The Healing Sunshine (一厘米的阳光)

Chapter 19.2 - The Two Opposite Ends of Life (2)

The week after Jǐ Yi arrived in Hong Kong, she received an email sent out to a group distribution list.

The subject line was "Our farewell to the one who forever will be our Class Prefect."

She never did open this email. That unread email that carried with it the cherished memories of that optimistic, cheerful boy was stored away and sealed in the deepest part of her QQ email inbox. Never would it be deleted, but she could not bring herself to open it.

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The summer of 2005.

Jǐ Yi completed her one year of life and studies as an exchange student at the University of Hong Kong. Before leaving, she and her classmates went as a group to Tsim Sha Tsui and roamed around. The dozen or so of them were all dressed in white t-shirts and blue pants, and on their backs, they each wore a backpack. As they were from all different parts of the world, they all communicated in English. When Jǐ Yi came to the pier, she saw an ice cream van and bought a box of ice cream.

The brilliant sunshine was blistering. Sitting in a shady, cool area under the covered walkway by the harbour front, she began scooping out that tangerine-yellow ice cream and bringing it to her mouth.

One more year. One more year and then she would be graduating from university.<>Copyright of

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Her mobile phone was ringing, but she could not be bothered to answer it.

This continued until the person calling had already stepped up behind her and was watching as she, with head bent low, unhurriedly, spoonful after spoonful, scooped at her ice cream. She ate very slowly, occasionally holding some on the tip of her tongue as a way to ease the heat of summer.

"Xixi."

Jumping with shock, she whipped her head around.

Wang Haoran toyed with the mobile phone in his hand, looking at her rather resignedly. "I arranged with you that I was going to call you at this time. Why didn't you answer?"

It was evident that Jǐ Yi had already forgotten about this "arrangement," and very sheepishly, she gave a little smile. "It's too hot. My mind's a little muddled from the sun beating down on me."

By chance, Wang Haoran was in Hong Kong at this time, and learning that she would be returning to Beijing, he had arranged a time to meet up with her, wanting to take her around Hong Kong to have some fun.

Jǐ Yi did not actually have any place that she really wanted to see in Hong Kong. After contemplating for a moment, she suggested, "How about going to see the dolphins and giant pandas, then?"

When it came to Jǐ Yi, Wang Haoran belonged to the type who would readily go along with whatever she said. From that first time that he encountered her and saw her crying outside the window of her own home, Wang Haoran had thought, this little girl very much stirred up in people a desire to take care of her, and he had found himself keeping her on his mind all these years. During that period, he had not really dared to get too close to her, for fear that the age difference would scare the little girl, and at most, he had only mentioned to Jì Chengyang... the Lolita temptation.

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