thousand dors.¡±

    Heavens! I calcted in my mind. Several thousand dors. How many people did he have to massage to make that money back.

    ¡°Did you wife buy it?¡±

    ¡°I bought it. She liked it, so I bought it. We take strolls every day together with it. This dog is too small, it nearly got lostst time.¡±

    His face was brimming with happiness.

    I sighed heavily and asked, ¡°Brother Xu, when you were dating your wife, did you chase after her?¡±

    ¡°She chased after me, chased after me closely.¡± His mouth curved and using a joking tone.

    ¡°Then did you chase her even a little?¡±

    ¡°Nope, and I still haven¡¯t yet. I am not from here and am a blind person. I¡¯m satisfied with making a living with the money from my own trade. I didn¡¯t even dare to think about a wife, child and what not.¡±

    ¡°Then that means you kept on rejecting her?¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡­pretty much like that. Later on, we became closer and then didn¡¯t distinguish between who was chasing after who.¡±

    ¡°Da Ge (Older Brother), I¡¯m also chasing someone. He won¡¯t ept no matter what.¡±

    ¡°Then perhaps that person isn¡¯t willing¡­¡±

    ¡°No, he¡¯s sick and doesn¡¯t want to involve me.¡±

    ¡°Then did you try hard to chase after him?¡±

    ¡°I tried hard. I¡¯ve thought of every method, but he still won¡¯t pay attention to me.¡±

    Mr. Xu¡¯s hands stopped and he stood in front of me, staring at me from those empty hold in his eyes, ¡°He won¡¯t pay attention to you, but don¡¯t tell me you won¡¯t pay attention to him? I think that you must not have tried your hardest.¡±

    What counted at trying my hardest towards Li Chuan?

    Besides stopping at the massage shop, I headed directly home and rummaged out a passport from my drawer.

    A few months ago, when I was still at Jiu Tong, Tang Yu Lan, who liked to make money on the side, helped me set up a passport. She said that she had personal connections to several travel agencies and that if I had time, whether I would be willing to be a tour guide and make some money on the side. I could visit Singapore, Mysia and Thand along the way. I had made money on the side several times, but I hadn¡¯t gone to Singapore, Mysia or Thand a single time. So the passport had never been used. I made a call to Tang Yu Lan, asking her to get a visa to Switzend for me.

    That afternoon, under her direction, I filled out a few forms and bought a round trip ticket for Zurich. It hadn¡¯t been a week before my visa was approved.

    ¡°What are you going to Switzend for? There are many ces to y in Europe. I can rmend a tour group for you. Thirty thousand dors for seven countries. How about that?¡± Tang Yu Lian urged me on the phone.

    ¡°¡®I¡¯m going to see a friend.¡±

    ¡°For just two days and a night? Isn¡¯t that too short? It¡¯s 7000 for a round trip ne ticket!¡±

    ¡°Work is intense. I can¡¯t stay long. I still have several trantions due when I get back.¡±

    ¡°Alright, remember to exchange for some swiss francs at the bank, not euros. Some stores don¡¯t take euros. Do you want me to help you book a hotel?¡±

    ¡°Can you give me a couple addresses? I want the cheap ones, near the airport. If I can¡¯t find another ce to stay, I¡¯ll stay at the hotel.¡±

    Going abroad was a huge deal to many people. But going abroad for two days was just liking going to Jiuzhaigou Valley (famous Sichuan location) to me. I simply packed a few changes of clothing and got on the Beijing to Zurich ne. I left at 5:30pm on Wednesday and got there at 6 in the morning Zurich time. Before leaving, I had sent a text message to Ren¨¦¡¯s MSN to inform him of my take off time and flight number, and, if it was convenient, whether I could trouble him to pick me up from the airport. Even though Ji Chuan and Ren¨¦ were both avoiding me during this time, every time I sent a text message, Ren¨¦ would reply. Even if it was a very short reply. If Ren¨¦ didn¡¯t get the text message, it didn¡¯t matter. I consider this as a self guided trip.

    Actually, I simply didn¡¯t count on being able to see Li Chuan. I just wanted to get a quick look at the city Li Chuan lived in and I would be satisfied.

    At daybreak, the ne crossed over the early morning mist, forests and hills and arrived on time to the Zurich airport. I didn¡¯t haverge luggage and only had a small carry-on suitcase. I followed the huge group of people and sat on the trolley going from terminal two to terminal one and went through immigration.

    There weren¡¯t many tourists in the airport, making it seem very spacious. The square shaped seats, ice-cold marble floors, and ck modern sculptures gave off an alienated feeling. The grey central steel beams supporting the ceiling gave one the feeling of going into outer space. Fortunately, one could see a huge red wall when going up and down the esctor. A warm, clear light shined in the restaurants. There were even a few ss walls with vines growing up them, making me feel like I was back in the East.

    I smoothly passed through immigration. The entrance of the terminal was filled with people picking up others, holding up their signs.

    I didn¡¯t see Ren¨¦.

    I waited for more than three hours at the entrance of the terminal and still didn¡¯t see Ren¨¦¡¯s shadow. I started to reproach myself for being reckless. I thought that since I sent a text message to Ren¨¦, he would definitely get it. It¡¯s possible that Ren¨¦ was busy or could have forgotten to turn on MSN. Plus, he was a night owl and would sleep until noon before getting up.

    It was almost noon, my stomach rumbled with hunger. I went to a nearby small restaurant and bought a sandwich. I didn¡¯t dare eat in the small restaurant for fear of Ren¨¦ not being able to find me when he picked me up. So I stayed at the terminal entrance.

    I continued to wait until one in the afternoon and finally couldn¡¯t stand still anymore. I went to a telephone booth and gave Li Chuan a call.

    The phone was picked up after two rings.

    ¡°Guten tag.¡± It was an elegant deep and low male voice, That was unusual. It wasn¡¯t a nurse. Surprisingly, Li Chuan picked up the phone directly.

    ¡°Li Chuan!¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu?¡± Thest syble rose with the startled tone.

    ¡°Uh-huh, it¡¯s me. I have something I need to find Ren¨¦ for. Do you have his cell phone number?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± he said, ¡°Ren¨¦ and Ji Chuan are in Italy. What do you need him for?¡±

    I felt foolish, ¡°Ren¨¦¡­is in Italy? I¡­don¡¯t have anything¡­it¡¯s just something for tranting.¡±

    ¡°He just left yesterday.¡± He paused and said, ¡°If it¡¯s to do with tranting, it¡¯s the same if you look for me.¡±

    ¡°It has nothing to do with you. Bye, talk to you next time.¡± I was about to hang up.

    ¡°Wait!¡± A shoute from the other end.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, where are you?¡± He asked gloomily.

    ¡°Where else would I be? Beijing, CGP office.¡±

    ¡°Why does the caller ID say Zurich airport?¡±

    It¡¯s over, I was caught! Wah! I tly denied it, ¡°That¡¯s not possible. I¡¯m clearly in Beijing. Your phone has a problem. I¡¯m hanging¡­¡±

    ¡°Xie Xiao Qiu, you¡¯re not allowed to hang up!¡± Li Chuan impatiently interrupted me on the other end and asked coarsely, ¡°Are you at the Zurich airport?¡±

    ¡°¡­uh-huh. I am here for sightseeing. I¡¯ll be leaving tomorrow.¡± I couldn¡¯t help it but my voice lowered, ¡°I¡¯m not here to look for you.¡±

    ¡°Do you have a pen on you?¡± He said, his voice bing exceptionally calm.

    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

    ¡°Write this down: XXXXXXXX. This is my cellphone number.¡± Then he said a strand of German, pronouncing each letter out for me, ¡°This is my house number. There¡¯s a spare key under the mat under the flowerpot on the right of the door. If I don¡¯t find you, call my cellphone or go directly to my house. Have you got it?¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan¡­don¡¯te look for me. I¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m asking you, did you write down what I just said?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Do you know how to get to my house?¡±

    ¡°Ride¡­ride the bus?¡±

    ¡°Stupid!¡±

    ¡°Ride¡­the subway?¡±

    ¡°Stupid!¡±

    ¡°Take¡­take the taxi?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it. Do you have swiss francs on you?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Give the address to the driver and said to him ¡®Fahren Sie mich bitte zu dieser Adresse¡¯ (Take me to this address). He will take you to my front door.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re saying it too fast, I can¡¯t write it down. Can you say it again?¡±

    ¡°Forget it, don¡¯t take the taxi. Be careful of swindlers. After thirty minutes, if you still don¡¯t see me, then call me every five minutes, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°Are you at the terminal entrance right now?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t go anywhere, I¡¯lle get you. Reckon it¡¯ll take thirty minutes.¡± Li Chuan threatened me on the other end, ¡°If I don¡¯t manage to pick you up and didn¡¯t get your call, I will call the police. Understand? If you disappear, there might be unexpected misfortunes. I¡¯ll immediately jump from a building, understand?

    ¡°Und..understand.¡±

    He hung up.

    I loosened a breath, went to the small restaurant and bought a huge cup of ice cream. I had just remembered that I had been anxiously waiting for six hours at the terminal entrance. My two legs were already aching.

 Chapter 41

    <h4>Chapter 41</h4>

    30 minutester, Li Chuan actually did appear in the airport. He sat on a exquisite, lightweight wheelchair and was about toe in through the automatic doors.

    There were countless men wearing suits sitting and walking in the airport. But I could recognize Li Chuan the second he appeared. At the same time, a famous saying by poet Ezra Pound shed through my mind:

    The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

    Petals on a wet, ck bough.

    As far as I¡¯m concerned, Li Chuan was the only ray of light in the midst of the ck bough crowd. I was unable to take my eyes off of him. The waves of my heart rose as if it was a tide. I both loved and hated him. How many days had we not seen each other? It must have been 80 days! Every time we separated, it was always for a long time. Long enough for his looks to be forgotten. Long enough for all hate to fade away. All wounds were healed. In a sh, it all became love.

    Li Chuan still attracted that sort of attention, so as he went, all the passer-bys nced at him. He was wearing a casual suit. His hair was lifted up by gel. Against his distinct eyebrows, he was even more enchanting.

    Probably due to the doctor prohibiting him, Li Chuan wasn¡¯t wearing his prosthetic leg. As soon as he entered, an airport servicedy rapiding headed towards him, asking him, in a low voice, whether he needed assistance. Li Chuan shook his head slightly. His gaze swept in front of him and saw me. HIs face suddenly became grave and stern without a trace of a smile.

    ¡°Hi! Li Chuan!¡± I picked up my suitcase and rushed over to him.

    When I got to him, I suddenly stopped and stood an arm¡¯s length away from him.

    He had ignored me for four weeks. I didn¡¯t know whether he was still angry or not. I definitely made him upset bying so unexpectedly. Seeing each other under these circumstances, what type of etiquette is more fitting?

    Hug? Or shake hands?

    As I was hesitating, Li Chuan stood up and stretched out his arms towards me, ¡°Come here, you rash girl. Wee to Zurich.¡±

    I threw myself into his embrace. Li Chuan hugged me tightly, the stubble on his lower jaw pricking my face. I cupped his thin face, giggling, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you grow a beard.¡±

    ¡°I was afraid I couldn¡¯t pick you up. Didn¡¯t have time to shave.¡± He embraced me again, hugging me tightly. I could barely breathe. At the same time, I couldn¡¯t figure out whether he had to hug me because he couldn¡¯t stand steadily or whether he just wanted to hug me. In any case, nearly one third of his weight pushed down on my body. I had my arms around his waist, motionlessly supporting him.

    Li Chuan was too heavy. He had lost a lot of weight. But he looked like he had a lot of energy. It was just that his movements were not as quick as when he was healthy. It was strenuous to even stand up. A hospital band was still on his wrist.

    As I looked him over, my heart ached.

    ¡°You took the flight that arrived at 6:10 in the morning?¡± He sat back down into the wheelchair and asked me.

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°Then, you¡¯ve waited here for a whole seven hours?¡±

    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been that long, right¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you hungry?¡±

    ¡°I ate a sandwich.¡±

    ¡°Not bad, haven¡¯t be aplete idiot.¡±

    He took me out of the airport. The car was parked by the curb. A chauffeur-like foreigner said something in German to me. Li Chuan introduced him, ¡°This is my grandfather¡¯s chauffeur, Fehn. He just greeted you.¡± I replied in English. The chauffeur evidently understood me and smiled at me quite shyly.

    Li Chuan opened the car door, reached out his hand to prevent my head from hitting the top and got me into the car. Right after, he followed and sat in. Fehn folded up the wheelchair and ced it into the trunk. I found the seatbelt and Li Chuan took it from me, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± With one hand on the car¡¯s armrest, he buckled it for me with his other hand. I watched him being busy while in a daze.

    Li Chuan was still such a gentleman despite being so think.

    The inside of the car was very spacious. Li Chuan¡¯s sole, long, leg could actually be straightened out.

    I was a little embarrassed and was too embarrassed to speak. Inside, I was a bit regretful of giving Li Chuan a call and getting him toe from the hospital. If his family knew, who knows how they will me me.

    Seeing that I wasn¡¯t speaking a word, Li Chuan turned sideways towards me, ¡°Are you tired from waiting in the airport for so long?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you call me earlier?¡±

    ¡°I¡­inadvertently troubled you. I was waiting for Ren¨¦ the entire time.¡± Afraid that he wouldn¡¯t believe me, I fished out a multi-colored bus ticket, ¡°See, I even bought a sightseeing bus tour ticket.¡±

    He took the ticket and examined it in this hands, ¡°I¡¯ve been here for so long, yet I never knew the tour bus ticket looked like this.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t lose it, I still need to use it tomorrow.¡± I took the ticket back and ced it into my purse. I then fished out a piece of card and handed it to him, ¡°My friend rmended a few hotels to me that are quite close to the airport. Can you take a look for me to see which one is good?¡±

    He looked at the card and asked me, ¡°What does ¡®good¡¯ mean?¡±

    ¡°Provides breakfast. Has a bathroom. Not costing more than 200 Swiss francs is the best. That¡¯s right, what is the voltage here?¡±

    ¡°220 volts.¡±

    ¡°Thank heavens! I can safely turn on myputer.¡±

    He smiled, ¡°You¡¯ve nned it out quite thoroughly. If I didn¡¯t stop you, you would have toured Zurich for a day, right?¡±

    ¡°Emma has even toured Honduras by herself before.¡±

    He suddenly took out a handkerchief, covered his mouth, and lightly coughed.

    ¡°Do you need water?¡± I took out a bottle of water passed out in the ne and stuffed it into his hands.

    ¡°No need, thanks.¡±

    After awhile, he said, ¡°Since you are already here, then you should stay longer.¡±

    Anyone could hear that it wasn¡¯t a very warm invitation. It was an indifferent tone, neither cold nor warm.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already bought the return ticket returning to Beijing tomorrow afternoon.¡±

    ¡°You can change the ticket.¡±

    ¡°I must go back tomorrow, I have work that can¡¯t be dyed.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t change it?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know whether he exhaled in rxation or sighed. He changed the topic, ¡°Then don¡¯t be a vegetarian for these two days, okay? The delicious things to eat here are not vegetarian. None of the vegetarian food doesn¡¯t taste good, they¡¯re not as good a Beijing¡¯s vegetarian restaurants.¡±

    ¡°How do you know I love eating? I can¡¯t like to do other things?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but admit that happiest time I spent together with Li Chuan was when we were cooking or perhaps when we went to restaurants. I loved eating and he loved eating. The two of us knew how to torment the chefs in the restaurants.

    ¡°You have two great loves. This is the easier one to satisfy. I want to satisfy you as much as possible.¡±

    I turned to look at him feeling confused, ¡°I have two great loves? Howe I don¡¯t know about this?¡±

    He kept his gaze towards the front and had a smile that was also not a smile, ¡°You are aware of it, but you just aren¡¯t conscious of it.¡±

    I stared at him nkly. I pondered it deeply, looked down, and discovered that my hands had unknowingly stealthily ced itself on his leg. Embarrassing¡­mad embarrassing. I really had a lustful habit. I promptly pulled my hand back.

    ¡°Do you know it now?¡±

    ¡°I thought that was an armrest.¡± A certain person said calmly without changing expression.

    We got to downtown Zurich quickly. Li Chuan said something to the chauffeur who stopped the car. He took me out onto the street. There was a huge hotdog stand on the other side of the street. they were selling all kinds of hotdogs. The smoke from the grill dispersing in all directions, making one drool.

    While waiting in the line leaning on crutches, Li Chuan said, ¡°This restaurant is called Sternen Grill. I liked to eat here when I was a high school student. My dad said it wasn¡¯t healthy, so I ate two a day in secret and refused to eat meals.¡±

    There were many customers and there was a long sales counter. Several chefs in white bustled around. It only took two minutes of waiting in line before it was our turn. Li Chuan bought me a hotdog that was grilled to almost ck and a bread roll. The chef wrapped it up in paper and handed it to me.

    ¡°Do you want mustard?¡± Li Chuan pointed to a cup of mustard on the stand on the side.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    He also bought me a beer. He took me slowly along the street back to where the car was parked.

    The hotdog was fragrant and spicy. Truly not an ordinary delicious taste. Besides, I was hungry. By the time we got to the car and hadn¡¯t even sat down properly yet, I had finished it all and licked my fingers, wanting more.

    Receiving confirmation of his rmendation, Li Chuan smiled, quite pleased with himself, ¡°Is that enough? Do you want more?¡­Looks like you really were hungry.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m full.¡± I patted my stomach happily and started drinking the beer. I was very satisfied, but was also very much at a loss trying to see where the car was going as it went south on arge street. There street was filled with shops on both sides such as department stores and cafes. At the end there was a hugeke. There was a dock on the side of theke with boats. On both shores there were many white houses. The green hills in theke were also sprinkled with various houses. There was forests and snowy mountains in the distance.

    ¡°Li Chuan, where are we going?¡±

    ¡°Going home.¡±

    Going home. I heart lept. Who¡¯s home? Li Chuan¡¯s home?

    Of course Li Chuan had his own residence in Zurich. It was just that, despite knowing Li Chuan for so long, he rarely talked about himself and rarely spoke of Zurich. Someone who wasn¡¯t close to him would have thought that he had been abused as a child and had been left traumatized. In actuality, Li Chuan just didn¡¯t make much conversation. Even when speaking with his brother on the phone, he would only speak for at most one minute. Plus, since I lost my parents, he tried to avoid this topic as much as possible so that I wouldn¡¯t feel sad.

    ¡°You¡¯ve already been discharged from the hospital?¡±

    ¡°No, I snuck out. Since you are here, it¡¯s a rare opportunity. I can¡¯t let you stay with me at the hospital.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m willing to stay with you at the hospital.¡± I looked at him in worry, ¡°You aren¡¯tpletely healed yet. I don¡¯t need you to expend energy to spend time with me, it¡¯ll be very tiring.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not tiring,¡± he said, ¡°there¡¯s the chauffeur for everything.¡±

    The car proceeded towards the hills by theke and stopped in a seRen¨¦ courtyard surrounded by oak trees, facing a hugewn. There were spring flowers on both sides, dense and in full bloom. The driveway passed through thewn and lead to a two story white vi. The length of the first floor was nearly three times as long as the second floor. From afar, it would look like a huge L shape.

    As expected, it was Li Chuan¡¯s house. There were handicap tforms on both sides of the main doors. Li Chuan said a couple of things to Fehn and he drove off. I took my luggage and followed Li Chuan into the house.

    The inside of the house was very modern with concise hues. There wereyers uponyers of cupboards and doors. There were only a few essential furnishings. There were a few niches strewn randomly on the walls with artworks from various ces ced in them. There were many from the East such as a Buddha, a blue and white porcin jar, a bronze wine cup, a wooden carving¡­Every nook was spotless.

    ¡°This clean?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but think of the ck filth on the ceramic tiles of my own kitchen. They were already there when thendlord rented the ce to me. I couldn¡¯t scrub it off no matter wat. Li Chuan had mysophobia, but definitely wasn¡¯t someone who would clean every single day. He had been in the hospital recently and the house must have been empty for a few months.

    ¡°Someonees to clean every day.¡± He said, ¡°I just have to sign a contract with a cleaningpany.¡±

    I nodded and said, ¡°Did you design this house?¡± Li Chuan didn¡¯t show off like this. He wouldn¡¯t make a huge fuss on his own things.

    ¡°The inside was mainly designed by my brother, the bathroom and kitchen by my (older male) cousin, the second floor by my (maternal) grandmother, the garden by my (paternal) grandmother, and the swimming pool by my (paternal) grandfather. This L shape is my father¡¯s masterpiece¡­He said that this makes it easy for others to find me.¡±

 Chapter 42

    <h4>Chapter 42</h4>

    Although they were not of Li Chuan¡¯s design, the house suited Li Chuan¡¯s taste; it was a mix of French romance, German detail, and Italian creativity. Li Chuan liked spacious and high-ceilinged rooms. He liked ss, hardwood, colorful sofas, and other furniture in ck and white. The first level was big and had many living rooms. It felt like it could fit all of CGP¡¯s staff and still have room left. He showed me room after room, and then we sat on the sofa to rest. He used a remote to open the curtains.

    ¡°Which part was designed by you then?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Everyone fought to design everything, so I didn¡¯t get a chance.¡± He shrugged, ¡°If you want to see my designs, you¡¯ll have to go to my brother¡¯s home. I think it looks better than my home. I even built them a wine cer. Their home is not far from here. It¡¯s in walking distance. Do you want to go? I have his key.¡±

    I smiled and shook my head while feeling jealous. If I had an older or younger sister, I thought maybe our rtionship would be close like this. After dad passed away, Xiao Dong suddenly matured and became a man. He cared a lot about me, but we talked less and less, and rarely visited each other. Whenever we called each other over the phone, we were always upied with other things. We had both grown up and started living our own lives, so it was natural to be more distant from each other due to our gender differences.

    ¡°What would you like to drink?¡±

    ¡°Do you have coffee?¡± I was a little tired.

    ¡°How about Cappino?¡±

    ¡°You know how to make it?¡±

    ¡°I have a machine. Do you want to see it?¡±

    He led me to his kitchen. He took out a nice coffee mug and ced it on top of the coffee machine to preheat it. He grabbed a pack of fresh coffee beans from the fridge, grinded a small bowl, and made a small cup of Expresso first. It was too bitter for me. He warmed up some milk with a steamer and made me a cup of cappino. He poured a thickyer of frothed milk on top, used a chopstick to separate the milk, and a leaf appeared in the cup. He then poked the top a few times with the chopstick, and the leaf turned into a rabbit.

    ¡°You even know how to do this?¡± My eyes widened as I looked at him in shock.

    ¡°My grandpa taught me. He does it best, and he knows how to draw a lot of different pictures. He wrote all of his love letters in the cup.¡±

    ¡°Can you teach me?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s start with something easy. The key is how you pour the milk.¡±

    He made another two cups of Cappino. He held my hands and poured the thick milk into the coffee. He stopped after it became full. He gave me a chopstick, stretched his arm from behind, held my right hand, and taught me how to draw step by step.

    ¡°Like this¡­make a stroke on the left, then one on the right. Drag it down a bit, and it¡¯s done.¡±

    I smelled a light scent of coffeeing from behind. His face brushed across the side of my forehead unintentionally; I felt the familiar affection that I once received. I couldn¡¯t resist turning my head; as I looked up, his lips were there waiting for me. But just as I approached, he moved back and avoided me.

    After so many years, Li Chuan was still full of attraction to me. He continued to be full of surprises as if I could never find out everything that he knew.

    I drew three pictures in total. I drank a cup, and Li Chuan drank a cup. He wanted to pour out the remaining one, but I insisted on turning it into a cup of cold coffee and put it into the fridge. I held the cup in my hand, sat on the bar stool, and watched Li Chuan tidy up the kitchen counter. He didn¡¯t bother using his cane, so he was hopping on his one leg. It made me feel dizzy, so I said, ¡°Can you take a rest for a bit?¡±

    He picked up his cane and asked, ¡°There¡¯s a garden in the back, do you want to take a look?¡±

    I pointed at the ceiling, ¡°What¡¯s upstairs?¡±

    Li Chuan¡¯s study, drawing room, and bedroom were all upstairs. The staircase was long and wide; a non-slippery carpetid on top of it, and it had a railing that was specially designed for him. I was curious to know why Li Chuan had to build a home with a staircase since it was inconvenient for him to walk up and down. But I understood why afternding upstairs. The second floor faced the bigke where you could see sailboats and wild ducks. The distant clouds lingered in the sky above faint green hills. Looking at the scenery from the sofa, the sun glittered onto the rippling surface of theke and the water flowed to the other end with no shore in sight.

    ¡°There¡¯s such a greatke view here, and it¡¯s all mountains in the back. The price of this home must be very expensive, right?¡±

    ¡°It is, but I didn¡¯t pay,¡± he blinked his eyes, ¡°My grandpa bought it for me as a birthday present.¡±

    I stuck out my tongue, ¡°And¡­you actually epted it without feeling bad?¡±

    ¡°I did feel bad,¡± he said, ¡°but it wasn¡¯t like I could turn him down. heehee.¡±

    ¡°Which one is your bedroom?¡± I asked.

    ¡°The bedroom is off limits.¡± He quickly rushed to a room and closed its door.

    ¡°Why is it off limits? Don¡¯t tell me, is there a woman sleeping in there right now?¡± I dashed over, opened a crack from the door, and poked my head inside.

    Li Chuan¡¯s ck and white bedroom was very distinct. His bed frame was ck, while his closet was white. His nket was purple, his bed sheets were white, and several grey pillows spread across on the top.

    A twelve inch photo with a purple frame hung on the wall across from the bed. Its background was made up of street lights and Jinma Archway of Kunming. Li Chuan in the photo was looking at me from the side, helping me tuck my hair behind my ears. His gaze was full of affection.

    It was the one and only photo that Li Chuan and I took together. He didn¡¯t even leave it to me when he left, not even its original film. I was mad for a long time because of this.

    In those five years, I recalled my memories with Li Chuan alone painfully; his images were like sand slipping away through my fingers. His expressions slowly became blurry because I didn¡¯t have a photo of him to remind me. I could only find a stamp-sized head shot photo of Li Chuan from google. It was low in quality, but I kept it on myputer. The small and blurry photo was all I had to remember Li Chuan for the past five years.

    I looked at our photo silently; the memories we had shed across my mind. After so many years of pain, all of it became sweet and intimate.

    A white tablemp stood on top of the bedside shelf. Three palm-sized picture frames were ced beside it. The vibrant colors and lively backgrounds were photos that Li Chuan took of me wearing different kinds of dresses when I was seventeen.

    I was young at the time; I looked naive and like a high school student. I thought I was the happiest person in the world. My face was glowing with a big smile as I looked into the camera full of proudness.

    My heart began to ache.

    The right side of the bed stood a steel drip stand with an intravenous bottle hanging on it. There were two oxygen bottles lying on the ground. The low shelf also had many medicine bottles and a blood pressure meter inside it. A triangr handle also hung above the bed, which was used to help patients get up.

    It looked like, this wasn¡¯t Li Chuan¡¯s bedroom, it was his hospital ward. Li Chuan must have stayed in the room during the years that he couldn¡¯t get out of bed.

    I closed the door and returned to the living room on the second floor. Li Chuan was already sitting on the sofa, looking off to theke through the long ss window in deep thoughts.

    ¡°Li Chuan¡­¡­¡±

    I called his name and then sat beside him. He tilted his head to look at me. He looked vexed, serious, and wanted to say something but didn¡¯t.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re sick, and it¡¯s serious.¡± I said softly into his ear, ¡°You don¡¯t want to tell me because you don¡¯t want me to worry.¡±

    He caressed my face and didn¡¯t say anything. I found his lips and concentrated on kissing him. He didn¡¯t return my affection, but rather, he started turning his chin away, trying to avoid me.

    ¡°But do you know that if you are cruel to yourself, you are also being cruel to me? Did you think that I would not worry because you didn¡¯t tell me? I¡¯d rather know the truth than be like now, always having insomnia and nightmares. Li Chuan, I beg you to tell me! Tell me what your sickness is.¡± I hugged and shook his body as I cried till my voice was gone.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, I¡¯d rather you not know. Furthermore, there is nothing you can do about it,¡± he said calmly while sounding cold, ¡°After you go back, don¡¯te to Zurich again.¡±

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°I beg you.¡±

    I let him go and let out a sarcasticugh, ¡°Are you nning to hide here forever and note back to Beijing?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Is this farewell forever again?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°If I tell you that I can¡¯t take it anymore, will you give me mercy this time?¡±

    As if he thought for a long time, heforted me, ¡°¡­I will return to Beijing. I never break my promises to you.¡±

    ¡°And then?¡±

    He shook his head, ¡°There is nothing else. You have to remember what you swore in the Guan Gong Temple.¡±

    I was withered away. I wrapped my arms around my knees and cried depressingly as I couldn¡¯t say a word. He kept his body still and didn¡¯t console me.

    After a while, I wiped my tears and suddenly jumped up from my seat, ¡°Hell with it, Li Chuan. I don¡¯t care! I don¡¯t care about keeping my promise! Tell Guan Gong to go to hell! Let the lightning strike me! Let me drown in the river!¡±

    He quickly covered my mouth and mes were bursting in his eyes, ¡°Do you have to make me say things to hurt you, Xiao Qiu?¡±

    ¡°Haven¡¯t you said enough things to hurt me already? Say it! Keep saying them!¡±

    ¡°Xie Xiao Qiu, I beg you,¡± he stared at me and said word by word, ¡°stop tangling yourself with me.¡±

    I suddenly stopped breathing. All my blood rushed to the top of my head. I looked at him dumbstruck for three seconds, turned around, and walked away in big steps. I tripped over the sofa as I was walking too fast. He saved me from falling out of reflex.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡±

    ¡°Do you care?¡± I sneered and pushed his hands away. He tugged onto me and wouldn¡¯t let go. His hand was like a pincer on my wrist.

    ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to go anywhere!¡± he pulled me into his embrace, ¡°Do you hear me, Xie Xiao Qiu?! If you run away, I¡­I won¡¯t be able to catch up to you.¡±

    His voice was raspy and veins were bulging on his forehead. He was afraid that I would run away, so his other hand was grabbing my clothes tightly. Not only would he not be able to catch up to me, he couldn¡¯t even stand properly. When I attempted to shake him off, he almost lost his footing. He would have fallen if I didn¡¯t grab onto him.

    I lifted my head, looked at him, and said in a shaky voice, ¡°Li Chuan, don¡¯t think that I can be put down by others so easily. If you p me and call me a slut, I will leave immediately. I¡¯m serious. I will nevere back. Do you want to try?¡±

    He stood there frozen while his eyes were full of emotions, numerous thoughts crossing through his mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± he mumbled, ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±

    It felt like my heart was stung by a needle. He looked very pitiful and even more helpless than I was.

    ¡°Li Chuan, I can give you whatever you want. If you insist that I leave, I will do so as well.¡± I said gently, ¡°But before I leave, you must make me believe that you will still live well without me. Are you living well? You have been so sick and you¡¯ve already be so thin. You have be a million times more different than when I first met you. Li Chuan, how can I leave you without any worries? Tell me!¡±

    I held his face in my hands and kissed him passionately. He tried to avoid me stubbornly and helplessly. I let go of his lips and continued kissing him from the bottom of his ear. I kissed his Adam¡¯s apple, and licked his corbone. He suddenly sighed, grabbed my shoulder, and rubbed his nose gently on the back of my neck. His warm breathing made my skin itch. It had a light scent of coffee. I wrapped my arms around his waist. He groaned and his belly suddenly became stiff. He struggled to escape, but I held onto him and snugged closer to him.

    ¡°No¡­¡± He continued to dodge me and wanted to stop as he was getting aroused, but he was too weak.

    ¡°No,¡± he frowned and looked angry. I wanted to let go, but it was toote. Tiny drops of sweat were already showing up on his face. He was getting hot and his body was stiff from being aroused.

    ¡°Okay.¡± I released my arms, moved away from him, and sat down obediently.

    He looked at me fiercely. His eyes were burning and his throat was dry. He said while suppressing himself, ¡°That¡¯s¡ªThat¡¯s all you¡¯re going to do?¡±

    ¡°What else can I do?¡± I looked at him with my eyes wide open and spread my hands, ¡°You pushed me away despite meing willingly.¡±

 Chapter 43

    <h4>Chapter 43</h4>

    He picked up his cane, turned around and walked towards his bedroom, ¡°I¡¯m going to get changed.¡±

    There was air conditioning in the home set around twenty-two degrees, but Li Chuan was covered in sweat like he had just run for eight hundred meters. I followed him into his room. He turned around and said without needing to catch his breath, ¡°I¡¯m getting changed. Why are youing in?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to watch you change.¡±

    He was stunned for a minute, ¡°What¡¯s there to see?¡±

    ¡°I just want to watch.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t give up, will you?¡±

    ¡°I mean good intentions. I¡¯m here in case you need help,¡± I said sincerely.

    ¡°Oh, help?¡± he looked at me awkwardly and said ufortably, ¡°I need a lot of help.¡±

    He walked into an open U-shaped closet; suits and shirts were hung neatly in it. He casually picked out a t-shirt, a pair of light washed denim shorts, and stuffed them into my hands, ¡°Hold them.¡±

    He then took off his clothes one by one in front of me until he was only wearing a muscle shirt and shorts.

    ¡°Have you seen enough?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I handed him the t-shirt and smiled brightly, ¡°please continue.¡±

    He ignored me, sat on the couch, and started putting on his pants. He took off his watch and handed it to me.

    ¡°Please hold the watch for me.¡±

    I put the watch on my wrist. He took off his socks and stuffed them in my hands.

    ¡°Hey, why are you getting me to hold your dirty socks?¡±

    ¡°Throw them into theundry basket over there.¡±

    After I threw the socks into the basket, he was already done putting on his pants, but he pulled out the belt and gave it to me, ¡°Get another belt. Over there, the one in brown.¡±

    I found the belt and buckled it for him. He said, ¡°Oh right, I forgot my wallet in the suit.¡±

    I fetched it and put it into his pants¡¯ pocket for him, ¡°What else do you need, Young Master?¡±

    ¡°My cell phone and keys.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­Where are they?¡±

    ¡°On that shelf.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s one foot away from you. Can¡¯t you get it yourself?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m disabled.¡±

    I grabbed it for him and said feeling annoyed, ¡°Are you done?¡±

    He pointed to the floor, ¡°Cane.¡±

    After that, I looked at him from head to toe, ¡°Are you done changing?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Can you stop staring at my leg?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m staring at the healthy one.¡±

    ¡°Stop staring at that one too.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s windy outside and you¡¯re dressed so little, won¡¯t you feel cold?¡± The weather had been fluctuating a lot in Zurich. Although it was mid-April, it still felt as warm as in March. Li Chuan was not only wearing short-sleeves and shorts, he was also going barefoot. His long leg, arched foot, and pale ankle apanied with a dark blue flip-flop with red straps. It looked extremely attractive. I immediately lost my focus and couldn¡¯t help but stare at it, ¡°Does your waist hurt? I¡¯ll give you a VIP message tonight for free.¡±

    ¡°Stop kidding,¡± he sneered, still feeling vexed over what happened just a moment ago, ¡°Don¡¯t try to get close to me whenever you get the chance. How did the (Communist) party educate you? It¡¯s like I¡¯ve entered a spider¡¯s cave [trap] whenever I see you.¡±

    ¡°Mister, it¡¯s the cave of the silken web,¡± I corrected. I had read him the entire novel of ¡°¡± before, yet he couldn¡¯t remember it.

    I didn¡¯t wait for him to respond, ¡°I need to go get changed as well. Although I¡¯m not as good looking as you, I have nice looking dresses that areparable to yours.¡± I skipped downstairs, took out a flower patterned white top, and a light purple long skirt. I said as I saw Li Chuan walking down the stairs, ¡°Li Chuan, help me button the back.¡±

    The buttons of my top were all on the back; there were about ten of them. After he had buttoned half of them, I felt weight on my shoulder; Li Chuan rested his head at the side of my neck. He started kissing me from behind. His chin nudged my corbone and his gentle breath swept across my face. He continued kissing me and said, ¡°I can¡¯t, there are too many buttons¡­it¡¯s too seductive.¡±

    He turned my body around, held my face in his hands, and said in a haze, ¡°Xiao Qiu, how much longer do you want to torment me, hm?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s what I want to ask you.¡± I lifted my head and looked at him straight in the eye.

    He stared at me with mixed feelings, ¡°Are you done messing around yet?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Stop seducing me!¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me again!¡±

    ¡°I will call whenever I¡¯m free.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t pick up!¡±

    ¡°If you won¡¯t pick up, I¡¯ll fly to Zurich¡­¡±

    He sealed my lips. His tongue slipped through my teeth and he kissed me forcefully. In an instant, he took off all of my clothes and threw them on the floor. I struggled for a bit, and he held my wrists and pressed them hard against the wall. He leaned over me with his chest on top of mine, so I had to tilt my head upwards as my back hit the niche in the wall. A white transparent jade bowl fell out from it. It made a ¡°clink¡± sound and broke into several pieces.

    ¡°It¡¯s not real jade, is it?!¡± I looked at the shattered pieces out of fright.

    ¡°It¡¯s a jade bowl from the Kangxi emperor era.¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡± I cried.

    He bit my ear and said seductively, ¡°How can it be more priceless than you?¡±

    I was still in fright when he suddenly came inside of me. It hurt and I took a big breath, ¡°Be more gentle, will you?¡±

    ¡°Since I make you hurt so much, don¡¯te looking for me next time,¡± he said coldly and became fiercer than usual.

    ¡°Ah! Ah! Li Chuan, please spare me!¡±

    ¡°No!¡± He twisted my arms so that I couldn¡¯t break free. His fingers wrapped around my wrists so hard that they hurt. I tried to fight back by grabbing onto him tightly. My palms and the back of my hands were covered with his sweat. i couldn¡¯t help but feel sweetness inside my heart. He let go of the pressure of his hands for a bit and I quickly escaped. But he pulled me to the sofa and continued. I could only feel him thrusting hard and pain that I never felt before.

    I opened my eyes wide and epted him at a loss.

    ¡°Do you hate me?¡± he asked provocatively. His sweat dripped from the tip of his nose to my face.

    ¡°No. I like you!¡±

    He pressed me down out of anger and kissed me roughly. I could feel his heart beat through his skin.

    We started panting harder and harder, and his body was shaking uncontrobly. I got a little worried, ¡°Li Chuan, don¡¯t be like this. You¡¯ll hurt yourself.¡±

    ¡°Promise that you won¡¯te looking for me again then!¡±

    ¡°No, I want your baby.¡±

    Those words were more effective than anything. He stopped on the spur of the moment and quickly backed out. He fell on top of me and didn¡¯t move.

    ¡°Li Chuan,¡± I hugged him tightly. I pulled out my hand and caressed his hair, ¡°Li Chuan.¡±

    He was covered in sweat. His face was still against my chest when he replied me with ¡°Mm.¡± Hey in my embrace out of exhaustion. After a long while, he got up and pulled me to the bathroom to take a shower. After I came out of the shower, I picked up my ripped clothes from the floor and couldn¡¯t help but me him, ¡°Look, you ruined my best top and skirt.¡± I could only put on an ordinary t-shirt, which was white and had a Peking Opera mask printed on it.

    ¡°Did you get hurt just now?¡± he asked. He showed his usual care without any emotions.

    ¡°You want to go at it again tonight?¡±

    ¡°Are you masochistic?¡±

    I looked at him in silence and then said, ¡°Li Chuan, can you let me enjoy one day? Even if it¡¯ll burst like a bubble in the end, I still want it.¡±

    His cheeks twitched, and he didn¡¯t respond.

    ***

    Li Chuan said that we shouldn¡¯t stay home because we would end up misbehaving. Therefore, he took me out.

    We were both tired, but Li Chuan was even more tired. He switched to a crutch with armpit rest that he didn¡¯t normally use. His free left hand held my hand.

    I suddenly said to him at the door, ¡°Li Chuan, lower your head. I have something to give you.¡±

    I took out the jade that I was wearing and put it around his neck. The jade was shiny and still carried the warmth from my body. Li Chuan must have noticed it already from just now, but since I had a habit of wearing all kinds of beads and stones, he probably didn¡¯t mind it too much.

    ¡°What is it?¡± he held the jade in front of himself and started observing it.

    ¡°It¡¯s to get rid of bad luck. Did you know? This is a bad year for you, so you should wear it to help fend off the bad luck.¡±

    His eyebrows twitched, ¡°When did you be superstitious?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that you¡¯ve been having a lot of bad lucktely?¡±

    ¡°Hm, true.¡±

    ¡°Let me tell you. It¡¯s because I¡¯m the one bringing you all the bad luck!¡±

    ¡°You bring me bad luck?¡±

    ¡°You are water, and I am earth. Earth brings bad luck to water!¡±

    Heughed, ¡°What era are we in already? Why do you still believe in these things?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t believe it?¡±

    ¡°I really don¡¯t.¡±

    Whatever, I decided not to continue the discussion with him since he did not believe it. I just needed to be more careful not to bring him more bad luck.

    Li Chuan said that he would take me to thekeside. We held hands together and walked down the gravel path. Li Chuan walked very slowly and practically took one step and a shuffle each time. He also needed to rest every few steps. In the beginning, he was the one holding my hands, but soon it was more like I was giving him a hand. Thekeside was clearly just in front of us, but it took us thirty minutes to get there.

    It was at the peak of tourism, so there were many pubs at thekeside. On the patio, someone was singing, ying a guitar, and there were other performances from artists. A lot of people walked barefeet on the wooden bridge. Everybody was very happy and lively.

    ¡°Ice cream! Haagen Daz! Li Chuan, over there!¡±

    I was reminiscing on the Haagen Daz ice cream popsicle that I had at the airport, so I got excited when I saw an ice cream shop in the near distant. He walked with me to the ce and said, ¡°What Haagen Daz? You need to have Swiss ice cream, Movenpick, when you¡¯re here.¡±

    Li Chuan bought me a big cup of ice cream; one scoop was chocte, and one scoop was pineapple.

    ¡°This is dark chocte. It may be a little bitter, but once you get used to it, you¡¯ll be addicted to it.¡±

    ¡°Yummy,¡± I responded with satisfaction and put another big spoonful into my mouth. I looked down and noticed there were two seven to eight year-old girls who were also holding a cup of ice cream and licking their spoons just like me. It made me feel a little embarrassed. I turned around and asked Li Chuan, ¡°You¡¯re not eating any?¡±

    He shook his head, ¡°I used to love eating it, but now¡­I can¡¯t have too many sweets. Whenever I eat any, my doctor will find out. But I¡¯m happy to just watch you eat it.¡±

    Someone nearby suddenly shouted, ¡°(English) Alex! Hello! Alex!¡±

    We turned to see who was calling, and saw that it a beautiful blonde hair woman waving at us while standing behind the fence of the patio at a pub. Right after, she and a brown hair man held hands and jogged towards us.

    Li Chuan gave each of them a hug and greeted them in German.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, this is Sabrina and Auburn. They both were my ssmates from middle school. They just got marriedst month,¡± Li Chuan introduced, ¡°I bought them a gift, but unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t attend their wedding.¡±

    He then introduced me to them. I shook hands with them, and gave them my blessing in English.

    ¡°They don¡¯t understand English. They just asked if you were my younger cousin. I used to bring Colette here for ice cream often.¡±

    I wanted to faint. Did I really look that young?

    I didn¡¯t know what Li Chuan said to them, but after the introductions, they looked at me touched and full of sweetness. During his speech, Li Chuan wrapped his arm around my waist, showcasing our intimacy naturally. In order for me to understand what his friends were saying, he tranted all their German words into English, his German words into Chinese, and exined them softly to me. He switched between the threenguages constantly, yet he did not get lost by it.

    ¡°They asked if you would like to go for a drink. If you don¡¯t want beer, you can have Apfelschorle. Apfelschorle is a kind of apple juice soda.¡±

    I said quietly, ¡°Li Chuan, you can¡¯t drink. There are also a lot of people at the bar, so you shouldn¡¯t go.¡±

    Li Chuan nodded and said quietly, ¡°It¡¯s convenient to be with someone who¡¯s sick, so that you can turn everything down easily. I¡¯ll tell them that I can¡¯t drink, while you still have jetg, so we need to rest.¡±

    He said a bunch of German and hugged each of them again as they said their goodbyes reluctantly.

    I asked Li Chuan, ¡°Howe the German that you speak sounds so nice? It sounds just like French?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not Hitler. Furthermore, German doesn¡¯t sound bad.¡±

    He held my hands again and we took a stroll on thekeside. I followed him closely, but it felt a little unreal. Sigh¡­¡­how many years had it been since Li Chuan and I had walked on the streets as a couple like this?

    Swans and ducks were swimming in the calmke. We stood under a tree, chatting. The wind blew over and I sneezed, feeling a little cold. Li Chuan stood closer to me with one hand resting on the tree trunk to shield me from the wind.

    ¡°Is it cold?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Stay in the sunlight, it¡¯ll be warmer,¡± he said.

    ¡°After I¡¯m finished with my ice cream.¡±

    He giggled, ¡°Look at you, your face is covered with chocte.¡±

    ¡°Ah?¡± I was surprised, ¡°Was I like this just now? In front of your ssmates?¡±

    ¡°Mm. Why else would they have asked if you were my younger cousin?¡±

    Embarrassing. I reached into my bag for a tissue, but I couldn¡¯t find any.

    ¡°Here,¡± he said.

    Before I could understand what he meant, he tilted my head and licked all the ice cream off my face.

    ¡°Is it okay now?¡± I waspletely embarrassed. My heart pounded hard.

    ¡°Here also.¡±

    He sucked my fingers one by one.

    ¡°What are you doing? There are people here.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to eat ice cream again?¡±

    ¡°Yes, especially when you¡¯re with me. Hehe.¡±

 Chapter 44

    <h4>Chapter 44</h4>

    Li Chuan bought a piece of bread for me and leaned against the railing by thekeside with me, watching me pull it apart bit by bit to feed the ducks.

    After standing there with me for awhile, he pointed to a bench under the shade of a tree and said, ¡°You take your time, I¡¯ll go sit over there.¡±

    I turned around and looked at him. He did look cheerful, but hisplexion was awfully pale. His eyes were slightly drooped, looking exhausted. I couldn¡¯t help but think about how he sat in a wheelchair the whole time at the airport. Clearly, he didn¡¯t have the strength to walk. However, he went to line up for a hotdog for me and then walked up and down the hill with me. It was a long way to walk.

    ¡°You¡¯re tired,¡± I said in alert, ¡°let¡¯s go home.¡±

    ¡°No, no,¡± he shook his head, ¡°I only need to rest for a bit.¡±

    ¡°The chair is so hard, it¡¯ll be ufortable for you to sit¡­¡±

    ¡°Enough, stop arguing.¡±

    I didn¡¯t leave Li Chuan. I went and sat down with him on the long bench. His face was as white as paper. Underneath the dazzling sunlight, it was even faintly green. I held his hand and asked, ¡°Are you alright? Do you need to take medicine?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He said. His cell phone suddenly rang. He looked at the number and picked up.

    ¡ª Ge (Older brother).

    ¡ª Uh-huh, don¡¯t worry. I picked her up.¡±

    ¡ª I¡¯m not returning to the hospital today. I¡¯m going to walk around with Xiao Qiu. She¡¯s only staying for a day.

    ¡ª Of course I¡¯ve signed. Herman was not there.

    ¡ª I¡¯m not tired, Fehn will go with me.

    ¡ª I said, I¡¯m not going back to the hospital today. Of course, that includes tonight.

    ¡ª No.

    ¡ª Xiao Qiu is not here. She went to feed the ducks.

    ¡ª Why are you so troublesome? Don¡¯t have the nursee. I won¡¯t die from not getting IV for a day.

    ¡ª Don¡¯t tell. Especially, don¡¯t tell (paternal) grandfather and (paternal) grandmother. Otherwise, you must pay back all the money you owe me.

    ¡ª Mmhmm, I will be careful.

    ¡ª That¡¯s right, I want to bring Xiao Qiu to Kunststuben to eat. Don¡¯t you know the boss there? Help me make a call. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t get reservations¡­.Tonight at 7. And then we¡¯ll go to Valmann Bar¡­Yes, Yes, I won¡¯t drink.

    ¡ª Bye. Tell Ren¨¦ hi.

    He hung up and said to me, ¡°Ren¨¦ just turned on his MSN and made a big fuss over there about whether you had been lost.

    I was already regretful to the utmost degree due to my impulsiveness this time. Li Chuan needed to be hospitalized, but would rather interrupt his treatment in order to keep mepany. Even if he didn¡¯t mind, his family definitely wouldn¡¯t agree.

    I licked my lips and said, ¡°Li Chuan, you had better return¡­¡±

    He interrupted me, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Really. Nothing will happen to me.¡±

    At that moment, his cell phone rang again. He took it out, looked at the number, and shoved it back into his pocket without picking up.

    After ringing five times, the ringing stopped. After ten seconds, it ran again.

    ¡°Li Chuan, pick up the phone.¡±

    He sighed, and then picked up.

    ¡ª Dad.

    ¡ª I¡¯m at home.

    ¡ª Herman called you?

    ¡ª I have a friend who came from China, just staying one day. I¡¯m going to apany them.

    ¡ª I¡¯ve signed. Don¡¯t worry, you don¡¯t have to be so worried, okay?

    ¡ª Nothing will happen.

    ¡ª Then what do you want me to do?

    ¡ª No.

    ¡ª No.

    ¡ª No. I said nothing will happen. I¡¯ll return to the hospital tomorrow night. No, you don¡¯t need toe back. I don¡¯t need a nurse right now.

    ¡ª Dad, you doing it again!

    ¡ª Dad!

    ¡ª I¡¯m tired. I¡¯m hanging up. Bye.

    At this, he hung up. I looked at him nervously. Unexpectedly, after a minute, the cellphone rang again. Li Chuan¡¯s face immediately became gloomy.

    Following which, there was a beautiful arch in the air.

    With a dull sound of the water, the ck cellphone disappeared into theke.

    ¡°Li Chuan, listen to me.¡± I anxiously entreated, ¡°Don¡¯t let your dad worry. I¡¯ll go back to the hospital with you. okay?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± He sat there calmly with a determined attitude.

    The hole was being dug even deeper. I sat there, next to him, in mncholy, silently looking at the jade blue water. I inhaled, not allowing my tears to fall out.

    An arm was put over my shoulder. Li Chuan hugged me tightly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about my dad. My dad is in Hong Kong. The whip may be long¡­and so on.¡±

    ¡°The whip may be long, but should not be used on the horse¡¯s stomach.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, that meaning.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, what is thiske called.¡±

    Heughed once and bowed his head to look at me, ¡°Foolish girl, this is the Zurich Lake that I often told you about.¡±

    ¡°Oh! No wonder it¡¯s so big!¡± I asked, ¡°Do all your family members live in this region?¡±

    ¡°Mmm. There are also some who live elsewhere. My uncles live in another small town. My (paternal) grandfather used to live in Bern, the French district. Afterwards, for business convenience, he moved here.¡±

    I pretended to yawn with calction, ¡°Li Chuan, I¡¯m tired. I want to sleep.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t sleep. You¡¯re only here for a day, yet you still want a nap. I¡¯ll take you to a cafe to drink Espresso. There a small cafe near here with great taste. You¡¯ll have energy again after two cups.¡± He remained unmoved.

    ¡°I really too tired. Can you go back with me?¡±

    He stood up and took me to the street to get a taxi, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say your clothes were ripped? Let¡¯s go buy some. You like skirts. Spring and summer is perfect for buying skirts.

    Fine, everyone has a weakness. This person just won¡¯t let me sleep.

    I saw travel pamphlets at the airport that said that Bahnhofstrasse was a shopper¡¯s paradise. Summer clothes have hit the market in April. I could buy a few skirts. If I was lucky, I mighte upon discounts. But Zurich, itself, was also famous for being the most expensive shopping district. Even if there was a discount, it wouldn¡¯t be that cheap. If Li Chuan was not by my side, I would have probably strolled all day long to maybe dig up a bargain. But..today¡­I¡¯ll just leave that be.

    The taxi unexpectedly stopped in neither arge nor small ally.

    ¡°This is Bahnhofstrasse?¡±

    ¡°The one we just passed with lots of banks and stores was Bahnhofstrasse. This isn¡¯t, but it¡¯s still really close. The good clothing stores are all in the alley. The men¡¯s and women¡¯s clothes in this Salvatore Schito store isn¡¯t bad. I often buy leather shoes here.¡±

    We walked in and Li Chuan sat down on the couch. A warm and pretty shop assistant patiently helped me choose clothes. She could speak English fluently. I tried on two dresses with amazing speed and under Li Chuan¡¯s suggestion, I then tried on two pairs of leather shoes and a purse. In less than thirty minutes, we came out withrge and small bags.

    ¡°Why are you so fast when buying clothes every time?¡±

    ¡°Because you pay.¡±

    ¡°Howe, when we were in Beijing, you would haggle for vegetables for half an hour over a few cents?¡±

    ¡°Because I like to.¡±

    A certain person had nothing to say.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get in the car so quickly. There are still several more stores ahead. Follow me.¡± Li Chuan pulled me, wanting to continue going forward.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already bought everything I need. I don¡¯t want to stroll anymore.¡±

    When I dragged Li Chuan back to the car, his face was already filled with fatigue and couldn¡¯t go on anymore. But his n waspletely packed: First go to the cafe to drink coffee. Then visit an art gallery, a cathedral and the Rietberg Museum. Have dinner in the evening and then go drink at a bar afterwards. Listen to jazz¡­When the car started, after going a bit on the road, he was already asleep, leaning on me. I took the opportunity to take out the address that he had written for me earlier and asked the driver to take us home.

    The half asleep Li Chuan was half pulled and half dragged into the bedroom by the driver and me. He fell headlong onto the bed and was fast asleep. Seeing him sleeping so soundly, I also became sleep and simply lied down beside him and dozed off.

    Li Chuan closely cuddled me like before. In my sleep, I heard him groan. He curled his body up and pant lightly while pressing on his wounded disabled body with his hands. After the surgery, Li Chuan always had severe aching in his bones and relied on painkillers to mitigate it. More than ten years had passed, the pain had be chronic. Even though it wasn¡¯t as often and severe as before, when it did re-up, half his body still convulsed with unbearable pain. This happened several times when Li Chuan and I were together. Usually he would get up in the middle of the night to take painkillers and sleeping pills. Then, he would go rest in another room. Painkillers were not particrly useful. The effects of hotpression was better. But each time it red up, Li Chuan wouldn¡¯t let me know. It was only after I had been woken up by his tossing and turning could I help him. Him who was dripping in cold sweat.

    I went and warmed up a towel in the bathroom,ying it out on his slightly trembling waist. I saw that his eyelids were gently moving, seeming as he wanted to wake up but his sleepiness was too heavy. He turned over a few times on the bed and then fell into a deep sleep. In the haze, he couldn¡¯t find where I was and vaguely called out, ¡°Xiao Qiu¡­¡±

    ¡°Sleep, I am here.¡± I stroked his face.

    He peacefully fell asleep.

    The Zurichke was a blue color in the sunset. At the end of the horizon was a slice of red light.

    A dim deskmp was on in the room. It was really quite all around. You could hear the sounds in the distance. In this strange ce, with such a familiar person next to me, I couldn¡¯t fall asleep. I looked at Li Chuan in deep thought, thinking about his illness and about how we didn¡¯t have a conclusive future.

    Tomorrow, we had to separate again. Li Chuan snuggled tightly against me in his sleep. From the start, he had been holding onto my hand. I knew how much he longed to be together with me.

    Several hours passed in disappointment and absent-mindedness.

    Suddenly, ringing came from downstairs.

    I took off my pajamas and put on the t-shirt with a Beijing opera mask on it. I casually put up my hair into a ponytail and went downstairs to open the door.

    A thin, tall, elderly man stood on the veranda. In his hand was a cane. He had a head of gray hair. He looked very energetic and had on exquisite clothes with an out of the ordinary presence. I couldn¡¯t help but think that he must have been very handsome when he was younger. He still had such elegance even at this old age. There was a tall young foreign woman standing next to him. She had maroon colored long hair and in her hands was a case.

    He must be an important rtive of Li Chuan¡¯s.

    I was a bit nervous, and my voice couldn¡¯t help but tremble, ¡°May I ask¡­are the two of you looking for Li Chuan?¡± I asked in English.

    ¡°Yes.¡± The elderly man said quite nicely, ¡°Is he at home?¡±

    ¡°Mmhmm¡­he is sleeping. Pleasee in, I¡¯ll go wake him.¡±

    The two came into the room, but the room was dark. I looked everywhere for the light switch.

    ¡°It¡¯s here.¡± The elderly man turned on the light for me. The room immediately brightened as if it was daytime.

    I move to the stairs to go call Li Chuan, but the elderly man suddenly stopped me, ¡°Since he¡¯s already sleeping, then don¡¯t wake him up.¡±

    I felt very ufortable and a little bit wronged. I was a guest, yet I had to entertain guests.

    ¡°Then¡­please sit.¡±

    The elderly man very willingly sat down on the couch and crossed his legs. He used his eyes to indicate for the young woman to sit down after him. I cast a nce upstairs. There was no sounds of movement. Wah¡­I was going mad. When will that Li Chuan wake up.

    ¡°(Old) sir,¡± I sat upright, ¡°may I ask what your name is?¡±

    ¡°My surname is Wang,¡± he said, ¡°I am Li Chuan¡¯s (paternal) grandfather. This is Miss Eleanor. May I ask who you are¡­¡±

 Chapter 45

    <h4>Chapter 45</h4>

    Li Chuan¡¯s grandpa! My heart stopped beating for five seconds.

    ¡°I¡¯m Annie, Li Chuan¡¯s colleague from China.¡±

    ¡°Oh!¡± the old man was delighted and spoke in Chinese instead, ¡°You came from China?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s my first time in Switzend,¡± I answered politely.

    ¡°When did you arrive?¡±

    ¡°Not long ago.¡±

    ¡°Mm,¡± the old man said, ¡°Li Chuan is too ill-mannered. How can he be sleeping when there¡¯s a guest here? I¡¯ll take care of you in his ce. Annie, what would you like to drink? Li Chuan should have some great tea and coffee here.¡± The old man probably didn¡¯t want to leave Eleanor out since she didn¡¯t understand Chinese, so he spoke in English again.

    ¡°Mr. Wang, it¡¯s okay. I¡¯ve already had a drink.¡±

    ¡°Eleanor, why don¡¯t you give him intravenous drip now while he¡¯s sleeping?¡± the old man said to the pretty woman, ¡°Is it possible to make it faster so he has some time with his guest?¡±

    It turned out that she was Li Chuan¡¯s nurse; surely enough, she was wearing a nurse uniform when she took off her coat.

    ¡°No, Mr. Wang,¡± the nurse replied in English inartictely, ¡°Alex¡¯s heart and lungs aren¡¯t well. Not only can we not speed up the intravenous process, we must take it slow and be very cautious. He can only lie on his bed for the rest of the night.¡±

    The old man frowned, ¡°How long will it take?¡±

    ¡°There are a total of two bottles. It¡¯ll take about ten hours.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Please be gentle so that you don¡¯t wake him up. If he wakes up, he¡¯lle after me.¡± The old man winked and smiled apologetically at me.

    The nurse carried her medical case and walked quietly upstairs.

    The old man turned towards me and said in Chinese, ¡°Youngdy, which branch office in China are you from?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m from Beijing.¡±

    ¡°Which is your job? Interior design? Garden design? Exterior design?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wang, I am Li Chuan¡¯s trantor.¡±

    ¡°Oh, Li Chuan¡¯s trantor. Your surname is Zhu, right?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re referring to Miss Zhu Bi Xuan? She went to America and got married. I am Li Chuan¡¯s new trantor.¡±

    ¡°Sigh,¡± he sighed, ¡°this child¡­He said he would not work while he was sick, yet he asked his trantor toe?¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t misunderstand him. I¡¯m only here to tour around on my vacation. I will be leaving tomorrow,¡± I quickly exined. I regretted dressing too casually: a t-shirt, a pair of denim shorts, and bare feet. I was also too rxed staying at my ¡°boss¡¯s¡¯¡± home, which clearly seemed suspicious.

    ¡°Li Chuan picked you up at the airport?¡± he asked.

    He indeed became suspicious of me; there was obviously another meaning behind his words. Just as I was thinking of how to reply to him, Eleanor came walking down the stairs looking depressed.

    The old man immediately asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡±

    ¡°I had just finished hanging the bottle, disinfected the area, and was about to put the needle in when Mr. Li Chuan¡­.woke up,¡± she said with her voice shaking, ¡°He was very mad and wouldn¡¯t let me put the needle in. He said he had already signed the acknowledgement papers. And also said that if I insisted in doing so, he would sue my hospital.¡±

    The old man stood up, banged his cane against the floor, and shouted towards the stairs, ¡°Wang Li Chuan, youe down here right now!¡±

    I couldn¡¯t believe that an elegant old man like him would have such a loud voice when he was angry.

    A minuteter, Li Chuan appeared at the top of the staircase.

    ¡°Grandpa,¡± he slowly walked down with his cane and stopped in front of the old man, ¡°I have a guest today. Can¡¯t you give me one day?¡±

    ¡°You must receive your intravenous drip today,¡± the old man wouldn¡¯t back down, ¡°Whatever the guest wants to do, I¡¯ll make the arrangement. I guarantee that she¡¯ll be satisfied.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re going out tonight. She hasn¡¯t had dinner yet.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m¡ªI¡¯m not hungry at all,¡± I said quickly.

    Li Chuan red at me.

    ¡°What would you like to eat? Western food? Chinese food? I¡¯ll call our chef and tell him toe cook it for you.¡±

    ¡°Grandpa, I already told dad that I would go back to the hospital tomorrow night. Why do you have to force me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be difficult. Dr. Herman called me and said you have to take your intravenous drip today.¡±

    ¡°(English) No.¡± Li Chuan grabbed my hand and walked to the front door to get his car keys.

    ¡°Li Chuan! You stop right there!¡±

    ¡°Grandpa,¡± Li Chuan turned around and said slowly, ¡°I have to go out today. Don¡¯t stop me.¡±

    The air felt so stuffed as if liquid would drip from it.

    The old man didn¡¯t move and stared at Li Chuan angrily, ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to go anywhere today. You¡¯d better be good and stay home for me!¡±

    Li Chuan opened his mouth, but couldn¡¯t say a word. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said to me quietly, ¡°Xiao Qiu, please wait for me upstairs. I need to have a chat with my grandpa.¡±

    I looked at him nervously and then walked softly upstairs. I sat down in Li Chuan¡¯s bedroom. Ten minutester, Li Chuan came up and called me, ¡°Xiao Qiu, change into your flowery dress, we¡¯re going out for a big dinner.¡±

    ¡°What about your grandpa?¡± I asked while feeling shocked, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that make your grandpa mad?¡±

    ¡°He left already.¡±

    ¡°How¡­How about your nurse then?¡±

    ¡°She also left already.¡±

    ¡°What did you say to your grandpa? Howe he agreed to let you go out?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that,¡± Li Chuan said, ¡°I have many tricks to deal with him.¡±

    ¡°If you want to go out, go out yourself. I¡¯m not going anywhere,¡± I silently sat on his bed.

    ¡°Come on, Xiao Qiu.¡±

    Li Chuan dragged me to the dressing room. Seeing how I wouldn¡¯t move, he helped me change my clothes. He snipped off the tags using scissors, and put the flowery dress that he bought this afternoon on me. He even picked out a strapless bra for me. Since I refused to cooperate, he sat down and helped me change into a pair of high heels. He then used argeb tob my hair, applied some mousse, and tied a high ponytail on my head. I was amused by him treating me so solemnly.

    ¡°Do I look pretty?¡± I posed and asked him.

    ¡°As long as the person is pretty, she¡¯ll look pretty in anything,¡± he smiled.

    I looked at him and realized that he was still wearing his t-shirt from the afternoon, so I asked, ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°Wait outside for me, I¡¯ll be done changing immediately.¡±

    Not long after, Li Chuan appeared in front of me again in his changed clothes. He was wearing a pure white linen shirt, dark grey casual pants that were ironed neatly, and his prosthetic leg. A light scent spread from his body. He was very casual and very aristocratic at the same time.

    I sighed in my heart. Li Chuan must have been bored out of his mind after lying in his bed for several months. I caressed his waist and asked, ¡°Will it make you tired walking with it? When you don¡¯t want to continue anymore, we cane back early.¡± Li Chuan would only wear his prosthetic leg when he was in his best state. He usually used a cane at home, and used a wheelchair when his health was bad.

    ¡°It¡¯s not tiring. I had a beautiful sleep in the afternoon apanied with someone¡¯s massaging service.¡± He patted my face, ¡°Therefore, I¡¯m fully rested.¡±

    ¡°Do you know that there are forty-three voice messages on the phone you left by the bedside?¡±

    ¡°I shut off the ringer. It was too noisy.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s something urgent. Do you want to check them first before leaving?¡±

    ¡°No. It¡¯s rare to have some free time. Moreover, I¡¯ve already submitted all my sketches.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go out with you, but, we muste back early so that you can take your intravenous drip.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t ruin the mood. I will not take any intravenous drips tonight.¡±

    He pulled me up from the sofa and pointed outside the window, ¡°Do you see? It¡¯s a full moon today. The flowers have bloomed under the beautiful full moon. Everything is wonderful and luck will be with us. Do you remember the story you told me about the monk?¡±

    ¡°What monk?¡±

    ¡°Master Wenyan,¡± he tapped my nose, ¡°One day, Master Wenyan asked the assembly, ¡®I am not asking you about the days before the fifteenth of the month. But what about after the fifteenth? Come and give me a word about those days.¡¯ The assembly said they did not know, so Master Wenyan answered for them, ¡®Every day is a good day.¡¯¡± [famous koan from ]

    ¡°Every day is a good day¡­¡± I murmured ¡ª it was a story that I told Li Chuan six years ago. I had long forgotten it already.

    ¡°Therefore, we must go have fun and not waste time.¡±

    Every day is a good day. I repeated the words in my heart. I looked at Li Chuan in silence.

    From spring flowers to the autumn moon, from summer wind to winter snow, I missed out on many festivities during my hardest times.

    I felt enlightened all of a sudden. I fetched for my lipstick and eye shadow from my bag and smiled at him, ¡°Okay, let me put on some makeup first.¡± Li Chuan nodded and sat in front of the window to wait for me.

    The lights shined and reflected on the water surface with the stars. It was as if both the lights and starlights congregated in his eyes.

    I thought to myself that if Li Chuan really left while he was with me, he would be happy, and I would be satisfied; perhaps that would be the best oue.

    Li Chuan drove us to the restaurant, Kunststuben, which was known to have the best tasting dishes in Zurich. But to me, the best tasting dishes in the world was my very own stir-fry Spicy Fillet because even Li Chuan loved eating it despite him not being able to eat spicy. He even asked me to cook it for him to pack it for lunch two times.

    We started with the appetizers at Kunststuben, then had soup, the entree, dessert, and fruits. They came one by one until we had our after-dinner coffees. It was a pity that I was the one who stuffed everything into my mouth from start to finish; Li Chuan ate only a bit of sd and went to the washroom midway as it probably caused him to have a stomachache. He didn¡¯t touch his food afterwards and only chatted with me from across the table..

    We went to a bar after dinner. I was getting drunk while Li Chuan apanied me by having apple juice soda. After we finished watching a local singer perform, Li Chuan insisted on bringing me to the nightclub next door. He said he had never seen me dance before and wanted to see it. I took out my many years of experience in dancing at nightclubs and did a disco dance for him. I was ted and energetic. Li Chuan sat on the side and pped. Half an hourter, slow music suddenly came on. I pulled Li Chuan to the dance floor and slow danced with him. Li Chuan¡¯s leg couldn¡¯t move well and he couldn¡¯t hold his cane while dancing; so we disregarded the tempo, embraced each other, took tiny steps, and moved slowly with the music.

    Under the scattered lighting, Li Chuan was actually blushing, which was rare. I often stepped on him as we were moving slow and it was hard to avoid it. I was worried that he would feel tired, so I kept asking to go home. But Li Chuan held onto me and we danced a couple more songs until disco music came on again. We were a little reluctant to leave at that point.

    It was already 3am when we got home. We took a shower and changed into our pajamas. Li Chuan was still reminiscing on the slow dance.

    ¡°Stop dancing. Why don¡¯t I sing you a song then?¡± I pressed him down onto the sofa.

    ¡°What song? I have a guitar, I can y as an apaniment.¡± He fetched a Spanish Guitar from the room beside us.

    ¡°The one that I often sing, that ssic hit song.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­¡­no,¡± he groaned, ¡°please sing another one, I beg you.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s my best, so I have to sing it!¡±

    ¡°Wait, let me think about what melody it is.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to sing then. If you¡¯re willing to y the guitar, then y it. If you don¡¯t want to, I¡¯ll just sing it without any music.¡±

    I cleared my throat, grabbed a tube of toothpaste from the bathroom, and stretched my vocal cords:

    ¡°My passion is like fire,

    burning the desert.

    Even the sun would hide when it sees me,

    afraid of my mes of love.

    The desert will never be lonely as long as I¡¯m here.

    The spring flowers will blossom everywhere!

    I sing aloud, while you sing softly in harmony.

    We engulf ourselves in the atmosphere of love in the desert!¡± []

    ¡­¡­

    Li Chuan was frowning throughout the whole song as he endured his impatience and finished ying. He forbade me from singing the second verse, saying that he would go deaf from it. Instead, he yed his favorite part of ¡°Hotel California.¡± He exined that it was his repertoire and that the way he yed the intro wasparable to Eagles. Li Chuan¡¯s voice was very pleasant to listen to; it was soft yet firm; it could go high and low in pitch. I was getting a little worked up, so I sang along deliberately. Every phrase he sang, I would do adlib at the chorus: ¡°[English] This could be heaven or this could be hell!¡± When we got to the end of the song, I forced him to y the bridge again and start over from the second verse so that I could sing a solo in an opera voice:

    ¡°[English] Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the mercedes bends

    She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends

    How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat

    Some dance to remember, some dance to forget¡±

    Because the word ¡°dance¡± appeared in thest phrase, Li Chuan pulled me to stand up and wanted to dance again. In my mind, Li Chuan was rarely this enthusiastic. I couldn¡¯t turn him down, so I went downstairs to find a CD, turned on the stereo, and yed the dance music.

    I held onto Li Chuan¡¯s waist and let him wrap his arms around me. We moved with the music; his one and only long and slender leg moved following my footsteps.

    ¡°Like this, one back, one forward. One step, two steps, three steps, and lean over. One more time¡­¡±

    ¡°That easy?¡± he said, ¡°Teach me something harder. Aren¡¯t there twirls?¡±

    I was going crazy, ¡°What if we fall?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll just get back up and continue.¡±

    ¡°No, we must go slowly. Let¡¯s get the basics down first.¡±

    I thought Li Chuan, who was hanging over my body, would be very heavy. But he was very light, weightless like a blob of fog.

    ¡°Li Chuan, you¡¯re too light. You need to eat more,¡± I said in sadness.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hang onto you like you¡¯re my cane. Are you tired?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s good that you enjoy it,¡± I said softly.

    He lowered his head. We were both in barefeet, but our legs were tangled together. This time round, he was the one who kept stepping on me.

    ¡°Ow! Li Chuan, you keep stepping on me! You¡¯re doing it on purpose, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Your feet is soft and boneless-like. It¡¯s quitefortable stepping on it¡­¡­¡± he smirked.

    ¡°Let me step on you then! I¡¯ll step on you!¡±

    ¡°Ow, ow, you¡¯re using two feet to step on one. Even if you take turns, that¡¯s too much.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll kick you too.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll dodge. Give me a piggyback ride.¡± He put all his weight on me.

    We fell to the floor. Just as I was about to get up, he pressed me down:

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, let¡¯s have some more peak experiences¡­¡­You said this afternoon that you wanted to go at it again tonight, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    I slept until 10am. When I woke up, Li Chuan was still sleeping.

    My flight was at 1:30pm, which I needed to go to the airport three hours early to check in and be ready to board the ne. I took a shower, changed my clothes, and found the leftover sweets in the fridge fromst night and ate it for breakfast. The bedroom floor was a mess; grapes, honey, candles, wine, and pillows spread across everywhere¡­..which were all evidence of our frolickingst night. I quietly cleaned up everything and then went downstairs to pack my luggage.

    The doorbell rang.

    It was Li Chuan¡¯s grandpa and a middle-aged nurse.

    ¡°Good morning!¡± the old man said politely.

    ¡°Good morning!¡±

    ¡°Is Li Chuan there?¡±

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t woken up yet,¡± I said softly, ¡°and he¡¯s still deep asleep. It will definitely not be a problem to give him his intravenous drip now.¡±

    He became suspicious of what I had just said, ¡°You two are not going out today?¡±

    ¡°My flight is at 1pm. I¡¯m heading to the airport right now.¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­¡± he examined me while deep in his thoughts. He suddenly asked, ¡°Youngdy, have you been here before?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Howe it feels like I¡¯ve seen you somewhere before?¡±

    I smiled lightly, ¡°That can¡¯t be.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate that Li Chuan is sick, otherwise, he would have definitely entertained you well.¡±

    The old man clearly knew that our rtionship was more than just friends. He said apologetically, ¡°We¡¯ll give him a tranquilizer first while he¡¯s still asleep, therefore, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t have a chance to say goodbye to him.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Treating his illness is more important. I also hope that he¡¯ll get well soon.¡±

    ¡°Has Li Chuan arranged a car for you then?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I can just take a cab.¡±

    ¡°How can I let you do that?¡± he said, ¡°I will ask my driver to take you.¡±

    Under Li Chuan¡¯s grandpa persistence, his driver Fehn drove me to the airport.

    After I checked-in, there was only an hour left until it was time to board the ne. I sat in the waiting area with my earphones on, watching the enormous ne crafts outside the window.

    There was no sadness, and no happiness. My mind waspletely nk. I could only remember the one thing that Li Chuan said to me:

    Every day is a good day.

 Chapter 46

    <h4>Chapter 46</h4>

    After getting back to Beijing, I only received one call from Li Chuan. It was only a few minutes long, asking if I had gotten back safe and sound. Afterwards, I never received a call from Li Chuan again. I didn¡¯t call to look for him either.

    I still missed him, but had no alternative. I could only go with the flow.

    Coming back from Switzend, I suddenly epted the entire situation. Li Chuan¡¯s life was very important. My own life was also very important.

    In short, I wanted to live a rich life and not be a walking corpse.

    I started ¡°small intervals¡± again.

    I resumed going to ¡°vegetarian¡± activities once a week and learning how to make vegetarian food. I went online everyday and printed out various recipes, bought vegetables ording to the recipe and made them. For the ones I thought tasted good, I would bring them to the others and rmend it to them. The best advantage to participating in this kind of society was that you could meet some people. Because these people had the same interest, they were not interested in your personal life and wouldn¡¯t inadvertently contact you during other times. In other words, these people were like online friends. They only exist when you run into them. The time outside of that was zero.

    Another month passed away without notice. Eason quietly entered into my life.

    When I became aware of this, it was already toote.

    For example, I danced Cha Cha three times a week, each time for an hour. Eason was my dancing partner. Under Instructor Ding¡¯s guidance, the two of us matched harmoniously and progressed with lightning speed. We became the model dancers for the students in the ss.

    Latin dance rhythm was multivariate, coupling strength and gentleness, using subtle movements to create a passionate dance. When dancing, I would forget everything. The music pounded out a nk space in my mind for excitement. Then, I would start to imagine Li Chuan as mypetitor with a tantalizing expression on his face. Iughed charmingly and danced in enchantment. After dancing, I would forget everything.

    Eason was a cute guy. But he wasn¡¯t my type. He wasn¡¯t like Li Chuan and didn¡¯t have the word ¡°romantic¡± in his bones.

    For example, one evening, I ran into Eason at the entrance of the gym. I had just said, ¡°Today¡¯s sunset is really beautiful¡± before he corrected me like this, ¡°Mmm¡­considering it from the physics angle, there actually aren¡¯t sunrises and sunsets¡­.they are just illusions created by the rotation of the earth.¡±

    After hearing this, I could only stare nkly. My good mood from the entire day disappeared.

    And then he handed me a slender cardboard tube, ¡°I made this telescope. You can see the moon from it. It¡¯s for you.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­thank you!¡±

    I took the heavy tube and looked over it, ¡°You can make it yourself? Where did you buy the lens?¡±

    ¡°I ground it myself.¡±

    ¡°You¡­ground it yourself? Where was the ss from?¡±

    ¡°Discarded eyess lens, bottom of ss bottles, light bulbs. Grind with thin sandpaper and then polish with toothpaste.¡±

    He was quite patient. But even an idiot knew how long it took to make it.

    And then, I became a bit nervous, ¡°Then¡­you giving me this, doesn¡¯t have a meaning behind it, right?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ve stepped on your feet too many times this week. Consider it a smallpensation. It was also an opportunity to work on general science things.¡± He had his head lowered, looking at the floor.

    I grinned, ¡°Then I will not refuse this impolitely and will unashamedly ept it.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡±

    The following three weeks, in order to earn extra ie, I took on an urgently needed trantion booklet. So I didn¡¯t go to Latin dance ss. When she got to thepany, Emma came up to me and said, ¡°Hey, my little brother asked me to ask you why you haven¡¯t gone to the gym?¡±

    ¡°I picked up some work, been working on tranting everyday at home.¡±

    ¡°This Ph.D in my family has never been so proactive before. He¡¯s cycling three times a week through half the city toe see you.¡±

    ¡°Mmm¡­mmm.¡±

    ¡°Ming Ming said that she called you to ask something and you didn¡¯t pick up. Your home doesn¡¯t have an answering machine either. There a few men who she wanted to introduce to you. Did you want to see them?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­this¡­mmm not for the time being. I¡¯m too busy recently, we¡¯ll see next time.¡±

    This colleague rtionship is really hard to handle. You can¡¯t not praise them for their enthusiasm and you definitely can¡¯t ignore them. Plus, I wasn¡¯t that old. Twenty four isn¡¯t considered a ¡°leftover woman¡± yet, right? Emma hadn¡¯t even gotten married yet. Why was she persistently pressuring me?

    This time, Emma cupped my face in her hands. With her eyshes nearly brushing my forehead, she said, ¡°Xiao Qiu, listen to your older sister. Hurry and choose one while you¡¯re young. This opportunity won¡¯t always be there (lit. Once you pass this vige, this store won¡¯t be there anymore.) Your older sister is teaching you a lesson right now!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that worrisome yet, right Emma Jie?¡±

    ¡°Since you refuse to go to my home, my mom knows that you two aren¡¯t serious. She found a few more for my brother. You should step up! I know you were seeing a very wealthy person before. What¡¯s so good about a wealthy person? They are ignorant of morals and their virtues are minimal. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be able to make all that money, right? He can give you money, but he can also give others money. He¡¯ll have mistresses all over the ce and you¡¯ll be constantly worrying when you are with him. Go with a schr like my younger brother who is so innocent and with promising prospects. Even though he isn¡¯t very rich, he doesn¡¯tck in anything. Plus, he¡¯s only got his eyes on you. Agree to get married and live together till a ripe old age. Isn¡¯t that great? How about inviting him to the party this Friday? If you don¡¯t invite him, I¡¯ll invite him anyway as my family member. Ming Ming said that she was bringing two friends who both have good backgrounds, the type who are very picky. It¡¯s either you¡¯ll fall for them or they¡¯ll fall for you. Psh, isn¡¯t Ming Ming clearly mistaken? Our Xie Xiao Qiu isn¡¯t an ordinary person.¡±

    Could agree to get married be used like this? I¡¯ll admit, I was a little dizzy from what Emma was saying.

    When I returned to my office, I quickly gave Eason a call, ¡°SOS! This Friday, ourpany has a huge party. There¡¯s eating and drinking first and then dancing afterwards. Come and save me!¡±

    On the other end, he unexpectedly hesitated, ¡°I can¡¯t. I have a student dissertation on Friday.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s six at night!¡±

    ¡°The debate is with Xie Shi Yan. Can you say I shouldn¡¯t go?¡±

    I bellowed, ¡°Eason,st time when you wanted me to go, did I make excuses? Didn¡¯t I coborate with you quite well? Now it¡¯s my turn, and you¡¯re like this!¡±

    He thought about it and said, ¡°Okay, what requirements do you have?¡±

    ¡°You being here is enough! First, eat with me and then dance with me. A little intimately.¡±

    ¡°¡­How intimate? Kiss in public?¡±

    ¡°Yeah right, a kiss. Just follow my directions when youe.¡±

    On Friday night, I drove to pick Eason up. Eason said that he couldn¡¯t not participate with that Xie Shi Yan there, but he could leave early. When I went to pick him up, the party had already started. Eason had drank a little and his face was a bit red. But, I could tell he was trying hard to coborate with me. He was dressed very formally with a pure ck suit with a ssical patterned tie. He appeared very natural and easy going, looking energetic and brave. I especially wore an embroidered shirt with a checkered short skirt, It didn¡¯t actually match with the atmosphere of the evening party, but I was really reminiscent of my younger days. I thought very fondly of this checkered skirt.

    The evening party was held in a restaurant. It was western-style food and a specialized chef had been invited from a restaurant toe and roast beef. Thepany purposely ordered a Ling Bao (buddhist) temple¡¯s vegetarian dish for me. Eason and I appeared at the doorway of the lounge together. Everyone looked at us with a peculiar gaze. Only Emma made a ¡°V¡± sign towards me from far away. We carried our tes to get food, following the crowd. Eason was like a fish in water,fortable and at ease. Endless people came to talk to him and he introduced himself very smoothly, saying that he was friends with me. After saying ¡®friends¡¯, he would slightly smile mysteriously letting everyone understand what that ¡®friends¡¯ meant.

    With Eason dealing with everything, I concentrated on eating vegetables, drinking, and chatting with other people. We had originallyete and dinner was soon over. Afterwards, it was dancing time.

    Eason and I danced the first song, the slow type. Eason¡¯s dancing was really not bad. He was very skilled at all types of dance. Afterwards, I was continuously invited by other colleagues. We quickly danced through the other fast dances. After the intermission ended, the music sounded once more. It was actually Cha Cha.

    Eason said, ¡°This, I must dance with you and let you see how much I¡¯ve improved with the additional practice I¡¯ve had in the past few weeks.¡±

    ¡°Then don¡¯t me me for stepping on your foot, because I won¡¯t go easy on you this time.¡±

    We went onto the dance floor and started dancing. Eason¡¯s movements were very precise, even a little excessively bold. I was normally very low-key in these half work, half personal asions. Unlike Emma, I never took the initiative to converse with thepany¡¯s executives and worm my way into being friends with them. It wasn¡¯t because I knew that CGP was Li Chuan¡¯spany that I didn¡¯t care about the execs. Rather, I had always considered Li Chuan and I were inpletely different industries. As a trantor, Iplied with my own rules and standards of conduct. I paid attention to maintaining my professional image. With Eason dancing like this, I felt a bit embarrassed and tried to constrain him. After two minutes, the rhythm became faster, Eason suddenly became radiant with enthusiasm and pushed and pulled me, incessantly saying, ¡°(English) Come on!¡±

    In the car, I had already smelled alcohol. When I asked Eason, he said that he had only drank a little. But now he was making a fool of himself. We kept on making mistakes. He said in my ear, ¡°Xiao Qiu, you aren¡¯t trying to fan dance with me are you?¡± I didn¡¯t pay attention to him and only kept on just following him. The spectators on the side were all apuding.

    Heavens, what song is this? Why was it this long!

    Eason followed me closely and give it his all, begging and provoking me.

    I thought about the elderly women dancing the fan dance in the parks when I went jogging in the mornings. In his eyes, I looked like that.

    I went for it. Let¡¯s dance.

    I started swaying my hips also and brought out my performance moves from my school days. Seeing me finally bing energetic, everyone¡¯s apuse suddenly became even louder.

    We kept on dancing and then there was only the two of us left on the dance floor. Everyone else had stopped and had circled around us, pping for us. The dj was also very cooperative. After the song finished once, he started it again without even half a second of pause.

    I stepped with quick dance steps with everything moving quickly on the side. The multicolored lightly spilled down. In this absent-minded state, my sight crossed over the crowd and stopped in a distant corner.

    I wasn¡¯t positive, but there was someone sitting quietly over there.

    That person quietly watched me with a concentrate gaze, full of grief. There was a faint smile on his face, beautiful yet deste.

    I immediately stopped breathing.

    In that instant, I was run into by Eason, staggered, and nearly fell down.

    Eason pulled me up and asked in a panic, ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­alright.¡± I was in a panicked state and could barely follow the music. When I turned around to look, that person was already obstructed by the crowd. After another turn, I looked over once again past other people¡¯s shoulders to the corner. The person had already disappeared.

    I dropped Eason and gave chase. The elevator doors were already shut. Only the shing numbers on the door were visible.

    16, 15, 14¡­

    When the elevator reached the ground floor, it will slowly climb back up. If there was someone in there, it would have a longer pause. I didn¡¯t have patience and charged into the emergency stairwell, running down two three steps at a time.

    Since I¡¯ve been at CGP, there hadn¡¯t been a fire rm before and so I had never gone through this grey and marble, turning emergency staircase.

    It was clear that someone swept it every day. The wooden handrails were spotless. When I first started, I was merely heading down at lightning speed, as if I was racing with the elevator. Later, I simply held onto the staircase with one hand and jumped down the couple more flights of stairs. This just so happens to prove the persevering exercise that I did in all these years. My agility was exceptionally nimble. I was still a bit careless. I wanted to jump more steps, but I didn¡¯t stand firmly and ¡°bang¡± hit my head on the wall, making me dizzy and blurry eyed. Stars circled around my head. I didn¡¯t have time to care about this, I pulled open the heavy iron door and rushed out into the lobby, looking for that figure everywhere.

    In front were only bright streetlights and cars going back and forth.

    I stood on the steps and bent down at my waist in tiredness. I propped my arms on my knees and breathed deeply. Suddenly a sound came from behind me, ¡°Hi, Xiao Qiu.¡±

    That sound was like a bullet to my heart. My body suddenly started shaking.

    I straightened my waist and turned around to see Li Chuan standing in the shadows.

 Chapter 47

    <h4>Chapter 47</h4>

    ¡°Hi¡­¡±

    I called out while gasping for breath, my stomach churching up and down. I couldn¡¯t continue for a long time.

    Li Chuan patiently waited for my breathing to slowly be steady. His gaze shifted to my forehead and said while frowning, ¡°What happened? Your head is bleeding.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡± I pushed away my bangs and felt my forehead. Sure enough there was a huge bump and my hands had a few drops of sticky bloodstain.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± he said, ¡°let me see.¡±

    His peppermint breath hit my face and his ice-cold fingertips touched my forehead. My heart, that had just calmed down started jumping at twice the speed again.

    ¡°What did you run into?¡±

    ¡°Into the wall.¡±

    His expression was originally quite solemn, but after hearing this, he couldn¡¯t help butugh, ¡°Ran into the wall? Why?¡± As he said this, he took out a sealed pouch from his bag. He tore it open and took out a moist cotton ball from inside, ¡°This is for cleaning wounds. It¡¯ll hurt a little.¡±

    ¡°Ow!¡± I cried out. His hand shook and the cotton fell onto the floor. Afterwards, he nervously looked at me, ¡°Does it hurt a lot?¡±

    ¡°A little¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be more gentle.¡± He went through his bag again and took out a second ball of cotton and cleaned my wound for me. He then found a bandaid and stuck it on for me.

    Li Chuan was really good at taking care of himself. He always had bandaids on hand and ready. Even when I knew him before, he had been like this.

    And then, Li Chuan wanted to stoop down and pick up the cotton that had fallen on the floor. I quickly picked it up for him and threw it into the trash.

    ¡°Did you hit it very hard? Do you need to see the doctor?¡± His slender fingers continued to caress my head, trying to feel out other injuries, as if he was a monk in the process of taking an oath, ¡°Hopefully, it¡¯s not a concussion.¡±

    I really wanted to reply, I hit it very hard,e see the doctor with me. On second thought, it was only a few drops of blood and that would be ridiculous.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I fixed my hair and skewed my head to look at him, ¡°When did you get back?¡±

    ¡°This afternoon.¡±

    Li Chuan looked skinnier than thest time I had seen him in Zurich. His face didn¡¯t have much color. Strange. Normally, someone who was sick would get better the more he rested. Li Chuan was in the hospital for three months doing nothing, resting every day. His family also had so much money, what nourishment couldn¡¯t they afford. Why was he skinnier day after day? His cheekbones became higher and higher.

    ¡°Did youe back alone?¡±

    ¡°Ren¨¦ also came. He¡¯s been writing a book on ancient Chinese architecture recently. Hee to Beijing to look for material.¡±

    ¡°Ren¨¦ is teaching at the university?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    We stood together on the steps without speaking, each thinking our own thoughts.

    After awhile, I asked, ¡°Li Chuan, you didn¡¯t drive?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯m waiting for my chauffeur. I reckon he¡¯s in traffic.¡±

    ¡°I have a car, why don¡¯t I drive you home.¡±

    ¡°No, thank you.¡±

    ¡°Come, why are you being so polite with me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I have other things.¡± He said, ¡°Next time.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing else. You just don¡¯t want to be with me, right?¡± I quietly said, looking with hidden bitterness.

    He wore a pure ck jacket, perfectly fitting to his body. His hair was stiff and a little moist. He looked very cool and very impressive with it, along with his slim and distinct face.

    He didn¡¯t reply. I considered it to be agreement.

    Everything had returned to the start again so quickly. I couldn¡¯t not be used to Li Chuan¡¯s style.

    I turned and left. After all, Li Chuan was back. It was like the sun returning to the sr system.

    As the one who was continuously rotating, I immediately entered into obit. Then there was wind and rain and gravity. Everything had returned to normal.

    The next day at work, I was in high spirits. Because I had to trante an important contract, afraid of wasting energy, I didn¡¯t drive and instead took a taxi.

    As soon as I got to the lobby, colleagues who I was not familiar with all leapt to greet me. The dance fromst night, even though it wasn¡¯t devastatingly beautiful, had at least made me a celebrity.

    ¡°Hey, Xiao Qiu, morning! Cha Cha!¡±

    ¡°Cha Cha! Xiao Qiu,st night was very exciting. howe you skipped out just are you were dancing so high? You caused your boyfriend to look everywhere for you.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­I had some urgent business and went back home.¡±

    When I reached my office, I ced my bag down and immediately gave Eason a call.

    The phone rang once before it was picked up on the other end, ¡°Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, really sorry. I had an urgent business yesterday and couldn¡¯t wait to say goodbye to you before leaving?¡±

    ¡°Did something bad happen?¡± His voice didn¡¯t sound like he minded.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Then that¡¯s good.¡± He said, ¡°Next, next Friday is our department¡¯s spring outing. Can youe and cover for me?¡±

    ¡°Spring outing? Is it far?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just in Fragrance Hill Park.¡± He sighed, ¡°The union chair¡¯s wife works in the news office and invited a group of female reporters and editors, and says that there will be friendship activities for all the young people. Going on scenic tours, eating and drinking, and even riddle games and such.¡±

    ¡°Riddles? Is that also called a game?¡±

    ¡°How isn¡¯t it a game? I¡¯m really good at guessing riddles.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­okay. I¡¯ll try my best to cooperate.¡± Last night, I begged him to cover and then left without saying goodbye. I was really sorry about it.

    ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll treat you to vegetarian hotpot another day.¡± He was very happy and said, ¡°Are you going to tonight¡¯s Latin dance ss?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going, why wouldn¡¯t I go?¡±

    ¡°Then, see you tonight.¡±

    I hung up and then went to the admin office to check my mail in the mailbox. I discovered that there was a heavy package stuffed in it. There was a bunch of German on it. I weighed it in my hand. It was the chocte cookies Li Chuan promised to bring for me. I was just about to leave after getting them before I ran into Emma.

    ¡°Ah, what good thing is this?¡±

    ¡°Chocte cookies.¡±

    ¡°Share some with me.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I opened the package. There were several packages inside. I pressed two packages to Emma. She looked at the wrapping and said, smiling, ¡°Hey, you have quite the reputation. This must be from Li Chuan!¡±

    It gave me a fright, ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°These are cookies from Zurich. My second foreignnguage is German.¡±

    ¡°I begged him for them. I really love to eat this type of cookie.¡± I had a lingering fear of her. Emma was really good at gossiping. A nonexistent thing can be turned into rumors, let alone when there was something. She would investigate till the end.

    Sure enough, Emma repeatedly looked me over, ¡°You normally don¡¯t say anything, but you went as far to ask him to bring something. I love eating chocte so much and have known him for so many years, yet I don¡¯t even dare to open my mouth.¡±

    ¡°This is just him showing care for a subordinate, a scheme to win one over. That¡¯s all.¡± I ndered him without changing expression.

    ¡°Hey, you can¡¯t say that. Don¡¯t wreck the beautiful image of Li Chuan in my heart.¡± Emma¡¯s two hands covered her heart and she made an infatuated expression, ¡°I just saw him at the entrance. He¡¯s indeed awesome. I was so excited, I forgot to greet him. I wanted to follow him into the elevator but didn¡¯t catch up with him. One of my legs was nearly jammed. In the end, I was kept out of the closed doors with my shoe left in the elevator! I was really embarrassed. After waiting a few minutes, Li Chuan unexpectedly came down the elevators again and gave me my shoe. He even apologized for not helping me block the doors. He is truly courteous and elegant.¡±

    I sighed and thought to myself, if you really fell in love with him, then you would be even more embarrassed. You would be under self oppression, living a life with even more suffering than The White Haired Girl (1950 one of China¡¯s first films).

    At the ten o¡¯clock meeting, Li Chuan was indeed sitting on the side of Director Jiang. On behalf of thepany¡¯s employees, Director Jiang weed Mr. Li Chuan back to Beijing to take care of the follow-up designs for the Wenzhou project. Due to health reasons, Mr. Li Chuan could only work three hours a day so hopefully everyone could solve their problems during his working hours and not bother him during his rest. When it was Li Chuan¡¯s turn, Li Chuan only said, ¡°Thank you. At 6:30 tonight, I will be treating everyone to seafood at Hui Xian restaurant to greet everyone.¡±

    All the females in the tranting group became crazed.

    The cafeteria on the eighteenth floor of Xiang Lai building served lunch punctually at noon. I got a te of sd and a bowl of eggnt stew with tofu and joined the gossipy round table of the trantor group.

    As expected, today¡¯s topic was Li Chuan.

    ¡°Li Chuan¡¯s tie is really nice looking today. It¡¯s obviously a dark red, but why does it look like it¡¯s sparkling from the distance.¡±

    ¡°I think his corduroy suit makes him more handsome today. After studying for quite awhile, I still don¡¯t know what material it¡¯s made of.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m thinking about what to order tonight. Hui Xian restaurant¡¯s abalone is the most delicious. I¡¯ve been twice and have never dared to order it.¡±

    Only Emma said, ¡°Li Chuan seems to be pretty sick this time. Even walking takes effort. When have you guys seen him use two crutches?¡±

    The happiest was still Xiao Wei, because she had returned to Li Chuan¡¯s office.

    ¡°I think Mr. Li Chuan¡¯s body hasn¡¯tpletely healed yet.¡± Xiao Wei said, ¡°After the meeting, he went into his own office and didn¡¯te out again. I called him a few times on the phone and he didn¡¯t answer at all. Look, we haven¡¯t seen hime out and eat lunch either.¡±

    Myplexion changed a little, ¡°Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Xiao Wei shook her head, ¡°Without approval, I can¡¯t go into his office when I want to.¡±

    I stood up and said, ¡°It just so happens, I have a contract trantion that I need to find him for. I¡¯ll go take a look.¡±

    Everyone stared at me strangely.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I said, ¡°You guys have all seen that he¡¯s pretty sick. What if he fainted in his own office?¡±

    ¡°You go? That¡¯s not too appropriate. Perhaps he is just resting in his own ce. It¡¯s better to notify Director Jiang.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, Zhu Bi Xuan and Li Chuan had great rapport back then and Li Chuan still didn¡¯t look at her more. You don¡¯t need to go.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll just go take a look, it¡¯s nothing.¡± I broke away.

    I went to the 20th floor and knocked on the door to Li Chuan¡¯s office. After knocking a few times, there were still no answer. Regardless of the consequences, I pushed open the door and went in.

    There was no one in the office. It was empty. There was a bit of a sour smell drifting in the air.

    Then, I heard vomiting sounds, the painful and very awful kind of vomiting.

    I rushed into the bathroom and saw Li Chuan kneeling on the ground with both legs, clinging onto the toilet and throwing up. His face was ashen and his lips had not a trace of color.

    I knelt down and hugged him from behind, ¡°Li Chuan¡­¡±

    He didn¡¯t pay attention to me and continued to dry vomit. His body convulsed continuously. I didn¡¯t know how long he had been vomiting. I only knew that it was extremely painful for him to kneel like that with his prosthetic leg on.

    ¡°Drink a bit of water, rinse your mouth.¡± I tried my best to seem calm. He had his head buried the whole time as he took the bottled water I handed him. After drinking half a sip, I didn¡¯t know what nerve was triggered, but he started vomiting again. His stomach was empty a long time ago. He could only throw up a bit of mucus.

    I reached out towards his waist and helped him take off his prosthetic leg. His body suddenly lost it¡¯s bnce and fell onto my body.

    I supported himself with effort and used my hand to pat him on the back, asking in a loud voice, ¡°Are you better? If you get up now, you might get dizzy from the sudden movement. Let¡¯s stay and sit on the floor for a while.¡±

    Li Chuan helplessly leaned against me, his body was weak. In the beginning, he still tried to prop himself up with his hands, but he finally lost all of his strength.

    I held him and sat on the floor of the bathroom for nearly fifteen minutes. I was a bit afraid that Li Chuan will be angry because of this. Li Chuan never wanted me to see when he was weak. After awhile, he finally had the strength to say, ¡°Please, get my crutches¡­¡±

    I picked up the crutches and handed them to him.

    He stood up with great effort and first went to the sink to wash his face. Then he took out a bottle of medicine and swallowed a pill. He sat on the single seated sofa on the opposite side and looked at me gloomily asking, ¡°What did you need me for?¡±

    ¡°No¡­nothing¡­I was just worried¡­¡± I was afraid and couldn¡¯t help but stammer, ¡°You didn¡¯t eat something bad, did you?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to go see the doctor.¡± I reached into my purse to look for the car key before suddenly recalling that I didn¡¯t drive a car this morning.

    ¡°Not going. I¡¯m not going anywhere.¡± He looked at me impatiently, ¡°Stop standing in front of me!¡±

    I told myself, don¡¯t get angry, I won¡¯t get angry, I won¡¯t get angry, I definitely won¡¯t get angry.

    I found a chair and sat down, saying, ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t go to the hospital. I¡¯ll stay here with you. If something happens to you, I can call the ambnce.¡±

    He looked at me coldly and said, ¡°Since it¡¯s like this, then why don¡¯t you go buy me a cup of juice downstairs.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯ll go immediately.¡±

    I hurried downstairs and brought a cup of warm juice that Li Chuan loved to drink. When I returned to the office, I found Xiao Wei already sitting there. She blocked me and said, ¡°Mr. Wang is resting and is not seeing anyone.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like this, he had me help him buy a cup of juice.¡±

    ¡°Give the juice to me.¡± Xiao Wei repeated very politely, ¡°Mr. Wang specially instructed that he won¡¯t see anyone.¡±

    Under Xiao Wei¡¯s suspicious gaze, I lost face and returned to my own office. I ate cookies while sulking and doing handwritten trantions.

    At six, I promptly got off work. The elevator opened with a ¡°ding.¡±

    It was a sh of the opponents. Inside, stood an impably dressed, neat and tidy, Li Chuan with a faint smell of CK on him. Besides hisplexion being a bit pale, he appeared rxed and content. He looked at ease as if he was an official about to go on a visit to hisnds.

    I grimly looked up and entered the elevator.

    ¡°Getting off work?¡± He was actually striking up a conversation.

    ¡°¡­¡± I looked at the wall.

    ¡°Will you be going to Hui Xian restaurant to eatter?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡± I looked at the floor.

    ¡°Ding¡±, the elevator suddenly stopped. He had pressed the emergency stop button.

    I red at him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my attitude wasn¡¯t good this afternoon. Please forgive me.¡± Li Chuan was great at apologizing. Every time he apologized, he seemed very sincere. But I was still angry and still ignored him.

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°I drank the juice you bought me. If you don¡¯t believe me, look. There¡¯s only a little bit left. I¡¯m saving it to drink at night.¡± He let go of his crutches and took out a ss bottle from his bag and shook it in front of me.

    There really was only a bit of red juice left.

    I looked at him, not knowing whether tough or cry. I finally said, ¡°You were throwing up like that at noon, can you still eat seafood tonight?¡±

    ¡°Because I threw up, that¡¯s why I have to eat. I have to eat double the amount tonight and eat back all that I threw up.¡± The corners of his mouth rose slightly with a trace of teasing smile.

    ¡°Li Chuan, looks like you aren¡¯tpletely better. You should rest a few more days beforeing to work.¡±

    ¡°I slept for the entire afternoon,¡± he said. ¡°I can also rest at work.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but raise my head to look at him. Li Chuan was really strong mentally. He had been suffering so horribly at noon while vomiting with the look of someone who was near death. In the evening, his energy and temper waspletely back.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t drive my car here. Can I ride you car to Hui Xian restaurant?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Perhaps he felt that he had to pay for his excessive conduct in the afternoon, but his tone was at ease.

    ¡°Can you give me Ren¨¦¡¯s number?¡± I wanted to profit from this.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I want to invite him to eat.¡±

    ¡°Give me your cellphone, I¡¯ll enter it for you.¡± He knew my memory wasn¡¯t good. Within a second, I would forget a numberrger than five digits.

    I handed him my cellphone and he entered in the number.

    I seized the opportunity to say, ¡°Enter your number as well. It¡¯ll be convenient for me to look for you.¡±

    He returned the phone to me, ¡°Forget mine, you won¡¯t have to look for me for anything.¡±

    I became angry and looked at him for a long time in disdain, unable to say anything.

    He pressed a button and the elevator slowly went down.

 Chapter 48

    <h4>Chapter 48</h4>

    I slowly walked towards the main entrance with Li Chuan. The chauffeur was already waiting for him.

    Li Chuan opened the door of the extremely spacious German car for me and let me get in. He got in and handed the crutches to the driver to ce into the trunk. His entire body radiated with a refreshing fragrance.

    ¡°I had Xiao Wei order vegetarian for you alone.¡± He said, ¡°You¡¯ve changed back to eating vegetarian?¡±

    ¡°To contribute to the world environment.¡±

    Heughed lightly.

    ¡°What are youughing at?¡±

    ¡°I had thought that everything about you had probably changed in all these years but only your habit of eating would definitely not change.¡±

    ¡°Have I changed a lot?¡±

    He turned around to look at me, ¡°No, nothing about you has change. How I wish you could have changed a little.¡±

    ¡°How about you? Have you changed?¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t changed at all either. Besides bing farther and farther away from me.¡±

    We both entered into silence. We quickly got to Hui Xian restaurant.

    Besides a few individuals in the graphics and admin departments, practically everyone else in CGP had cars. Those few secretaries who didn¡¯t have cars came with Director Jiang and Director Zhang¡¯s cars. Perhaps it was because there was abalone to eat, but nearly everyone had notified their family. When we got to the entrance, Li Chuan was stopped by the two executives waiting there to talk to him. I saw Eason and Emma in the restaurant dining room and quickly went over to greet them.

    ¡°Sigh, I¡¯m a little regretful. If I had known there was abalone to eat earlier, I would have changed back to being a vegetarian a few monthster.¡± I saidughing.

    ¡°Li Chuan really knows how to take care of women. He knew that the women in our trantor group are all crazy about seafood. If it was to his preference, he probably would just have pasta. Xiao Qiu, sit at our table!¡± Because Li Chuan picked up Emma¡¯s shoe this morning, Emma spared no efforts to praise him today.

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll go ask where the vegetarian dish is ced.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go ask. Ladies, please have a seat. Let the men run the errands.¡± Eason courteously attended to us.

    Those in the tranting group either brought their husband and children or their boyfriends. Emma brought Mr. Su who she had been reportedly dating for a month. After Eason instructed the waiters, he sat down right next to me.

    I drank a gulp of tea and saw Li Chuan sit down at a table pretty far from me.

    Once the dishes were served, the waiters brought out a goblet of Longjing abalone to everyone. A Chinese squash tofu stew was ced by me. The vegetable dish Xiao Wei ordered for me was aromatic and spicy. I ate with great vigor and swept a look at the group of crazy seafood lovers relishing the abalone and lobster. Even Eason was no exception. Afterwards, the husband of Li Sha in the German group started telling racy stories, ¡°It was said that, when I studied abroad in M country, streaking was fashionable. Even 70 year old elderly women wanted to try it. A group of elderly men were ying chess when naked elderly women ran by them. One of the men said, ¡®That¡¯s really shocking! Why don¡¯t they iron such wrinkly clothes? The two pockets are even ced outside.¡¯¡±

    The youngdies shook withughter. I followed inattentively, my interest waning.

    Eason observed me in silence, seeming to sense that I wasn¡¯t in a good mood. He asked if I had wanted to go to the observatory to see the stars recently. I said that I had too much tranting work and couldn¡¯t at this time.

    As I was toasting with someone, I saw Li Chuan eating with extreme refinement as if his appetite had been restored. Everyone was drinking but no one urged him to drink. My heart gradually loosened and feeling that I had been snubbing Eason, I started enthusiastically asking him about general science. After Eason told me a bunch of ck matter, particles, and quantum stories, he started to introduce his favorite book to me, ¡°Biography of Physics¡±. He said that he had read the book more than a hundred times since he was a child and it had inspired in him the dream to be a scientist.

    ¡°What is your favorite book?¡± He asked.

    ¡°¡®A Dream of Red Mansions¡¯.¡±

    I was a humanities student and, it goes without saying, that books were my favorite topic to talk about. Before, Li Chuan and I would lie on the bed and chat about the books we liked inmon, ¡®On The Road¡¯, ¡®Stepphenwolf¡¯, Shakesphere¡¯s tragedies¡­ and wouldn¡¯t go to sleep. Sigh, after lying in bed for so long, I was able to slowly change a once science and engineering minded Li Chuan to an advanced literate man.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never read ¡®A Dream of Red Mansions¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Have you ever read ¡®Romance of the Three Kingdoms¡¯?¡±

    ¡°No¡­I¡¯ve watched the tv series.¡±

    ¡°Besides physics books, what other thick books have you read?¡±

    ¡°Does ¡®Albert Einstein¡¯s Biography¡¯ count? It¡¯s quite thick, more than 600 pages.¡±

    I looked at him, nearly choking on the eggnt in my throat. How could people be so different from each other?

    I saw Li Chuan in the distance from the corners of my eye. He was just about to leave. He politely said a few words to the people around him and then slowly walked to the back exit.

    Before I had sat down, I went to the washroom in the back once. The high quality restaurant had a high quality washroom. There were spotless marble countertops with fresh arranged flowers and serene incense. There was a washroom and dressing room dedicated to disabled people.

    Thirty minutes had passed and Li Chuan still did not return.

    I excused myself to go to the washroom and walked to the back hall. A server happened to be standing there, ¡°Excuse me, Mister. Can I bother you for something?¡±

    ¡°Miss, do you need help with something?¡± The server very courteously asked me.

    ¡°One of my colleague¡¯s health isn¡¯t so well recently and often faints. He went to the washroom and hasn¡¯te back in thirty minutes. Could I ask you to go in and look to see if anything happened for me?¡±

    ¡°Please wait.¡±

    I told him what Li Chuan looked like. He pushed open the door, went in, and quickly came out again, ¡°Perhaps that gentleman drank too much. He¡¯s throwing up quite seriously. I asked him if he needed any help, he said no.¡±

    Looks like people often threw up at the restaurant. The server had a calm look on his face.

    ¡°Is there anyone else in the washroom?¡± I asked.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Can you help me?¡± I handed him 50 dors, ¡°Please help me look after him. If he can¡¯t walk, please support him. If his state is critical, I need to bring him to the hospital.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I stood outside the washroom, guarding the door. It reminded me of when we were eating at Kunststuben in Zurich and he went to the washroom halfway through. It was for a long time and when he returned, he didn¡¯t touch the knife and fork again. I guess he was already throwing up at that time. It was just that he didn¡¯t let me know.

    After another twenty minutes, the door finally opened. Li Chuan walked out with his head lowered.

    When he saw me, he didn¡¯t say anything. He went straight to the sofa at my side and sat down.

    ¡°Li Chuan, you have to go back and rest, or perhaps go to the hospital.¡±

    ¡°Can you get me a cup of water?¡± He said miserably.

    I went to get a bottle of water, squatted down in front of him and poured out a small cup for him. He took out a pill for preventing throwing up from his breast pocket and swallowed it along with water with great effort. He hadn¡¯t even finished swallowing before a ¡°wah¡± sounde out and he threw it up. I just standing right in front of him and he threw up all over me. Fortunately, it didn¡¯t get on my face.

    I closed my eyes. Even though it was Li Chuan¡¯s vomit, vomit was still vomit.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± He took out a handkerchief from his bag. I stopped him, held him down on the sofa and handed him another cup of water, ¡°Take your medicine. Sit there and don¡¯t move.¡±

    I removed my outeryer and went to the dining room to look for his chauffeur. I then quietly gave an exnation to Director Jiang. The driver took out a wheelchair from the back seat and brought Li Chuan to the car.

    I called Ren¨¦ on the road, asking whether Li Chuan needed to be sent to the hospital. He said no, that we could just bring him back to the hotel. The car stopped at the Gang Ao Center Swiss Hotel on Dong Er Road. Ren¨¦ was already waiting downstairs for us.

    We brought the lethargic Li Chuan into his bedroom. Ren¨¦ helped him change into pajamas and Li Chuan fell asleep in a daze.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t he say he was only going to work for three hours a day?¡± Ren¨¦ asked me when we returned to the living room, ¡°Howe Alex went for the whole day?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps because today was the first day, he didn¡¯t want to leave too early?¡±

    Ren¨¦ anxiously paced the living room while holding a cup of coffee.

    ¡°Ren¨¦, why does Li Chuan always throw up? He already threw up twice today.¡±

    ¡°Alex has to take a type of medicine every day. That type of medication irritates the stomach, so he always wants to throw up. Furthermore, he is easily fatigued and will be tired even just moving a bit.¡±

    I recalled the white pill he used to take every morning, ¡°Is it the bone strengthening pill?¡±

    ¡°No. But he can still take Phernergan.¡±

    ¡°Phernergan?¡±

    ¡°A type of pill to stop vomiting. It also has side effects. It will lower his blood pressure and he will easily faint.¡±

    I took in a breath of cold air, ¡°Then doesn¡¯t that mean he¡¯ll want to throw up every day? Can¡¯t eat every day?¡±

    Ren¨¦ughed bitterly, ¡°You¡¯re right. Alex is quite tenacious. He¡¯ll throw up, then eat. Eat, then throw up. He eats numerous times a day, so he doesn¡¯t look too thin, right? Otherwise, he¡¯d already have be a skeleton.¡±

    ¡°Ren¨¦,¡± I said, ¡°I¡¯m quite worried about Li Chuan like this. I¡¯m going to stay here with him tonight.¡±

    ¡°That¡­Alex won¡¯t agree to it.¡±

    ¡°Alex is already sleeping.¡±

    Ren¨¦ thought about it and said, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll hand him over to you. I¡¯ll return next door to read material. If there¡¯s anything,e knock on my door.¡±

    I walked him to the door and asked, ¡°It looks like Li Chuan¡¯s illness didn¡¯t really get too much better. Why did you guyse back to Beijing? Isn¡¯t staying in Switzend better? There¡¯s too much work in Beijing and he can¡¯t rest. The required medical treatments probably can¡¯t keep up either.¡±

    ¡°The whole family opposed him ining, but Li Chuan persisted oning.¡±

    It was my fault. Li Chuan came back in order to keep his promise. But that idiot! The promise isn¡¯t as important as the person keeping the promise!

    I hastily said, ¡°Then, I¡¯ll try to convince him.¡±

    He looked at me and then suddenly sighed, ¡°You don¡¯t need to try, Annie. Li Chuan doesn¡¯t n on going back to Switzend. He said that he liked Beijing and will stay here forever.¡±

    When he said this, his voice slightly quivered. It looked like he wanted to something else, but in the end he didn¡¯t say anything and closed the door.

    Li Chuan slept peacefully curled up with his eyebrows knit together.

    I looked at my watch, it was still eight. He used to generally go to sleep at midnight. I went to the washroom, warmed up a wet towel, and helped him wipe his face. He moved a bit, turned around, and fell asleep again.

    Li Chuan always loved cleanliness. To not take a shower before bed was unimaginable to him. Besides, he threw up twice today. I went to the washroom and changed to another towel. I undid his pajamas and lightly wiped his body. He lied there, motionless, with his brows knit together, looking very fatigued and weak. His breathing was slow and sometimes his finger would suddenly tremble. Sometimes his eyshes were the ones that trembled as if he was about to wake up. In the end, he didn¡¯t have the strength and his eyes fell heavily back. His calves were cold and it took a long time for me to warm them up with the warm towel.

    After doing everything, I switched the deskmp by the bed to its dimmest setting. I held his hand and silently gazed at him under the dim light. Li Chuan fell even deeper into sleep. His knit brows smoothed out and face became peaceful. It held a trace of a smile, as if he was having a good dream.

    At 3am, Li Chuan started tossing about on the bed. I ran to the living room to pour milk. When I got back, he already had his eyes open.

    He looked at me and then looked at the clock. He took the milk and asked in astonishment, ¡°Xiao Qiu, why are you still here?¡±

    ¡°I was afraid you would still throw up, so I stayed here with you.¡±

    He raised his head and looked around, ¡°I¡­threw up again?¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯ve been sleeping this whole time. Sleeping quite well. You¡¯re drinking the milk too fast, be careful of throwing up again.¡±

    He sat up, but couldn¡¯t sit steadily and had to support himself with an arm. I found a pillow to ce under his waist.

    ¡°You¡¯ve¡­been here the whole time?¡±

    ¡°Mmmm.¡±

    And then, he asked something that I didn¡¯t even know whether tough or cry to, ¡°What did you do here?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything. Just sat.¡±

    ¡°When did wee back?¡±

    ¡°8 o¡¯clock.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s 3am right now. You¡¯ve just been sitting there for seven hours?¡±

    ¡°Oh course I did some other things.¡± I smiled slyly.

    He hurriedly extended his arm into the nkets and upon finding himselfpletely clothed, he loosened his breath.

    I gazed at himughing and didn¡¯t say anything. He discovered that he was already changed into his pajamas and said embarrassed, ¡°You took advantage of the weak.¡±

    ¡°You threw up twice today. You must have wanted to change into clean clothes before going to sleep, right?¡± I ced my face in front of him and shook my head.

    He finished the milk in two three gulps. His energy was much better. He lifted away the nkets and got up to put his clothes on. As he got dressed, he asked, ¡°Did you eat dinner afterwards?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m currently hungry right now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also hungry.¡±

    Once he got dressed and put on his watch, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go downstairs and eat midnight snacks. After we eat, I¡¯ll take you home.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    We took the elevator down and found a twenty-four hour restaurant.

    Li Chuan could only drink porridge, the Canto kind. I ordered a vegetarian meal and added a potato soup.

    Both of us were hungry and ate silently for ten minutes.

    I could tell Li Chuan didn¡¯t have much of an appetite. It took him a long time to swallow. But he ate with effort and poured spoonful after spoonful into his mouth.

    After awhile, he finally couldn¡¯t eat anymore. He took the napkin, wiped his mouth and was about to speak when I promptly stopped him, ¡°Don¡¯t say anything, Li Chuan. I know what you want to say.¡±

    ¡°What do I want to say? Tell me.¡±

    ¡°You want to say,¡± I imitated his tone, ¡°Xiao Qiu, you must move on. That young man sitting together with you today isn¡¯t bad. You and him have chemistry, develop it well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve seen how sick I am now. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want you. I really don¡¯t have a choice.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°How many times have I told you, life cannot be thrown away for a brief period of happiness.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯te look for me in the future. Even if you see me die, leave me alone. You and I don¡¯t have any rtionship with each other anymore.¡± I took a bite of the fruit and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t this what you want to say?¡±

    Li Chuan looked at me and said faintly, ¡°Since you already know this, then I won¡¯t say anything.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, if your body was healthy, had nothing wrong with it, and you wanted me to leave, I would let go. I¡¯ve already lived for five years. Can I not live for another five years? But, you¡¯re sick. Even though I don¡¯t know why you are sick, as long as you are still sick, I will definitely not leave. I will definitely not stand to the side and watch because you are too important to me. If you aren¡¯t tired of it, you can continue repeating it. It will just go in my left ear and out the right anyway.¡±

    I licked my lips and smiled, ¡°To me, love is a gift. It doesn¡¯t mean that you have it if you can give it. But it¡¯s that you have it if you¡¯ve already given it.¡±

    As he listened to this, Li Chuan kept his head down. His hands trembled slightly.

    Afterwards, he brought me home and didn¡¯t say a single thing on the way.

    When we got to the apartments, I took a deep breath and said, ¡°Li Chuan, return to Switzend. Don¡¯t stay here.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re illness isn¡¯t done yet. There are many people here and you have a weak immune system. The chances of you getting infected is high.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you and I didn¡¯t have any rtionship with each other anymore?¡± He mocked, ¡°Why are you caring about my illness and whereabouts?¡±

 Chapter 49

    <h4>Chapter 49</h4>

    Seeing the way Li Chuan was, I suddenly realized how precious life was. I decided that I would earnestly live every day; I would earnestly work at my job, earnestly learntin dancing, and earnestly watch what I eat. I would wake up early every day, and earnestly jog around the streets.

    For the past twenty plus years, I had never paid attention to my body and health so seriously.

    I didn¡¯t see Li Chuan for two weeks in a row. I knew that he was purposely avoiding me. But he often visited CGP for meetings and/or to discuss sketches. He came like the wind, and was gone like the wind; he never went to the cafeteria for lunch. Whenever I called Rene, he would answer me politely, but kept his distance; Li Chuan had probably warned him not to slip out any details. Even when I said I would treat him to dinner, he came up with an excuse to turn me down.

    Whenever I got rejected directly or indirectly like this, my self-esteem would go down. But my heart was filled with a feeling of fright, which caused me to constantly guess what could happen. I thought about every word that Li Chuan said, and the way that Rene looked at me. I knew. Li Chuan situation was bing more hopeless by the day. He said that he couldn¡¯t give me another five years. It was true.

    I went to work as usual on Friday. I had actually requested to take the day off because I was going to go on a spring outing to Fragrant Hill Park with Eason. But before we left, I got a call from the office advising that there were a few sketches that needed to be handed in early to Director Jiang to review. Therefore, I told Eason that I would meet up with him at Xiang Lai Building. I submitted the documents, rode the elevator down to the ground floor, and bumped into Li Chuan, who was just getting out of his car. Li Chuan was dashing as always. But under the sunlight, his face was pale. He stood beside the car while his driver took out a lightweight wheelchair, and then he sat on it.

    ¡°Good morning, Li Chuan!¡± I greeted him proactively.

    ¡°Good morning.¡±

    I was dressed up for the trip; my long hair rested on my shoulders, I was wearing a leather jacket, long boots, and mini skirt. Eason said he had just bought a motorcycle. Since it was warm and sunny, he said he would take me for a spin to Fragrant Hill Park.

    Li Chuan had probably never seen me dressed so tomboy-like before, so he looked at me dumbstruck and asked, ¡°You¡¯re going somewhere?¡±

    ¡°Mm, I¡¯ve already requested to take the day off. I¡¯m going on a trip with a friend.¡±

    He did not show any expression on his face, ¡°Have fun.¡±

    A motorcycle made a ¡°tick¡± sound nearby; Eason had arrived. He was wearing a helmet, leather jacket, and leather pants, just like a motorcycle gang.

    ¡°Goodbye, Li Chuan!¡±

    ¡°Goodbye.¡±

    I dashed over, took the helmet that Eason handed to me, and sat on the back of the motorcycle.

    Eason said, ¡°For safety, hug me tight!¡±

    I said, ¡°Sure!¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to show intimacy with another man in front of Li Chuan in case he misunderstood, but I got provoked by his cold expression. Since it was also my first time riding a motorcycle, I was nervous, so I hugged Eason tightly as he elerated. The motorcycle whooshed out like lightning.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t they say that no motorcycles are allowed within the?¡± I asked from behind.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay for. I just have to pay to get it.¡±

    ¡°Eason, can you not go so fast?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already going very slow!¡±

    We got on to 4th Ring Road using the Sihaiqiao ramp. We headed North-West and passed by the t and straight Minzhuang Road. Eason was having a great time riding.

    I pointed at the scenery from a distant and sighed, ¡°Sigh, Eason, look over there!¡±

    He probably couldn¡¯t hear what I said, so he turned around to look at me. At that very instant, the motorcycle suddenly lost control. I screamed and flew off the bike. I lost consciousness.

    When I woke up, my body hurt all over. My chest felt stuffed, and it felt like many parts of my body were swollen. I felt a lot of pain in my right leg, and there were bandages wrapped around my chest. I saw Eason standing beside my bed, looking extremely apologetic. He also had bandages wrapped around his head, and some blood could be seen seeping through it.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s all my fault that you got hurt!¡± Eason said.

    I only felt that my body hurt, but it wasn¡¯t like I was in tremendous pain or felt like I was going to die.

    ¡°What exactly happened?¡± I said with my throat feeling dry.

    ¡°There was a pothole on the road. I was too careless.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. I was the one who spoke to you and caused you to turn your head,¡± I said.

    ¡°You¡¯re hurt quite badly. You have a rib fracture and a femoral shaft fracture in your right leg. You have already undergone surgery, and tes and screws have been inserted. They are now examining to see if you have a concussion. Is there anywhere else that you¡¯re not feeling well? I¡¯ll go tell the doctor.¡±

    ¡°Only the areas that you¡¯ve mentioned, everywhere else seems to be fine.¡± I looked for my phone to make a call, ¡°I need to call the office to request for leave.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t use your cellphone in here. My sister has already notified CGP. You¡¯ve been unconscious for four hours. Do you need to call your parents?¡±

    ¡°Both of my parents have passed away already.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that,¡± he quickly said, ¡°Do you have any siblings?¡±

    ¡°I have a younger brother who is studying medical science at Sun Yat-Sen University. He has a lot of assignments to do, so please don¡¯t let him know.¡±

    He sat in front of me with his hands on top of mine, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this is my fault, so I will take care of you. I¡¯ve asked for a month off. I usually don¡¯t need to work at the office anyway. I¡¯lle and take care of you every day!¡±

    I was stunned the moment I heard him say ¡°a month¡±; did I need to lie here for a month?

    The doctor came, briefly exined my situation, and asked me toplete the forms to stay in the hospital. He said I would need to stay for a month based on the healing progress of my fracture. Eason immediately wanted to go to the payment desk, but I stopped him, ¡°Don¡¯t rush to go pay for my hospital fees, CGP has great medical insurance. Give me the phone and let me ask HR.¡±

    I was surprised to hear the HR manager pick up, who said, ¡°The directors are taking this very seriously. We have already sent someone to handle your hospital transfer fees.¡±

    ¡°Transfer?¡± I asked, ¡°Is it necessary to transfer to another hospital?¡±

    ¡°The wards are very small at your current hospital. It¡¯s very crowded, which will impact your rest there. We are transferring you to Jishuitan Hospital. There is an excellent orthopedist there.¡±

    I told Eason about transferring hospitals, and he sighed, ¡°They act so fast and are so thoughtful. It really changes my impression on these foreignpanies.¡±

    I smiled and didn¡¯t respond.

    I was transferred to Jishuitan Hospital the next day. Xiao Zhao from human resources had alreadypleted my hospital registration and paid the deposit. Eason was going to buy me some food and Xiao Zhao said, ¡°Annie is vegetarian. We have already specially ordered nutritional meals from a nearby restaurant for her. They will deliver her meals three times a day.¡±

    I said, ¡°I¡­might need to hire someone to take care of me as well.¡± I didn¡¯t want to trouble Eason when it came to privacy and physical intimacy.

    Xiao Zhao responded immediately, ¡°Mm. We¡¯ve hired a caretaker in case the nurses are busy. It¡¯s a nurse who has just retired. She needs to make more money due to her family.¡±

    Eason¡¯s mouth was wide opened, ¡°You guys¡­are also reimbursing the fees to hire the caretaker?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Xiao Zhao said, ¡°Considering Annie¡¯s sry, thepany has approved a loan in advance. We will deduct the fees from her paychecks.¡±

    I didn¡¯t ask anything more; of course I knew who was behind all of this. Not long after Xiao Zhao left, my colleagues came to visit one after another. I decided to be humorous and prepared a guest book for them to sign. Thedies from the trantion department came to visit first. They bought me some fresh flowers and tropical fruits. Emma agreed to help me take care of Mia for the time being. My male colleagues mostly bought me flowers and health products.

    On the second day, people that I was not familiar with from the sketch department and budget department came to see me. I had never even spoken to some of them, but they said that they recognized me; they said my ¡°hot dance¡± left a deep impression on them.

    Thepany¡¯s cleaningdy Mrs. Lin came to visit me on the third day. She was from a rural area, but we got along quite well. We chatted every time she came to clean my desk. One time, she asked if I had any unwanted clothes; her daughter was in high school and was about the same size as me. I gave her a big bag of denim shirts, jeans, knitted skirts, and other items that I didn¡¯t wear. Another time, she said her daughter was sick in the hospital. I had just gotten my paycheck at the time, so I stuffed two hundred dors in her hands. Due to all this, she came to see me with a basket of fruits and cooked me a big teful of vegetarian buns. I was moved to tears.

    CGP had a total of thirty-three employees. Besides the cleaningdy, thirty-two of them had signed my guest book.

    Everyone came, except for Li Chuan.

 Chapter 50

    <h4>Chapter 50</h4>

    On Wednesday morning, Xiao Guan and other Jiu Tong employees came to see me, including Tao Xin Ru and Tong Yu Lian. Ever since I stood him up, I hadn¡¯t been in touch with Xiao Guan. I heard from Emma that Tao Xin Ru had been following Xiao Guan around even more tightly to the point where he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. However, Xiao Guan still deeply resented me for turning him down, so I didn¡¯t really want to see him, especially at times when I was at my worst.

    ¡°Sigh, Annie, howe you got hurt right after going to CGP? Why don¡¯t you considering back to Jiu Tong? We are still short on trantors,¡± Xiao Guan said.

    ¡°Thanks, but it¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t you always ask me for help anyway when you have anything urgent?¡± I smiled while turning him down.

    ¡°Speaking of that, I have three booklets that I must trouble you with.¡± He actually stuffed three big auction booklets into my hand without any hesitation, ¡°Since you¡¯re free anyway, it¡¯s better to make some money while you¡¯re at it, right?¡±

    I looked at him speechless. I wanted to say: Xiao Guan, do you know how much pain I¡¯m in? I have tes and screws inserted and my body is swollen, yet you still want me to do trantions for you?! Not even CGP would ask me to do that!

    Xiao Guan and others chatted with me for a while and promised that they would treat me to dinner after I get out of the hospital to get rid of the bad luck. They then left. After all the chatter, everything returned to silence. My heart sank bit by bit like the intravenous drip dripping down into my vein. The sun was shining brightly outside, but my heart was sour.

    Even Xiao Guan came to visit; Li Chuan, where were you?

    Caretaker Auntie Li came to help me take a bath. However, it was more like wiping my body cleanpared to an actual bath. She soaked the towel into warm water, and wiped my body bit by bit. She moved carefully around the areas in bandages like she was an archeologist examining a female corpse from the Han Dynasty. After she finished wiping my body, she helped wash my hair. She used a round bucket to hold the water and washed my hair a few times. Lastly, she helped me change into a new hospital gown.

    It was like that every day. Auntie Li would help me turn my body every two hours, and massage my leg three times a day to keep the blood flowing. I, on the other hand, was immersed in reading Jin Yong¡¯s novels. I would pick up my pen and do a bit of trantions every now and then, but I would feel tired every few pages. Eason came to see me every day and ate lunch and dinner with me. He couldn¡¯t be of much help since I had a caretaker taking care of everything, so his main purpose was to ¡°help¡± me eat my food. As a result, I was forced to drink a bowl of pork bone soup made by his mom every day. Although I was determined to be a vegetarian, Eason¡¯s mom¡¯s pork bone soup was delicious. Furthermore, I wanted to recover faster.

    On the second week, my hospital days made a ny-degree turn. My leg became abnormally swollen and it hurt so much that I couldn¡¯t sit up, eat, drink, or sleep well. I had gotten bone inmmation, which wasmon after surgery. I started having a fever, and my leg started festering. It hurt so much that I needed Pethidine to relieve the pain.

    So this was how it felt to be sick. I had always been healthy and active since I was little. I had great reflex and loved every sport. I had never wounded myself before, so the bone inmmation hurt like hell.

    I had to receive intravenous drip and take antibiotics every day, and had to get the pus drained and taken out. I didn¡¯t dare to take a look at my leg; a hideous scar was left on it. The doctors who came to check up on it always had a stiff face, so I suspected that not much longer, they would say that I would have to saw off my leg. Scenes from the movie, Bethune, and scars on Li Chuan¡¯s body started shing across my mind.

    No matter how many times I told Eason not toe visit me at the hospital every day, he still came every day during the month he took leave. Sometimes he would stay for the entire day. He attempted to help me change my clothes a few times, but I always turned him down. I didn¡¯t let him touch me or look at my body. But seeing how he really wanted to help me with something but couldn¡¯t, I said, ¡°Eason, can you help me to cut my hair? The shorter the better. I have too much hair. It¡¯s inconvenient for Auntie Li to wash it.¡±

    Eason held the scissors in his hand happily and gave me an awful haircut. I was embarrassed to see others for a few days, but I didn¡¯t dare me him.

    I got a calendar and started counting the days; I marked a cross on every day that I was in the hospital.

    A month had passed; Li Chuan still hadn¡¯te visit me.

    My heart became cold bit by bit.

    When I woke up at night due to the pain, I thought about how heartless Li Chuan was and cried until my pillow was wet. At the start, Iforted myself thinking that Li Chuan probably didn¡¯t know that I was sick. But he couldn¡¯t possibly not have known; even the cleaningdy knew and all the employees of CGP came to see me. Could he really not have known that I got injured?

    I thenforted myself again thinking that Li Chuan was probably sick himself as well. He might have returned to Switzend already. But thedies from the trantion team always came to gossip every week; they said that Li Chuan went to work at CGP every day while I was sick and even held a few meetings. But they also said that Li Chuan was not well; he was on his wheelchair most of the time.

    When I felt hopeless, I thought again that even if Li Chuan¡¯s heart was as cold as steel and refused toe, he would at least ask Rene toe or give me a call.

    Rene neither came to visit nor called me.

    Thinking back to the days that I was together with Li Chuan, I had never fallen sick before, not even catching a cold. But whenever my period came, I would feel ufortable. Li Chuan would get me to lie down on the bed, and then he would cook me some soup. When the cramps were bad, he would massage my stomach with his hands and ¡°transfer heat¡± like a Qi Gong Master. Li Chuan always cared a lot about others, didn¡¯t he!?

    Two months after the motorcycle ident, Eason had no choice but to return to work at theb. Although he technically didn¡¯t need to be there for work, he had sses and analyses to do, so he couldn¡¯te see me every day like he did in the first month. Honestly, I was already feeling guilty from his affection towards me. I kept telling him not toe anymore because I was taken care of by Auntie Li, who was professional, attentive to detail, careful, and patient. I really didn¡¯t need another person to be at my side, but Eason disagreed. He still came every day even though he did not stay as long as before. He would go to the bookstore and buy me novels, DVDs, TV series, and try all kinds of things to help me get through the day. One time, he even apanied me to watch eight episodes of ¡°.¡± When he saw that I was about to fall asleep, he started marking his students¡¯ essays at my bedside and chatted every now and then with me.

 Chapter 51.1

    <h4>Chapter 51.1</h4>

    But my mood still gradually fell all the way to the bottom. Every night, after Eason left, I would secretly cry untilte at night. Even though I knew Li Chuan had a secret he couldn¡¯t tell me, I still did not expect him not toe and take a look at me after hearing the news of my ident, despite him living by my side.

    I was extremely confused. Did Li Chuan really still love me?

    If there wasn¡¯t a difference between loving and not loving, then why love?

    Did I still want to continue on with a love that was this exhausting and without any results?

    Since I couldn¡¯t move, the muscles in my broken leg started shrinking. The well practiced Auntie (not real aunt) Li increased her massage strength. But something inside of me was also shrinking. And¡­was bing smaller and smaller.

    While lying on the hospital bed everyday, I foolishly stared at the door in a daydream. I dreamt that Li Chuan came to visit me with a bouquet. The footsteps in the corridor, the light coughs, and the intermittent shadows in front of the door would all make me suspect that it was him.

    And then, when it was confirmed that it wasn¡¯t Li Chuan, I would be wooden again.

    I tormented myself repeatedly with anticipation and disappointment.

    Gradually, I started staring nkly outside the window for long periods of time without paying attention to anyone. I didn¡¯t want to speak either. My leg was extremely swollen, to the extent where I couldn¡¯t feel its existence. Pain had be unfamiliar.

    Once, when I was feeling extremely agitated, I pulled out the IV needle without permission. When Eason found out, he spoke to me sternly. I couldn¡¯t help but yell at him in rage. Afterwards, I apologized to him. Then, using the opportunity to make a fuss, I ordered him to onlye and see me at most once a week.

    Eason refused at first, ¡°No! I caused you to be injured like this. I will take care of you until you are discharged!¡±

    I spent the second month in a dark mood, going seriously crazy. My leg had gotten a lot thinner and there was even a huge scar on top. I was switched to a recovery hospital to undergo a month of training.

    All the sisters of the trantor group came to see me and said that I was so thin, I looked like noodles.

    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because you are vegetarian.¡± Emma said, ¡°You¡¯re sick right now, you need nutrients the most. Don¡¯t be a vegetarian anymore. I¡¯ll have my mom stew red-cooked meat for you.¡±

    ¡°No, no, my willpower has always been weak. I¡¯ve already enjoyed drinking Mother Ai¡¯s bone soup. I can¡¯t take it too far. I have to persist in my beliefs!¡±

    ¡°Mmmm¡­you¡¯ve drank our family¡¯s soup. Next, will you be our family¡¯s daughter-inw?¡± Emma hinted with all smiles, ¡°Let me tell you. The first few times, my mom made the soup. Afterwards, Eason learned how to make it himself. What you are drinking now is all made by him. I can even take advantage of it and try a bowl. How about it? The young master of the Ai family isn¡¯t too bad, right? For you, he¡¯s already gave up two chances, in a row, to go to the US for conferences. Those who are working with him on the courses have already scolded him to death.¡±

    ¡°I am really grateful.¡± I said sincerely, ¡°Your family¡¯s Eason is truly a good person.¡±

    I didn¡¯t ask about Li Chuan, but everyone always brought him up.

    ¡°Today, Li Chuan wore a ck leather jacket. The kind with soft skintight material. Not kidding!¡± Ming Ming said, ¡°When I saw him in the morning, I nearly fainted and fell over. When he usually wears suits, I can still resist him.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I already said that he would be extremely sexy when wearing a leather jacket, but he had never worn one before.¡± Li Sha parroted, ¡°Even though I missed getting on the elevator with him, his cologne lingered in the elevator. A faint CK smell, making one go crazy.¡±

    ¡°Actually, Mr. Li Chuan isn¡¯tpletely well yet.¡± Xiao Wei quietly added, ¡°What you guys see is just his bright and neat side.¡±

    ¡°How isn¡¯t he better? He hasn¡¯t been sitting in his wheelchair much.¡±

    ¡°Once he hadn¡¯t been at work for an hour before that Rene came to pick him up,¡° Xiao Wei said, ¡°Li Chuan was a total mess from throwing up in the office. Rene nearly carried him onto the wheelchair to wheel him away. That week, we changed the carpet twice for him.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­Li Chuan is quite pitiful. He doesn¡¯t depend on that money to survive. It¡¯s not worth it toe into work everyday being so sick like this.¡±

    ¡°Exactly! Looks like when you look for a guy, you should still find a healthy one. Seeing him being sick like this is already so heartbreaking.¡±

    ¡°Can you guys not be so unscrupulous in your obsession every day?¡±

    I forced a smile, ¡°Li Chuan isn¡¯t the only handsome man in CGP.¡±

    ¡°There are handsome men, it¡¯s not like we haven¡¯t seen those of high quality.¡± Everyone retorted, ¡°But Li Chuan¡¯s type is of godlike quality.¡±

    That¡¯s true, Li Chuan was of godlike quality. How could a mortal like me try to obtain him?

    That night, Eason came to see me and earnestly helped me walk around. In the end, I suddenly said, ¡°Eason, don¡¯te anymore. You¡¯ve take care of me for so long, I¡¯ve already received your good intentions.¡±

    ¡°Everything is fine, why are you saying this again? Drink soup.¡±

    He brought over a bowl of delicious bone soup. Tears suddenly fell from my eyes.

    ¡°Eason, I won¡¯t fall in love with anyone.¡±

    ¡°The rtionship between us is of the offender and the victim. Don¡¯t mix things up. Ok? See if Ie and see you after you are discharged. I¡¯m quite busy¡±

    I wanted to mention Li Chuan to him, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to say it. My thought towards Li Chuan were gradually bing more negative, more and more dark. To the point for I felt like I could never forgive him. Even when my friends from the trantor group mentioned him, I felt as if he was a very distant person and didn¡¯t have anything to do with me anymore. I used to hurt all over inside because of him. That kind of worry and that kind of concern had already quietly changed.

    I faced Eason, silently shedding tears. He asked my why I was grieving, but I said nothing.

    He sighed and said, ¡°Do you want to hear my story? I called my ex-girlfriend Xiao Xue (Little Snow).¡±

    ¡°She started chasing after me starting in high school. She chased after me until I had no room to breathe. That kind of pursuit for love was fierce like the howling winds and torrential rains. At that time, I was still very young and didn¡¯t take her feelings seriously. I ever joked at her saying: ¡®Great Snow crushes down on the pine (Eason = Ai Song, pine = Qing Song), yet the pine stands straight, needing to be lofty and unsullied, waiting until the snow melts.¡¯ It was a strong Great Snow, burying mepletely. I was surrounded by her love for eight years and felt very happy, very rxed, and felt that everything was as it should be. I forgot to tell you that I am a workaholic. In the 10 years that passed, I never rested on a single weekend. Everyday, I would go work in theb until veryte at night. If my progress wasn¡¯t smooth on my paper, I would even get angry at her. Even when she told me she was pregnant, I still couldn¡¯t clear some time to apany her to examines. Then one day, I came back from theb and saw the medical report left on the table. She had gotten an abortion and took all her stuff away with her. She had thrown all the presents I gave her and all our photos together into the trash.¡±

    I looked at him in shock.

    ¡°I went crazy. I went to look for her, crying bitter tears of remorse, begging her toe back. She was determined not to agree. After two months, she married a Japanese man. She said that she had already been together with that person for half a year. The Japanese man would call my home every night, yet I wasn¡¯t even aware of it.¡±

    He patted my shoulder, ¡°I¡¯ve never med her. On the day of the wedding, I even sent a gift. I wished her happiness because I really wasn¡¯t fit to be her husband. Look, everyone can learn something from his or her past. From my own story, I learned how to love. It doesn¡¯t just mean loving a women. Rather it means loving anyone who has a ce in your heart. I also learned to give up in my story. A love that doesn¡¯t belong, will leave. You won¡¯t be able to grab onto it, it would be better to let it go.¡±

    I received some kind of enlightenment from Eason¡¯s story.

    After the third month passed, I could already walk around with crutches. The doctor said that, from the x-rays, it looked like my bones were recovering very nicely. It was just that my muscles had somewhat atrophied and I had to do weight training. The steel tes still remained in my bones and could only be removed after a year.

    Before I was discharged, I secretly returned to my apartment once. Forcing myself to not anticipate, I checked the phone and cellphone voicemails. I checked my emails and my MSN messages.

    I secretly told myself that if Li Chuan had left me one word, even if it was just to ask ¡°[English] How are you¡±, I would forgive himpletely.

    But, there was nothing. Not a word.

    I recalled something that Eason liked to say: ck holes. Powerful energy. Powerful gravitation. Everything falls into it. Nothing can escape. Everything is sucked in. But there is nothing inside.

    My heart brokepletely.

    ¡ª I notified myndlord that, starting from next month, I wouldn¡¯t be renting from him anymore.

    ¡ª I got a temporary worker to help me pack up all my books and clothing.

    ¡ª I bought a flight ticket back to Kunming. One way.

    ¡ª I canceled all my bank ounts in Beijing.

    ¡ª I sold my car to a second-hand shop.

    Eason helped meplete my discharge procedures. He was going to California the next day for a meeting and wished me well on everything.

    When I returned home, I printed out two copies of a letter of resignation. One was for Jiu Tong and one was for CGP.

    Monday was thest day I was staying in Beijing. Eason had already took care of checking in my books and luggage.

    I put on very casual clothes. The weather was really hot. Originally, I would have definitely worn a skirt, but I didn¡¯t want people to see the scar on my leg. So I had on a pair of pants. Leaning against aluminum crutches, I got in a taxi heading to Xiang Lai building.

    The lead never misses the historical events.

    When I was waiting for the elevator downstairs, I ran into Li Chuan. Between the two of us, there were three crutches. I wanted tough, feeling that everything seemed quite fabricated and also veryical.

    Li Chuan helped me keep the elevator door open, and we both walked in at the same time.

    He kept his head down the entire time, not daring to look at me.

    He was about to press the neenth floor for me when I said, ¡°No need, I¡¯m going to the twentieth floor.¡±

    ¡°You aren¡¯tpletely well yet and you¡¯re already here¡­cough cough¡­to work?¡± He lightly coughed as he was speaking, his head never looking up.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not working anymore.¡± I dered, expressionless.

    For a slight bit, he was stumped for words. He was just about to say something when a ¡°ding¡± sounded. The elevator had reached the twentieth floor and the door opened.

    He held the elevator door and let me go out first. I walked to one corner of the hallway and saw that Director Jiang¡¯s door was shut, so I called out to him, ¡°Li Chuan, there¡¯s something I want to ask of you.¡±

    He finally looked up and gazed at my face with waves within his eyes, ¡°What is it?¡±

    I took out two envelopes from my purse, ¡°This is my resignation letter. One is for CGP and one is for Jiu Tong. Please help me hand these to Director Jiang.¡±

    As if he was anticipating something, he didn¡¯t hold out his hand to take them, ¡°Resignation? Why resign?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m tired. I want to rest for awhile.¡± I said faintly, ¡°And then, I¡¯ll go and find work.¡±

    Did I need to exin everything? Li Chuan must be able to see the bitterness on my face.

    His cheeks moved a bit as if he was clenching his teeth, but he was very restrained. He said in a business manner, ¡°That¡¯s just as well. It¡¯s good that you¡¯ll get some rest.¡±

    I turned to leave when he suddenly asked, ¡°Then will you still stay in Beijing?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I heard myself say coldly, ¡°I¡¯m leaving Beijing tomorrow.¡±

    His face turned a bit pale, ¡°Then, where are you nning to go?¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan,¡± I raised my head to look at him, smiling like a knife, ¡°didn¡¯t you want me to leave you? I¡¯m finally going to disappear now. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s worth celebrating? Yet, why are you doing more that is required to act concerned for my whereabouts?¡±

    I ruthlessly shoved the envelopes into his hands, returned to the elevator and pressed to go down to the eighteenth floor to go clean out my things.

    in the split second, as the door was closing, Li Chuan suddenly blocked the elevator.

    I raised my head and looked at him, my heart racing. In his eyes, I saw a miserable expression that I was unable to bear. I thought to myself, if he was to ask me to stay, even if it was just a hint, even if it was just through his tone of voice, I would forgive him. Immediately forgive him.

    Unexpectedly, he only sighed deeply and said calmly, ¡°Xiao Qiu, I wish you a safe trip.¡±

    And then the elevator door slowly closed. The other door, in my heart, also shut at the same time.

    I returned to my own office soullessly. Not having time to put my agitated state of mind in order, I spent an hour sending emails to delegate my work. Then I cleaned up myputer, deleting documents, and returned myptop to the admin department. Thest email I wrote was to ask Emma to give Mia to Li Chuan, saying that he will definitely adopt her. Then I wrapped up Li Chuan¡¯s coffee cup in paper and shoved it into his mailbox. I put all my things into a cardboard box, went downstairs, got a taxi, and returned home.

    When I got to the small convenience store by my apartment, I bought a box of cigarettes.

    I returned to my apartment and smoked one stick after another.

    I could not bear to think about the past. My heart was riddled with wounds. My soul hadpletely vanished.

    The sun gradually set in the west and the moon gradually rose.

    My flight was the next morning. I was all packed. I left the key to the apartment on the table.

    I couldn¡¯t sleep and sat on my bed shedding tears.

    At two in the morning, my cell phone suddenly rang.

    I looked at the disy on the phone. It was an unfamiliar number.

    The phone only rang once before it stopped.

 Chapter 51.2

    <h4>Chapter 51.2</h4>

    Perhaps they had the wrong number.

    I was a little suspicious that it was Li Chuan, so I held the cell phone in my hand, waiting. After a whole hour, the phone never rang again.

    I didn¡¯t know why, but my heart started beating faster. Even though it was most likely Li Chuan¡¯s number, I told myself not to pick up.

    I had already given him 3 months. We were already over. Li Chuan, do you know how hard it was for me to end everything? Don¡¯t tell me that everything will start over just for one phone call. After ten more minutes, there was still nothing. I got up anxiously for some reason. My heart was beating fast. I was fidgety and restless. Finally, I couldn¡¯t restrain myself any longer and dialed the number back. Li Chuan, I¡¯m giving you a veryst chance. The veryst! As long as you want me back, even if it¡¯s just through your eyes, I wille back.

    The phone rang three times. No one picked up. I got angry thinking that it was someone maliciously disturbing me. But right after, the call went to voicemail saying the same thing in Chinese, English, French, and German: ¡°Hi, I am Li Chuan. I can¡¯t pick up the phone right now. If you need anything, please leave a message.¡± His maic, charismatic voice. So, it was him.

    I hung up and dialed again. I called ten times before finally getting through.

    The other end was very noisy. A coarse male voice loudly said on the other end, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking for Mr. Wang Li Chuan! May I ask who you are?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who Wang Li Chuan is.¡± That person said, ¡°I only know that there is a drunken person here whose phone keeps ringing nonstop. He must be your friend?!¡±

    ¡°Dru¡­nk?¡± My head exploded, ¡°May I ask where you are? That person is my friend, a very important friend! Please tell me your location!¡±

    ¡°Lang Huan Bar, on H street. Do you know it?¡±

    How could I not know it? It was next to the cafe where I first met Li Chuan. Ji Chuan was a frequent visitor of it. Li Chuan would also frequent it before.

    ¡°I know it!¡±

    ¡°Come and quickly pick him it. It looks like he¡¯s pretty drunk.¡±

    Li Chuan could definitely not drink, not even a drop. Otherwise, his life would be in danger. This was something Rene and Li Chuan told me repeatedly. I was already scared out of my wits. I immediately grabbed my purse and rushed out, forgetting to bring my crutches and nearly falling head first. I got to the street and stopped a taxi. As soon as I got in the taxi, I gave him RMB200 and told him to wait outside of Lang Huan for me.

    Under my incessant urging, the driver got to Lang Huan within fifteen minutes.

    The bar wasn¡¯t toorge. The lights were dim and lots of people mingled along with muffled conversations. It was all men, there were old and young. Even the servers were men. The drum beats from the band on stage nketed everything. There was a singer who looked like a student, using a pure baritone voice to sing an old, sad, English song. Many people were surrounding him on the side, pping for him.

    The server brought me to a corner to find Li Chuan. He was sprawled across the table. A small cup of alcohol was next to him with an olive in it.

    I asked the server, ¡°How much alcohol was in this cup? Did he drink it all?¡±

    The server shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s a martini. There¡¯s not much alcohol content in it, and there wasn¡¯t much of it. There was about as much when it was delivered to him. At most, he¡¯s taken a sip.¡±

    Li Chuan didn¡¯t have a low alcohol tolerance. He definitely couldn¡¯t be drunk after one sip of alcohol. Yet, he was sprawled on the table, not moving, as if he was really drunk.

    I lightly pushed him, calling in his ear, Li Chuan, Li Chuan!

    He didn¡¯t awake.

    I pushed him again with more force. He suddenly raised his head with a disordered gaze.

    ¡°Li Chuan?¡±

    He opened his eyes slightly, looking at me blurrily as if he didn¡¯t recognize me.

    I patted his face, and then felt his forehead. It was a bit hot but not as if he had a fever, ¡°Li Chuan, Li Chuan, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Li Chuan ignored me and sprawled on the table again. The server on the side said, ¡°Any drunken person is like this. Take him home. He should be fine after drinking some concentrated tea to sober up.¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t right. He didn¡¯t even finish a cup. How can he be drunk?¡±

    ¡°He was probably here to look for his friends. He didn¡¯t necessarily drink from his own drink¡­he must be drunk. I¡¯m 99% sure.¡±

    I brought over the candle on the table and shined it on Li Chuan¡¯s face. He was sweating and was covered with it. I held his hand. Even his palm was moist. I held him and went to push him. He suddenly started speaking in his sleep. It switched from French to German¡­there was a couple things in Mandarin, but everything was jumbled.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say he was drunk? He¡¯s already drunk talking.¡± The server said on the side.

    At the very least, I had to take him away. I said, ¡°I¡¯ve already gotten a taxi. Can I ask you to help me bring him to the car?¡±

    ¡°He¡­hasn¡¯t paid yet.¡±

    ¡°How much is it? I¡¯ll pay.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go calcte it.¡±

    After a minute, he came over and said, ¡°Sorry, he is a VIP guest and used his annual membership card. You don¡¯t need to pay for him.¡± When he finished saying that, he called over two huge security guards who supported Li Chuan into the taxi.

    ¡°Miss, where are we going?¡± The driver asked.

    ¡°Gang Ao Center, Swiss Hotel.¡±

    The car drove steadily, but Li Chuan started looking worse and worse. He had originally been babbling nonsense, but started breathing quickly and gradually couldn¡¯t even speak. Only heavy and difficult breathing remained.

    I pounded on the back of the driver¡¯s seat as if my life depended on it and said to him loudly, ¡°Mister, don¡¯t head to the hotel. He¡­he¡¯s nearly dying. Head to the hospital immediately. As fast as possible!¡±

    ¡°The closest hospital is Xie He.¡± The driver turned and looked at me, also seeing the critical situation. ¡°Hopefully it¡¯s not alcohol poisoning, one can die from it!¡±

    My heart beat like crazy. I held onto Li Chuan tightly. I called out his name over and over again, ¡°Li Chuan, Li Chuan, Li Chuan¡­¡±

    His entire body was weak, leaning against me like an infant.

    I felt out his breathing by my hand, it was very rapid and very strenuous.

    At that moment, I thought of a person and immediately took out my phone to find Rene.

    The phone rang once before it was picked up.

    ¡°Annie.¡±

    ¡°Rene, Li Chuan¡¯s in trouble. He doesn¡¯t have any strength. I¡¯m taking him to the hospital to get emergency treatment. Hurry over. Come quickly.¡±

    ¡°Where is Li Chuan? I¡¯ve been looking all over for him. Which hospital?¡±

    ¡°Xie He.¡±

    ¡°Annie, keep calm. I¡¯ll be there immediately.¡±

    When we reached the hospital, Li Chuan had already lost consciousness. A group of people brought him into the ER. The head doctor was middle aged and was very capable and experienced. He quickly inspected his body and instructed those under him, ¡°It¡¯s acute respiratory failure. Hook up the respiratory machine and put him on it.¡±

    After saying this, a nurse took me out of the room and asked me about Li Chuan¡¯s medical history. I told her everything I knew. Acute pneumonia, severe anemia, blood type, vomiting¡­she gave me a form to fill out.

    Both my legs were trembling. My whole body started shuddering involuntarily. The scene of my father when he was sick a few years ago floated through my mind. I held onto my crutches and leaned against the wall, breathing deeply. I had a doubtful expression. The ER door suddenly opened and the middle aged doctor called out, ¡°Who is Miss Xie?¡±

    I rushed over and said, ¡°I¡­I am¡­¡±

    ¡°I am Doctor Ni. May I ask what your rtionship with the patient is?¡±

    ¡°Girl¡­girlfriend.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like this, we just put the patient on the respiratory machine. When we took a look at his chest x-ray image, we discovered that there is a central venous catheter imnted within and there are abnormalities on one side of his lungs. None of this was in his medical history. How much do you know of his illness?¡±

    I was dumbfounded and asked stammering, ¡°What nted¡­central venous line? I¡­I don¡¯t know his medical history. He wouldn¡¯t tell me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t have time to exin. Does he have other family members?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes there is a foreigner. He¡¯s rushing here now. I¡¯ll go call him.¡±

    I took out my phone and was about to dial the number when I saw Rene rush in covered in sweat. I waved and called out to him, ¡°Rene,e quickly! This doctor needs to know Li Chuan¡¯s medical history.¡±

    Rene impatiently asked me in English, ¡°Does the doctor understand English?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m an interpreter. Speak and I¡¯ll trante.¡±

    ¡°Right, right, silly me.¡±

    ¡°Alex has second stage [English] osteosaa.¡±

    My god. What was that. I had actually memorized medical terms many years ago, but after getting into CGP, my mind became filled with architectural terms and couldn¡¯t turn the corner right now. Good thing I still know how to break down the word.

    Ostero was bone. Saa was malignant growth. When they were ced together, what was it. I didn¡¯t know the terminology for it.

    Rene saw my hesitation and added a supplement, ¡°[English] Bone cancer.¡±

    My body froze and my crutches fell to the floor. He immediately supported me, ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    I shook my head. Rene underestimated me. How could I dare to faint at this time?

    Iposed myself and tranted, ¡°The patient suffers from bone cancer, second stage Osteosaa.¡± I repeated the English again. Xie He was the best hospital in Beijing. The doctors here weren¡¯t unfamiliar with English.

    ¡°Alex was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was 17. He underwent amputation and chemotherapy. When he was 25, he was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer and underwent surgery for it to be cut out.¡± Rene continued.

    I numbingly tranted as if I was waiting for my death sentence.

    ¡°After three years of chemotherapy, his cancer was temporarily controlled without rpse.¡± He paused, nced at me, and said, ¡°But, during chemotherapy, the doctors found that he had low white blood cell count which meant he had a lowered immune system. Later on, his red blood cell count also gradually decreased, as evident by his anemia.¡±

    Once I tranted to that part, the doctor already understood most of it and asked, ¡°Is it MDS?¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what MDS was. I looked at Rene. Rene actually did know that word. He nodded and said, ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°What type?¡±

    ¡°RA¡±

    The doctor solemnly pulled me to the side, handed me a piece of paper, and said, ¡°The patient¡¯s situation is quite grave. You guys must be prepared. This is a notice for the terminally ill. Please sign it.¡± After saying this, he returned to the ER.

    I held the piece of paper, my mind inplete chaos. For a long time, I couldn¡¯t read the words on the page. I rubbed my eyes and forced myself to sit down.

    Notice for terminally ill.

    Diagnosis: Shock from infection, acute respiratory failure.

    To the respected family members of the patient:

    Hello, your family member is currently receiving treatment in my hospital. The patient¡¯s condition is currently critical and could worsen at any time, endangering the patient¡¯s life. Hence, this notice. Please understand and cooperate with the hospital¡¯s treatment. Despite the situation, we will continue to actively carry out the most effective action. If you have any other requirements, please inform the doctor immediately after receiving this notice.

    Signature of patient or family member:

    Signature of doctor debriefing patient¡¯s condition: Ni Yongkang.

    I interpreted the notice word by word for Rene. Reneughed bitterly and said that this wasn¡¯t the first time Li Chuan has been sick like this. The mental state of his family and friends, besides the elderly, had already been toughened.

    I copsed onto the chair in the waiting room. My body trembled in shock and couldn¡¯t say anything for quite a while.

    Rene tightly hugged me the entire time and used his disjointed Chinese tofort me, ¡°Nothing will happen to Alex. Alex is very lucky, and nothing will happen to him.¡±

    I gazed at the faint shadows in the emergency room, praying silently in my heart. In any case, this type of waiting was too scary. Any noise that came from inside rmed me. The moving hand of the silent wall clock was like a needle piercing towards me.

    After seemly waiting a long time, nearly half a century, the hand on the wall told me that it had only been ten minutes.

    Realizing that my body was still continuously shaking, Rene purchased a bottle of juice for me and told me to drink a mouthful, saying that this would ease the pressure.

    I nced at him, forehead covered in cold sweat. My nerves were stretched so much that they were about to snap. I shook my head and said that I didn¡¯t want to drink anything. Even my stomach was continuously churning as if I wanted to vomit.

    In order to shift my attention, I took a deep breath and nudged Rene, who was iprehensibly saying a scripture in French, ¡°Hey, Rene, can you tell me in detail about Li Chuan¡¯s illness¡±

    He returned from his thoughts and asked me, ¡°You didn¡¯t hear enough earlier? You¡¯re still not scared?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t enough. You said a heap of terminology, I could only understand about half of it.¡± I said, ¡°Does this mean that LI Chuan¡¯s leg wasn¡¯t due to a car ident?¡±

    ¡°It was discovered due to the car ident.¡± Rene said, ¡°That year Li Chuan¡¯s mom was driving the car to take him to buy something and got into an ident halfway through. His mom died and his thigh suffered minor injuries. But it didn¡¯t seem to heal after a long time and was getting worse. That was how the bone cancer was discovered ¡ª the malignant type. At the time the doctor said that the situation was very critical. The chances of survival through chemotherapy or amputation were both very small, and only conservative treatment could be used.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°At that time, everyone thought that Alex had only a few months to live. The whole family was devastated. Surprisingly, after the radiotherapy, with luck, Alex¡¯s condition rapidly improved. Thus, his father took him to the US to see a famous doctor. That famous doctor felt that there was an opportunity to attempt a more daring operation. So Alex went through an upper limb amputation. After the surgery, he continued chemotherapy and recovered nicely. He had no rpse for an entire 8 years. During these years, even the doctor told us that Alex¡¯s cancer had been brought under permanent control. Even though it was inconvenient for him to walk, he could live like a normal person and didn¡¯t have to worry, everyday, about when death would arrive.¡±

    Instantaneously, the links of the story came together in my mind, ¡°Six years ago, did Li Chuan leave me so suddenly because his health was in question?¡±

    Rene nodded, ¡°Every half year, Li Chuan would return to the hospital for a routine checkup. When he returned to Switzend, his cancer was found to have shifted to his lungs. You know that the survival rate for when cancer switches from the bone to the lung is very low. This meant that a death penalty was pronounced for him. He said you were head over heels in love, was only 17 and he didn¡¯t have the heart to tell you for fear of breaking your heart. Even more so, he didn¡¯t want you to see his suffering appearance. He would rather you hate him for a lifetime. So, he made a firm resolution to leave you.¡±

    I gritted my teeth and didn¡¯t allow myself to sob, ¡°Then he¡­those five years¡­did he live in a lot of pain?¡±

    Rene sighed and nodded, ¡°A specialized doctor excised the part of the lung disease. Afterwards, he went through a whole three years of chemotherapy. He was so skinny, his formed changed. His hair alsopletely fell out. He was extremely weak. He didn¡¯t even have the strength to stand up. Honestly, he changedpletely. Even if you saw him, you wouldn¡¯t have recognized him. The side effects of chemotherapy are quite awful. Besides, he still had bone aches. Several times, it was so painful that the wanted to die instead. But he was afraid that he would cause his father and grandparents to be broken hearted. In short¡­in those three years, if it wasn¡¯t because of your emails, I really don¡¯t know how he could have endured it.¡±

    Unknowingly, my face was covered in tears, ¡°Then why didn¡¯t he reply to me? At least, I could have tried to persuade him, converse with him, andfort him!¡±

    ¡°Whatever Alex makes up his mind about, he won¡¯t change it.¡± Rene sighed again, ¡°Alex¡¯s willpower is extremely strong, otherwise he would have not been able to battle with cancer for so many years, and still have had you leave.¡±

    I looked at Rene, sighed and continued to ask, ¡°Rene, what is mds?¡±

    ¡°Abnormal bone marrow growth syndrome,¡± he said, ¡°it is a type of abnormal blood cell growth that causes blood functions to be hindered. I don¡¯t know how to trante it into Chinese.¡±

    ¡°Hinder blood functions?¡± I still didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°To put it simply, this is a very hard type of anemia to treat. It could have been caused by the long term chemotherapy that Alex had to go through. There is a 30% probability that this type of disease would turn into acute leukemia. As a result Alex¡¯s immune system is extremely low and needs to be very careful during his daily activities. Any infection or bleeding could result in death.¡±

    I thought about that time Li Chuan jumped into the trash bin and his arm started bleeding. When his older brother found out, he yelled at him like he had gone mad.

    ¡°That¡¯s why Li Chuan has to take meds every day? Take those medication that makes him throw up?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, every morning he has to take a type of medicine to prevent osteoporosis. Since bone cancer and chemotherapy causes the quality of the bone to change, it was easy for him to fracture a bone. Everyday, thirty minutes before meals, he has to take a type of medicine on an empty stomach, to reduce iron.¡±

    I felt that Rene¡¯s understanding of these terminologies would put medical school students to shame.

    ¡°Reduce iron? Why does iron need to be reduced?¡±

    ¡°In order to treat mds, Alex needs to get blood transfusion done regrly. Long term blood transfusion leads to excess iron in the body. In order to prevent iron poisoning, Alex needs to take a dose of medicine for reducing iron. This type of medicine is called deferasirox. It upsets the stomach and digestive tract greatly. After he takes it, he is likely to vomit.¡± He sighed again, ¡°Alex, especially, didn¡¯t want you to know that he has mds because you have blood phobia. Yet, he often needs to get blood tests and get blood transfusion done. At its worst, it was once a week.¡±

    ¡°There isn¡¯t a way topletely cure this?¡± I asked, anxiously, thinking about all the different types of melodramas I had watched before, ¡°For example bone marrow transnt or what not? Doesn¡¯t he have a brother?¡±

    ¡°The important aspect of bone marrow transnt is that the  location has to match the type. Ji Chuan is willing to donate bone marrow, but his bone marrow is unsuitable. Even if it was transnted, the chances of sess are very low. Alex has already applied for bone marrow transnt. But, until now, no ideal match has been found.¡± Perhaps he had been tired out by my questions as he continuously stared down at his thumb.

 Chapter 51.3

    <h4>Chapter 51.3</h4>

    I signed the critical condition notice letter. I saw a man in a white coat with a full head of grey hair in his sixties rushing over to the emergency room. Rene stood up and called, ¡°(English) Dr. Gong!¡±

    The man looked familiar; once I took a good look at him, I immediately remembered that he was the old man who drank coffee with Li Chuan at the coffee shop a couple of years ago. I remembered Li Chuan called him Mr. Gong.

    The man stopped in front of us, nodded at me, and spoke directly to Rene in English, ¡°How is he? Is he in the emergency room?¡±

    ¡°Mm,¡± Rene said, ¡°It¡¯s infectious shock and acute respiratory failure.¡±

    ¡°Is it due to a respiratory infection?¡±

    ¡°Maybe. He has been coughing a lottely. I told him to go to the hospital, but he refused and even got angry at me. He was probably not in a good mood.¡±

    ¡°Let me go take a look at him first.¡± He left and went into the emergency room.

    I asked Rene who he was.

    ¡°Oh, he is Professor Gong of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, the director of the intensive care unit, and Li Chuan¡¯s primary doctor in Beijing. When Li Chuan¡¯s dad had a heart attack in China, it was Professor Gong who saved his life, which is why they became close friends. When you called me just now, I immediately called him and asked him toe. He is very familiar with Li Chuan¡¯s illness¡ª¡±

    Just as he was talking, the emergency room doors suddenly opened, and Gong Qi Xian came out.

    Rene and I both jumped up from our seats, ¡°How is he?¡±

    ¡°His condition is stable for now. He has been sent to ICU for further observation. Li Chuan is currently relying on a breathing machine to breathe and vasopressors to sustain his blood pressure. In order to hook up the breathing machine, we used tranquilizer, so he is still unconscious¡­It¡¯s good that he came to the hospital in time.¡±

    Rene and I got changed, put on our masks, followed the strict disinfection procedure, and entered the ICU ward. It was just like my dream; Li Chuan was half lying down, his face was pale, his eyes were closed, and tubes were inserted into his body from head to toe.

    ¡°You guys can apany him on the side, but don¡¯t touch him. There will be specialized nurses taking care of him. I suggest you guys not to stay too long, ande back tomorrow. He won¡¯t wake up anyway since he has a breathing machine hooked up, and you guys won¡¯t be much help.¡± He pointed at the sofas on the side, gesturing for us to take a seat, ¡°I still have a patient to tend to on the second floor. I¡¯lle back in a bit. Just give me a call for emergencies.¡±

    All of us sighed in relief. Rene looked at my leg and asked, ¡°Annie, what happened to your leg?¡±

    ¡°I was in a car ident¡­and fractured my leg. Li Chuan didn¡¯t tell you?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Rene said, ¡°No wonder he has been in a bad moodtely, like he has swallowed gunpowder. He drags me to the pub every night, but since he can¡¯t drink, he sits and stares off to space, and won¡¯t say a word. I then became busy with reading some research information and couldn¡¯t apany him, so he often went alone.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± I sighed, ¡°his heart aches¡­ He¡¯s really hard on himself.¡± The ICU ward only allowed one visitor at a time, so Rene said, ¡°You haven¡¯tpletely recovered from your injury yet, so why don¡¯t we go home first, ande back to visit him tomorrow?¡±

    Li Chuany in the ICU ward for seven days. His blood pressure became stable on the third day, so he was off the vasopressors. His breathing finally got better on the seventh day, which was when they took out the breathing machine. Once they stopped using tranquilizer, Li Chuan woke up soon after, but he was unable to speak. He looked at me, and his fingers twitched, so I grabbed his hand and held it tightly.

    I apanied Li Chuan for seven days and seven nights. Other than eating and going to the washroom, I didn¡¯t leave the ICU ward; I only took naps on the couch and slept less than three hours a day. Rene visited me in the morning, but felt that I was being irrational. He said that Li Chuan had nurses to take care of everything back in Switzend, so friends and family only needed to take turns to see him and chat with him; everyone was busy and Li Chuan often stayed in the hospital, so everyone got on with their lives after visiting him. He said no one would be like me and stay by his bedside day and night. He said I was worried for nothing and was wasting my time.

    But this was how Chinese people showed their care and affection, did you not understand? I scolded him back.

    ¡°This is why Ie to visit you every day. I don¡¯t think Alex needs me to visit him, I think you need my visit more,¡± Rene teased.

    I asked Rene, ¡°Does Ji Chuan know that Li Chuan is sick again?¡± Rene shook his head, ¡°I didn¡¯t dare to tell Ji Chuan, that tyrant. If he finds out that Alex is in the ICU ward again, he¡¯ll definitely escort him back to Zurich and lock him up for good. These two brothers will quarrel at each other again. Everyone took Li Chuan¡¯s side in the past, but they definitely won¡¯t this time. The whole family is against Li Chuan.¡±

    I was puzzled, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°You two silly couple¡­For you, Alex told his whole family that he would not go back to Switzend. He said he didn¡¯t have many days left, and wanted to die in China and be buried in Beijing. He has already chosen the cemetery and picked out the words to put on his headstone.¡± Rene closed his eyes as if a coffin was lying in front of him. He then said in a priest¡¯s voice, ¡°Here lies Wang Li Chuan, who was born in Switzend, schooled in America, and fell in love with a Chinese girl. Therefore, he will now rest in China. Amen.¡±

    As if he was reflecting exactly what Rene had said, Li Chuany on his bed quietly and peacefully with his eyes closed. My heart felt sour.

    Li Chuan was very weak when he woke up, and he couldn¡¯t talk. Although he no longer needed to rely on the breathing machine, he still needed it to inhale oxygen. The nurses worked busily around him while I dozed off on the couch with my legs crossed and feet tucked under my thighs. About an hourter, another patient came into the ICU ward groaning in pain, which woke me up. When I opened my eyes, I saw the nurse helping Li Chuan turn his body. He looked pale and lifeless, with all kinds of tubes tangled over his body. After he turned over, the nurse used some alcohol to wipe the part of his body that he was lying on. I went over to smooth out his bed sheets and helped the nurse ce a few pillows under Li Chuan¡¯s back.

    ¡°Rene, why don¡¯t you go back first? I want to stay for a while longer. Every time I visited Li Chuan, he always asked me to leave. Please let me apany him this time round.¡±

    I sat beside Li Chuan until the sun rose. There wasn¡¯t really anything for me to worry about; they adjusted his vasopressor dosage ording to his blood pressure every fifteen minutes, monitored his urine output every hour, and turned his body every two hours. Li Chuan¡¯s mouth was slightly opened to allow a forty centimeter tube down his throat. His chest moved up and down slowly but strongly with the support of the breathing machine. A nurse came in to check up on him and inserted another tube down his throat to perform air suctioning. Despite it being a painful process, Li Chuan looked as if he didn¡¯t feel anything; hey on his bed quietly, while his skin looked colorless like it was transparent and in a faint blue.

    It waster that I realized that the faint blue glow wasing from the breathing machine¡¯s disy with numbers changing constantly, vibrantly, and cheerfully like an animation film. That night, I stared at Li Chuan without blinking my eyes; hey lifeless like a wax figure. I couldn¡¯t help but caress his hair and face once every hour with my hand in a stic glove, continued believing that he was alive and well.

    Doctor Gong came 5am in the morning. He said to me, ¡°It¡¯s better for you to go home and rest, or at least go eat something. The cafeteria is on the second floor.¡± I smiled at him, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m not hungry.¡±

    I never trusted much in machines since I was little. I listened carefully to the breathing machine and suspected that it may be malfunctioning and not giving oxygen to Li Chuan; I started to worry that the forty centimeter tube would block his breathing and cause him to suffocate. I observed the intravenous drip and was afraid that it was going too fast or too slow. Every time the machine made a beep sound, I would rush to a nurse immediately, which made them feel annoyed.

    Li Chuan suddenly opened his mouth and whispered into a nurse¡¯s ear. The nurse couldn¡¯t hear him well, so he repeated himself and then the nurse left. We looked at each other for a moment, and didn¡¯t have anything to say.

    After a while, he said, ¡°(English) So, you¡¯re my, family,¡± he spoke softly, his voice was raspy, and he had to use a lot of effort to say every word, ¡°(English) since when?¡±

    I never thought that he would be so hostile just after waking up, so I waspletely speechless.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say, you, were going to leave Beijing?¡± he said while catching his breath, ¡°Why, haven¡¯t you left?¡±

    ¡°Can you not talk for now?¡± I was neither in the mood nor had the guts to talk back to a patient who had just been in the emergency room.

    The head nurse came and said awkwardly, ¡°Sorry, Miss Xie. The patient says that you are not his family member, and requested that you leave the ICU ward immediately.¡±

    I stood up in anger, and almost wanted to strangle him. But my vision suddenly went ck, and my body swayed.

    The nurse held onto me and handed me a cane that was lying on the side. I was furious; I picked up my purse from the couch, and stuffed my watch, cell phone, keys, and cup that were on the bedside table into it.

    The nurse couldn¡¯t help but help me exin, ¡°Mr. Wang, you probably don¡¯t know. It was this youngdy who brought you into the emergency room. She has stayed here watching over you for seven days and nights, and hasn¡¯t had much sleep. Yet you say that she is not your family member.¡± She pointed at an old man who was lying in the room across, and said while getting a bit emotional, ¡°Do you see that grandpa over there? His three sons came and fought about who should pay the hospital fees in front of him. In the end, they wiped their hands clean and left in a second. They sure were rted by blood, but would you consider them as family members?¡±

    Li Chuan stared straight up into the ceiling without any expression and said while panting heavily, ¡°I want her¡­¡­to leave immediately.¡±

 Chapter 51.4

    <h4>Chapter 51.4</h4>

    His face twitched in pain, and the machine began beeping non-stop. A group of nurses rushed in led by the doctor.

    The head nurse said to me quickly, ¡°Miss Xie, the patient is not in a good emotional and health state. It¡¯s best that you leave.¡± She guided me out of the ICU ward right away. The head nurse came out after an hour. Seeing that I was still waiting outside of the door standing with a cane while stretching my neck to peek inside, she let out a bitter smile and shook her head.

    ¡°How is he? Is he okay?¡± I asked immediately.

    ¡°He is no longer in a critical state. We have transferred him to a general patient ward. You should go home and rest. At least take a good sleep.¡±

    ¡°Which room is he in?¡± I asked.

    ¡°407.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go take a look,¡± I instantly walked away.

    ¡°Sigh¡­.¡± the head nurse sighed from behind.

    407 was a simple patient ward. I entered quietly as Li Chuan was asleep. However, he suddenly opened his eyes and saw me. I hesitated for a second before I walked over and caressed his forehead lightly.

    ¡°Hi,¡± my heart ached so much that I neglected his anger. I spoke softly to him, ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡±

    He opened his mouth and said a few words, but I couldn¡¯t hear him, so I ced my ears in front of him.

    He said, ¡°Go home¡­¡­go sleep.¡±

    My heart felt warm knowing that he still cared so much about me. My eyes became red, ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere. I¡¯m staying here with you.¡±

    ¡°I have¡­¡­nurses.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    He gritted his teeth and curled up his body like a fetus from a sudden shock of pain; he grabbed his bed sheet tightly and his forehead was full of sweat.

    ¡°Are you not feeling well?¡± I asked worriedly, ¡°I¡¯ll go get the doctor.¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡± he was breathing quickly. He coughed non-stop and hemmed and hawed as if there was phlegm caught in his throat. His face waspletely red.

    I dashed out and called the nurse over. The nurse came in, rolled the bed upwards, ced his body to lean against her, and patted his back lightly to help him get rid of the phlegm. After struggling for ten minutes, he was exhausted and fell asleep right away.

    I was exhausted myself. Seeing him be so weak and helpless like an infant who needed others¡¯ help, I was desperate and scared as it felt like anything could happen to him any minute. Therefore, I was sleepless. I went to the cafeteria upstairs to eat, and drank a cup of hot coffee. When I returned, I saw Rene in the room; a young man around twenty-seven or eight years old wearing caretaker¡¯s clothes stood beside him.

    ¡°Rene, this is?¡± I disregarded my manners and pointed a finger at the young man while holding my cup of coffee.

    ¡°Mr. Jiang Hao Tian rmended a caretaker. His name is Xiao Mu. He took care of his dad when he was sick. He¡¯s very professional and has great attention to detail. I¡¯m afraid that the nurses here would get too busy. Furthermore, Alex is a difficult man to take care of when he¡¯s sick. He has a bad temper and not easy to please. When he was in Zurich, his dad and Leo had such a tough time taking care of him. He would settle down a bit only when his grandpa scolded him.¡±

    I smiled to myself as the description fitted my impression of Li Chuan perfectly. Li Chuan didn¡¯t want others to see his weak side, especially me. He was especially stubborn about it, which I had already gotten a taste of.

    ¡°Sigh, Xiao Qiu, your dark circles are scaring others away. You should hurry home to rest. I¡¯ll be here. You cane back tomorrow.¡±

    I shook my head firmly, ¡°I¡¯m worried, so I¡¯m not going anywhere. I¡¯m staying.¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t had a good night¡¯s sleep for seven days in a row now.¡± Rene examined my face, ¡°Don¡¯t end up fainting when Li Chuan gets well.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to sleep. It¡¯s just that, if anything happens¡­¡± my voice became shaky, ¡°I will not forgive myself!¡±

    Rene thought for a moment and said, ¡°How about this, there is a family resting room outside of the ICU ward. Why don¡¯t you take a rest there.¡±

    ¡°Rene,¡± I suddenly said, ¡°I need to go take a shower first.¡±

    Rene drove me to Li Chuan¡¯s hotel room. I bought a few clothes to change into on our way there. After I took a quick shower, Rene drove me back to the hospital to take a break in the family resting room.

    I slept for sixteen hours straight with my clothes on. When I woke up, I saw that Rene was sitting on my bedside. He was looking at me with his deep blue eyes. I thought: how strange, why had he abandoned his responsibility of watching over Li Chuan? What was he doing here with me?

    ¡°I need to talk to you,¡± he said, ¡°not of myself, but on behalf of Alex.¡±

    I sat up straight and found ab tob my hair.

    ¡°Alex wishes you to leave Beijing immediately, and I will drive you to the airport.¡± He sounded like a police officer who wanted to deport a spy. I was irritated. My hand gave a hard tug and ripped some of the hair out of my head. I said rudely, ¡°How are you nning to get me to the airport? By kidnapping?¡±

    ¡°Annie, it¡¯s not easy to change Alex¡¯s mind. If it was, you two wouldn¡¯t have gone through so many years of pain.¡±

    ¡°My determination is also not easy to change.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not willing to see you, and he doesn¡¯t have the energy to argue with you. I think,¡± his gaze became hard to read, ¡°at time like this, you should try not to argue with him. Where is your apartment? You¡¯ve already packed your belongings, right? Which city are you nning to go to? I¡¯ll buy the ne ticket, and¡ª¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to persuade me. The way that Li Chuan is right now, he could die any minute. Yet you want me to leave now? Impossible.¡± I tried my best to stay calm, ¡°If he survives, I want to stay till he gets well. If he dies, I want to bid farewell to his body.¡±

    Rene showed a helpless expression and said, ¡°You know, a patient has the right to refuse you from seeing him.¡±

    ¡°I also have the right to wait outside.¡± I grabbed my things and headed to the washroom; I washed my face,bed my hair, put on my makeup, and got changed. I went to the cafeteria and ate spicy fried chicken and red roasted beef. I grabbed a big cup of strong coffee, a magazine, crossed my legs and sat on the floor outside of room 407.

    Rene looked at me and wanted to pull his hair, ¡°What are you doing? Is this protesting in silent?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m practicing yoga. Am I not allowed?¡±

    He let out a long sigh and pulled me up from the floor, ¡°Go in, he wants to see you.¡±

    As I opened the door, I saw Xiao Mu pushing Li Chuan on a wheelchair from the bathroom and helping him get back onto his bed. A nurse came in to change his medicinal liquid and check up on his intravenous drip.

    Whether or not it was the sun shining brightly from outside the window, Li Chuan looked a lot better than he did when he was in the ICU ward; except he was very boney as he had not eaten a grain of rice for seven days. His clothing was unbuttoned from chest up, where a tube directly inserted into a quarter-sized protrusion just below his corbone could be seen. Rene had told me about it while Li Chuan was still in ICU. It was a central venous catheter, which was a device imnted beneath the skin to help administer fluids; it was used for chemotherapy before. Li Chuan needed long-term transfusion due to having clotting disorder; so as a result, the device was also used for this instead of using the traditional intravenous method which could harm his body. I had already noticed the small bump back when we were in Switzend, but because Li Chuan wasn¡¯t this skinny back then, it wasn¡¯t as noticeable. Furthermore, Li Chuan¡¯s allergies would act up quite often, so I thought it was no more but a rash and didn¡¯t dare to touch it. When I asked him about it, he avoided answering.

    The red roasted beef that I just ate came to my mind and I thought maybe Li Chuan could have some rice porridge, so I asked the nurse, ¡°Can he eat?¡±

    The nurse shook her head and answered in a professional tone of voice, ¡°The patient has difficulties in swallowing, therefore, he cannot eat or drink. He needs to rely on parenteral nutrition. Can you not see the nasogastric tube?¡±

    I could tell that Li Chuan wanted to speak to me in private as his eyes blinked at me while we waited for the nurse to leave. But the nurse wouldn¡¯t leave; she checked his tubes and needles over and over, obtained his temperature and blood pressure, she asked if he was cold, and despite he shook his head, she exchanged him a warmer nket and carefully tucked it tightly around him.

    It couldn¡¯t be helped; Li Chuan was just too good looking. He was mesmerizing even without trying.

    I stood on the side and waited patiently until the nurse finished taking care of everything, updated her records, and finally left the room.

    ¡°Hi,¡± his eyes were closed as if he was still asleep, but he suddenly raised his head and stared at me, ¡°Did you have a good night¡¯s sleepst night?¡±

    He sounded distant; I knew that at times like this, Li Chuan would not want to see me.

    ¡°Not bad, I slept for sixteen hours. I went to the cafeteria just now and had a great meal. I ate red roasted beef.¡± I was still mad about the nurse from just now, but for some reason, my face was smiling.

    A tint of suspicion appeared in his eyes, ¡°Aren¡¯t you vegetarian?¡±

    ¡°I changed my mind. Eating vegetarian too much, makes you¡­¡­lose strength.¡± It was so absurd that my voice actually trembled as if I was giving my testimony in court, afraid that I had said something wrong that would trigger his anger and cause him to faint.

    His gaze shifted to my leg, ¡°How is your leg?¡± he said softly, ¡°Howe¡­¡± He suddenly lowered his head and discontinued his sentence.

    ¡°It¡¯s already well. It¡¯s just that the muscles will take a bit longer. Don¡¯t stare at these clutches. I¡¯m only using it cause it¡¯s cool. I can walk without it.¡±

    ¡°Stop lying,¡± he said, ¡°You think that you¡¯re the only one who has had a bone fracture before?¡±

    I was stunned, but yet I was relieved. Li Chuan felt the same way as I did, didn¡¯t he? Neither of us wanted to let the other person know about our illness, and only wanted to suffer alone.

    ¡°Does it hurt?¡± he asked.

    ¡°What hurts?¡±

    ¡°Staying in the hospital alone,¡± he mumbled, ¡°like me. Bag after bag of intravenous drips. I thought you would finally hate me this time.¡±

    ¡°It didn¡¯t hurt, and I don¡¯t hate you. Haha, I was watching ¡®Yong Zheng Dynasty¡¯ every day, and read the whole set of Jin Yong novels. Oh, the TV series was quite good. I bought theplete DVD set. I¡¯ll watch it again with you when you leave the hospital, alright?¡± I wanted to sound livelier, but then it felt a bit over exaggerated.

    ¡°Leave the hospital?¡± he sneered and then smiled bitterly, ¡°Throughout these years, I¡¯ve been in the hospital more than being out of it. My grandpa even said that recuperating at home was an important task as well.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡± His words were quite a tease; I wanted to giggle but I didn¡¯t dare to. But I did anyway in the end.

    ¡°So it seems like that doctorate treats you quite well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he does.¡± Although I was half joking, it was the truth nheless.

    His cheeks twitched and he pinched the bedspread hard. He said while gritting his teeth, ¡°He shouldn¡¯t be riding a motorcycle if he doesn¡¯t know how to. I really wanted to punch him!¡±

    I snickered without him noticing.

    ¡°Come here, Xiao Qiu,¡± he held out his hand, ¡°I want to tell you something.¡±

 Chapter 51.5

    <h4>Chapter 51.5</h4>

    Our distance was very close, but it still took me a couple of steps. Once I arrived at his bedside, he held my hand and ced it on his chest. Like a spark of lightning, I could feel his heart beating softly from my fingertips. His forehead was pale and a few strands of hair that had gotten wet from his cold sweaty on top. His face was sunken in and his breathing was faint. He was skinny and weak, while surrounded by the smell of disinfecting alcohol.

    ¡°Could you leave, please?¡± Li Chuan rarely begged me, and had never begged me so explicitly.

    ¡°No,¡± I answered firmly.

    It was just as he had expected. He looked at me helplessly, ¡°Rene told you about my illness, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°What he said, was only the bright side of it.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I was dumbfound ¡ª bone cancer, MDS, amputation, lobectomy, chemotherapy¡­yet this was the bright side of it?

    ¡°He didn¡¯t tell you that the rpse of my cancer was very high. I¡¯m a Chinese-Swiss mix, therefore, it¡¯s very hard to find a match for bone marrow transnt. My immune system is close to copsing, so I can¡¯t endure much longer¡­¡­don¡¯t re at me, it¡¯s not my fault. I¡¯ve really been very careful. I¡¯ve taken my medicine on time, gotten my regr blood transfusion, monitored my diet, and listened to my doctor. But my condition still worsened. You¡¯d better not have any hopes of my future.¡±

    Li Chuan sounded indifferent as if he was the doctor exining somebody else¡¯s medical condition. I thought to myself, for someone who had been sick for so many years, gone through cycles after cycles of treatment, and was given the bad news time and time again, how much determination did he need to endure all of this!? And it came to my mind how precious those bits and pieces of happiness that he and I had together were. Li Chuan needed so much love and support, yet he turned me away so insistently. His stubbornness was just unbelievable.

    I couldn¡¯t help butined, ¡°Careful? You called this being careful? You jumped into the garbage bin and wounded your hand. You quarreled with me in the rain. You went to the bar to drink, and even when you were vomiting like crazy, you still insisted on continuing¡ªAll of this proves that you can¡¯t take care of yourself.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu,¡± he probably had spoken too much as he coughed a bit. His gaze darkened, ¡°If my cancer continues to shift to my lungs, I¡¯ve already excised part of my lungs, so I don¡¯t have much choice left. If it¡¯s bone metastases, I would need an amputation. But I will definitely not agree to anymore amputations. MDS will continue to worsen, which is acute leukemia, and has a high death rate. It¡¯s a long wait for a bone marrow transnt. Even if we find a match, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s over. There will be manyplications. Do you want to hear more?¡±

    ¡°Continue¡ª¡±

    He lowered his head and kept silent for a minute, then he looked at me straight in the eye, ¡°During the treatment, we cannot have any babies. We may never be able to have any. After undergoing chemotherapy many times¡­it¡¯s possible that¡­that it would cause you to give birth to an alien.¡±

    I finally understood everything. This must have been the thing that weighed the most in Li Chuan¡¯s mind. I had always told Li Chuan that I liked kids, many many kids, and promised that I would be a good mother.

    ¡°If we can¡¯t have any, then we won¡¯t. We can adopt one. It¡¯ll even save me from the pain of giving birth!¡± As dumb as I was, I knew that every child had to be birthed by a mother. Without Li Chuan, everything would be meaningless, let alone having kids.

    ¡°What?¡± his tongue was tied, ¡°Even after all that I¡¯ve said, you¡¯re not afraid one bit?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not afraid.¡±

    ¡°I promise you, Xiao Qiu, if you¡­¡­¡± He was speaking too fast, so he had to stop to catch his breath. He continued after ten seconds, ¡°If you leave Beijing now, I will put in all my effort to continue living.¡±

    ¡°No, I will not leave Beijing. I like Beijing.¡±

    ¡°Okay, you can stay in Beijing. I¡¯ll go to another city.¡±

    ¡°Wherever you go, I will follow you. Don¡¯t try to ditch me.¡±

    He looked at me miserably and lifeless, his head looked like it was swimming.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu,¡± he caressed my face, covered my eyes, and spoke into my ear with his mesmerizing and charming voice, ¡°You¡¯re only twenty-four. A twenty-four year old girl who¡¯s gleaming with beauty. There are so many guys who would treasure you in the palms of their hands. You don¡¯t need to chase after a near death person like me. Besides pain, worry, and fright, I can¡¯t give you anything. You should have a happy andplete life. An evesting love, and marry a man who will cherish you for the rest of your life. Or at least when you are bullied by others, he can help you fight back¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan,¡± I stared at him, ¡°since you know what ¡®Ru Hua Si Yu¡¯ (gleaming with beauty) is, you should stop holding me up, okay? Moreover, I was about to leave. It was you who called me. Therefore, you begged me to stay.¡±

    ¡°I did?¡± He scrunched his eyebrows, ¡°When did I call you?¡±

    ¡°The night after I resigned.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t call you that night,¡± he shook his head without a doubt.

    ¡°You did.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± he said, ¡°I definitely didn¡¯t.¡±

    I showed him my call log, ¡°Is this your number?¡±

    He looked at me, then at the phone, and said while feeling stumped, ¡°I really didn¡¯t call you. I wasn¡¯t feeling very well at the time and wanted to call Rene. Just as I pressed the key, I felt like vomiting, so I left my cell phone and went into the washroom. I was still not feeling well after I got back, so I spawned over the table and fell asleep. I didn¡¯t know what happened after that.¡±

    I opened my mouth, but was at a loss for words from the shock, ¡°This means that you dialed the wrong number?¡±

    His eyes were frozen like ice, ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡±

    ¡°Let me ask you, Rene starts with ¡®R,¡¯ and I start with a ¡®X,¡¯ how many letters are between them?¡±

    ¡°In my cell phone, you are ¡®Q,¡¯ for Qiu.¡±

    I fetched his cell phone and opened the phone book. My name was indeed set as ¡®Qiu,¡¯ which was just one above Rene¡¯s.

    My anger subsided a bit, ¡°ssmate Li Chuan, can¡¯t you be more romantic? If not, shouldn¡¯t you at least give me a romantic memory?¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s best to know the truth.¡±

    He answered my questions the way he should, he breathed like he should, but his hand that was holding mine slowly lost its strength and fell in my palm like a piece of rock.

    ¡°Get some rest,¡± I lifted his waist to put a pillow underneath, ¡°Let¡¯s talk after you get better.¡±

    He closed his eyes, breathed quietly for ten minutes, and then suddenly said, ¡°How about this, if I survive, let¡¯s be together. If I die, you must promise me to (English) move on quickly. This¡­¡­can¡¯t be too hard for you, right?¡±

    Oh! Li Chuan! My face blushed as I nodded my head desperately, ¡°I promise you!¡±

    He tilted his head sideways and fixed his gaze on me, ¡°You won¡¯t back out on your promise, right?¡±

    ¡°I promise! If you die, I will (English) move on right away, get married within two years, and never be a widow!¡±

    He smiled lightly; it wasforting yet had a tint of sadness in it, ¡°Xiao Qiu, I¡¯m tired. I want to rest now.¡±

    In the following three days, I apanied Li Chuan every day. I would leave after he had fallen asleep, ande back before sunrise and before he wakes up. He probably felt that I was a lost cause after that day we spoke; Li Chuan rarely spoke after that and let Xiao Mu and I take care of him like he was an infant. After lying in bed for ten days, his arms and legs became thin and he would feel dizzy when sitting up. The doctor advised that there wasn¡¯t much progress in his illness, and said that the infection made more damages to his health, weakening his immune system even further. Besides blood transfusion, he also needed red blood cell and telet transfusions. In the hour or two of the day when Li Chuan finally did not need any transfusions, I would take him out to the garden for a stroll in his wheelchair and get some sunlight.

    Xiao Mu and I helped Li Chuan to exercise his joints every day while hey in bed. We moved his arms and legs carefully as instructed by the nurse. Li Chuan refused my help, but I ignored his request, so all he could do was frown while reluctantly letting me help him. He wouldn¡¯t let me help him to the washroom even when the doctor tried to urge him to reconsider, but he wouldn¡¯t budge from his stubbornness; only Xiao Mu was allowed to help him. Xiao Mu carried him onto the wheelchair, and hung his oxygen bottle, intravenous drip, and nasogastric tube behind it. When Li Chuan finally made it to the washroom, he fainted in the very next second. All the nurses rushed inside and carried him back onto his bed; they crowded over and worked busily around him until he woke up. When he spotted me, he was expressionless, but distress and anger could be seen deep down in his eyes. Although he still spoke to others politely, his voice was soft and almost inaudible; anyone who heard him could tell that he didn¡¯t want to be bothered.

    I knew in my heart that Li Chuan refused my help because he would rather die than let me see all of this. Therefore, whenever the time came, I would go to the cafeteria myself to get a coffee and let Xiao Mu take care of him.

    When Thursday arrived, Li Chuan suddenly asked me, ¡°Is ¡®Yong Zheng Dynasty¡¯ really good?¡± Li Chuan couldn¡¯t do anything except lying in bed, so he was probably bored out of his life!

    An idea sprang to mind, ¡°You want to watch it? The DVDs are just at my apartment. We can watch it right from theptop! I¡¯ll go get them! Let¡¯s watch it together. I can trante parts that you don¡¯t understand for you!¡±

    He gave a big nod, ¡°Yes, I want to watch it.¡±

    I grabbed my purse, caught a cab, and headed to my apartment.

    The second day after Li Chuan went to the hospital, thendlord called and asked me why my luggage was still in the apartment. I asked Rene to help me pay for another two months of rent. I didn¡¯t realize until I opened my suitcase that I had already boxed the set of DVDs and my books and mailed them to my Aunt in Kunming. I took myptop anyway, called a cab, and went to the shopping mall to get a new set. Luckily, ¡°Yong Zheng Dynasty¡± was a popr series, so it was sold everywhere. I also bought some other TV series, put them all in one big bag, and headed back to the hospital excitedly.

    When I opened the door to room 407, Li Chuan¡¯s bed was empty.

    I immediately went to the nurse on duty to ask where Li Chuan went. She said Xiao Mu probably took him out to the garden for a walk.

    I went downstairs to the garden. The garden was big and there were a lot of people. Many patients were apanied by their families or nurses to bathe in the sunshine. Li Chuan had always been very easy to spot, but I couldn¡¯t find him after searching high and low. Maybe I missed them just as they made their way back to the room.

    I took the elevator back to 407, but the room was still empty. The nurses also started to panic this time round and asked, ¡°It¡¯s time for the patient to take his intravenous drip. Howe Xiao Mu still hasn¡¯te back yet?¡±

    Another nurse asked, ¡°Could they have gone to the activities room?¡±

    The rehabilitation activities room was on the second floor; there were people ying cards, chess, and watching TV; it was a ce for patients to enjoy themselves, but Li Chuan was like me and never liked being in crowds.

    Although I was certain that he wouldn¡¯t be there, I still went with the nurses to check. He was indeed not there. After checking, the nurses said, ¡°Could they be at the washroom on the first floor?¡±

    That was a possibility.

    Perhaps Li Chuan needed to go to the washroom on his way back. Even with Xiao Mu¡¯s help, he still needed to take a long time. We checked every washroom, but he was still nowhere to be found. Realizing the urgency of the situation, we all looked at each other with our face pale.

    We rushed back to the on-duty counter to look up Xiao Mu¡¯s cell phone number, but found out that Xiao Mu didn¡¯t have a cell phone and only had a pager. No matter how many times we paged him, we did not get a return call.

    Someone said, ¡°There should be a patient sign in and out record. Hurry and go check.¡±

    We dashed to the hospital¡¯s reception counter and looked up Li Chuan¡¯s sign out record. In the reason box, it wrote, ¡°Going out to shopping for 15 minutes. Patient Wang Li Chuan and caretaker Mu Xiao Zhu.¡±

    It was in simplified Chinese, and one incorrectly written word; it was definitely not Li Chuan¡¯s writing.

    The nurse stomp her feet and said, ¡°Shopping? What do they want to buy?!¡±

    I called Rene¡¯s cell phone; it rang five times before it was picked up.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu?¡±

    ¡°Rene, is Li Chuan with you?¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan? How can that be possible? I¡¯m at the central library.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan is missing!¡±

    ¡°What? That¡¯s impossible! He can¡¯t even walk right now!¡±

    ¡°Xiao Mu is also missing,¡± I briefly exined in a tearful voice.

    ¡°Continue looking for him. I¡¯lle right away.¡±

    Directors Jiang Hao Tian and Zhang Qing Hui of CGP also came.

    ¡°We¡¯ve searched everywhere in the hospital, but there¡¯s no sign of him,¡± I said, ¡°The nurses have sent others to look for him in the shopping mall.¡±

    Jiang Hao Tian nodded, ¡°Xiao Qiu, don¡¯t panic. I called Xiao Mu¡¯s roommate. He said he didn¡¯t know, and Xiao Mu hadn¡¯t talk to him about anything suspicious.¡±

    ¡°Could he have been kidnapped?¡± Rene asked while he was on the phone. His forehead was covered with sweat.

    ¡°Xiao Mu is a very trustworthy person. Otherwise, I would not have introduced him to you. I pay him quite well for taking care of my dad at home and what you pay him to take care of Mr. Wang is even higher than he had expected. He definitely won¡¯t do anything to lose out on this opportunity. If he really did kidnap Mr. Wang, he would have left a message for ransom.¡±

 Chapter 51.6

    <h4>Chapter 51.6</h4>

    After speaking impatiently into his cell phone, Rene hung up and asked me, ¡°Xiao Qiu, has Li Chuan done anything unusual recently? For example, shown signs of depression or being fidgety and uneasy? Did he say anything out of the ordinary?¡±

    I closed my eyes, recalling. If I am still alive, be with me. If I am dead, promise me that you will (English) move on as quickly as possible. This shouldn¡¯t be that hard to do for you, right? ¡ª I¡¯m tired, and want to rest.

    I raised my head, staring nkly at Rene, my mouth trembling, ¡°Yes, he said¡­he once said, if he was dead, he hoped that I would promise him to (English) move on as quickly as possible and then said that he was tired and wanted to rest.¡±

    Rene looked at me in a daze, ¡°When did he say this?¡±

    ¡°Three, three days ago.¡±

    ¡°Did you agree?¡±

    ¡°I swore to it¡­¡± Suddenly, I saw stars. The people in front of me became a blur. Rene held onto me yelling, ¡°Xiao Qiu! You must remain calm! If anyone can still find Li Chuan at this time, it can only be you!¡±

    Iposed myself. My heart was beating too fast and my body was covered in cold sweat.

    Seeing myplexion not looking too well, as if I was going to fall apart, Zhang Qing Hui went to the cafeteria to buy me a cup of dark and bitter coffee.

    Rene said, ¡°Alex couldn¡¯t have gone too far. He practically can¡¯t move. Even if Xiao Mu helped him out, it wouldn¡¯t be very convenient. They must still be in the vicinity right now.¡±

    Who couldn¡¯t reason that out? But, this was Beijing! Beijing was too big. Right outside the doors were taxis and the subway, roads going in all directions, and numerous restaurants and hotels. If Li Chuan chose somewhere to hide away, it was practically impossible to find him within a few hours.

    Only Jiang Hao Tian was calm, ¡°Right now we need to split up. Qing Hui, you go and notify the police, see if the police can help us check the registry of all hotels within this hour. Mr. Wang¡¯s secretary, Xiao Wei, and I will split up and call all of Mr. Wang¡¯s customers and friends to see if we can find any clues. Xiao Qiu and Rene, you two try to recall, based on Mr. Wang¡¯s usual habits, does he have any other acquaintances or friends in Beijing, and ces that he could go to. Also, sort through his clothes, see what he brought with him. Did he bring his wallet? Did he bring his cellphone? Did he bring his passport?¡±

    I rushed to Li Chuan¡¯s hospital room as soon as he finished, and looked into his drawers. Indeed, Li Chuan had taken away his backpack. Inside was his passport, wallet, and cellphone. Then, my guess was right ¡ª- Li Chuan had left intentionally.

    I stared nkly at the bag on the IV drip rack. The old drip bag had already been finished. The new bag hadn¡¯t been opened yet. There was a rest period of two hours in between each. At the same time, the nurses had changed shifts.

    He distracted me. I was so stupid for not realizing and took so long deciding in the store, wanting to buy him more DVDs.

    I immediately called Long Ze Hua Yuan. The security guard said that he hadn¡¯t seen Li Chuan, that he hadn¡¯t been back in many years. I didn¡¯t believe him and asked to personally go to the penthouse to check. He brought the cellphone up with him, checked on the fiftieth floor and then the forty-ninth floor. He wasn¡¯t on either.

    I gave Ji Chuan a call, asking if he had contact with Li Chuan recently. He said that he did drink a cup of tea with Li Chuan at Lang Huan a month ago, but hadn¡¯t heard anything from him since then.

    I found Jiang Heng Xi and Xie Ji Lian¡¯s number from the phonebook, the couple who opened the art gallery. They were the only ones in Beijing who I knew besides Ji Huan who knew Li Chuan well. I called to ask and they said that it had been many years since they had seen Li Chuan, that the two of them were actually really Ji Chuan¡¯s friends.

    Rene¡¯s Chinese wasn¡¯t very good, and when he was anxious, it was even worse. he could only sit on the side, watching me make calls.

    After an hour, Zhang Qing Hui called saying that he had called the police to check and there was no guests by the name of Wang Li Chuan or Mu Xiao Zhu who had checked into the hotels within 5km of the hospital.

    After a while, Li Chuan¡¯s main doctor, Gong Qi Xian, had also received the news and hade. Rene told him what had happened. He asked, ¡°Doctor Gong, given Alex¡¯s condition right now, how long can he hold on without treatment, without an IV drip, without blood transfusion, and without being fed through a tube?¡±

    Gong Qi Xian was silent for a period, then shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s best if all of you find him today. With his present state, he will definitely not be able tost three days. Even without considering his sickness, he still has problems swallowing. He can¡¯t eat or drink. How many days do you think a person can live without drinking water?¡±

    I copsed into a seat.

    After another hour, Jiang Hao Tian came over to say that he had gone through the address book that Li Chuan had left Xiao Wei. There was no useful news. Li Chuan hadn¡¯t been in Beijing for five years. When he got back, he was constantly sick and didn¡¯t really have any contact with others. In order to not miss anything, they even asked those who had a very shallow rtionship him. Even CGP customers who he rarely contacted were asked.

    I suddenly thought of something and asked, ¡°Perhaps Li Chuan called his family in Switzend?¡±

    Rene shook his head, ¡°I asked Ji Chuan to ask on the side. There was nothing. His father is currently in Hong Kong and has heart problems. His (paternal) grandfather and grandmother¡¯s health hasn¡¯t been that good recently either. We don¡¯t dare let them know yet. Ji Chuan will arrive in Beijing tomorrow morning.¡±

    I took my cellphone, got into Rene¡¯s rental car and drove around therge streets of Beijing in a mess.

    I went to every ce Li Chuan and I had gone together before. The park we took strolls in, the shopping center we bought groceries from, the cafe we liked to go to, the movie theater, restaurants and the library. I didn¡¯t see him anywhere. Li Chuan was sitting in a wheelchair, and he even had someone pushing him. If he really did appear in those ces, I would easily be able to find him.

    The night approached quietly. In the darkness, People were pacing back and forth on therge streets and in allies.

    I found Xiao Mu¡¯s home in Beijing. His housemate let me examine his bedroom. Xiao Mu really liked to be clean, his bedroom was neat and tidy and lived a very frugal life. His housemate said that he was quite capable, it¡¯s just that his family was poor and he didn¡¯t graduate high school. His hometown was in a remote vige in Shaanxi. He had a younger sister to take care of the farm, his mother remarried, his fathery sick in bed with his younger sister taking care of him. The money for the medication was like a bottomless pit, pressing on him till he could hardly breathe. He really needed money and worked nonstop.

    It was clear that Xiao Mu had also made preparations. There was no address book or address left behind in his room, even the trash bin was empty. In the morning, he headed to the hospital like usual and then never came home.

    After leaving Xiao Mu¡¯s home, I proceeded to driving around in the streets until early in the morning. When I returned to the hospital, I found Jiang Hao Tian, Zhang Qing Hui, Rene, and Mr. Gong waiting for me there. Everyone looked at each other and then shook their heads. There was no news, just more disappointment.

    Mr. Gong said, ¡°I asked at all the emergency rooms in Beijing and no one knew of Li Chuan,¡±

    Rene smiled bitterly, ¡°If Li Chuan decided to leave the hospital, then he would never enter another emergency room again.¡±

    Ji Chuan arrived at ten in the morning.

    He rushed here from Rome with just a small carry-on, looking exhausted and haggard.

    Ji Chuan and Li Chuan were simr in appearance, but they had never been as simr as today. So simr, that when I took my first nce at him, I, who had been keeping calm this whole time, immediately burst on in tears.

    He came over and hugged me, saying softly by my ear, ¡°Xiao Qiu, don¡¯t give up. Even if we copse, we will find Li Chuan.¡±

    Everyone continued their discussions.

    Ji Chuan said, he called Li Chuan¡¯s credit and bank cards. Just a little while after leaving the hospital, Li Chuan took out a huge sum of money from several ATMs in Beijing. It was clear, he didn¡¯t want people to know where he went. If he used his credit card directly, he would be found very quickly.

    Even though there were no more clues, we started a new round of conjectures and searching. Everyone split up to search out different possibilities, rushing until night. There was still no news. When we returned to the hospital to meet up again, everyone¡¯s face was heavy. At that time, I suddenly thought of a person, Lawyer Chen.

    I didn¡¯t know what rtionship Li Chuan had with Lawyer Chen, but Li Chuan allowed him to handle his real estate and checks. It was clear he trusted him. Li Chuan constantly reminded me that I didn¡¯t need to give him money every month, clearly, he and Lawyer Chen kept a quite steady contact. I always thought that Li Chuan knew Lawyer Chen because his business had to do with CGP and thought that Jiang Hao Tian had long called and asked him.

    When I asked whether Jiang Hao Tian had called, he stared nkly and said that he had never heard of this person and had never heard Li Chuan mention him. There was no business rtionship between Lawyer Chen and CGP.

    I immediately called Chen Dong Cun¡¯s cellphone.

    ¡°Hello.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Chen, I am Xie Xiao Qiu.¡±

    ¡°Ah, Xiao Qiu, how are you? Long time no see.¡± His voice sounded quite cheerful.

    ¡°It¡¯s like this, have you recently been in contact with Li Chuan?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yesterday he even called me.¡±

    My heart pounded furiously. I didn¡¯t dare believe my ears, ¡°What? He gave you a call?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I always thought he was in Switzend. Apparently, he was in Beijing.¡±

    ¡°What did he call you for?¡±

    ¡°He had me book a business ss flight.¡±

    ¡°Business ss flight? To where?¡±

    ¡°He said that he had emergency business and needed to get to Kunming in one to two hours.¡±

    ¡°You¡­you helped him?¡±

    ¡°It was hard to help him, but I have a friend who specializes in this and Li Chuan paid a lot of money. So it was quickly settled. The check was written from here. Why? Did something happen?¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan is a cancer patient. He just went to emergency rescue recently and is practically terminally ill. He disappeared from the hospital yesterday.¡±

    ¡°My god! He can¡¯t have¡­¡±

    ¡°Please tell me the number of your friend. I need to ask him for Li Chuan¡¯s location.¡± After hearing this conversation, everyone¡¯s face started looking up.

    Chen Dong Cun immediately told me his friend, Lao Cai¡¯s cell number. When I called and asked, that Mr. Cai told me that Li Chuan and Xiao Mu had ridden business ss to Kunming. Li Chuan looked quite sick and didn¡¯t say or eat anything on the ne. Xiao Mu had acted on behalf of him for everything. He didn¡¯t know where they went after they got off the ne.

    Ji Chuan look over the phone and asked, ¡°Lao Cai, can you charter a ne to head to Kunming immediately? Just name your price.¡±

    At 7 in the morning, the group of us arrived in Kunming.

    It was already Autumn, the early morning mist had a trace of coldness.

    Even though Kunming was smaller than Beijing, it was still arge city with 6 million people.

    Ji Chuan and Rene were at a loss. They had never been to Kunming before. At the airport, they both asked me, ¡°Xiao Qiu, where do you think Li Chuan went?¡±

    I thought about it and said, ¡°Gejiu.¡±

    Li Chuan was a romantic person and had asked about my hometown many times. When he asked about my childhood life, he said that he had gone to Gejiu, to my high school, and walked past my house, but didn¡¯t have time to go in or meet my father and younger brother. Thus, he especially made copies of my pictures of me with my family when I was younger.

    I thought that perhaps, if he had any wishes left unfulfilled, it was this.

    Kunming was 318km away from Gejiu. We rented a small bus and drove on Shilin highway to 326 Goufang highway. After three and a half hours, we arrived in Gejiu.

    Mr. Gong was shaking his head the whole way there, saying that Li Chuan¡¯s body might be able to handle the three hour ne ride, but could definitely not take the three hours long distance drive. What¡¯s more, with such a small ce, the hospital was also small and the greater concern was doing emergency rescues.

    The bus took us to Jin He Hotel. As soon as we dropped off our luggage, we borrowed a thick phone book and called every hotel asking whether someone named Li Chuan had checked in. After half an hour, all therge hotels had been asked and he couldn¡¯t be found. I then sent my uncle to ask around at all the smaller inns.

    Suspecting that Li Chuan might have taken lodging in a private home, Ji Chuan and I knocked and inquired door to door at all the homes near my home. There was no news.

    I could only then bring him to the street Nan Chi High School was on and go door to door asking. Nothing came out of it either.

    After going door to door, knocking, it was already evening. Even though Li Chuan would definitely not have taken a bus, I still went to the station and asked each one of the drivers, whether they had seen anyone looking like Li Chuan. Everyone said they hadn¡¯t.

    At night, Mr. Gong took me to the emergency room of the hospital nearby to see if Xiao Mu had found his conscience yet and brought Li Chuan to the hospital. Nope.

    Everyone was burning with impatience and didn¡¯t dare look at Mr. Gong¡¯s face. The color on his face became more and more gloomy.

    Li Chuan had disappeared for two and a half days. I thought that Mr. Gong must be wondering whether he was still in this world.

    At night, besides Ji Chuan and me, everyone fell asleep in utter exhaustion.

    I wandered around in the streets alone. Ji Chuan didn¡¯t feel at ease for me and followed me closely.

    In therge streets, only the two of us were going back and forth.

    ¡°Sigh, even if Li Chuan came to Gejiu, he wouldn¡¯t be strolling around at this time in the streets.¡± Ji Chuan patted my shoulder, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go back and sleep a bit? Restore some energy and continue looking tomorrow.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know why I was so sure that Li Chuan woulde to Gejiu. Perhaps I waspletely wrong. I attempted to think about something, but my brain had already be numb and couldn¡¯t think anymore.

    I was like a ghost roaming around in the middle of the night on the streets. At 4am, Ji Chuan forced me back to the hotel. Iy on the bed, half dreaming, half awake. I believed that Li Chuan woulde and visit in my dreams like those in stories. Li Chuan didn¡¯t appear. When I woke up, I secretly cheered. At least this meant Li Chuan hadn¡¯t turned into a ghost yet.

    At seven in the morning, everyone met in the cafeteria. Jiang Hao Tian suggested notifying the police and then ce notices on the newspaper and tv about the person search. Even though we knew that there wasn¡¯t a good chance for finding him like this, we had no other options. We split up and went to the police station, the local newspaper office and tv stations. Ji Chuan even offered a huge sum of money as a reward to anyone who could provide us with clues.

    At noon, everyone met in the cafeteria again. There were still no results.

    My head hurt as if it was splitting apart, I went downstairs to buy a pack of cigarettes to smoke outside the entrance, alone. All of a sudden someone behind me patted me on the shoulder, ¡°Xie Da Xia! (Da Xia = Noble Warrior, Swordsman, etc)¡±

    The only people who would call me by my nickname were from high school. I turned around and saw Qi Tao from Second Year 3rd ss, once on the sports council. It had been six years since I had seen him. He didn¡¯t test into college and stayed in Gejiu working in the clothing business.

    ¡°Hi!¡± I listlessly greeted him.

    ¡°Howe you¡¯ve started smoking?¡± He was shocked, ¡°Even good students smoke?¡±

    At this time, how could I be in the mood to joke around? I simply asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here to eat with a friend. How¡¯s Xiao Dong? How is your family?¡± Perhaps it was just natural to ask it, but then he suddenly realized that both my parents had passed, and immediately changed his question, ¡°How is your aunt?¡±

    I stared at him nkly and didn¡¯t answer for a long time.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why do you look like you¡¯ve seen a ghost in the middle of the day? No, it¡¯s not having seen a ghost, it¡¯s that you almost look like a ghost.¡± He still made fun of me like before.

    I broke into a run to Ji Chuan¡¯s room.

    Ji Chuan and Rene were talking in low voices. When they saw me, they said in unison, ¡°Is there news?¡±

    I said in a trembling voice, ¡°Li Chuan¡­he is in Kunming. Cui Hu Hotel.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re positive?¡±

    ¡°Ny percent.¡±

    We rushed back to Kunming with great speed and beelined for Cui Hu hotel. When we reached the reception desk, we stated our purpose and gave the receptionist proof from the hospital. The receptionist said that there were a lot of guests recently and the hotel was very busy, but expressed that they would try their best to cooperate with us.

    I bluntly said, ¡°Please check room number 709.¡±

    The receptionist entered a couple things into theputer and immediately lifted her head to say, ¡°There are two people staying in it, one is a foreigner named L.C. Wang.¡±

    Mr. Gong immediately called the emergency line of the hospital. We got the master keys and rushed into the elevator.

    The seventh floor was quiet. It was a floor filled with expensive suites and not many people were living there.

    Mr. Gong warned us repeatedly in the elevator to enter into the room quietly and not to cause the patient to panic. He said that Li Chuan¡¯s blood telets were too low, had a diseased lung, and will cough. Coughing would cause his thoracic cavity to bleed, bleeding would block the lungs. With the lungs unable to open, he would be unable to breathe.

    After making a turn in the corridor, we suddenly saw Xiao Mu standing quietly at the door.

    Everyone looked at him, extremely angry, yet didn¡¯t dare show it.

    His expression was very solemn. My back kept on having spells of cold and my body started trembling. It felt as if my two legs weighed tons and couldn¡¯t move for a long time. Suddenly, my arm was grabbed by someone. Ji Chuan half supported and half held me, walking to be in front of Xiao Mu.

    ¡°Xiao Mu, Li Chuan, is¡­he okay?¡± I asked softly, afraid to rm him.

    ¡°I think,¡± He quietly looked at everyone, ¡°He is about to die. He had mee out to wait for his end.¡±

    I took out the room key and quietly opened the door.

    Six years ago, I took care of Li Chuan in this room. To this day, I still remember the colors of the pillows and the covers. Everything was so familiar.

    Li Chuan was quietly lying in the middle of the bed, under a thinyer of a light green nket. Xiao Mu had helped him wash up. His facecked life, his eyes were closed, but weren¡¯tpletely shut as if they had no strength to stay open and could only look at this world through a small crack.

    A beam of light fell on his forehead, his pale skin looked saintly. A slight smile still remained on his lips as if he was caught up in the middle of a beautiful memory.

    Li Chuan was still so beautiful, so handsome. Even in hisst minutes.

    I knelt next to his bed, took his hand, and called out ¡°Li Chuan¡± a couple times. There was no reaction from him.

    I couldn¡¯t help but let my tears fall.

    Mr. Gong listened to his breathing and took his pulse from this neck. He pulled the nket away and I saw that Li Chuan¡¯s body was covered in bruises filled with blood.

    ¡®Li Chuan, it¡¯s me, Xiao Qiu!¡± I ced his hand on my face, softly stroking it. His hand was quickly wet from tears, ¡°Wake up! I beg you, wake up!¡±

    Mr. Gong pulled me to one side, patted my shoulder and halfforted and half warned me, ¡°His life is on a string and has lost it¡¯s will to fight. At this time, you must try your best tofort him.¡±

    I held in my tears and nodded.

    ¡°You should say whatever he wants to hear the most to make him happy and feel reassured.¡±

    I ced my lips right by his ear and softly called out, ¡°Li Chuan, I am here! Don¡¯t leave¡­I beg you not to leave me¡­I will never force you again! don¡¯t worry, when you are better, I will immediately (English) move on, I will leave beijing. I will go to another city and won¡¯t call you ore to find you. This time it¡¯s the truth. I will do as I say and won¡¯t go back on my word! You must promise me to try hard to continue living, okay?¡± At that moment, I felt that my words had gone through to him because his eyelids slightly moved a bit.

    The rescue team came in with the stretcher. The doctor who came along said, ¡°The ambnce is downstairs. The hospital has already been prepped with what you asked for. How is the patient doing?¡±

    ¡°He is extremely dehydrated, his body has gone into shock, and he is bing weak. I suspect he also has blood in the pleural cavity and acute kidney failure. Take a chest MIR immediately when you get to the hospital and draw blood. First give him 500 milliliters of saline to hold him. I will be on hand to ce in the tubes. Prepare the manual breathing air sac.¡± Doctor Gong truely did seem like a famous doctor, stillposed in the face of death, making everything neat and tidy, his voice like a doctors.

    When the sterilizing procedures started, Doctor Gong had Ji Chuan and me leave the room.

    After a bit, the door suddenly opened and Li Chuan was pushed into the elevator by the medical personnel. The ambnce headed towards the hospital as fast as lightning. Ji Chuan, Rene and I, along with Directors Jiang and Zhang followed closely behind.

    This time, Li Chuan stayed in the ICU for a whole seventeen days. Doctor Gong was right. Due to the blood clot, his lungs started bleeding, creating a lot of blood in the pleural cavity. Tubes were inserted into his chest. After being removed from the breathing machine, the tubes in his chest still couldn¡¯t be removed. It had to stay in there, every day pink blood flowed out through it. When he breathed, he trembled in pain. The more he trembled, the more Doctor Gong encouraged him to cough and breath deeply to discharge the saliva and blood in the lungs as early as possible. Unable to bear seeing Li Chuan being in so much pain, I begged the doctor to give him morphine or meperidine. The doctor said that these drugs would inhibit breathing and couldn¡¯t be used.

    During this time, even my hair thinned. Every time I sped Li Chuan¡¯s hand, I could feel his pain, the spasms in his body, the cold sweat covering his entire body. Even just being on the side, I would start trembling.

    When he woke, Li Chuan would not speak to anyone, including me, as if he had already lost awareness. Most of the time he was asleep. When it was really painful, he would wake up. He didn¡¯t pay attention to anyone calling him.

    When he was deep in sleep, he would hold onto my hand. He would grasp it tightly at all times as if it was his own hand. If I caressed his hand lightly with my index finger, he would fall asleep quickly, like an infant.

    After a month, Li Chuan had improved slightly. Ji chuan insisted sending him back to Switzend for treatment and recuperation. Plus, the doctors there were more familiar with his sickness. Before leaving, Mr. Gong told me, honestly, that having to perform emergency rescue on him twice had taken a toll on his body and his health was slowly worsening. If bone marrow transnt wasn¡¯t performed on him soon, his prospects weren¡¯t too good.

    When Li Chuan left for Switzend, I didn¡¯t say farewell to him. Ji Chuan asked me to apany them, but I didn¡¯t agree either.

    I will carry out my promise ¡ª (English) move on.

    The facts have shown that Li Chuan¡¯s health got better when I wasn¡¯t there. He got sick for me three times, I couldn¡¯t let this kind of thing happen again.

    I returned to Beijing and continued with checking in my luggage. I found a small trantingpany in Kunming and continued with my line of work.

    Everything had finally vanished into thin air.

    I felt happy and was deeply thankful to the heavens. After all, the person I loved was still alive.

 Chapter 51.7

    <h4>Chapter 51.7</h4>

    Three years had passed.

    I was working at a growing trantionpany located on the second floor of amercial building. We had a total of ten full time employees, and the rest were all contracted employees. My pay was half of what I used to get in Beijing, but it was considered high in Kunming. I rented an apartment in a small residential area nearby. I donated five-hundred RMB to the disabled foundation and another five-hundred RMB to the cancer foundation; they were all anonymous, so even though my pay was considered to be high, I was living in a so-so life and far from luxury. The benefits from the trantionpany were iparable to Jiu Tong or CGP, but the work was just as challenging. There was noplimentary lunch, so I brought my own lunch sometimes or ate instant noodles to save money, and rarely went to restaurants.

    It was probably because I ate too many instant noodles and was working too hard such that my life had no schedule, that I had gastrointestinal bleeding and stayed in the hospital for twelve days. Xiao Dong, who was studying for his Ph.D at the medical university, came to visit and took care of me for five days before I kicked him out to send him back to Guangdong.

    I kept my promise, and never took the initiative to call Li Chuan. Li Chuan on the other hand, would call me sometimes or send me emails once every two to three months. When it was my birthday, he sent me chocte cookies. He would also give me a call during new years and on holidays. Nevertheless, we were still friends.

    He didn¡¯t speak much of his condition; it was probably good sometimes and bad sometimes.

    Two years after Li Chuan returned to Switzend, he finally found a match and went to America toplete the bone marrow transnt right away. But it caused a bunch ofplications, and he couldn¡¯t call me for seven months straight. When I asked how he waster, he said he was better, but his condition was not stable. After being ill for so long, he lost trust in his own body; no matter how well he felt, he could suddenly copse. Other than amodating to all kinds of treatments, he didn¡¯t have much hope.

    Li Chuan was like a balloon in my hand; even if it flew all the way up into the clouds, or so far away that I couldn¡¯t make out its colour, it would return to my side with a slight tug. We could be distant one minute, and very close the next, or we could be lukewarm. But there was always a string attached to us that could never be broken.

    Sometimes he would tease me, ¡°How about you? Have you (English) moved on yet? Do you have a new boyfriend?¡±

    I would answer vaguely, ¡°Since I promised you that I would (English) move on, I will not back out on my words. Why are you asking so much? I¡¯m not going to tell you just so that you can get a kick out of it.¡±

    I loved this person for ten years. My heart was tossed over a cliff twice; I only wanted to live quietly for the rest of my life and never mention the word ¡°love¡± again. Being single was quite nice; I was free and unrestrained.

    I spent my birthday in the hospital this year. Xiao Dong bought me a big cake; we cut out a small portion for ourselves, and shared the rest with other patients.

    Speaking of Xiao Dong, it was rather funny. When he visited me at the hospital, he was very dissatisfied with my current state. He bought me some stylish clothing the very next day and said, ¡°Jie, you¡¯re twenty-seven, so you should dress like a twenty-seven year old, okay? Don¡¯t make yourself look like thirty-seven. You should also at least fix your hair and not leave it looking like a bird¡¯s nest, as if you¡¯re a guy. And¡­you¡¯ve been smoking too much. You should really set your foot down on quitting.¡±

    This was what you called family. Family members are cute yet naggy. Xiao Dong was also overbearing. He was as broke as he could be, but he still stuffed two-thousand RMB into my hands. His cooking was awful, but I still forced a smile and ate his rice porridge. After just five days, I wanted him to leave so badly.

    When I left the hospital, I received a bunch of messages from Li Chuan. One of them said, ¡°Xiao Qiu, happy birthday! I mailed you a present, have you received it yet? I hope you¡¯ll like it.¡± There was another one that said, ¡°Xiao Qiu, have you gone on a business trip? Howe you haven¡¯t answered my phone calls for seven days, or even replied my emails?¡±

    My voice mailbox could only store twenty messages; it was full already.

    I had just gotten better from being sick nheless, so I couldn¡¯t control my emotions. I smiled bitterly as I deleted all of the messages.

    I returned to work the day after I left the hospital. I worked diligently in the English department. A lot of our work was paid based on quantity; the more trantions you did, the more bonuses you would receive at the end of the year; so I worked hard to make money.

    I rode my bike home after a long day of work. It was raining outside and the building was dark inside. I saw someone standing there quietly; his silhouette looked familiar.

    ¡°Hi, Xiao Qiu!¡±

    He gave me a fright. I pped my hands and the lights turned on. I took a good look at him; Li Chuan was still as charming as he had always been. He was well shaved, a little skinny, but healthier than he was when he left Kunming. He looked much livelier. He was standing with a pair of crutches, and a medium sized suitcase sat beside him.

    I stared at him nkly as I couldn¡¯t make out whether it was my imagination or reality. I felt my head go numb. He smiled at me, and I becamepletely lost. After Li Chuan left, my life was a mess, and I was living in a primal state.

    Seeing how I was stunned and lost without words, Li Chuan said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t contact you first. I couldn¡¯t find you, so I thought something may have happened. When I called your trantionpany, they said you had gastrointestinal bleeding and was at the hospital.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve recovered already,¡± I said.

    ¡°When did you get out of the hospital?¡±

    ¡°Yesterday.¡±

    ¡°You went back to work after leaving the hospital? You worked the entire day?¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡± My raincoat was still dripping from the rain.

    ¡°Take off the raincoat,¡± he said softly while pulling the raincoat off from over my head.

    The sound sensor light switched off again, so I had to stomp my feet to turn them back on.

    I was more or less in a wreck; my hair was cut a bit too short and was messy. Li Chuan stared at me and said, ¡°What? You don¡¯t n on inviting me to go inside?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± I said, ¡°Hold on, I need to find my keys.¡± The keys were inside my crossbody bag, but I couldn¡¯t fetch them no matter how hard I tried. I got annoyed, so I squatted and poured out everything in my bag. A bunch of stuff fell out from it including my wallet, coins, lipstick, lip balm, napkin, sticky notes, pads, half a bag of preserved plums, chewing gum, half a pack of cigarettes, lighter, a small mirror, a bottle of water, two ballpoint pens, a pencil, my cell phone¡­¡­Just as I was about to start searching, the lights went off again. Li Chuan pped his hands to turn the lights back on this time. I found my keys, opened the door, and turned on the lights in the living room.

    ¡°Pleasee in.¡±

    Li Chuan came in dragging his suitcase. He stood in the middle of the room, looked around, and took a deep breath.

    The truth was, I only cleaned my ce once every one to two months; dust covered the floor, table, and book shelf. My furniture was mostly grey so that others could not tell how dusty they were at first nce. A few pieces of dirty clothingy on top of the sofa, and it had been a long time since I had mopped the floor. There were a couple of non-matching pairs of slippers and a dirty sock. I reached over the sofa and swept the dirty clothes to the side to make some room. I said to Li Chuan, ¡°Please sit.¡±

    Li Chuan didn¡¯t sit, instead he asked, ¡°Do you mind if I take off my prosthetic leg?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    He went into my bedroom and came out with only one leg. I suddenly remembered that Li Chuan said that if his cancer recurred again, he would likely need another amputation; so I couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Li Chuan, is your leg¡­¡­real?¡±

    He shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s not real.¡±

    ¡°How much of it is left?¡± My face turned pale from fright as I dashed over to touch it.

    ¡°I¡¯m just joking.¡± He caressed my head, ¡°Of course it¡¯s real. I¡¯m not that unlucky.¡±

    I let out a breath of relief and dropped down to sit on the floor.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, your ce is too messy. I must clean it up for you. Where¡¯s the mop? Where¡¯s the cloth?¡± He pulled me up from the floor to sit on the sofa.

    ¡°Kitchen.¡±

    He went into the kitchen, but came back out quickly and almost screamed, ¡°Xiao Qiu, there are cockroaches in the kitchen.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re afraid?¡±

    ¡°Do you have a bug killer spray?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± I then heard a bunch of thumping noise, ¡°We¡¯ll have to kill it ourselves.¡±

    Li Chuan grew up in a German-speaking area, so his living habits were very strongly German-influenced, and he loved cleanliness. He spent an hour cleaning the living room; he used a cloth to wipe every corner. He mopped the floor three times; I offered to help as I was afraid of him slipping, but he refused. He sorted and threw my dirty clothes into twoundry baskets.

    Two cockroaches crawled out when he fetched the mop, but he killed them with his crutch.

    ¡°What should I do then?¡±

    He threw the remote at me, ¡°Watch TV.¡±

    He went to clean up the kitchen and washed the dishes that I had left behind after breakfast. Although the kitchen was small, it was the dirtiest. He spent two hours to finish cleaning it up.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, every time you finish cooking with the pot, you should also wash the bottom of it, otherwise, it will turn ck.¡±

    I wanted to faint. The bottom of a pot was always ck; there might even be ashes. I was toozy to argue with him. Besides, he wasn¡¯t going to be staying more than a couple of days anyway; everything would be returned to the way they were, so I brushed him off, ¡°Okay, okay.¡±

    He didn¡¯te out of the kitchen after a long while, so I asked, ¡°What are you doing? Why are you still noting out?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m scrubbing the tiles. Your tiles are not white enough.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a painful job, but benefits many. Take your time.¡±

    He used a knife to scrape and a stainless steel scourer to scrub. He was exhausted. When he seemed to have finished, he asked, ¡°Have you eaten yet?¡±

    ¡°No, you?¡±

    ¡°No. I waited for you outside for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Oh, have you booked a hotel room then?¡±

    ¡°Can I stay here?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I jumped up and rushed to the kitchen to holler at him, ¡°Wang Li Chuan, you think that you cane as you like and stay as you like at my ce!?¡±

    ¡°Why are you being so mean?¡± He said, ¡°Let me ask you, where did I let you stay when you came to Zurichst time? You should return the favour, right? I don¡¯t mean anything else. You haven¡¯t fully recovered yet, so I¡¯m just here to take care of you for a while.¡±

    ¡°What does it have anything to do with you? Did I ask you toe take care of me?¡± I continued shouting, ¡°I¡¯ve already recovered!¡±

    ¡°Is it necessary to be this angry?¡± He pressed onto my shoulders, ¡°Look at you, yet you say you¡¯re well. Your face is pale and lifeless just from getting angry. Sit down, sit down.¡±

    I sat down angrily while he continued, ¡°You were always the one taking care of me in the past. Last time you had a bone fracture, that doctorate guarded you every day, so I didn¡¯t have a chance. It¡¯s finally my turn this time, right?¡±

    Since he mentioned the bone fracture, it made me angrier, ¡°How do you know that I don¡¯t have any other men?¡±

    He froze for a moment and realized that I was lying, so he smiled, ¡°Your co-worker picked up when I called the trantionpany. She said you¡¯ve been living a hard life and still don¡¯t have a boyfriend yet. She said no one took care of you while you were sick. Your brother left after a few days.¡±

    I was furious, ¡°Who is the world gossiped about me? Howe that person told you everything?¡± To be honest, I didn¡¯t think I would be enrolled into the ¡°leftovers¡± category so soon. Other than our boss, the trantionpany was made of all young people; everyone called me, ¡°Qiu Jie (big sister Qiu).¡± Although it seemed like it was an honorific to show respect for an experienced person in the field, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a tint of mockery. One of the main reasons why I came to Kunming was to avoid Eason. After he returned from California, he called me many times and even came to Kunming to see me, saying that he was here for a conference. After a long period of unreturned affection and being non-responsive, he finally gave up.

    ¡°I said that I was your uncle from abroad, and that both of your parents were deceased, so I was your most respected rtive. Moreover, the half a box of condoms in your bathroom is from Zurich. It¡¯s been three years, yet you still haven¡¯t thrown it out.¡±

    ¡°I kept it to use them as rubber gloves. When I need to scrub out the grime, I use one on each finger.¡±

    He burst outughing. There was a loud clunk and a mug shattered on the floor.

    ¡°Oops!¡±

    After Li Chun finished cleaning up the living room and kitchen, the cleanliness of my ce wasparable to a five-star hotel.

    I was too busy in the afternoon and didn¡¯t get to eat. When I finally felt hungry, it was already 4pm. I headed over to the street across from the trantionpany and bought lunch. The good dishes were already taken by others; there were only some pig¡¯s ears, chickens, and stuff the like left. I gobbled everything down, but it was giving me heartburn even now.

    The bathroom was the cleanest area of my ce because I was more picky about it. Li Chuan only had to spend ten minutes cleaning it. He came out and asked me, ¡°Do you have anything in your fridge? I¡¯m hungry, so I want to cook something to eat.¡±

    ¡°Nope. I only have instant noodles in all kinds of brands. I even have Korean ones.¡±

    Just as he was about to answer, someone knocked the door.

    We opened the door together; it was Grandma Guan from across the hall. Grandma Guan was around sixty years old, and lived with her son and granddaughter. We were quite friendly. She was holding a big bowl, and was a little startled when she saw Li Chuan.

    ¡°Grandma Guan!¡±

    ¡°Hi, Xiao Qiu, did you juste back from the hospital?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°I heard your stomach was bleeding, are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine now, thank you for asking.¡±

    ¡°You must take care of your stomach and be careful of what you eat. You youngsters only know to do work and don¡¯t take care of your bodies. Eat rice porridge for a couple of days first. After your stomach is better, you can eat rice then. Um¡­¡­this is?¡±

    I didn¡¯t know how I should introduce Li Chuan, so I said, ¡°Mm¡­¡­he is Mr. Wang, a house cleaner that I hired.¡±

    ¡°Oh, oh, Mr. Wang, thanks for your hard work.¡±

    We chatted a little, I epted her rice porridge, thanked her, went back inside, shared a bowl with Li Chuan, and finished it all. Grandma Guan¡¯s rice porridge was delicious!

    Li Chuan looked at my expression of satisfaction andughed bitterly, ¡°Do you often ept free food from across?¡±

    ¡°Mm¡­..I tutored her granddaughter English a few times. It wasn¡¯t that many times, definitely not as much as getting free food.¡±

    Li Chuan washed the dishes after we finished. I sat in the living room and watched TV by myself. An uninteresting variety show was on, so I was yawning from boredom.

    I felt that seeing Li Chuan again after so many years, I was not emotional or excited; I was already numb.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you take a bath,¡± Li Chuan said.

    I was pulled into the bathroom and we were naked the next minute. I looked at him and sighed, ¡°The bathtub is very slippery. You need to be careful.¡±

    ¡°Hold onto me then.¡±

    I embraced him lightly and rested my head on his chest. He was still wearing the jade that I had given to him; it had be smoother than before. I put it into my mouth; it tasted salty.

    Li Chuan washed my hair carefully, over and over again.

    ¡°How long has it been since youst washed it?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember,¡± I continued yawning.

    ¡°Tired?¡±

    ¡°Mm.¡±

    ¡°Get some rest early.¡±

    We went to the bedroom; the nket was not neatly folded, it was exactly how I left it in the morning. Li Chuan sat on the bed, but quickly pulled me away, ¡°The bed is not clean.¡±

    ¡°That can¡¯t be, I just tidied it yesterday.¡±

    ¡°There are cookie crumbs and chips.¡± He went to find some new bed sheets.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you change the duvet cover and pillow cases while you¡¯re at it?¡± I pointed to where I kept the bed sheets. He was such a pampered boy; he was so hard to please. He really did change everything to a set of white sheets. It was finally clean.

    I slipped into the nket; Li Chuan hugged me tightly and kissed my face. I didn¡¯t move and looked at him nkly. After a while, I said, ¡°Li Chuan, I need to sleep now.¡±

    He caressed me lightly and said softly, ¡°Xiao Qiu¡­¡­don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t even know how to do that now?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t. After being with you for so many years, my IQ has declined to the same level as a fruit fly.¡±

    In the middle of the night, Li Chuan cried in my embrace, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Xiao Qiu, it¡¯s my fault. I¡¯ve held you back for so many years.¡±

    When I woke up the next day, Li Chuan was already up. He went out to buy breakfast, but said he had to wait a while longer before he could eat anything; he still had to take medicine for Osteoporosis.

    I worked at 8:30am; he apanied me on my way to work all the way to the front entrance, and then handed me a small bag that had a couple of boxes inside, ¡°Your (English) lunch.¡±

    I took them over from him and asked, ¡°There¡¯s nothing in the fridge, so how did you make it?¡±

    ¡°The supermarket opens early, so I bought some groceries and even asked the grandma next door how to make rice porridge. Hope you like it.¡±

    ¡°Thanks.¡± I went to work and Li Chuan went home. He said he needed to continue cleaning the ce. I really wanted to ask him exactly how long he would be staying, but Li Chuan always came and go as he liked; there was no point in asking, so I didn¡¯t bother.

    Li Chuan called me at noon, ¡°Did you eat your (English) lunch?¡±

    ¡°Yep, I ate it long ago.¡±

    ¡°Did you microwave it?¡±

    ¡°No, did I need to?¡±

    ¡°How could you not microwave it? You are really a fruit fry!¡± He hung up the phone angrily.

    When I had opened my lunch boxes at lunch time, my coworkers were shocked. There were rice porridge and two side dishes; one vegetables and one with meat; there were even fruits, sd, and other small treats. I was very surprised with Li Chuan¡¯s cooking skills.

    At 5:30pm, I walked out the door with my coworkers; Li Chuan was already waiting for me outside. He shook hands with my coworkers and introduced himself. He joked, ¡°Hi, I am Wang Li Chuan, Miss Xie¡¯s house cleaner. I¡¯m responsible for cleaning her ce, cooking, and sending her off to work and picking her up after.¡±

    I was speechless. Li Chuan was all dressed up in a suit and was well groomed; everyone easily thought that he was standing there to film a movie.

    Li Chuan drove me home. Dinner was already set on the table; there were three dishes and a soup, but I still had to eat rice porridge.

    ¡°You see, don¡¯t you think life is so organized this way?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± I nodded my head quickly.

    After we finished eating, he held my hands and took me for a walk, ¡°Howe you¡¯re limping a bit?¡±

    The stainless steel tes in my leg were not removed until a yearter. The doctor said I recovered quite well. I still loved sports, and insisted on riding a bike to and from work.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Just a bit.¡±

    ¡°Only a bit. Really just a bit.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m disabled then.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to Switzend for surgery.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere.¡±

 Chapter 51.8

    <h4>Chapter 51.8</h4>

    When we got back to my ce, he took a small basket containing chocte and arge bundle of cookies he made, pulled me to the door across the hall, and knocked.

    He handed the bowl back to Grandma Guan, handed her the basket of gifts and also two red envelopes, and solemnly thanked her. And then said, ¡°Grandma Guan, thank you for taking care of Xiao Qiu when I wasn¡¯t here. This is a greeting gift for your granddaughter. Please ept it.¡±

    ¡°Oh! You are too polite. There¡¯s no need for two red envelopes, I actually only have one granddaughter.¡±

    ¡°The other red envelope is for you, just as a token of thanks, please use it to buy new clothes.¡±

    Grandma Guan epted delightfully and even asked in the end, ¡°Mr. Wang, your outfit is that of wealth. You must not be an hourly worker, right?¡±

    ¡°I am.¡±

    ¡°Then how much money do you charge per hour?¡±

    ¡°I¡­am a volunteer.¡±

    Grandma Guan understood what was going on, smiled, and said, ¡°Xiao Qiu is very lucky!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not her who is lucky, it is I.¡± Li Chuan corrected with a slight smile.

    We returned to my ce, hand in hand. Li Chuan handed me a piece of paper. I looked, there were ten math problems on it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you ten minutes, can you finish it?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s with this? I¡¯ve forgotten all the math already.¡±

    ¡°You were the high school champion of Jiu city.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    He pressed the stopwatch, I took the pencil and finished within five minutes. Li Chuan nced at the answers once and said, Your IQ is fine. Don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong. Howe you have a bit of a foolish look to you?¡±

    I took the remote and proceeded to watch tv.

    Li Chuan held me, so Iy in his embrace, watched a melodrama, and shed huge tears. At night, we went to bed early. Li Chuan treated me sincerely and we recovered our old sweetness.

    Halfway through, a quiet rustling came from underneath the bed. Li Chuan sighed towards the ceiling, ¡°Xiao Qiu, besides cockroaches, you also have mice here?¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh, there¡¯s two, probably mates. I¡¯ve even fed them cookies. Weird, howe there¡¯s only the sound of one of them today?¡±

    ¡°Shoot.¡± Li Chuan quickly covered my eyes with his hand.

    ¡°You caught one? Killed it?¡±

    ¡°During the daytime¡­¡± Someone didn¡¯t dare continue.

    ¡°Li Chuan, you¡¯repletely heartless. The one underneath the bed must be singing.¡±

    ¡°What is it singing?¡±

    ¡°¡±

    ¡°Let it sing what it wants to, let us continue what we were doing.¡±

    The second day, Li Chuan still dropped me off at work and still prepared a boxed lunch for me. This time, there was a piece of paper stuck on each box:

    ¡°I am pork congee, number 1, heat for a minute.¡±

    ¡°I am eggnt, number 2, heat for forty-five seconds.¡±

    ¡°I am red-braised fish pieces, number 3, heat for thirty seconds.¡±

    ¡°I am fruit sd, number 4, eat raw, no need to heat.¡±

    All my female coworkers were extremely envious, saying that Li Chuan was treating tranting work as going to kindergarten.

    When Li Chuan came to pick me up after work, they all said, ¡°Xiao Qiu, your parent is here.¡±

    From what I knew, Li Chuan had always been served by people his whole life. He had never served anyone else before. When Li Chuan did this everyday, I would wonder how long this prince couldst.

    Even after a year, he still did this everyday. I started having a feeling of happiness, the splendid kind. Of course my happiness is never long lived. I never had any expectations towards Li Chuan¡¯s return this time.

    Just like this, without hope, I lived with him intimately for a year. It felt great! In this year, Li Chuan did not work, he didn¡¯t draw a single drawing. Besides making me meals, picking and dropping me off, apanying me on walks, and watching tv with me, he didn¡¯t do anything else.

    It¡¯s just that in my narrow apartment, it wasn¡¯t convenient for Li Chuan to move around. So one day, I said to him, ¡°Li Chuan, let¡¯s not live here anymore. Let¡¯s go find arger house.¡±

    He immediately picked up a pencil and said, ¡°What are you looking for? I¡¯ll draw one for you. Tell me what it should look like.¡±

    ¡°A bitrger.¡±

    ¡°Just that request?¡± He became depressed.

    ¡°Uh-huh, with more handicap instations in the bathroom.¡±

    ¡°Any other requests?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    After two days, Li Chuan finished designing a white two story house. He hand drew every diagram and had me look at each one.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that too unique?¡± I frowned. ¡°Whatpany would build one-off just for you?¡±

    ¡°For example, my ownpany?¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­then you will be tired. Your health isn¡¯t good, you can¡¯t work too much.¡±

    ¡°Not tired, not tired.¡± He said happily.¡±

    ¡°No, you still need to make me meals!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± He contemted and then, went to the bedroom to make a call. When he returned, he said to me, ¡°My brother said that he will find someone to help me build it on the condition that he and Rene can design a room in the house.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I don¡¯t object.¡±

    ¡°I object.¡± He thought about it and then his eyes lit up, ¡°I¡¯ll let them design the basement.¡±

    ¡°Wasting talent. Oh dear!¡±

    Three more days passed, and Li Chuan was still doing hourly work. For the three meals a day, he made every single thing. The only housework I had was to watch tv and read novels. Sometimes I would clean the dishes, but he would say they weren¡¯t clean and wash them again.

    Our house was in a small neighborhood near a mountain that had many houses, with ours being the most beautiful. When it had been built, Li Chuan took me to go see it. On the way back, he asked me if I liked it, I said, ¡°I like both the upstairs and the downstairs! I also like the garden!¡±

    ¡°What do you like the most?¡±

    ¡°¡­the basement.¡±

    Li Chuan made a painful face and said, ¡°It¡¯s over, I¡¯ve received a blow¡­I must find my brother to settle this.¡±

    I felt that I had to console him.

    That day, the sky was clear and the air was clear, the wind was free from worry.

    I asked him, ¡°Li Chuan, is the weather good today?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Is today a good day?¡±

    ¡°It also is.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go register our marriage today.¡±

    He was startled speechless. After awhile, he awkwardly said, ¡°¡­Must we get married? Can¡¯t we just stay like this? It¡¯s not that I¡¯m not willing, I¡¯m just afraid that I won¡¯t live for long and you would be a widow¡­¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being a bit serious.¡± I made a serious face.

    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±

    ¡°What does ¡®uh-huh¡¯ mean?¡±

    ¡°¡®Uh-huh¡¯ means, that if you really want to get married, I have no objections.¡±

    ¡°Just this carelessly? No getting down on one knee?¡± That¡¯s not fair, why do I always get the short end! In the future, he will always say that it was me who rushed getting married.

    ¡°This person only has one leg¡­show some mercy.¡±

    I pulled him into the Civil Affairs Bureau. There was a olderdy processing marriages and was quite friendly.

    ¡°Do you have all the paperwork? Photos?¡±

    I took out a few booklets from my bag, ¡°This is my residential registration and identity card. He is a foreigner, this is his passport and residency permit. This is a photocopy, and there are also three recent 2in couple photos.¡± The couple photo wasn¡¯t actually recent, it was from ten years ago. I took all these documents out and felt as if I was in a conspiracy.

    The olderdy took a nce at our documents, and seeing that Li Chuan wasn¡¯t speaking, she asked me, ¡°Can he not speak Chinese?¡±

    ¡°He can¡­he¡¯s too excited. When he¡¯s excited he can¡¯t speak.¡± I held onto his elbow and made an intimate pose.

    ¡°He is Swiss, we still need him to provide a notarized ¡°Marriage Situation Certificate¡± to prove that he doesn¡¯t have a spouse right now.¡± The olderdy was very familiar with her work.

    Li Chuan and I were both bbergasted.

    ¡°I told you not toe, yet you still wanted to.¡± He solemnly looked at me, ¡°Hasn¡¯t it be troublesome now?¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, is it possible that you already have a wife?¡± I was driven mad.

    ¡°How can I dare?¡±

    He took out his cellphone and called a number.

    ¡°Brother, I need a document¡­¡¯Marriage Situation Certificate¡¯.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re asking what it¡¯s for?¡±

    ¡°Make it fast.¡±

    ¡°Uh-huh. Alright then.¡±

    He finished in just four sentences, hung up, and said to me, ¡°My brother will go handle it today, take a flight tonight, and arrive in Kunming tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Alright, such great efficiency.¡± I gave the olderdy a box of choctes.

    ¡°Ma¡¯am, we¡¯lle again tomorrow.¡±

    The next day, I still went to work. In the afternoon, we went, hand in hand, to the Civil Affairs Bureau. Li Chuan said that Rene and Ji Chuan had already arrived and will wait for us outside the Civil Affairs Bureau with the ¡°Marriage Situation Certificate¡±. When we reached the doors, we did indeed see them. They were both dressed in formal suits. Li Chuan and I were in our daily clothes.

    I was a bit gloomy and said to Li Chuan, ¡°Should we have dressed more formally?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Everywhere we go, we¡¯re always a pair of handsome man and beautiful woman.¡±

    Everyone hugged each other. Rene and Ji Chuan congratted me. Li Chuan and Ipleted our marriage registration. When we came out, I suddenly found a crowd of people standing outside the door. There were old and young, men and women, and foreigners. All were dressed in formal wear. Everyone looked at us with excitement.

    I turned to look at Li Chuan and found that Li Chuan was also startled. And then two seemingly mixed blood, high school girls suddenly shrieked, ¡°Alex! Xiao Qiu! (English) We love you!¡±

    Li Chuan nodded at them, held my hand and said, ¡°Xiao Qiu, let me introduce my family and rtives.¡±

    My legs started to tremble a bit, there were more than thirty people in front of us. I quietly asked him, ¡°This many¡­are all family?¡±

    ¡°This is around half¡­the most important ones are here.¡±

    ¡°This is my (maternal) grandfather and grandmother.¡± A pair of very kind looking old grandpa and grandma, ¡°Your scarf was knit by my (maternal) grandmother. (Maternal) grandmother has five grandsons. She knit a scarf for each one of her grandson¡¯s wife. Even Rene has one. Haha.¡±

    LI Chuan¡¯s (maternal) grandmother was French. She hugged me and said a whole bunch of French and then kissed me endlessly.

    ¡°This is my (paternal) grandfather and grandmother, and my dad.¡±

    I already knew Li Chuan¡¯s (paternal) grandfather. The elderly gentlemanughed out loud and said, ¡°So Annie was Xiao Qiu! I¡¯m done for, I offended her the first time I met her. That¡¯s okay, (paternal) grandfather will take you to have fun all over Switzend. Don¡¯t think it¡¯s just Li Chuan, out of everyone in the Wang family, I know how to have fun the most.¡± Li Chuan¡¯s dad was thin and tall. I could see that he was very handsome when he was younger. (Paternal) grandmother was not very tall and was a bit chubby, her silver white hair was swept up. She was very cheerful and looked quite capable. (Paternal) grandmother held my hand and would not let go, continuously saying, ¡°Such a beautiful girl. Good thing Li Chuan had you in these years. Li Chuan is really quite lucky!¡±

    Li Chuan introduced them one by one, ¡°This is uncle (father¡¯s younger brother), auntie (wife of father¡¯s younger brother), uncle (mom¡¯s brother)¡­this is my cousin (younger female cousin through mom¡¯s side), niece (cousin¡¯s daughter through father¡¯s side)¡­¡±

    Everyone came up to congratte me and hug me. Right after, I heard a young man wearing a backpack running towards me, calling, ¡°Jie (older sister)! Jie!¡±

    Ah¡­Xiao Dong!

    ¡°Xiao Dong, why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Someone phoned our department¡¯s office and said that he had bought me a ne ticket to have mee and take part in your wedding¡­I couldn¡¯t really understand his Chinese, so I thought it was brother-inw.¡±

    I rubbed his head and said, ¡°That was not your brother-inw, it was Rene.¡±

    Li Chuan came over smiling and shook his hand, ¡°So you are Xiao Dong. I am Li Chuan. You sister always mentions you. We finally meet.¡± Immediately after that, a taxi arrived and four people Li Chuan and I were very familiar with came out.

    We immediately went over and called out, ¡°Auntie (maternal aunt)! Uncle! Cousin (older female cousin through mom¡¯s side)! Cousin-inw!¡±

    After the wedding, Li Chuan insisted on taking me to Europe to travel. Due to his condition, I was determined not to agree. We continued to live in Kunming and went to Switzend every half year to see the doctor.

    The first time we went through customs in Switzend as a couple, Li Chuan handed a red booklet over to the customs official with a serious face. The person studied it for quite awhile before asking, ¡°Mister, your paperwork?¡±

    ¡°This is it.¡±

    ¡°Why does it have Chinese on it?¡± That foreigner actually knew what was Chinese character.

    ¡°This is a marriage license.¡± Li Chuan said, ¡°My wife has my passport.¡±

    The foreignerughed, ¡°Why did you give me your marriage certificate?¡±

    ¡°My wife had me hold it while we went through customs to prove that we were married.¡±

    ¡°Puah¡­¡± The customs official couldn¡¯t help butugh. When he calmed down, he also stamped our marriage license, ¡°Wish you a happy marriage!¡±

    After we passed through customs, Li Chuan earnestly put away the marriage license. I said, ¡°Li Chuan, jesting with the customs official is not good. Let¡¯s not y this next time.¡±

    ¡°Why should we not y? We¡¯ll y every time.¡±

 Side Story 1

    <h4>Side Story 1</h4>

    On a Christmas night N yearster, Li Chuan and I sat on the sofa watching TV.

    In the quiet night, Li Chuan suddenly asked, ¡°Do you still remember the day we met?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I remember it quite well!¡±

    ¡°Let me quiz you and see if you have a better memory or I do.¡±

    ¡°Me. I was young and it was at a time when my memory was at its best. I could memorize a hundred vocabs a day.¡±

    ¡°That day,¡± Li Chuan said, ¡°when you spilled coffee onto me, what music was the cafe ying?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Let me think. Hm, it was ying music from the radio.¡± Such nonsense.

    ¡°What music from the radio?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­popr music.¡±

    ¡°Which song?¡±

    ¡°Hm.¡± I said, ¡°Hm.¡±

    ¡°Was it from a male singer or a female singer?¡±

    ¡°Female, it was definitely a female singer. Faye Wong. She was the most popr at the time. The radio yed her songs every day.¡±

    ¡°Which song from Faye Wong?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­A Woman Is Easily Hurt.¡±

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t it.¡±

    ¡°No? Oh, Li Chuan, just admit it that you don¡¯t understand Chinese. It was Faye Wong. She was singing ¡®A Woman Is Easily Hurt,¡¯ and then I was delivering your coffee. I still remember that verse, I kept your kiss fromst night, but you still felt so unreal. Sunset came as I thought about you, and my face was full of tears.¡±

    ¡°You have great imagination.¡±

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°What was it then?¡±

    ¡°(English) Rhapsody in Blue.¡±

    ¡°Is it that jazzy music that¡¯s a little decadent?¡±

    ¡°What is ¡®Mi Mi Zhi Yin¡¯?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a little hard to exin. If I must trante it to English, it would be (English) decadent music.¡±

    ¡°(English) No.¡±

    ¡°Alright. No wonder you y this song everytime it¡¯s our birthday. I always thought it was weird!¡±

    ¡°How many years has it been? I¡¯ve been trying to remind you of it all this time, yet it never came to your mind once. I feel so depressed,¡± said the miserable person.

    ¡°It was my first day at work, so I was nervous, okay? I was too immersed in memorizing the menu and learning how to use the cash register, so I didn¡¯t pay attention to the music. Ask something else. I definitely remember the other details.¡±

    ¡°You remember all the other details, is that true?¡±

    ¡°Of course. That day was also very important to me too.¡±

    ¡°Well then, let me ask you. What colour was my tie that day?¡±

    ¡°Brown.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°No? Impossible. I remember it very well. It was brown.¡±

    ¡°Did you spill coffee on me?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°What colour is coffee?¡±

    ¡°Coffee colour.¡±

    ¡°What colour was my tie then?¡±

    ¡°Brown.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re really¡­¡­just so dumb¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°What did you say?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say anything.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t brown?¡±

    ¡°No. Well, obviously it turned brown after coffee spilled on it. I was asking what colour it was before that.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t remember. Just tell me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not telling you. Keep thinking.¡± He was starting to feel dispirited.

    ¡°Ask something easier¡­¡­You can¡¯t let me fail, honey.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let me ask you something simple. What was on my hand that day?¡±

    ¡°Which hand?¡±

    ¡°Left hand.¡±

    ¡°There was¡­¡­definitely no wedding ring.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°You also¡­¡­..didn¡¯t seem to hold a big wallet.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°You weren¡¯t wearing a glove.¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°You were using aptop, so you were definitely not holding a pen.¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°What was in your hand then?¡±

    ¡°Do you really not remember, or did you not notice it at all?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­I didn¡¯t notice.¡±

    ¡°There was a white band-aid on my finger. I was sharpening a pencil that day and cut my finger.¡±

    ¡°Okay, fine. I failed.¡±

    ¡°Why do you think you failed? This proves that you didn¡¯t pay attention to me at all.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m innocent. If I didn¡¯t pay attention to you, why would I have spilled coffee on you? The problem is that I only paid attention to your face at the time.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Let me ask you something regarding my face then. You¡¯ll definitely be able to answer. If you can¡¯t, I¡¯m getting a divorce.¡±

    ¡°Ask. Go ahead. As long as it¡¯s a question about your face, I¡¯ll definitely be able to answer.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Did I smile at you that day?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very certain about my answer. You did not. You were frowning the whole time.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s incorrect.¡±

    ¡°You definitely did not smile.¡±

    ¡°Of course I didn¡¯t smile after you spilled coffee on me. But when I lifted my head and looked at you, I smiled.¡±

    ¡°No, you didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°I did. If I didn¡¯t smile, you would definitely not have spilled coffee on me.¡±

    ¡°I think you gave me a tiny smirk, but it wasn¡¯t obvious.¡±

    ¡°ssmate Xie Xiao Qiu, that was a smile. You didn¡¯t get any right. You got zero. How should I punish you?¡±

    I shouted, ¡°Wait! I shouldn¡¯t be the only one getting quizzed. I need to quiz you too. Maybe you¡¯ll also get zero.¡±

    He munched a mouthful of popcorn and said, ¡°Go ahead, I¡¯ll definitely get full marks.¡±

    ¡°What was I wearing that day.¡±

    ¡°ck t-shirt and a dark green apron. ck pants and ck shoes.¡±

    ¡°My hairstyle¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°In a ponytail tied with a green rubber-band that had two blue ss beads.¡±

    ¡°Was I wearing lipstick?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it was cherry colored, right?¡±

    ¡°The first phrase I said to you was¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯mu ter-buly soli, ser!¡± (I¡¯m terribly sorry, sir!) He imitated my ent and girly voice. It sounded close. I jumped up to strangle him.

    ¡°Ow! Ow!¡± he shouted, ¡°This is domestic violence! Didn¡¯t you use to be quite gentle?¡±

    ¡°The above few questions are just a warm-up. Here are the tough ones.¡±

    ¡°Ask away. Just don¡¯t strangle me.¡±

    ¡°Besides my work clothes, what did I wear that day?¡± I was making it hard for him because I had already changed into my work clothes within ten minutes after arriving at the coffee shop. It was impossible for Li Chuan to have noticed.

    ¡°You wore a pink sweater, the type that¡¯s skin tight. You were carrying a backpack that had a bunch of keys dangling on it. You had a strand of beads on your chest in all kinds of colours. You were wearing a green id mini-skirt and a pair of white running shoes. You looked like a second year middle school girl from next door.¡±

    I waspletely defeated in shock, ¡°How did you know all these details?¡±

    ¡°You were fixing your skirt with the side-mirror of a car, and pulled out a pocket mirror to check your hair. You grinned at the mirror to see if your teeth were white enough, and even pinched your cheeks to make them blush. Your hair was kind of messy, so you spit into your hands and rubbed it on your hair to smooth-out a few strands. Then you turned your back to the car, and put your hand inside your sweater to adjust your bra. In order to see your backside more clearly, you shifted the car¡¯s side mirror.¡±

    I looked at him stunned; dumbstruck.

    ¡°Anyhow, although you didn¡¯t notice, you had already been coquettish and exposed yourself.¡± Li Chuan was especially good with perverted words; whether they were from ancient times, modern times, or post-modern times, he knew them all.

    ¡°Nonsense¡­You¡¯re talking nonsense!¡± I got mad from embarrassment.

    ¡°It was because my car¡¯s windows were tinted, so you couldn¡¯t see inside well when it was nighttime. I was sitting in the car at the time. I was afraid of scaring you and making you feel embarrassed, so I didn¡¯t dare to go out.¡±

    ¡°Wang Li Chuan! You dared to peep at me!¡±

    ¡°Ow! Ow! I¡¯m sorry! I didn¡¯t mean to¡­¡­I¡¯mu ter-buly soli!¡±

 Side Story 2

    <h4>Side Story 2</h4>

    I finished writing ¡°Li Chuan¡¯s Past¡± with my spare time. On the day of release, I was invited to the bookstore for an autograph session.

    Although Li Chuan read the first couple of pages, he admitted: one, his knowledge of written Chinese was limited and he was toozy to check the dictionary, so he basically didn¡¯t understand much of it; two, the parts that he understood made him blush, so he refused to read further.

    ¡°Do you mind that the book is titled ¡®Li Chuan¡¯s Past¡¯? It sounds as if you¡¯re¡­hm¡­no longer with us.¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t mind.¡±

    ¡°Maybe I should give the male lead another name instead of calling him Li Chuan.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡±

    That didn¡¯t seem right; Li Chuan was a private person. I felt that it was strange.

    ¡°Why is it okay?¡±

    ¡°If you ask my dad, he will tell you that my ¡®Li¡¯ is not written like that. The correct pinyin used on my passport is from the Wade¨CGiles system. You made up ¡®Li Chuan¡¯ yourself.¡±

    ¡°What? What?¡± I jumped up. After all this time and being married for a year, I had been writing my husband¡¯s name wrong!

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Li Chuan smiled, ¡°The first time you wrote my name was when you stayed at Long Zhe. You left me a message that wrote, ¡®Li Chuan, I¡¯ve gone back to the school. No need to send me off.¡¯ You wrote ¡®Li¡¯ with the three dots on the left. Honestly, I didn¡¯t recognize the word at the time and it was in simplified Chinese as well, so I had to go look it up in the dictionary.¡±

    ¡°Which is the correct ¡®Li¡¯ then?¡±

    ¡°Heh Heh, I¡¯m not telling you. This is an advantage I¡¯ll save for life.¡±

    Li Chuan came with me to the bookstore. I told him that I was afraid of meeting the readers, so he said he would apany me; he would sit far away to watch over me.

    I dressed formally and sat there giving autographs. There were many people at the bookstore, but I was done signing after ten minutes. When I lifted my head, I saw another long line up in front of me; everyone in line was holding a copy of ¡°Li Chuan¡¯s Past.¡± How strange. I was the author, but no one was asking me for an autograph.

    I asked a girl who seemed to be in high school, ¡°May I ask¡­¡­Whom you are waiting to get an autograph from?¡±

    She looked at me, nodded, and then shook her head.

    I smiled quickly at her, ¡°Um¡­¡­I¡¯m¡­¡­actually the author. Really. I¡¯m the real deal.¡±

    She shook my hands politely, opened the book cover, and gestured for me to sign it. She then ignored me and continued to wait in line.

    I waspletely humiliated. I stood on the tip of my toes and saw that the line-up led straight to the entrance; it was so long that I couldn¡¯t see the end of it.

    ¡°Excuse me, what is this line-up for?¡± I asked politely.

    ¡°We¡¯re waiting for Li Chuan ge ge¡¯s (¡®big brother¡¯ ¡ª honorific) autograph.¡±

    Oh my God! That was simply putting the cart before the horse! I was bbergasted.

    I walked to the front by following the line-up; I indeed saw ssmate Li Chuan sitting at a table and signing for a young girl. He said as he signed, ¡°Hope you don¡¯t mind me signing in English, my Chinese is not very good, so I don¡¯t want to embarrass myself.¡±

    The girl¡¯s face turned red and giggled; she even had tears in her eyes, ¡°No, not at all, Li Chuan ge ge, I¡¯m so happy to see you living so well!¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­..Did you guys get tortured by us adults in the novel?¡±

    I bunch of people crowded around him and nodded their heads viciously, ¡°Yeah, yeah, yes. We shed until we had no more tears left!¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan ge ge, may I ask if you really only have one leg?¡± another girl asked timidly.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Li Chuan said patiently, ¡°Do you want to check it?¡±

    He saw me just as he finished; he lowered his head, ¡°(English) Oops!¡±

    He then raised his head and said to everyone, ¡°The author is here. Please give some respect and ask her for an autograph, alright?¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay!¡±

    Everyone finally shifted their focus to me.

    After we left the bookstore, Li Chuan suddenly told me to stop at a quiet street. He fetched an antique looking wooden box out of his bag, opened it, and grabbed the book inside that was even thicker than my novel. The book looked more intricate than mine, but still looked like a book, yet it was the size of a sketch book.

    He gave me a kiss and put the book into my hands, ¡°Today is our birthday. This is your birthday present.¡±

    The cover said: (English)¡°Letters to Xiaoqiu¡±

    There was a Chinese letter on the first page:

    ¡°Hi Li Chuan,

    The marks came out for my midterm exams. I did pretty well, I even got 86 on my worst subject, Reading. What do you think? An An and I went to the small restaurant at the North entrance and had beef noodles. I put in a lot oftro. It was delicious. I went to self-study at night and brought a cup of concentrated tea with me. I finished reading thest book of ¡®Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.¡¯ That¡¯s right, I didn¡¯t actually study, and only wanted to rx.

    Xiao Qiu.¡±

    Below was his reply in my trantion.

    ¡°Hi Xiao Qiu,

    You did so well on the exams. I¡¯m very proud of you. Beef noodles restaurant at the North entrance? Is that the one that we went to before? I still remember that you said that their beef soup was white, clear, and rich in vour.

    I¡¯m sorry, Xiao Qiu. I couldn¡¯t say anything to you on the day we separated. I could only run away quickly. I felt that I was really a coward. I took one of your pillows with me. It still had a tinge of your scent from the night before. Even now that I¡¯m in the hospital, I¡¯m still using it. It makes me feel as if you¡¯re still by my side. My surgery is tomorrow at 10am. My family has all gone to the church to pray for me. It¡¯s good that you¡¯re not here and that you don¡¯t know, so that I don¡¯t need to see you be sad and heartbroken. You¡¯re still going to wish me luck nheless, right?

    Love you,

    Li Chuan.¡±

    I read it from start to finish; even after my emails ended, he continued writing. They were his long confessions in mostly English with a bit of Chinese.

    I looked at him silently; I was touched deeply.

    He caressed my face and said softly, ¡°I actually replied every one of your letters. I didn¡¯t have the strength to write, so I secretly recorded them in audio. When you stopped writing to me, I still continued. I didn¡¯t tell Rene, but I had already gotten used to it.¡± He held my hands in his palms and continued, ¡°I originally nned to send you these with my will, so that you would know that there was once someone in this world who loved you deeply.¡±

    I embraced the book tightly and giggled, ¡°Did it nevere to your mind that if anything happened to me, it would likely be due to you? If I really died, it would probably be because I died after being angered by you.¡±

    Li Chuan stared at me. His gaze was deep and focused as if he was looking at his own reflection in my eyes, ¡°Xiao Qiu, after the surgery, I didn¡¯t dare to look at myself, and never took any pictures. I didn¡¯t have a dressing mirror at home either. I thought that all beautiful things had left me, and only death and deterioration awaited me. Isn¡¯t this how things are? If you hold a hammer in your hand, everything else will look like nails. But,¡± light shone on his watery eyes, ¡°you showed me the beautiful things in life that I hadn¡¯t seen for a long time. I was so beautiful in your eyes.¡±

 Side Story 3

    <h4>Side Story 3</h4>

    I hadn¡¯t lived together with Li Chuan for such a long period of time in these past ten years. The days we lived together added up to no more than a month. The ces we lived in were always well equipped luxurious hotels or high-end apartments.

    We had never lived in such a dark, worn-out, and filthy old-fashion building before.

    Li Chuan started cleaning the ce the first day he arrived. He washed the dishes, pots, lids, and even the bottles containing the sauces every day. He would then wipe down the table, mop the floor, clean the toilet, and throw out the trash. I called him a ¡°cleaning freak.¡± He said that there was really an equivalent of it in German called, ¡°Putzteufel¡± (cleaning devil). Li Chuan even expanded his cleaning area to the whole first level corridors of the building; he was apuded by all the neighbors.

    Li Chuan had surprisingly good bnce. He could stand straight with his chest high and not budge for a long time. If you didn¡¯t look, you wouldn¡¯t even notice that he only had one leg. Li Chuan said that he was an expert in skiing in which his instructor urged him to participate in the Paralympic Games. But he only had the heart to be an architect, so he did not participate.

    At this point, I asked him, ¡°Weren¡¯t you studying finance? Why did you change subjects?¡±

    His response was not what I expected, ¡°Because of my brother.¡±

    ¡°Because of your brother?¡±

    ¡°After the surgery, he was worried that I couldn¡¯t take care of myself in college, so he decided to transfer to study at Chicago. Although there was also an architect program in Chicago, it just couldn¡¯tpare to Harvard. So I thought, instead of him transferring schools, why not I transfer? So I went to Harvard.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡­Harvard!?¡± The popr movie, ¡°,¡± immediately came into my mind, ¡°Did you pursue any girls while you were there?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t participate in any social events in the first few years,¡± he said, ¡°The school workload was very heavy. There was so much that I almost couldn¡¯t breathe. I had to study every day until after midnight.¡±

    ¡°Did you have to work that hard?¡±

    ¡°My dad used to teach in the program, so I didn¡¯t want to embarrass him.¡±

    ¡°Sigh, Li Chuan, your past experience is like an inspirational novel.¡±

    He twisted my ear.

    I opened a drawer of the one and only chest in the room and stuffed my clothes inside.

    Li Chuan stopped me, ¡°Sigh, it¡¯s not what I meant.¡±

    ¡°Your clothes are very expensive, so you must store them carefully. My clothes are very cheap, so I can just stuff them anywhere.¡±

    ¡°No, we must share half and half. If not, I¡¯ll buy another closet tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bother, it won¡¯t fit since the ce is so small. Let¡¯s just share.¡±

    We sat on the bed and spent a little over an hour folding our clothes into small pieces and putting them into the drawers one by one. After a while, Li Chuan stood up to find his crutch. I went to the living room and fetched his usual pair of crutches for him. These titanium crutches were custom made for his height. They were in its natural titanium colour equipped with ck handles; they were light yet durable. I weighed them in my hands and suddenly noticed a big problem.

    ¡°Hey, Li Chuan, take a look. Even Switzend has poorly made imitation products! These crutches are not the same length!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but feel bad for him, ¡°You haven¡¯t noticed even when you¡¯ve used them for so long?¡±

    Li Chuan actually had a few pairs of these crutches. When I first met him, he was already using this brand. I had fetched them for him many times, but had never paid attention to its length.

    ¡°Come,e,e, honey,¡± he took out a pen and a piece of paper, ¡°let me educate you on some basic knowledge of people with disabilities.¡±

    I sat beside him as he drew a small figure on the paper, ¡°I¡¯m missing my right leg, so when I stand up, my bnce is shifted to the right, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°My shoulders will also nt to the right.¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°In order to keep my bnce andfort in walking, my right crutch will be higher.¡± He tapped my head with his crutch lightly afterwards, ¡°Therefore, this is not a poorly made imitation product.¡±

    I was dumbstruck, ¡°It has always been this way? Ever since the day I met you, you¡¯ve been using crutches of different height?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°And I never once noticed?¡± My face was full of embarrassment.

    ¡°It¡¯s normal since you don¡¯t use crutches,¡± he consoled me.

    ¡°But it shows that I¡¯m a very careless person!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that¡­¡±

    ¡°No wonder you ignored me for so many years!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what happened¡­¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just a failure. I¡¯m the poorly made imitation!¡±

    I suddenly burst into tears; my face became a mess.

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°(English) Honey¡ª¡ª¡± He pulled me up from the bed and hugged me tightly, ¡°No one is a better match for me than you.¡± Then he swore that he would be with me forever, live a long life, grow old with me, and never do we part.

    ¡­¡­hhh¡­¡­

    Li Chuan wasn¡¯t someone who liked to make promises, especially on things that he could not guarantee. But when he saw that my emotions were out of control, making promises became his ultimate method offorting me. He started repeating all these never-ending sweet promises. He spoke in his deep and mesmerizing voice chattering endlessly like a Buddhist reciting scripture. I calmly fell asleep in his recital and returned to normal.

    I gradually believed that Li Chuan made the right decision to leave me nine years ago. My ability to cope with emotional crises was far worse than I had imagined even though my ability to neglect them was stronger than I thought.

    ¡°Tell me, Li Chuan, when you were diagnosed with cancer, did your dad ever hide the truth from you?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± he said, ¡°he told me first thing, and even told me that there was only thirty to fifty percent chance of surviving the illness in five years.¡±

    I sighed, ¡°You were only seventeen then. Your dad was confident that you would be able to handle the truth?¡±

    ¡°Maybe because my dad thought that I was (English) tough enough. If it was my brother, he would have hid some part of it from him.¡±

    I crossed my arms, ¡°But you didn¡¯t think that I could ept the truth?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­You¡¯re at it again.¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m a woman. Women are emotionally fragile creatures.¡±

    ¡°There are strong women too.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m not strong?¡±

    He looked at me and didn¡¯t know how to respond.

    ¡°Where am I not strong?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Give me an example.¡±

    ¡°For example, I already bid you farewell, but you still wrote a hundred letters to me?¡±

    ¡°That proves I¡¯m strong. Undying determination and perseverance is strong.¡±

    ¡°(English) Come on.¡±

    ¡°It shows that my mentality is strong. No matter how many times you try to get rid of me, you can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Therefore, you were wrong. You should have told me the truth at the time.¡±

    He patted my face, thought for a moment, and said, ¡°If you really want to know the truth, let me tell you something then.¡±

    ¡°Go ahead.¡±

    ¡°Someone called me yesterday. You picked up the phone, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes. He spoke in German, so I didn¡¯t understand him.¡±

    ¡°He was my doctor.¡±

    My face went pale.

    ¡°I took a chest x-ray beforeing to Kunming. He found three small dots on my lungs. They suspect that my cancer has recurred, but they are not certain, so I have to get another chest x-ray again in six weeks¡­¡­¡±

    I stared at him with my mind goingpletely nk; I couldn¡¯t breathe for a moment.

    I then fell to the ground.

    When I woke up, I found myself lying in Li Chuan¡¯s arms. I felt a stinging taste in my mouth; it was alcohol, hard liquor.

    I looked at him confused; he pointed at the (Chinese white liquor) on the table, ¡°I¡¯m sure that your strong mentality hasn¡¯t swayed, but your head fainted.¡±

    My tears began flowing non-stop and my body shook as I looked at him, ¡°Is it¡­true?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± he sighed, fetched his cell phone, and dialed a number, ¡°This is my primary doctor. He speaks English. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can ask him.¡±

    Li Chuan¡¯s doctor was named Herman; he spoke in English with a very heavy German ent and exined Li Chuan¡¯s condition to me. He said that although Li Chuan had not recovered his health to an ideal state, he had improved a lot sincest year. There were no signs of his cancer recurring, but he also advised that for patients like him, it could recur at any time, so (English) just live with it.

    I looked at him worriedly and didn¡¯t say a word.

    ¡°(English) Honey, are you better now?¡± He held my face in his palms and smiled affectionately, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have joked about something so serious. You really fell to the floor with a sound of a ¡®thump.¡¯ I thought you would at least be able to stand for a few seconds. Does your head still feel dizzy? Do you want something to drink? I¡¯ll get you a ss of juice.¡±

    ¡°Wang Li Chuan!¡­..You dared to joke with me!?¡±

    He was afraid of hearing me yell at him, so he picked up his crutches and fled to the kitchen with a dash.

    He brought me the juice in a vacuumed bottle. I took a big gulp to get rid of the alcohol taste in my mouth, and then I asked him casually, ¡°Since the doctor says that you¡¯re okay now, why were you in the bathroom for two hours this morning? Is there something else wrong?¡±

    Li Chuan always woke up early and I didn¡¯t like getting out of bed, so we never had problems with sharing a bathroom. Now that he was back, I wanted to spend more time together with him, so I started getting up early as well. That was when it became a problem.

    ¡°Okay, the following is my report. I woke up, took my medicine, and went to the washroom for 2 minutes. Then I shaved for 10 minutes, brushed my teeth for 2 minutes, and took a shower for 30 minutes. I came out andbed my hair for 5 minutes, then put on my clothes for 5 minutes. Let me think what else did I do¡­Oh, right, someone said that her earring broke. I took 30 minutes to fix your earring. I was too focused on fixing it and identally dropped it into the sink. In order to fetch the earring, I took¡­¡­I¡¯m not sure, I think I took 30 minutes¡ª¡ª¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­Li Chuan, you¡¯re so long-winded.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not done, let me finish. I went out to buy soy milk and Chinese fried pancakes. I forgot to bring your wallet, so I asked the store if they would ept Swiss Franc, but they were afraid that it was fake. Then he said he recognizes you so I could put it on the tab. He asked me what kind of pancakes I would like, so I asked for the regr kind. But he said Wu Da Lang pancakes were the best. I asked him who Wu Da Lang was, and he said Wu Da Lang was a character in ¡®.¡¯ I said that I had heard of ¡®Water Margin¡¯ before, but had never heard of Wu Da Lang. He said if I had never heard of Wu Da Lang, it meant that I didn¡¯t know ¡®Water Margin.¡¯ I said that I had heard of ¡®Water Margin¡¯ from my girlfriend and that she had never mentioned about Wu Da Lang. He got mad and said that either my girlfriend was a liar or was a foreigner. I said that my girlfriend was from Yunan and he didn¡¯t believe me. He said the next time you go buy soy milk, he would definitely ask you about it¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°Are you tired of talking yet?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡­And then I came back and bumped into the grandma next door. She said that store adds water to their soy milk, so we should make soy milk ourselves. She rmended the soy milk maker from Joyang. I said I would definitely get one¡­¡­¡±

    ¡°I beg you to stop talking. I¡¯m going crazy!¡±

    ¡°Then can you tell me why I don¡¯t know who Wu Da Lang is?¡±

    ¡°Alright, the story I told you about was not ¡®Water Margin.¡¯ It was ¡®.¡¯¡±

    ¡°There is no Wu Da Lang in ¡®Jin Ping Mei?¡¯¡±

    ¡°There is, but I didn¡¯t mention it. If I did, you would have thought that Pan Jin Lian was a bad woman.¡±

    ¡°Is she bad or not?¡±

    ¡°Hm, regarding that¡­¡­Li Chuan, our Chinese culture is broad and sophisticated. You could write a thesis on it. Let¡¯s not discuss this now. Let¡¯s go get some groceries.¡± I patted his shoulders, ¡°You can do whatever you want to do in the morning. Don¡¯t ever report it to me again.¡±

    Li Chuan was wearing a white t-shirt apanied with a pair of blue jeans.

    I locked the door carrying a shopping bag and left with him. The market wasn¡¯t far; it was about a twenty-minute walk. I kind of missed when he used to walk with only a cane; we could hold hands like other couples who were passionately in love. Now that he was using two crutches, it felt like I would be in his way if I wrapped my hand around his arm. I couldn¡¯t be too close to him either because people using crutches needed more room. Therefore, I had to (English) live with it; learn to get used to it. I was already happy to be able to live together with Li Chuan; I could not ask for more.

    We walked East on a small street. After ten minutes, Li Chuan suddenly stopped in front of a fruit store. I thought he wanted to buy fruits, ¡°Let¡¯s get them when wee back. If we get them now, we¡¯ll have to carry them to the supermarket and then carry them back with our other groceries. It¡¯ll be troublesome.¡±

    He didn¡¯t answer. He freed one of his hands and grabbed my waist. He held my waist tightly and rested his chin on my forehead. He had always loved rubbing his chin on my forehead, especially when he had some stubble; as if he purposely wanted to tickle me.

    I tilted my head upwards and looked at him. He slid his hand down, found my hand, and grabbed it tightly. He lowered his head to look at the fruits, ¡°Are these Fuji apples?¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­I think so.¡±

    I was enjoying the moment of happiness.

    Li Chuan was back; I couldn¡¯t believe that it was for real. I grabbed his hand subconsciously, leaned towards his chest subconsciously, and listened to his heartbeat subconsciously. Our palms were sweating together, and all of a sudden, my body swayed.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he quickly held onto me, ¡°Are you not feeling well?¡±

    ¡°I¡­¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± I leaned on him with my back covered in cold sweat, ¡°I suddenly had a dream.¡±

    ¡°You?¡± He raised his eyebrows, ¡°You had a daydream?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°What was it about?¡±

    ¡°I dreamt that¡­¡­we were standing together¡­¡­buying apples.¡±

    He looked at me in disappointment. After he was certain that I wasn¡¯t joking with him, he sighed; he wanted to say something, but kept his silence and continued to hug me.

    The storedy came and greeted us, ¡°Morning! These Fuji apples have just arrived. They are big and fresh. If you want some, I¡¯ll give you a discount.¡± The storedy was at least two heads taller than me and was wearing a vibrant sweater. She had rings on every finger and wore a big golden ne.

    Li Chuan picked the biggest one, ¡°Can I buy just one apple?¡±

    The storedy froze for a second, and then nodded, ¡°Yes. That¡¯s quite a big one. Okay, fine. You can just give me two dors RMB for it.¡±

    He took out a hundred-dor bill from his wallet.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s such a big bill, do you guys have change?¡±

    We both answered, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Please watch the store for me and I¡¯ll go get some change.¡±

    ¡°No problem, we¡¯re not in a hurry.¡±

    She was gone for a long time. I didn¡¯t speak and only continued to lean on Li Chuan while dazing off. After a moment, Li Chuan asked quietly, ¡°(English) Honey, are you done dreaming?¡±

    ¡°No¡­Not yet.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s enough, Miss. That expression of yours from just now is good enough to film a trailer for a romance drama. Just like this.¡± He held his head in his palms like a girl with his eyes wide open.

    I chuckled, ¡°Really? No way! Am I that hopeless?¡±

    Li Chuan looked at me, then the sky, and let out a deep breath, ¡°(English) God, what have I done to this woman¡ª¡ª¡±

    I pretended to be angry.

    He quickly said, ¡°I¡¯ll serve you tonight.¡±

    The storedy gave us a bunch of change.

    ¡°By any chance, do you have a sink here? I want to wash the apple,¡± Li Chuan asked.

    ¡°There¡¯s one inside. It¡¯s not convenient for you, so let her go wash it,¡± the storedy said honestly while staring at his leg.

    ¡°No, no, I will go wash it.¡±

    Li Chuan left me to go inside and wash the apple. The storedy smirked as she looked at me from head to toe, ¡°Your boyfriend takes care of you so well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s quite good-looking,¡± she added.

    ¡°I agree.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to marry him?¡± she asked suddenly.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Your parents approve?¡±

    It was a ratherplicated answer, but to put it simply, ¡°Yes.¡±

    She suddenly pulled out a handkerchief and started crying, ¡°There was a man who treated me very well before, but I married someone else for money. Sniff¡­¡­sniff¡­¡­I¡¯ve never regretted it so much until today!¡±

    I hugged her tightly. She cried in my arms for ten minutes, and her tears damped my shirt.

    Li Chuan stood on the side with the apple that he just washed. He didn¡¯t know what to do so he made some hand gestures toward me and asked in English, ¡°What happened?¡±

    I looked at him helplessly as Iforted the storedy softly.

    She calmed down eventually, and we shook hands with her and said our goodbyes. Li Chuan stuffed the apple into my hands, ¡°Where there is two women together, it¡¯ll always be like a romance drama, regardless of whether you know each other or not¡ª¨CKunming, you sure are a city full of emotions!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, she just happened to have remembered something sad.¡±

    ¡°Eat your apple.¡±

    ¡°Why am I suddenly eating an apple?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it so that you have something to do while we walk?¡± heughed, ¡°Otherwise, you¡¯ll continue daydreaming, and you¡¯ll end up falling into the gutter before we know it.¡±

    I went to the supermarket on East street often before Li Chuan came back; I mainly went there to buy instant noodles. After Li Chuan came back, I didn¡¯t go again because he liked buying groceries in the morning, saying that the vegetables were fresher in the morning. He also learned how to make food containing wheat, and looked up a bunch of recipes on the web; he made pan-fried pork bun for me once.

    We bought some fruits and vegetables. Li Chuan ate very light meals, and kept his diet under strict control. I on the other hand, liked bold tasting dishes and loved adding spices. In order to avoid needing him to specially make a dish for me every day, I also got used to eating light-tasting meals. But he insisted on buying some chili peppers, the kind that Szechuan people liked.

    Li Chuan was stopped by a fifty year-old woman when he was trying to buy some chili. She stood and observed Li Chuan for a minute, and then walked towards us with a serious expression. She looked a bit familiar to me; I thought I must have seen her from somewhere, but I couldn¡¯t figure out who she was.

    We were stunned by her sorrowful expression. Her lips trembled as she asked, ¡°Young man, how is it over there? Is everyone okay?¡±

    Li Chuan looked at her puzzled while holding a pack of chili, ¡°Auntie, you¡¯re asking¡­.about where?¡±

    ¡°Wenchuan. You must have juste back from the disaster area, right? How is the reconstruction going? Our neighborhoodmittee has donated a truck full of winter clothes. An olddy like me isn¡¯t much help, so I¡¯ve only donated five hundred RMB. My home is also in Szechuan, and one of my nephews has also be disabled, it¡¯s so unfortunate¡­¡­He¡¯s about the same age as you, and hasn¡¯t gotten married yet. Young man, you seem quite lively. You¡¯ve recovered quite well, haven¡¯t you!?¡±

    What was going on!?

    I was frozen like a rock.

    Li Chuan, oh, Li Chuan, why did you have to buy chili and cause others to mistaken you for a Szechuan person.

    Li Chuan obviously knew about the earthquake; we both donated our money. I finally remembered that thedy worked at the neighborhoodmittee. My registered residence was still Beijing, so I had to ask her for a temporary residence permit.

    I took a peek at Li Chuan. He had a weird expression on his face; the kind that you would only see on a foreigner who felt awkward and embarrassed. Li Chuan looked at me for help. I held out my hands and shrugged to show that there was nothing that I could do.

    What could I say? Should I have told thedy that she got the wrong person, and that this young man was not disabled due to the earthquake, but because of cancer? Saying that would definitely not scare her, but it would scare me because I was very sensitive to the word, ¡°cancer.¡± If I could, I would rather not mention it again for the rest of my life.

    After a moment of silence, Li Chuan cleared his throat, and then held out his hand unabashedly to shake hands with her. He said sincerely, ¡°Auntie, thank you for your thoughtfulness. I would like to thank you on behalf of all the people in the disaster area.¡±

 Side Story 4.1

    <h4>Side Story 4.1</h4>

    Six months after we got married, Li Chuan¡¯s health became stable, so he started working again. We continued to live in Kunming; Li Chuan flew to Beijing to take care of business matters for CGP twice a week, but he mostlypleted his sketches at home in Kunming. My workload also increased at the trantionpany; I did less written trantions, and more verbal trantions, which required me to travel more.

    My coworkers thought that I would quit my job and be a full time housewife after getting married, but I could never get used to not working, and Li Chuan also respected my decision.

    In July of that year, Li Chuan was invited to Sicily, Italy to attend an annual conference for architects. He had to go back to Switzend toplete amercial design project before that, while I was in the middle of a government funded traveling project, so we were separated for two months. Once the traveling project was over, I requested for two months of vacation to return to Switzend. Li Chuan had already handed in his sketches and was in Sicily. He asked his dad¡¯s driver, Fehn, to pick me up at the airport, and told me to wait four days at home for him before he flew back to reunite with me. He actually really wanted to sneak out of the meeting, but his presentation was scheduled on the veryst day. Furthermore, after some of his past coboration partners heard that he had ¡°returned,¡± he was invited to dinners, so he couldn¡¯t leave.

    The Zurich airport hadn¡¯t changed much.

    The airne arrived on time. I didn¡¯t want to have to wait for my luggage at the airport, so I only brought my smallest sized suitcase; it carried myptop, which contained my iplete trantion drafts and a few newly released novels that I could read to kill time. Everything was avable at home, so I didn¡¯t even bring any clothes to change into.

    I crossed the border and started searching for Fehn among the crowd at the exit. I couldn¡¯t see him anywhere. There were many Swiss people standing in front of me, and I couldn¡¯t remember what Fehn looked like.

    I suddenly spotted a Chinese looking face.

    His eyes were calm, but he immediately grinned the moment he saw me.

    It was Li Chuan!!

    I sprinted towards him in surprise. He embraced me tightly and kissed my forehead. He looked at me from head to toe, ¡°What tour were you on? You look so dark.¡±

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t use ¡®dark,¡¯ you should use tan-coloured (¡®Mai Se¡¯).¡±

    ¡°Okay, you look so tan (¡®Mai¡¯).¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wang, ¡®tan¡¯ is not used that way¡ª¡ª¡± I teased.

    He wore an all-ck suit with a skinny silver-grey tie. His hair was neatlybed. It was probably because he had to attend the conference, so he was wearing his prosthetic leg and holding only a cane.

    Didn¡¯t he say he couldn¡¯t be here? He actually arrived at Zurich before me.

    ¡°The conference ended?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Nope, I snuck out to pick you up. Come with me to Sicily, okay?¡± he pulled my hand, ¡°There¡¯s a big arcade room at the bottom of the hotel, you can y games there. Once I¡¯m free, I¡¯ll take you to see the volcano¡ª¡ªan active volcano, one that has smokesing out of it.¡±

    I smiled bitterly as I watched him beg me like a kid.

    Li Chuan was truly a workaholic; once he started a project, he would work day and night on it, and forget to eat normally. If he became too busy, he would end up eating only one thing: tuna sandwich. Under my supervision, he would work and rest more normally as I would tell him not to stay up too long at night. He really slimmed down a size without me apanying him for these past two months.

    Li Chuan knew that I didn¡¯t like unfamiliar ces, especially conferences, dinner parties, and other formal social events. I knew nothing of his work in Europe, and had only seen a couple of his architectural design sketches. CGP¡¯s head office was in Zurich; Li Chuan hadn¡¯t been back to work once after we got married, and I had only apanied him to hispany¡¯s annual banquet once. Many people spoke to me in English artictely while I tailed after Li Chuan. I would be tired after socializing for a bit, so Li Chuan often took over the conversation.

    I sighed, ¡°You didn¡¯t have toe get me. Wouldn¡¯t it have been easier if you just bought me a transfer flight? When did you arrive?¡±

    ¡°I got here thirty-minutes before you,¡± he smiled, ¡°I just made it to pick you up. I skipped this morning¡¯s meeting.¡±

    Li Chuan was very German-influenced; he was always well nned. But after recovering from his illness, he became more indecisive; he sometimes would do nonsensical things out of impulse. He must have had to rush this time and couldn¡¯t spare a second. I suddenly felt troubled as I rememberedst time when he had to cross the border; it was time consuming for disabled people, especially after the 911 incident in America. Even when Li Chuan had brought all the permits with him, he was still requested to take off his shoes like everyone else to check; taking off shoes for someone who had gone through amputation was very difficult. Li Chuan, who was rather sensitive, would alwaysment every time, ¡°(English) This is so embarrassing.¡± The metal detector would obviously sound when he passed through it wearing his prosthetic leg; some security personnel would ask him to go into a room to take it off if they had a high suspicion. Li Chuan had already gotten used to this from travelling. Most airport staff members were nice, and he was understanding of those who suspected him of arming a bomb on his prosthetic leg. After all, bombs could be armed inside a body, let alone a prosthetic leg.

    I looked around and asked, ¡°Hey, where¡¯s your luggage?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t bring any,¡± he patted his wallet, ¡°and only brought my passport and wallet.¡±

    He did indeed snuck out without any preparation; his forehead was full of sweat.

    I touched his face while my heart ached, ¡°Are you tired?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m alright,¡± he immediately took over my suitcase. I didn¡¯t fight it over with him.

    Li Chuan looked at his watch and tugged me to walk quickly to the terminal with him, ¡°We must hurry, we have to get on the ne.¡±

    When we arrived in Catania of Sicily, it was 2pm. The hotel was quiet. Li Chuan said that everyone was given free time off from the conference in the afternoon, so many went to tour around.

    He opened his room with the card key. Li Chuan dropped my suitcase and pressed me against the back of the door.

    ¡°Ah¡ª¡ª¡±

    He sealed my mouth with a deep kiss; he was a bit rough. My head twisted around and I struggled in his embrace as I almost suffocated. He let go of me to allow me to breathe, ¡°Xiao Qiu, it¡¯s been long since I¡¯vest seen you. You must be good.¡±

    ¡°No, I won¡¯t be good! I want to challenge you!¡± I cried.

    My words made him angry. He pressed my head down with his hand and bit my ear fiercely; he put my ear in his mouth and fiddled it with his tongue. It hurt and tickled at the same time. I tried to break free with force, but he grabbed my arms and wouldn¡¯t let them move. He lowered his head and continued kissing me. I cooperated this time, locked hands with him, and kissed him without holding back. Our faces rubbed against each other, and our noses stroked together; he giggled from the tickling feeling, and let me take off his top and unbuckle his belt. His sweat carried a scent of almond. I caressed his waist and ran my fingers across his stomach. He straightened his back, and his stomach pushed towards me like a flower stem that was gradually standing up after being ced in water.

    ¡°The bed will be morefortable.¡± Li Chuan shook his head. ¡°How about the sofa then?¡± He shook his head again.

    We fell to the hard floor. Li Chuan entered me gently. He pressed his forehead against mine with his eyes open and said, ¡°Hardwood floor sure is hard.¡±

    I didn¡¯t feel the pain, but I panted softly under him, ¡°Will we fracture our bones like this?¡±

    ¡°The sofa will be better. Let¡¯s move to the sofa,¡± he said.

    ¡°Let go of me first then,¡± I said.

    ¡°¡­¡­Maybe next time.¡±

    Li Chuan always had a refreshing and elusive scent on him. He continued gently yet vigorously. The air conditioner blew out a cool breeze while the ceiling fan spun steadily. The room was permeated with the unique scent of Mediterranean olives. We rolled and twisted on the cherry hardwood floor like two opposing warriors. The floor creaked as our bones pressed against it. There were no special moves or techniques; we immersed ourselves in the most primal form of enjoyment like two wild animals. Our cool bodies became hot with sweat trickling down. Li Chuan embraced me as he gave hisst effort. A flow like electricity filled my whole body. He let go and caressed my face while deep in thought.

    I sniffed the smell of pine on his fingertips and said softly, ¡°Li Chuan, I might get pregnant this time. It¡¯s not my safe period.¡±

    His body trembled from being startled.

    After a moment of silence, he shook his head, ¡°It¡¯s not possible. I¡¯ve had many radiotherapies, which affected my prostate nd. My sperm count and sperm activity have been reduced, so the chances of me fathering a child¡­.is close to zero.¡±

    Li Chuan had already told me about this before we got married, but I had continued hoping. It was just that because I brought it up again, I reminded him of his sadness.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay, I don¡¯t care,¡± I quickly said, ¡°We don¡¯t have to have a child, we can always adopt one!¡±

    Hey on the floor and stared nkly at the ceiling without saying a word. I got up, went to his bedroom to fetch his cane, and turned on the water in the bathroom. After the tub was filled up, I went to Li Chuan, but he was still looking absent-minded while lying on his side by the wall with his pajamas spread on top of him.

    ¡°The tub is ready,¡± I hugged him and pressed my face on his chest.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu,¡± he suddenly spoke in a low voice, ¡°I also want a baby.¡±

    I covered his mouth, leaned downwards, and kissed the scars on his body; his leg was gone from below. His body became stiff and his muscles were tight as if he was on his defense; they rxed after a few seconds and became limp.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡ª¡ª¡± I murmured.

    Besides his doctors and his father, Li Chuan had never shown anyone his sadness. In the year that he had the ident, he lost his mom, and then his leg, which was traumatizing to both his body and mind. He had to receive radiotherapy, causing him to lose his hair and appetite. He thought that his scars were frightening even till now. Other than me, he would not allow anyone else to see them.

    ¡°Xiao Qiu¡ª¡ª¡± his voice became serious, ¡°We need to talk.¡±

    ¡°Tell me, I¡¯m listening.¡±

    ¡°Stop joking around,¡± he patted my head, ¡°and sit on the sofa.¡±

    ¡°Am I joking around? This is called the life of a married couple.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help but take a deep breath; he didn¡¯t know where to put his hands as I provoked him. After a while, his body stopped shaking, but his back was still stiff. I stood up, wrapped my arms around him, and let his head rest on my shoulder.

    ¡°(English) Honey¡­¡­¡± he wanted to say something, but stopped.

    ¡°I just want it, okay?¡±

    ¡°I want to talk to you about having a baby.¡±

    ¡°Tell me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not entirely impossible.¡±

    My eyes were wide open.

    ¡°When I had my first chemotherapy at seventeen, thinking about the impacts to fertility, I epted my doctor¡¯s suggestion and stored my sperms. If you really want to have a baby, we can try IVF.¡±

    ¡°IVF?¡±

    ¡°(English) In-vitro Fertilization, how do I say it in Chinese?¡±

    ¡°In-vitro fertilization.¡± I started calcting, ¡°Your sperms from when you were seventeen? It¡¯s been neen years then, can they still be used? Yogurts can¡¯t even be eaten after a month.¡±

    ¡°Normally, if they¡¯ve been kept well, sperms can live for thirty years.¡±

    My heart began to pound, ¡°Then¡­¡­Hm¡­¡­is quality also guaranteed?¡±

    He rested on my shoulder and didn¡¯t say a word. He said slowly after a while, ¡°They shouldn¡¯t be too bad. Think about it, if I was diagnosed with cancer when I was nine, we would really have no hope. But you shouldn¡¯t get too hopeful either, the chance of sess in using sperms from this kind of age is only thirty percent.¡±

    I grinned and started to tease, ¡°Ah¡­¡­sperms from seventeen, that means they are from a seventeen year-old Li Chuan! Ah! Seventeen year-old Li Chuan must have been a very lively young man.¡± I would admit that I was drooling a bit. I had seen photos of Li Chuan ying tennis when he was young before; he was pretty and handsome, and glowing with confidence and pride. When Li Chuan was seventeen, he suffered from illness, so he never took full-body photos again. The photo we took together in Kunming was the one and only.

    ¡°Don¡¯t get too excited,¡± he twisted my ear, ¡°IVF is a tedious process and it¡¯ll impact your mood greatly.¡±

    His smile had a tint of sadness. He didn¡¯t sound too passionate, and might have sounded rather cold.

    Since he was able to answer me so professionally, he must have done a lot of research.

    My heart shivered.

    ¡ª¡ªLi Chuan didn¡¯t want to have kids. Even though he had longed for having aplete family, for someone who didn¡¯t know how long he could live, he didn¡¯t want his kids to grow up without a father.

    I smiled and didn¡¯t continue.

 Side Story 4.2

    <h4>Side Story 4.2</h4>

    The conference had a formal banquet and wine reception. After taking a shower, Li Chuan took me to buy a ck evening dress. We strolled down the street north of the Church, eating the local tangerines and sweet melons, and bought a bag of pistachios. When we returned to the hotel, the banquet had already started. Li Chuan introduced me to those of his industry. Everyone used variousnguages to chat about industry news. I apanied him the entire time, smiling and listening. It was both strenuous and confusing, and I had to exchange social niceties with every one of these professionals. After a while, Li Chuan finally understood and let go of my hand, ¡°Honey, the bar over there has coffee and ice cream. Go and drink some first. I wille apany you after I chat for a bit.¡±

    I pardoned myself and headed over.

    The bar was in the southwest corner of the hall. I got a ss of wine and lightly sipped it. As expected, the fragrance was unrivaled. After a short time, a chestnut haired European came over, got a ss of whiskey, and sat down on the bar stool to chat with me.

    She was very beautiful and was dressed exquisitely. On her neck, a jewel shined in the light.

    ¡°I am Mi Fu. An architect.¡±

    ¡°I am Xiao Qiu. My husband is an architect.¡±

    She raised her eyes, and asked while smiling, ¡°Is your husband Zhi Tian Jun?¡±

    ¡°No, my husband is Swiss.¡±

    I didn¡¯t mention Li Chuan¡¯s name because I was too unfamiliar with the architect world. It wasn¡¯t easy to finally find an empty ce to rest and I didn¡¯t want to get into discussing industry news with anyone.

    ¡°I am American.¡±

    I smiled. Did that even need to be stated? Her American ent was too obvious.

    ¡°I am from China.¡±

    ¡°You are Taiwanese, right?¡±

    ¡°No, from Maind, Yunnan.¡±

    ¡°You look Taiwanese.¡± She actually had never heard of the ce, ¡°Your outfit is very pretty.¡±

    ¡°Yours is also. I like your shawl.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, you have great eyes. Can you believe this? I bought this in Cambodia, handmade. I fell in love with it at first sight.¡± She spread it out on her shoulders to show, ¡°This conference is really boring. It¡¯s all men, 99% of them. Darling, can you believe this, when mene together to tter each other, it¡¯s even more corny than women.¡±

    She was quite funny, I couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Then are you one of the only female architects?¡±

    Sheughed, quite pleased, ¡°That¡¯s right, 20% of architects in Ennd are women, and the US only has 9%. Actually, 40% of college students who study architecture are female. Strange, where do these people go after they graduate?¡±

    I twirled my ss of wine, ¡°They probably married architects.¡±

    ¡°Darling, which city do you live in in Switzend? I have contracts with many Swisspanies. Perhaps, I even know your husband.¡±

    ¡°My husband is Alex Wong.¡± I pointed to Li Chuan¡¯s back, ¡°That one with ck hair.¡±

    She sucked in her breath, eyes wide open, ¡°(English) Oh My God. You are Alex¡¯s wife!¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°It was because of you that Alex didn¡¯te out of China for a whole year.¡±

    ¡°I had some work that I couldn¡¯t leave and he was willing to stay in China to apany me.¡± I didn¡¯t mention anything about his illness. Sickness in foreign countries was a huge taboo to talk about. Only a few friends knew about Li Chuan¡¯s cancer.

    ¡°Alex is one of the most difficult people toe in contact with!¡± Mi Fu halfughed, holding in some annoyance, ¡°I tried to seduce him so many times, but never seeded. He only treated me to a ss of wine and stillpeted with me for business the next day. It wasn¡¯t even a huge contract. I told Alex, let me this one time, he said, sorry, he had settled on a ring.¡±

    She pointed to my hand, ¡°That ring was bought by that money in XXXX year, right? Ibored over the drawing for three months till I was spitting out blood from a hole in my stomach, and, in the end, he got the deal. Alex, that horrible fellow, beat my design down over and over again. I need to find him to take revenge.¡±

    Actually, this ring was bought in Switzend before Li Chuan and I split up the first time. At that time, Li Chuan was confident in his body and thought that it was just a routine checkup. So he purposely went to a jewelry store and bought this engagement ring. In the end, the hospital¡¯s phone call shattered his dream. When he first heard it, he was stupefied. The doctor said that he only had three months. He wanted to go and die right then.

    Even years after the fact, when Li Chuan talks about that time, his mood will still dampen. He had walked along the river in Zurich, in unbearable pain. He then went and stayed in a church for a whole night, quietly praying. Finally, he was dragged to go skiing by his brother and Rene. He sped down the hill, over and over again, seeking to forget in the speed.

    I looked at the ring on my finger. How could Mi Fu understand theplications and scares that came with it? I smiled and didn¡¯t reply.

    Fortunately, Li Chuan was already heading towards me.

    ¡°Hi, Mi Fu!¡± He said, ¡°I¡¯m really happy to see you. I thought you were still busy in Germany with your designing. Xiao Qiu, let me introduce you. Mi Fu is ROB Architecture Firm¡¯s Chief Architect. We worked on many projects together. I really like her designs and working with her is a great delight.

    Li Chuan was quite experienced in social interactions. After all, the generations of architects in his family had given him a strongwork. Those in attendance at this conference, besides Li Chuan, were one of his uncles and two older (paternal) male cousins, who, because of projects tangling them, left earlier. Otherwise, the Wang family could hold a household meal here.

    I felt that Mi Fu¡¯s eyes towards Li Chuan from the start were filled with affection and enticement. Her voice suddenly became a bit softer, and her head leaned side to side andughed with glee. Of course, this is not the first woman I¡¯ve seen lose control of herself in front of Li Chuan. But I was still a bit jealous.

    He introduced me to her, ¡°This is my wife, Xie Xiao Qiu. She is a very talented professional trantor.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve already been introduced.¡±

    ¡°Mi Fu, my younger (female) cousin is a sophomore at the University of Murcia and wanted to intern at yourpany during winter break, is that alright?¡±

    ¡°Hold on, Alex. You aren¡¯t thinking a sending a small spy to obtain information, are you?¡±

    ¡°How could I do that? There are other ces for her to go, but she worships you too much. The little girl has just started sophomore year, and don¡¯t understand anything. If you let her do some small things and learn a bit, that would be good.¡±

    ¡°Can she speak English?¡±

    ¡°She can speak French and German, and can understand English. She¡¯s just not that fluent. Don¡¯t you know French?¡±

    ¡°My god, that little French of mine can only be used to look at French fashion magazines. How about, you pay, and I help her find a trantor.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll have her brother pay.¡±

    ¡°So stingy, and you¡¯re even first cousins. You aren¡¯t even willing to part with that little amount.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right in your criticism. I¡¯ll have her pay with the money she earns while working. She¡¯s already that old and is still not embarrassed to be taking the family¡¯s money.¡±

    ¡°I know a hotel that is favored by foreign students.¡±

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t bother. I will help her book a hotel closest to yourpany.¡±

    ¡°Close to mypany? The wealthy district?¡± She suddenlyughed out loud, ¡°You are really a big spending cousin.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a girl, after all. When she¡¯s out, safety¡¯s first. Plus, for those in our field, rest and food are very important.¡±

    ¡°Alright, have her call me and I¡¯ll take care of the rest. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Her expression then seemed annoyed, raising her chest, she said, ¡°Really Alex, you didn¡¯t even tell me about such a big thing as you getting married.¡±

    Li Chuan promptly exined, ¡°Really sorry. We had our wedding in China. When will you have time toe to Zurich? Xiao Qiu and I will treat you to a meal.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t be going to Switzend soon, Alex. Just don¡¯t forget me when you hold the celebration for your first child.¡± After speaking, she nced meaningfully at my abdomen.

    I was a bit distressed. She had hit a sore spot. I hesitantly looked at Li Chuan.

    With his normal countenance, he said, ¡°Of course.¡±

    The banquet was very luxuriant, but everything was tasteless to me. My mind was packed with thoughts about IVF. Li Chuan slowly drank his juice, while I held a ss of wine on the side, apanying him and smiling, hiding a heavy heart. Carelessly, I drank till I was half drunk. Li Chuan still wanted to see a friend. He took me home, urged me to go rest first, and then turned around and left.

    After more than an hour, when he came back again, I was sitting in the center of therge bed, hugging the covers. I said to him seriously, ¡°Li Chuan, I want to undergo IVF.¡±

    I didn¡¯t say ¡°ask about¡± or ¡°try¡±. I didn¡¯t give him any leeway for argument. Plus, I also didn¡¯t mention ¡°us¡±, because this thing, if we¡¯re only talking about procedures, didn¡¯t require his participation.

    He ced the door card on the table, an expression of slight amazement. He lowered his head and thought about it, ¡°Can I persuade you to give it up?¡±

    He had changed his mind.

    ¡°Why?¡± I tried my best to keep a tone for discussion, ¡°You don¡¯t need to participate in this matter. The sperm has already been deep-frozen many years. I¡¯m just taking them to use. It would be a pity to waste them. What do you say?¡±

    He sighed and sat down next to me, ¡°First, to undergo IVF, a lot of blood must be taken from you. You have blood phobia.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t faint from the sight of my blood. I¡¯m not afraid.¡±

    ¡°Second, the process is veryplicated with low chance of sess. It¡¯s very stressful. Many people have to see psychiatrists afterwards.¡±

    ¡°Low chance of sess? Then let¡¯s try more times.¡±

    ¡°Third, and the most important, my genes are extremely bad.¡±

    I wrinkled my eyebrows and looked at him from head to toe, ¡°Your genes are quite nice. Handsome and beautiful, intelligent and tall.¡±

    ¡°My genes could contain cancer.¡±

    ¡°Sigh, don¡¯t think so much. My uncle died of stomach cancer and my (maternal) grandmother had arthritis. Trust me, Li Chuan. This is only a random appearance.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu,¡± he looked at me, ¡°Your heart is iparably strong. If something happened to you, you would still be able to continue on. But, if my child had to face these things in her childhood, whether it¡¯s for her or for me, it would be too cruel. Have you thought about that?¡±

    I was silent for a bit. It was hard to answer.

    But, I stood firm and said, ¡°Why should I think about the negative? I¡¯m not a negative person! When you draw each time, would you think about it falling down in an earthquake?¡±

    ¡°Of course I would! I emphasize shock proofing in each of my designs.¡± He suddenly changed to a begging tone, ¡°Can we wait a few more years before considering this question?¡±

    ¡°But, the older I am, the harder it is to get pregnant. If we want to try, the earlier the better.¡±

    ¡°Wait three years, okay?¡± He held my hand and put it against his lips, lightly kissing it, ¡°Let me be positive that I can take on the responsibilities of fatherhood¡­¡±

    ¡°No! This is not a problem of time. You can be a father at any time. Even if something happened to you, I can also raise the child up alone. Li Chuan, think about it. If we have a child, then life¡­¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, can you please consider my feelings?¡± He interrupted me, his voice a bit sealed. It was clear he was angry.

    I looked into his eyes and firmly said, ¡°Li Chuan, I want a child. You cannot change this fact.¡±

    Because of my words, Li Chuan was depressed the entire night and hardly spoke to me.

    I didn¡¯t foresee him having such a strong reaction to it. After getting married, we would bicker sometimes, but didn¡¯t seriously argue about anything. We both greatly treasured this time that was hard toe by.

    The next day, Li Chuan had a presentation. I went down to the arcade and yed a whole day of video games. When he came back, I saw his pale face, as if he had not slept the entire night, and I didn¡¯t mention it again.

    When the conference ended, we went to the small vige, Taormina, and stayed at a hotel on the cliff overlooking the ocean. Li Chuan took me to see the famous fire mountain and seaside spa. The town¡¯s mountain rocks were uniquely shaped, and small alleyways passed through the area with stone steps everywhere. We especially went to see the ruins of a Greek theater, ancient copsed walls, and new shows that were ying. We saw the beautiful gulf, lethargic streets, children running around everywhere, and the elderly wearing hats. Li Chuan apanied me the entire time. He had already been here before, so he was both trantor and guide, making him quite tired.

    My heart softened and I didn¡¯t mention IVF for a whole two weeks after we got back to Switzend.

    One evening, I drove home after buying a heap of groceries and made Li Chuan his favorite fish dish. Seeing that he still hadn¡¯t gotten off work yet, I took the watering can to water the flowers in front of the front door.

    Our neighbor, Angie, held her own three year old daughter, Sophie, and chatted with me.

    ¡°Annie,¡± she said, ¡°Sophie was quite miserable today. She¡¯s been crying the entire day and has a rash on her entire body. Look, even my heart hurts.¡±

    Little Sophie¡¯s face waspletely red and covered in sores. Layers of vaseline had been smeared on it.

    ¡°Poor Sophie, does it itch a lot?¡± I took the child and held her in my arms, closely examining her, holding down her iling little hand, ¡°Look at her continuously wanting to scratch her own face.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯ve cut her nails. I wanted to put gloves on her, but the weather is too hot and she was very unhappy.¡± Angie was a native who went to college in Ennd. Even though she had a thick German ent, her English was very good.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you lower the air conditioner at home?¡± I suggested.

    ¡°It won¡¯t do. I¡¯m afraid of her catching a cold. Last night, she cried terribly. Her dad and I didn¡¯t get a wink of sleep.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s this hard to raise a child.¡± I looked at the dark circles around Angie¡¯s eyes and sighed. I thought to myself, no matter how hard it is, I was still willing. But, raising a child isn¡¯t just one person¡¯s decision. Li Chuan¡¯s support was very important. My thoughts became even moreplicated. Afterwards, Angie said a whole bunch of things on the details of getting up at night and feeding. Nothing went in except thest thing she said.

    ¡°¡­it is exhausting now, but it¡¯ll be better after she¡¯s three years old. Afterwards, you¡¯ll dislike her growing up too fast.¡±

    The soft little thing in my arm moved and blinked at me with herrge green eyes. Her head of curly golden hair softlyy on top of my chest. She cried out and I yed with her, making herugh at me. She then stuck her own fingers into her mouth. I couldn¡¯t help but kiss her face. When I lowered my head, I saw that arge section of my clothes was wet from her saliva.

    I quickly said, ¡°Sigh, does she seem like she wants to be breastfed?¡±

    ¡°I just fed her,¡± Angie said, ¡°Actually, your Alex also really like kids. When Sophie¡¯s old sister was younger, if Alex was home, she would run to his home. I don¡¯t know how much ice cream and chocte she tricked from him.

    But after we got back, Li Chuan never mentioned anything about kids. It was clear that he didn¡¯t want kids in the near future. Yet, I had been secretly researching online. I guessed correctly, the older a woman is after IVF, the lower the chances of sess.

    After a pause, Angie had to ask, ¡°Then when do you guys n on having kids? Huh? If you have one now, she can y with Sophie. That would save a lot of trouble for our families. Raising a child is hard work, the earlier you have one the better.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I said vaguely.

    ¡°The Wang family only has two sons. The older one won¡¯t have children and there has been no indication for the second one. Alex¡¯s (paternal) grandfather must be extremely anxious, right?¡±

    She did understand the Chinese culture. I looked at her, unsure of whether tough or cry.

    Because of his sickness, the entire family was all very sensitive about the topic of children with Li Chuan. When chatting, everyone consciously avoided this topic. The Wang family wasn¡¯t missing this fourth generation. We¡¯ve been to many one-month old birthday parties here and have given gifts one after another. I really didn¡¯t know how to respond.

    Angie suddenly looked away, ¡°Hey, your Alex is home.¡± After saying this, she waved behind me and took the child back.

    I turned around. At some point, Li Chuan had already returned and had been standing by the car for a while. I quickly hurried over and took hisptop and leather bag.

    ¡°You¡¯re back early today. There was no traffic?¡± I asked.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Dinner is already ready and waiting for you to eat.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t we say that you would wait for me toe back to make it?¡±

    ¡°No, this time, I have to show off my skill for you to see. We¡¯ll eat authentic Yunnan food. I especially went to the Chinese store to buy.

    Li Chuan smiled, and touched my face, ¡°Is Angie¡¯s daughter cute?¡±

    ¡°Super cute!¡± I blurted out, ¡°I want to hold her in my arms every day.¡±

    My excited tone leaked out my thoughts. Afraid of him discovering it, I quickly changed the subject, ¡°Hurry and go in. The soup is still stewing on the stove!¡±

    He changed his shoes and headed to the dining room. Li Chuan drank a sip of the soup and suddenly sad, ¡°Xiao Qiu, if you really like children, then go get an IVF. I had something to ask the doctor about today, and also asked about it.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu?¡±

    ¡°¡­huh?¡±

    ¡°Why are you in a daze?¡±

    ¡°You went to look for the doctor? What¡¯s wrong? You don¡¯t feel well?¡± My voice was hoarse and looked at him anxiously.

    ¡°No, no, no, don¡¯t let your mind wander. I¡¯m just done with my medication and wanted him to prescribe two more bottles for me.¡±

    I loosened my breath, ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°As for IVF, do you want to go to the clinic in Zurich or in the US?¡±

    ¡°That¡­didn¡¯t you say¡­to wait a few years?¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, don¡¯t worry too much about my feelings. Your own feelings are also very important.¡±

    I gazed at him in a daze, my heart thudding, ¡°Does that mean you agree to the IVF, Li Chuan?¡±

    ¡°Uh huh.¡± He stroked my shoulder, ¡°I am only worried that you will be tormented. You have to go to the clinic many times for IVF, have to have many examinations, and have to eat a lot of medication. Many of the medication have side-effects. Besides that, the sess rate is so low and I don¡¯t want to see you disappointed.¡±

    I grinned and made an OK sign towards him, ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. I just happen to be free during this time. The boss said that since I¡¯m not in Kunming, he would try to give me less work. I¡¯ll use the remaining time to concentrate on making a baby.

    Seeing me so happy, he also smiled, ¡°Then let¡¯s go to Mount Sinai Medical Center in California. They have a really good clinic there. It¡¯s just that the doctor said that he was worried problems might ur during transportation.¡±

    ¡°Is there no clinic here in Zurich? Can¡¯t it be done here?¡±

    ¡°He did rmend a Doctor Singh to me. His clinic has the highest sess rate in Switzend.¡±

    ¡°How high is it?¡±

    ¡°39%. Of course, if the vitality of the sperm is taken into ount, the percentage is even lower.¡±

    ¡°Hey, hey!¡± I patted his face, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If the first time doesn¡¯t work, we¡¯ll try a second time. You have money, I have a body. We¡¯ll seed at some point.¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    Li Chuan didn¡¯t tell me more. I did more research on the inte. Numbers show that IVF greatly affects the mood and mind of the woman. If it fails, 60% of the women¡¯s moodiness bes uncontroble and bes depressed, anxious, angry, unable to sleep, argues a lot¡­30% of the women have the intention ofmitting suicide. That¡¯s not to mention the work, the time, the money, the emotion, the couple¡¯s rtionship, and all kinds of costs that are invested into this.

    I refused to think about all of this. The blueprint of my, Xie Xiao Qiu¡¯s, life includes Li Chuan and my child. Otherwise, it would be an iplete family. This point of view is a bit outdated, but I will never let a chance slip by.

    I thought about it and told Li Chuan, ¡°Then do you have Doctor Singh¡¯s number?¡±

    He nodded.

    ¡°I¡¯ll immediately make an appointment with him and start as soon as possible.¡± I said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to participate in any of this, from beginning to end. I can stand the pressure of failing alone. If you get involved, then I won¡¯t be able to.¡±

    ¡°How can I do that? This is between the two of us.¡± His face stiffened, ¡°I won¡¯t let you go to the clinic by yourself.¡±

    ¡°Hey, you are extremely busy and don¡¯t have that much time to go with me. An IVF period is really long.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not long. It¡¯s about three weeks each time.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not long? How many projects do you have on hand? Don¡¯t they all have deadlines? This kind of thing will distract you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. If I don¡¯t apany you and it doesn¡¯t go smoothly, you will take things too hard.¡±

    What he said provoked me again. I jumped up three feet, ¡°Ha, this again! Am I that weak?¡±

    ¡°You are.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t convinced and went over to surround his neck with my fingers, not allowing him to speak, ¡°It¡¯s settled, I¡¯ll go by myself. I¡¯ll definitely tell you whether it works or not.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t go. It won¡¯t work without me.¡± Li Chuan said, ¡°You might not be able to understand this doctor¡¯s English. I¡¯ve already agreed for you to do IVF. You need to take a step back too and allow me to go with you.

    ¡°No, I¡¯ll go by myself. I will report the progress to you.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu¡­¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t speak any more of this, Li Chuan. I¡¯ve already made up my mind. Congrattions on finding a determined and strong-willed wife.¡±

    The next day, I drove to see Doctor Singh by myself.

    Li Chuan blocked me by the door, ¡°Wait¡­¡±

    I loudly resisted, ¡°Hey! We already talked about it yesterday! I¡¯m going alone!¡±

    He looked at me, sighed and shoved a car key in my hand, ¡°Your car has no gas.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right, I need to go get gas first.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need, I already got gas for you.¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh¡­that¡­when did you get it?¡±

    ¡°In the morning, before you woke up.¡±

    Li Chuan was right, Singh could speak fluent English, but had an extremely strong German ent. A normal person could only understand half of it. But I was different, I was a trained trantor. After a short time of chatting, I already figured out the pattern to his speech. For example, many of the ¡®w¡¯s you must think of as ¡®v¡¯s, ¡®d¡¯s as ¡®th¡¯, and words that start with ¡®F¡¯ must be changed to ¡®v¡¯s. ¡®Fery good¡¯ bes ¡®very good¡¯. After a few dialogues, I could chat without hindrance. After he asked me detailed questions about my health status and medical history, Doctor Singh gave me a set of things to examine my LH hormone production to allow me to calcte my own ovtion cycle. I also started to take oral contraception. ording to him, it was to increase the responsive nature of the ovaries so that my menstrual cycle will be on time.

    Everything went smoothly. At the beginning of my ovtion, I went to the clinic for blood drawing and to check my hormone amount. The doctor was very satisfied with my health. There was also no problem with my uterus. So they started injecting ovtion medicine into my body. This type of injection was required three times a day for ten days. This was taken care of by the nurse Li Chuan hired for our home. In addition, there were quite frequent blood and ultrasound checkups.

    Under heavy supervision, the egg was finally sessfully ripened.

    When the opportune time came, the doctor injected me with a type of simple HCG hormones and told me that after thirty-six hours they would begin piercing through the egg. The name sounded scary, but because they used anesthesia, I slept through the entire thing and didn¡¯t feel anything. Afterwards, I only felt that my lower abdomen hurt slightly. The doctor said that it was normal.

    Due to ample curiosity and confidence, I cooperated perfectly with all the exams. The IVF process was trulyplicated. Sometimes, I had to go multiple times in a day. Sometimes, I had to go every day. I had Li Chuan continue going to thepany to work and not apany me the entire time. Sometimes after the examination, I will see Li Chuan waiting for me in the parking lot. But I refused to let him see the doctor and go to any type of exams with me. Singh told me that Li Chuan understood my situationpletely because he would call at least once a day to ask about all the details and procedures. The day they did the piercing, he waited outside the surgery room. Seeing mee out immactely dressed, he smiled without speaking. After a few days, he even seemed more rxed. He was probably affected by my uncaring attitude.

    After three days, three healthy sperms were ced into my uterus. It didn¡¯t count as surgery this time, and there was no need for anesthesia. I didn¡¯t think it hurt either. Afterwards, the doctor allowed me to lie on the bed quietly for a few hours. Li Chuan had brought a detective novel for me. After reading a few pages, I couldn¡¯t get into it and started chatting with him.

    I could see that his calmness was a show, because he would not agree to quietly sit down and instead, walked around the hospital room leaning on his crutches. I secretly wondered whether he would be even more nervous during the checkup 14 dayster.

    ¡°Hey, Li Chuan, don¡¯t worry. We will definitely seed!¡± I confidently raised a fist in the air.

    He grabbed my hand and slowly rubbed it on his face, ¡°Promise me, Xiao Qiu, that you will only try this one time, okay? If it fails, then you won¡¯t try again.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Seeing you getting shots and drawing blood every day makes me on the verge of copsing.¡±

    ¡°Strange, aren¡¯t getting shots and drawing blood things youmonly did before? I feel like you should be more used to it than me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not used to it.¡± He said quietly, ¡°Last time you had leg surgery, I stood outside the hospital for the entire night. Later on, you got worse and worse. Every time I saw that Eason, I wanted to choke him to death. Even now, when I think of it, I still hate him.¡±

    ¡°Then you should havee in to see me back then. Seriously, so heartless. At the time, I really hated you.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, it was all my fault. I thought¡­that maybe that way, you would (English) move on quicker and head into Eason¡¯s embrace.

    ¡°Whatever! A person with this much determination like me would not dramatically change direction and steer away (Gai Xian Yi Zhe) easily.¡±

    ¡°Change what?¡± He didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Dramatically change direction.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, your determination is really strong. I greatly admire you. If you were in the revolutionary periods, you would be a hero. If you were helping North Korea resist the US, who knows how many military fortifications you would have exploded. You were the one who directed my miserable and dismal life forward.¡±

    ¡°Li Chuan, since when did you be so talkative?¡±

    On our way home, I pulled Li Chuan into a baby store and bought a set of pink clothing.

    We both liked girls.

    Li Chuan didn¡¯t say a thing and went up to the counter to pay. The friendly salesperson energetically marketed towards me, ¡°Madam, have you bought your baby carriage yet? Or feeding bottles? Newborn baby diapers? And soft nkets, hats, and gloves to wrap your baby in? Electronic breast milk pump? A Crib? A entire set of noise making toys?¡±

    Li Chuan¡¯s expression fell, ¡°Not in a hurry.¡±

    ¡°Our store has a discount event this week, everything is 20% off. Don¡¯t miss this chance!¡±

    ¡°Mmm,¡± I smiled, and threw a pair of ss baby bottles into the shopping cart, ¡°Then let¡¯s buy this pair of baby bottles.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    Li Chuan red at me.

    ¡°Why are you ring at me? If we really can¡¯t have a child, this bottle can be used to hold soy sauce.¡±

    Fourteen days came in a blink of an eye. I tested in the morning, using a pregnancy tester. I anxiously came out of the bathroom.

    The mark I expected was not there.

 Side Story 4.3

    <h4>Side Story 4.3</h4>

    Li Chuan came up to embrace me andfort me in a low voice.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be discouraged just yet. The test can be mistaken, only the result from a blood check can be believed.¡±

    I looked at the ¡°99.9% uracy¡± written on the tester.

    Li Chuan didn¡¯t say anything else and drove me to the clinic. We were there too early and it hadn¡¯t opened yet. We sat in the cafe outside and waited for an entire half an hour.

    After they took my blood, Li Chuan took me to the closest French restaurant. I didn¡¯t actually really like French cuisine. It¡¯s not that it doesn¡¯t taste good, it¡¯s just that its portion is too small. I suspected that all the French chefs have taken taichi before. There was arge white te with small pieces of fish on it, matched with various colors of soup, forming a very artistic shape. It was presented in a very special way and brought to the table. The taste wasn¡¯t bad. It was just that I was still hungry afterwards and couldn¡¯t help but use dessert to fill my stomach.

    But French cuisine can consume time. Starters, soup, fish, grilled meat, sd, and dessert were all brought up. I forced down the sense of loss and impatience in me and maintained a calm demeanor while killing time with Li Chuan.

    I even told three Chinese jokes to him.

    Li Chuan didn¡¯t really understand, so I exined each one to him in detail.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Xiao Qiu.¡± He held my hand, ¡°In a bit let¡¯s go check the news. Let¡¯s see what ces are encountering tornados, flooding, and earthquakes. Then we¡¯ll go and adopt a few orphans and do a good thing.¡±

    ¡°Who said I was worried? I am prepared to fight a long war.¡±

    After a day, the blood test results were out. I wasn¡¯t pregnant.

    Singh said that failure was very normal. After all, the sess rate of IVF wasn¡¯t even at 50%. Besides the nature of Li Chuan¡¯s sperms weren¡¯t that good. He suggested that we wait for a while, after our mental and physical states were better.

    He didn¡¯t rmend that I try again. It looks like Li Chuan gave him some pressure.

    I shook my head, determined, ¡°I¡¯m not waiting. Let¡¯s start the second chance, immediately.¡±

    Singh looked at Li Chuan and said, ¡°Your wife is very determined in her opinion.¡±

    Li Chuan bitterly smiled, ¡°That¡¯s right, no one can change her decision. However, whatever my wife wants, she will get in the end.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t until the fourth time before I finally received news of being pregnant. At that time, Li Chuan has already started his second round of psychological treatments. The repeated loss was too much of a blow for him. And the fake smile and happiness act I put on after hearing about each loss caused more heartache for him. He started suffering from frequent insomnia, getting skin allergies, and bing more reticent. Ji Chuan suspected that he had be clinically depressed and forced him to go see the doctor many times.

    In actuality, Li Chuan¡¯s psychological quality was very strong. Otherwise, he would have been crushed by cancer a long time ago. But, he was also an emotion filled person, good down to the core, and, especially, couldn¡¯t stand his rtives undergo suffering. He would always put the me on himself for everything and then immerse himself in restlessness and self me. Ji Chuan and Rene started to take turns to convince me to give up on IVF, ¡°You two can adopt a child. As many as you want. Li Chuan would definitely support you.¡±

    I knew that they were worried about Li Chuan¡¯s health and were afraid that he would not be able to take the failure of IVF and have his condition get worse.

    Thus, I said, ¡°How about this. I will announce to Li Chuan that I¡¯m giving up IVF. And then the two of you will take him to y for two months in some other country.¡±

    The two of them stared at me, as if I was insane, and quickly asked, ¡°Then what about you? What do you n to do?¡±

    I crossed my arms, ¡°Stay here, change to another clinic, and continue IVF. Just keep everything from him so that he won¡¯t worry.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu,¡± Ji Chuan was so angry, he was clenching his teeth, ¡°you really just can¡¯t change your mind?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t.¡±

    A person¡¯s endurance was really flexible. Li Chuan was that nervous, but the person who was tormented from beginning to end was me. And I was numb to it.

    Ji Chuan reluctantly agreed with my n and found a project that will bring Li Chuan to Mexico for two months. And I proimed myself to be too unwell to limate to Mexico¡¯s climate. Plus, I would rather stay home and wait for him than hold a trantion book in my hand.

    Rene quickly added that I had just finished IVF, needed more time to recover and wasn¡¯t fit to bustle about on nes with Li Chuan.

    Two months passed like this under this trick. When Li Chuan came home from Mexico, I happily reported to him, at the airport, the news of me being pregnant.

    He had been running to the construction site every day and got so tanned that I barely recognized him. But this news gave him quite a shock. He was so excited that his face was red. He threw down his luggage and took me to the side to quietly ask me, ¡°Xiao Qiu, you didn¡¯t listen to me and went to do IVF?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, forgive me. Amen.¡±

    ¡°The doctor¡­what did he say?¡±

    ¡°I switched doctors. Everything is normal. Also, lower your ear a bit more.¡± I whisper, ¡°It¡¯s twins.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± He pulled me into his arms, ¡°My God! This must be a dream!¡±

    ¡°Of course, it isn¡¯t!¡±

    During the pregnancy, besides required pregnancy ketone injections for a while, blood and B ultrasound inspections are also required. Those who became pregnant through IVF don¡¯t have too much of a difference with those who got pregnant naturally. During this time, we were worried about many things; worried about my health, about side effects of IVF, about miscarrying, about abnormalities with the fetus. But all the worries gradually faded away after all the hospital inspection results pointed to everything being fine. Like all expecting parents, we entered a period of excitement.

    After eight weeks, when I left the IVF specialized clinic, I was switched over into the hands of a regr gynecologist.

    ¡°Li Chuan, I¡¯m a normal expectant mother now.¡± I said excitedly, ¡°I finally became a normal expecting mother!¡±

    That¡¯s right, at that very moment, I didn¡¯t want anything else but to be a normal person, to have everything a normal person had.

    We soon found out that it was a pair of girls and gave them the names An An (Calm) and Ning Ning (Peaceful).

    Our greatest wish for our children after they are born is to be healthy and happy.

    Li Chuan and I went to take a ¡°How to be first time parents¡± ss. This was a project provided for by the government. Together, with other expectant parents, we learned general knowledge about the delivery and newborn infants, and watched a delivery video. On the way home, I asked Li Chuan what he thought about it. Li Chuan said, ¡°Hm, the process is quite bloody.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Originally, I wasn¡¯t scared, but now, I am a little.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps you want to consider a C-Section?¡± He suggested, ¡°Considering this is your first time, and it¡¯s twins.¡±

    ¡°I can go through normalbor. We must believe in the strength of nature!¡±

    ¡°Then, get anesthetic shots earlier? Otherwise, you will be screaming like the woman in the video.¡±

    ¡°No need for anesthesia. My (maternal) aunt said, there are side effects to anesthesia. It¡¯s not good for the infants and the recovery process is slow.¡±

    ¡°Xiao Qiu, ever since you got IVF, do you think you have be more overbearing?¡±

    ¡°Hmph, I have all the rights to be overbearing! I seeded!¡±

    ¡°Then can you let me drive, please? With such arge stomach, don¡¯t you feel tired from driving?¡±

    ¡°No, I like driving. This car is big and driving it is veryfortable. Sit there like a good boy and rest.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve really be a queen¡­¡±

 Special Appearance in â€œJie Aiâ€

    <h4>Special Appearance in ¡°Jie Ai¡±</h4>

    Pi Pi got a phone call after work. It was from a neighbour who she hadn¡¯t seen for a long time asking her if she could help take care of their cat while they are out of the country for two months. It was the same subway station as He Lan Jing Ting took to get to their ce; only that one would go East and one would go West.

    The neighbour, Miss Xie, was very close with Pi Pi¡¯s grandma. Grandma called her Xiao Qiu, and Pi Pi followed suit and called her that as well. The Xie family was also on the list of people whom Grandma would send her homemade bean paste to. Later, Xiao Qiu moved to a high-end residential area after getting married; she even invited Pi Pi¡¯s whole family to visit and have fun at her ce. Every New Year or special holiday, as long as they stayed in the city, Grandma would make them bean paste and call them over to get it. When the cherries that they nted be ripe, they would also send some over to Pi Pi¡¯s family. But it had been almost two years since theyst contacted each other. Nheless, Pi Pi¡¯s grandma liked them very much; she often mentioned them while chatting, so it felt like they were always around.

    There was one main reason why grandma liked Xiao Qiu so much. Before Pi Pi took her college entrance exam, Xiao Qiu tutored her in English for a while. She became too busy, so thest two sessions werepleted by her husband. Just from their two months¡¯ worth of lessons, Pi Pi got an unexpectedly high score in English, putting her third ce in the entire grade. Without it, she would have not made the score for even the lowest college entrance requirement. Xiao Qiu¡¯s husband was Mr. Wang. He could be considered the most handsome man Pi Pi had ever met to date. He was the kind that Chinese women liked; he wasn¡¯t about thetest styles or casual with his romances, but was calm and dependable with a tint of innocence; he was noble and reserved, but was also friendly and gentle. He had a face of a model; no matter women of young or old, they would blush from seeing him. Pi Pi was no different. The two times that Mr. Wang came to teach her English, she was in a daze the whole time and didn¡¯t hear a thing. Jia Linter asked how it went, and her face couldn¡¯t help but turn red.

    It had been a few years now, so Pi Pi¡¯s impression of Mr. Wang had be blurry. She could only remember him being handsome and that his leg was not well, so he limped as he walked. He also got sick often. Every time Pi Pi visited Xiao Qiu¡¯s home, Xiao Qiu was always the one busy with house chores. He would sit and watch and didn¡¯t talk much, but he was very friendly. If they chat too long and it waste, he would insist on driving her family home.

    From afar, Xiao Qiu¡¯s white house on the hill was very eye-catching and easy to spot. In order to save some taxi money, Pi Pi walked up the hill in the cold wind; her hands were numb from the cold when she arrived at the door.

    The door finally opened after many rings. It was Mr. Wang holding a cane. He was probably in the middle of washing dishes as he was wearing a waterproof apron over his shirt.

    ¡°Hi, Pi Pi,¡± he said in a bit of a surprise, ¡°hurry ande in, it¡¯s cold outside.¡±

    A warm breeze came from inside the house. Pi Pi took off her coat, and Mr. Wang helped her hang it, ¡°It¡¯s snowing so hard outside, howe you came alone? Didn¡¯t your grandma tell you that I would drive over and drop Mia off at your ce?¡±

    ¡°Oh? She didn¡¯t say. My grandma¡¯s ears are not good, so she probably didn¡¯t hear you clearly.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m giving the babies a bath right now. Please have a seat and wait.¡±

    ¡°Do you need my help, Mr. Wang?¡± Pi Pi followed seeing that it wasn¡¯t easy for him to move around.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Xiao Qiu is here. Oh right, did youe visit when Xiao Qiu was pregnant?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Mr. Wang smiled politely, ¡°Come and take a look at my babies.¡±

    She could hear the sound of the babies babbling. Pi Pi looked towards the bathroom, but realized that the sound wasing from the kitchen. There were two sinks in the kitchen, and a baby girl sat in one of each while having fun ying with water. The babies were smiling like angels. They had to be twins as they looked exactly like each other.

    Mr. Wang pointed to the one on the left, ¡°That is An An,¡± and then he pointed to the one on the right, ¡°That is Ning Ning.¡±

    Xiao Qiu chuckled, ¡°Wrong, you¡¯ve got it reversed.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t be wrong, unless you switched them.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t switch them. You have been calling them the wrong names since the start, I was just toozy to correct you.¡±

    Mr. Wang smiled and didn¡¯t talk back. He said to Pi Pi, ¡°Well then, that¡¯s Ning Ning, and that¡¯s An An.¡± He then lifted one of the babies out of the water, wrapped her with a towel, and held her in his arms. After wiping her dry, he patted her bottom with baby powder like he had done it many times. Just as he was about to put on her diapers, he pointed to a bruised area on the baby¡¯s bottom, ¡°Look, I was right. This is An An!¡±

    Xiao Qiu lowered her head and looked closely, ¡°Okay, you¡¯re right.¡±

    Mr. Wang was very satisfied and helped the baby put on some clothes.

    Xiao Qiu lifted the other baby out of the sink and said while helping the baby put on some clothes, ¡°Pi Pi, you came at the right time. We made a te of FBI. You¡¯ll love it.¡±

    ¡°FBI?¡±

    ¡°That is Fried Banana Ice-cream. We just fried it, so it¡¯s better to eat it while it¡¯s hot. What vor of ice-cream do you like? I have vani, strawberry, mango, green tea, and chocte.¡±

    ¡°Mango.¡±

    ¡°Have a seat first, I¡¯ll go make it.¡± Xiao Qiu was putting the baby into the baby seat when Mr. Wang said, ¡°You don¡¯t know how to make it, let me.¡±

    In the end, both of them went to the kitchen counter; one of them fetched the ice-cream, and the other fetched the fried bananas. Pi Pi was facing the babies in their baby seats and didn¡¯t know what to do. Ning Ning and An An were rather quiet; they were each holding a bottle, concentrating on drinking their milk. It suddenly reminded Pi Pi of something. When she went to Xiao Qiu¡¯s ce for English lessons, the couple would work busily at the kitchen counter during dinner time. They worked closely like a volleyball team. One time, they were even cutting the same cucumber. They talked softly while cutting and leaned against each other. Their intimacy would make others envy, yet they never cared about letting others see them like this. Pi Pi¡¯s mom said that Mr. Wang was a Swiss and influenced by western culture, so he pampered his woman a lot, therefore, she couldn¡¯t bear watching.

    Pi Pi on the other hand, felt that Xiao Qiu¡¯s family was no more different than other normal families. The couple was loving, and wasn¡¯t that how things should be? Of course, every time she thought about love and marriage, Jia Lin would immediately flow into her mind, as well as the image of Jia Lin and her picking cucumbers. That kind of happiness could only be given by Jia Lin. From she was little till now, she had never thought of picking cucumbers with someone other than Jia Lin.

    After she finished eating ice-cream, Pi Pi did not want to stay, so Mr. Wang insisted on driving her home. The roads were slippery, so Mr. Wang was very careful in driving. They chatted a little and Pi Pi told him that she was still studying English and even registered for TOEFL sses. Mr. Wang asked, ¡°Pi Pi, are you nning to study abroad?¡±

    ¡°Not me, my boyfriend is. He has applied for schrship at a college in America.¡±

    ¡°What is your boyfriend studying?¡±

    ¡°Economics.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not easy to get in. There¡¯s a lot ofpetition in the program.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but he has very good academic standings, so he has great chances.¡±

    Mr. Wang thought for a moment and said, ¡°What about you? What do you n on studying abroad?¡±

    Pi Pi said depressingly, ¡°I don¡¯t want to study abroad at all. I don¡¯t like English, and I haven¡¯t been studying it well in university, so it¡¯s especially hard for me to pick it up again.¡±

    ¡°Actually, if you are studying at an average college, their criteria for epting students aren¡¯t as tough.¡±

    ¡°Hm, I¡¯m thinking, if I really don¡¯t get epted, I¡¯ll just wait for him here. It¡¯ll only be four or five years for him to finish studying his Ph.D. I can wait.¡±

    It was Pi Pi¡¯s worst case scenario regarding Jia Lin studying abroad. She even felt that if Jia Lin could bring her along, she could suspend her studies and find a job first; she would make some money and brush up on her English at the same time. Or she could get married and have kids first; after their kids grow up, she could then go back to school and work at the same time. Pi Pi was quite ambitious about work, but when it came to Jia Lin, she was unable to reach all the minimum goals and all her courage would be gone. As long as she could be together with Jia Lin, she would be satisfied with anything. Besides, her mom and grandma were both housewives, so Pi Pi didn¡¯t think there was anything bad about being a housewife. She also heard that it wasmon in other countries too.

    The car drove down the hill and into the city. Mr. Wang kept silent, but suddenly said to her, ¡°Pi Pi, I have some connections abroad. If your boyfriend or you have any troubles applying for college, I¡¯m willing to provide financial aid to you guys.¡±

    Pi Pi¡¯s heart pounded non-stop, ¡°Mr. Wang, do you think that I can apply with my level of English?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you taking TOEFL sses? From what I know, our domestic TOEFL sses are very good.¡±

    ¡°Mm, I memorize vocabries every day, and I¡¯ve secretly applied for the TOEFL exam in June. I don¡¯t dare to tell Jia Lin because I¡¯m afraid that he willugh at me.¡±

    ¡°How about this, if your boyfriend has any problems with applying abroad, you give me a call. As for you, I¡¯ll help you apply after you finish your TOEFL exam. I guarantee that you¡¯ll be able to study abroad. My dad used to be a college professor, so he has quite a few friends working at colleges. I can at least help you with this.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wang¡ª¡ªThank you!¡± Pi Pi almost burst into tears.

    The car arrived, Mr. Wang opened the door, fetched his cat from the backseat, walked her to the front entrance, and handed her his card and said, ¡°If you guys love each other very much, don¡¯t wait in sadness. You should use your best effort to try to be together. Waiting for someone is a painful task. Life is also full of changes and requires both sides to ovee the challenges, do you understand?¡±

    Pi Pi epted his card, looked at him in silence, and nodded her head firmly.

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