The Healing Sunshine (一厘米的阳光)

Chapter 6.1 - The Little Thought in My Heart (1)

Jì Chengyang became a foreign correspondent.

Only occasionally would she hear little snippets about him from Nuannuan or Nuannuan's mother. Her school did not have a television, so she could only watch when she returned to Grandfather's home on the weekends. Every time, she would fixedly watch just the news. In particular, when a significant event occurred somewhere outside of the country, she would not switch channels for the entire night and would only want to listen to the live audio feed of the news from site or perhaps watch live onsite scenes.

There was only one time—she remembered it especially clearly; it was in the middle of December—that she saw Jì Chengyang on the television screen.

The scene in the shot was one that was late at night. The wind was howling, and torrential rain poured down. Jì Chengyang, wearing a black raincoat, stood in a shelter of some sort, and his hood appeared to have just been pulled off. His entire upper body was sodden, and even his hairs were dripping water.

He was describing this site behind him that had been the scene of a bomb attack. "I trust that you and our viewers are like me now and can see these buildings behind me after they were subjected to a bomb attack..."

Bomb attack?

Hearing this, Jǐ Yi felt a little panicky, and she dashed up in front of the television, studying him carefully and trying to determine if he had injuries anywhere on him.

In reality, it was only his upper body that was showing, and she truly could not see it clearly.

Her eyes were riveted to the screen, but she was not listening too closely to what he was saying.

It suddenly struck her that this was the first time seeing in the television someone who was close to her. Only a screen separated them, but yet he was in a war zone hundreds of miles away. With her hand, she caressed the television screen, but the instant contact was made, she unexpectedly felt embarrassed and hurriedly pulled her hand back.

Inside the television, he was making his concluding remarks. "... Regarding this question, I reckon that everyone in the world who is following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would have thought of it. From the looks of things now, the Hamas has become the greatest variable in the state of the Middle East."

The picture on the screen abruptly switched back to the news anchor, who began to transition to the topic of the state of unrest in Argentina

The him she saw that day was different from the him she had seen one year ago.

All of a sudden, she understood the meaning of those words that Nuannuan had used to describe Jì Chengyang, that he had "that type of seductive draw"... His eyes were so striking to behold, because hidden behind those eyes were many thoughts and ideas. His light smile, his low chuckle, or even his bright, cheerful laughter did not really have anything to do with other people.

It was as if...

He never cared what other people's views of him were, what other people's definitions of success were.

Deep in this night, he, in the furious deluge of rain, wearing a muddied black raincoat, walked through those ruins that had just been left behind after an explosion... She shut off the television, went into the kitchen, and pulled out the newly-bought and still-unopened coffee from the cupboard. Still strictly following the instructions he had given her years ago, she made some coffee. And then, bringing her head down beside the coffee mug, she took a small sip.

Warmth permeated outward and infused her arms and legs.

In May, summer arrived abruptly.

There were even people in her class who began wearing their summer school uniforms. Someone also took advantage of a moment when the teacher was not present to turn on the fan earlier than normal.