The Healing Sunshine (一厘米的阳光)

Chapter 2.3 - Hazy Memories (3)

During the summer break of 1997, she finally saw part one of A Chinese Odyssey.

This was the one and only non-revolutionary movie that she watched in the military compound's cinema, and it left a very deep impression on her.

A strange and fanciful plot, dialogue and lines that were difficult to understand—these were Jǐ Yi's very first impression of A Chinese Odyssey.

She, at the time, truly did not understand this type of romance film and only felt that Karen Mok was very, very pretty. Nuannuan, though, liked the other actress, Athena Chu. As always, Zhao Xiaoying did not give an opinion, but she did express that she, too, did not understand what she had watched.

A few years later, Jǐ Yi also saw A Chinese Odyssey on television. By then, this film had already become a huge hit in Mainland China.

At the same time, she finally watched part two of this film on television as well. As it turned out, the quintessence of the film was all in part two. Part one merely consisted of demons coming from everywhere to kick up a fuss. Those touching "I will love you for ten thousand years" lines were all at the very end of part two.

And it turned out that the actress she liked, Karen Mok, was just an onlooker and unimportant in the whole thing.

But actually, in this story, Karen Mok was the one who was hurt most. She loved, and she left, but Stephen Chow never took any of it to heart. The Monkey King cared only about his Zixia Fairy. Many years after that, however, when she was reading some gossip news, she found out that, outside of the story, Karen Mok was the actual winner, having defeated Athena Chu to win over Stephen Chow as hers.

A Chinese Odyssey. Karen Mok as Bai Jingjing, the White Bone Demon (left); Stephen Chow as the mortal reincarnation of the Monkey King and then later, the true Monkey King (centre); and Athena Chu as Zixia Fairy (right). ()

Life truly is like an onion. You will peel off one layer, but there is still another layer below. And when tears are raining down your cheeks, there still is yet another layer waiting for you to uncover.

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After the movie ended, they walked from the cinema back to the military dependents' residence area.

The cinema was situated near the main gates of the compound. Once the ten o'clock lights-out call sounded, only this main road still had lights. All the streetlamps were extinguished, and the surroundings were pitch-black, with only the glow of the moon remaining.

Normally, when Jǐ Yi and the other girls ended up playing past ten o'clock, they would sing "Valiantly, and in high spirits, shall we cross the Yalu River" the whole way as they raced back to the dependents' residence area.

Darkness is likely the thing that all girls fear most.

But tonight, they had Little Uncle Jì.

For reasons unknown, Nuannuan and Zhao Xiaoying were chasing one another back and forth and could not settle down. Jǐ Yi ambled along beside Jì Chengyang, allowing herself to take in this somewhat wondrous night. Jì Chengyang seemed unhurried as well. From his pocket, he pulled out a cigarette and struck a match alight with a hiss. Slowly, he moved in close to that small, flickering flame and inhaled lightly.