This one is a loaded chapter, too… with sweetness! Serious, so many little things you can’t even count. And a playful Jì Chengyang is just so… *squeal* My dream has always been to have a hidden little library nook with shelf after shelf of books, so my hero-worship of Jì Chengyang went up another notch when I read this.
Chapter 12.2 — The Person in the Past Dream (2)This story was translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. All forms of reproduction, redistribution, or reposting are not authorized. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the copy is unauthorized and has been taken without consent of the translator.
In March of 2002, she watched the first installment of The Lord of the Rings.
This was the very first original version of a foreign-language film that Jì Chengyang watched with her.
More than a month later[1], this film was released in theatres in China. Those who read the original novel all gave the review that the entire first installment was merely one great foundation to set things up, and the exciting parts were still to come in the future second and third parts of the trilogy.
The slow plot development and the numerous and varied characters truly were for set-up. After watching for only a short while, she was so bored she fell asleep.
Asleep in Jì Chengyang's library.
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She had been in his house several times before but had never seen this room that was his library. The door to it was actually in the eastern wall of his outer study. At a rough glance, it appeared to be a bookcase that held academic journals and publications, but when it was pushed aside, there was another hidden sanctuary within.
If you could describe the study's decor as still carrying a modern feel to it with the recent books, DVDs, magazines, and journals that it held, then when you pushed open that door, it was like you had stepped into an old library. All four walls were covered in bookshelves that were burgundy in colour. There were no windows, only lamps. Each wall's bookshelf had two lamps specifically for it. The floors in the entire room were completely of wood, and only in the centre was there a large rug as well as a double sofa.
When she turned on the light on the ceiling, only the upper ten shelves were illuminated; the bottom ten still remained within shadows.
At the time, she had only felt awestruck—awestruck at the beauty of this collection of books…
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Jì Chengyang, the person, became real and concrete in her world.
In her impression, it was from that day that she truly began to slowly draw closer to him…
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Since she particularly liked this place, Jì Chengyang abandoned the idea of using the small home theatre, brought the computer inside, and sat on the sofa with her to watch the movie. However, less than twenty minutes later, Jǐ Yi had curled up in that incomparably comfortable sofa and, with her head tilted to the side, fallen asleep. Jì Chengyang had originally set the computer on his lap, but when he discovered that she was asleep, he shifted the laptop to his left side and then brought her head down to rest on his thigh.
Shifting his body somewhat awkwardly to the side, he began looking through his emails from this past one month and more.
The speed at which he checked emails was extremely fast, practically only giving each a glance before jumping to the next one. Any that required a reply, he would flag, so as to not wake the little lady with the sounds of his typing…
When Jǐ Yi awoke and found herself sleeping on his thigh, she dared not move. But once a person has woken, it is very difficult to maintain the same posture you had when you were sleeping. Before long, she felt uncomfortable all over and wanted to move just a little bit.
She told herself silently, Just hold out a bit more, hold out a bit more…
The downside of being too focused on something was—her right foot, which was tucked underneath her, began cramping.
Crying a tearless cry, she clutched at the material of his pants. "My foot's cramping up…"
Jì Chengyang hastily set his computer onto the rug, stood, and began slowly massaging her right foot. He had a pair of beautiful hands, but in this moment, they cradled her entire right foot in them. "Better?"
The warmth from his palms as well as the light circular motion of his hand quickly allowed her foot to return to normal. However, there was another type of discomfort that was even more torturing, aaah. Jǐ Yi finally could not restrain herself anymore and swiftly yanked her foot back.
Jì Chengyang looked at her.
"My feet are ticklish. I can't take it even when people just touch it."
He chuckled. "Only your feet are ticklish?"
"… Everywhere is ticklish."
"I know." He spoke, and he was also grinning.
Right now, he was dressed in a simple, white, long-sleeved t-shirt, and because the room temperature was set to 24 degrees Celsius, his sleeves were rolled up to just below his elbows. As a person, if you discarded his extreme idealism, he actually did not have many sharp edges to him, especially now, with a smile at the corner of his lips that carried an impishness of wanting to play a joke on someone.
Jǐ Yi did not even have a chance to react before his hands had already reached over and were under her arm and at her waist. The tingly, tickling sensation instantly sent a response to her brain. Jǐ Yi let out a reflexive shriek and tried to run away, but she was utterly powerless to break free from this man's zone of control.
"Aaah! No, don't! Please, please, I'm begging you! Don't tickle me—" Tears had sprung out from laughing so hard, and eventually, her whole body rolled off the sofa and sprawled on the rug.
Before the hands behind her could pick her up, without even bothering to put on her slippers, she was already dashing barefoot out from that library.
Running into the study, she even deliberately circled around so that she was behind the couch, and with a wary expression in her eyes, she watched Jì Chengyang leisurely stroll out holding his computer. Her face was ridiculously red, and she was breathing heavily. When she saw Jì Chengyang look at her, she immediately pleaded for mercy. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have fallen asleep when I was watching a movie. You can punish me however you want, just please don't tickle me."
Jì Chengyang's eyes were so black they seemed to shine, and a smile was on his face. "Your school uniform should be dry. Go change back into it. I'll take you out to eat."
As if she had been saved, Jǐ Yi obediently went to change her clothing.
Because her uniform had gotten wet from the rain, she was wearing his t-shirt and sweatpants. After more than four hours out on the balcony in the sun that had come out after the rain, her uniform was dry, though just barely. In this early spring season, there was still a chill in the air. Jì Chengyang offhandedly grabbed a black jacket and also a black baseball cap, which he put on.
His hair had just started to grow back a little.
Gazing upon this appearance of his, Jǐ Yi called to mind what he had looked like in the past.
It seemed… both were really handsome.
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His car had not been driven for a long time, so the two first went to a gas station. Once the car had driven into the station, Jì Chengyang got out of the vehicle. Sitting in the front passenger seat, Jǐ Yi watched through the front window, which had a layer of dust accumulated on it, as he walked from here to there, talked to people, and paid. While she was watching away, he suddenly leaned in close and knocked on the car window.
Jǐ Yi opened the window.
"Are you thirsty? I'll buy you a nice drink."
Jǐ Yi nodded, but after thinking for a moment, she quickly added, "I only drink mineral water."
He smiled. "I remember you drink other stuff, too."
"I don't anymore." Jǐ Yi told him, "Drinking mineral water is good for your health."
He chuckled. "Will you still drink coffee?"
Jǐ Yi shook her head, her manner very resolute.
Leaving, he went to the gas station's supermarket, bought two bottles of mineral water, and came back.
Jǐ Yi twisted open the cap and took a drink.
On the day of his surgery, she had gone to Yonghe Temple to offer up incense. She had specially made a vow to Buddha that if Jì Chengyang could truly return to health, she would not drink any beverages for the rest of her life. Gods and buddhas are not to be deceived. Gold, silver, money, silk, all these things of the world are merely like dust. To make a vow, you need to give up something that you most love in order to demonstrate your sincerity. She was good to her word. Cola, Sprite, Mirinda, Fanta, coffee, hot chocolate… I'll see you again next lifetime.
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The car was too dirty, so he went and washed it also. However, when everything was ready and the two were about to go to eat the zhajiang noodles that they had agreed to a long time ago, a phone call came from his television station. Hence, they had no choice but to make a last-minute change to their itinerary and first head to the station.
She followed him into the main lobby on the first floor of the television station.
Three people walked by beside them. One recognized Jì Chengyang and gave him a very enthusiastic greeting. "Whoa, hey, our belle of the station has returned?" Jì Chengyang could not be bothered to respond to that and only gave a wave of his hand, which could be considered his greeting back. Jǐ Yi, though, found this amusing, and when she was inside the elevator with him, she over and over wanted to ask him why he was called the "belle of the station"… But, it seemed she was still lacking a bit of courage to straight out ask him this question.
Bringing her into a dressing room, Jì Chengyang asked the young woman inside to help him take care of Jǐ Yi, and then he left alone. Curiously, Jǐ Yi surveyed this room. That newscaster of some station—which one, she did not know—was also looking at her with interest. "You're a student of Fuzhong?" Fuzhong's school badge was sewed onto Jǐ Yi's uniform, so it was not difficult to identify. She nodded, feeling somewhat shy.
This was her first time inside a television station. It was somewhat different from what she had imagined.
How it was different… she could not really say exactly. It was simply that something that she thought should be very posh and exclusive was actually not all that different from a teacher's office. There was no special décor, and everywhere, there were things in piles, looking messy but also seeming to have some method to it. A very ordinary dressing room. It was from here that those newscasters would all walk out and then sit, looking all prim and proper and smartly-dressed, in front of the screen?
"Have a seat. There aren't really any people here right now, but in a little bit, there'll be a lot." That young woman smiled and had Jǐ Yi sit down. "Once there are a lot of people, if the belle of the station isn't back yet, I'll need to hand you over to someone else to take care of you."
Jǐ Yi was somewhat embarrassed. "If there are a lot of people, I'll just go wait for him in the main lobby on the first floor. I won't disturb you in your work."
The woman smiled. From a stack of plastic make-up cases beneath the vanity table, she pulled out her own, opened it, and began skillfully applying foundation on herself, all the while looking at Jǐ Yi in the mirror and chatting with her. Observing those stacked layers of makeup cases that looked like food takeout boxes, Jǐ Yi discovered that each one had a label stuck on it.
She actually recognized several of the names written on the labels.
Jì Chengyang's colleagues were all particularly friendly. Last time when she met one, it was so, and this time was the same, so that she very soon relaxed. This newscaster was especially talkative, and while chatting away with her, she ended up telling the story behind "the belle of the station."
"That time was especially funny. All of us were just joking around internally, and we uploaded dozens of female newscasters' pictures, saying we absolutely had to choose one as the belle of the station. The result, though? There were just too many who were too close to call, and everyone felt too embarrassed to take first place… Then Liu Wanxia uploaded Jì Chengyang's photo, and so he took the first-place title."
Jǐ Yi bowed her head, smiling. It really was hard to imagine the look on his face when he won the title.
"Jì Chengyang actually has a lot of loyal viewers. Don't judge by the fact that he doesn't often show his face." The woman thought for a moment, then laughed and said, "Several programs in our station want to invite him to be a special guest. When he wasn't in the country, that was hard to do. He came back… and then got sick. Now it's great. He's completely better and has come back. There'll soon be people looking for him. I'm guessing there'll even be people asking Liu Wanxia for help, eh?"
"Asking Liu Wanxia for help?" Jǐ Yi pressed.
"Those two were high school schoolmates. They both graduated from Fuzhong, and they're both in the same station now, so their relationship is close."
Hugging her bottle of mineral water, Jǐ Yi recalled the day that she ran into Liu Wanxia.
It did look like… they had a very good relationship.
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As the woman prattled on, she became thirsty, so standing, she went and poured herself a glass of water to drink. Then, looking over her outfit and contemplating for a moment, she opened up the ironing board and actually began pressing out the wrinkles with the iron. As Jǐ Yi stood beside her, she felt that it was not the woman keeping her company but actually she keeping this woman company.
Because this big sister-like woman really did love to talk…
During this period, two men, one after the other, pushed open the door, walked in, and then hurried out again. Both had asked in curiosity who this little girl dressed in a school uniform was.
This big sister in charge of taking care of her would put on a gossiping manner and tell every person in a joking tone, "She belongs to the belle of the station."
Their conversation topic seemed never able to leave Jì Chengyang.
"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you about one thing that's especially, especially fun." The woman laughed to herself first. "In 1998, there was an especially big flood. He was here as an intern reporter and was on scene with several other reporters to take turns giving live coverage. At the time, all the live broadcasts were about the rainstorm, and so in the heavy rain, he reported on the flood situation. He kept saying, 'The floodwaters are already at my calves,' 'The floodwaters are already at my waist. This is a serious disaster situation.' Finally, he actually supported himself against a tree trunk and said, 'The floodwaters are already about to reach my chest'… At the time, the people back in the studio were all scared to death. They were truly terrified that he and the cameraman would be washed away. Several crazy kamikaze reporters were born from that flood disaster. Our belle of the station was one of them."
The person's words were brimming with amusement as she recounted this, but Jǐ Yi's heart quaked with fear as she listened.
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The door was pushed open.
Looking in, Jì Chengyang stated, "Thanks."
"No worries." The woman had finished ironing her suit jacket. " 'The jade has been returned intact to Zhao[2].' [the act of returning something safe and sound to its rightful owner]."
Jì Chengyang's eyes were concealed beneath the brim of his cap as he once more said a thank you. He beckoned to Jǐ Yi. Jǐ Yi rose, pulling her backpack on to her back while she walked toward him. When the two walked out the door, she suddenly reached out and took his hand.
Jì Chengyang was taken by surprise, but then immediately, he smiled.
He pulled his hand back, and then, bringing his index and middle fingers together, he motioned to her that she should hold them. "My hand is too big. It's better if you hold my fingers. It'll be easier."
Thump, thump. Jǐ Yi's heart pounded. Then, slowly, she took ahold of his two fingers with her left hand.
The two followed the corridor and began heading outside.
"Where are we going?" Jǐ Yi asked him.
"To eat zhajiang noodles." Bringing his eyes down to look at her, Jì Chengyang smiled. "Didn't we already agree to that a long time ago?"
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[1] The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released in theatres in China on April 11, 2002. (Initial wdorldwide release was December 19, 2001.)
[2] 完璧归赵 “wan bi gui Zhao.” This idiom came from a historical story. In the Warring States period, the state of Zhao possessed a precious jade disc. Hearing of this disc, the king of the Qin state offered to trade fifteen cities for it. As Zhao was a weaker state, it had no choice but to comply, and sent Lin Xiangru to escort it to the state of Qin. Lin Xiangru presented the jade to the Qin king, but detecting that the Qin king had no intention of upholding his part of the trade, Lin Xiangru snatched the jade back and threatened to smash it. The Qin king offered to follow five days of ritual to demonstrate his sincerity and respect. However, in those five days, Lin Xiangru actually secretly sent someone to bring the jade disc back to the state of Zhao. Upon discovering the deception, the Qin king, though angry, did not kill Lin Xiangru, as he understood this would not bring the jade back and would hurt relations with Zhao. Therefore, the idiom, "returning the jade intact to Zhao" has come to mean returning something safe and sound to its rightful owner.
This story was translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. All forms of reproduction, redistribution, or reposting are not authorized. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the copy is unauthorized and has been taken without consent of the translator.
Completed:
28 of 69 Chapter segments
0 of 1 Epilogue