The Healing Sunshine (一厘米的阳光)

Chapter 21.2 - The One Beyond those Past Dreams (2)

Jì Chengyang slipped his mobile phone back into his pocket and stepped out from that classroom that was coated in dust.

This primary school simply lay vacant like this, occupying a corner of the military dependents' area for all these years but all along with no plans of tearing it down or renovating it. Someone had wiped away the names on the blackboard already. Drawn in chalk in their place was a picture that covered the entire wall of blackboard. It was a drawing of Slam Dunk. The reason he recognized it was that when Jǐ Yi was a kid, she had liked to watch this anime.

Half an hour before he received her text message, he had just ended a telephone call in which he had turned down an old friend's invitation to interview him. The other party seemed to have guessed that he must have met with some very unique experiences in that war, and hence wanted to sort out everything and put together a special news story on it. That person had even proposed that he could help him contact a publishing house, and Jì Chengyang could publish something along the lines of a memoir or autobiography.

Jì Chengyang, though, firmly denied this inference, telling the other party that he had merely dallied away some time while he was abroad and nothing astounding or terribly frightful had occurred.

To the him of this present time, those experiences that would bring pain to the ones close to him were only suited for being buried away and forgotten completely.

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He pulled the door of the classroom closed. As he heard the click from the lock engaging, he could feel that his eyes were stinging somewhat.

Last year, during those days when he was in another country undergoing a series of psychological and physical treatments, in that period when he still had not known of Jǐ Yi's whereabouts, every time he saw a young, ethnic Chinese girl, he had always taken a couple extra glances, trying to give his mind more room to visualize things more specifically, to imagine how she had changed.

But in reality, she had not changed at all. He, however, had.

At least healthwise, he had become the type of person who, based on current standards for selecting a spouse, was very unfit for marriage.

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As train tickets were in high demand and difficult to get, Jǐ Yi's return date was pushed back again and again. Her entire Spring Festival of 2008 was spent in Anhui.

He Feifei did not head south and go home like their supervisor had predicted, and rather, she returned to Beijing together with Jǐ Yi on the fifth day of the new lunar year. On the trip back, the two conversed about their work plans for after the New Year. He Feifei very merrily told her, "Once we're back after the Spring Festival, you should go apply for the EEP [Exit-Entry Permit] for Hong Kong and Macau as soon as possible. I'll take you to Hong Kong."

Jǐ Yi was taken aback. "I'll pass on going to Hong Kong."

"Why? It's a work-related trip. Plane tickets and hotel will all be expensed. You can just eat together with me, and when the time comes, I'll fill in the expense account and submit it." He Feifei found her refusal inconceivable. "Aside from needing to pay when you want to buy something yourself, you won't need to worry about anything."

"Getting the permit is such a hassle." She found an excuse that really was not a great excuse.

"It's not a hassle." He Feifei laughed. "What are you going to do, then, when you need to go out of country? Isn't getting a passport and visa even more of a hassle?"