The Healing Sunshine (一厘米的阳光)

Chapter 4.1 - That Person of the Past has Now Returned (1)

Two years later, Jǐ Yi and Nuannuan were both admitted into Fuzhong High School [a university-affiliated high school].

She was placed into the one and only "advanced science stream class", while Nuannuan's parents also pulled some strings through connections so that the two were classmates once again. Zhao Xiaoying's mother sought out many connections but all to no avail. Eventually, she went to find Nuannuan's mother and also paid forty-thousand kuai before Zhao Xiaoying was accepted into the school.

Forty-thousand kuai, and still, she was only in a regular class.

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This year, the tuition fees of higher education institutions had become completely standardized. There would no longer be free university education.

But four years of university tuition would not even cost that much. These forty-thousand kuai were merely the "sponsorship fee" for allowing her to simply attend Fuzhong High School. Zhao Xiaoying began more and more to like going to class, but she also more and more could not understand what was being taught. The pressure in Fuzhong was great, and after only half a semester of studies, she had already lost so much weight she was down one size.

Jǐ Yi had never been able to find words to describe this feeling.

When she was very young, during Beijing's winters, there were very few vegetables available, and every household ate Chinese cabbage as well as tomatoes that had been pickled back in the summer. There had been no computers, no mobile phones, no brand-name cars. There had been dragonflies and geckos and children gathered together, playing with fire and roasting potatoes and sweet potatoes, or even setting fires. Children who grew up in times of poverty always tend to miss that lifestyle...

In those times, most people were happy.

Even if there were problems and troubles, those problems and troubles did not all arise because of money.

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After she entered high school, Jǐ Yi chose to live on campus in residence.

When winter arrived, however, she finally regretted that decision somewhat. The school had arranged the "benefit" of a morning run each day for all the residence students like her, while Nuannuan and Zhao Xiaoying, who were non-residence students and only came during the day to attend classes, were much luckier and did not need to suffer through this torture.

Today, she had slept in again, and when she and Yin Qingqing, her bunkmate above her, dashed outside, the large group of early morning runners had already left them far in their dust.

"Jǐ Yi, what are you doing?" Yin Qingqing tugged down the zipper of her down jacket, so hot that she stuck out her tongue.

Standing at the edge of the old city moat, her hand against the wall made of bricks and concrete, Jǐ Yi stated in quiet voice, "I want to run across the ice to get over there." She felt that winter morning runs were the most dreadful things ever and basically could zap her of half of her life.

"The ice isn't very strong..." Feeling apprehensive, Yin Qingqing also leaned her upper body on top of that short wall and gazed out onto the surface of the canal.

A few elderly men with skates donned on their feet were meandering around on it.

From the looks of it, it seemed pretty safe?

After struggling for a moment between the choices of "continue running" and "go across the ice to the other side," Jǐ Yi decisively chose the latter. Yin Qingqing was a good, obedient girl, and though all sorts of envy tugged at her, she still shouted, "You be careful! I'll wait for you over where we get stamped in!" as she ran off.