The Healing Sunshine - Chapter 15 Part 1

As of next post, I will be away for two months, potentially without access to the blog for a lot (if not all) of that time. You will still have updates. As usual, I have prepared the updates ahead of time and scheduled them to post. (20 posts prepared in advance! Im exhausted. LOL) Same vacation procedure as normal: (1) Posting times will not change. They will be on Tuesday/Friday evenings, N. American time. (2) As I may have slow or no access to the blog, I likely will not be responding to comments in that time, or at most, selectively responding. However, please, please still comment as usual. I promise that I will read everything whenever I can. Leave an @hoju for me if there is something specific that you want me to respond to, and I will make sure I get to it when I return. Next chapter links and the index may not be updated during this period. (3) Peanuts will be keeping an eye on postings for me when she returns to make sure everything posts and also approving comments. However, she is still away for another couple of weeks, so if something happens, it may not be fixed until then. Thats it. Ill be back in September! H

Halfway mark!

Hes back! And he has something special planned for her.

Chapter 15.1 The Memories are Still Awake (1)

This story was translated with the express permission of the author forhui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. All forms of reproduction, redistribution, or reposting are not authorized.If you are not reading this fromhui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the copy is unauthorized and has been taken without consent of the translator.

As soon as he and J Yi had sat into a taxi, she could not wait to tell him about her university. J Chengyang listened attentively. After a while, he suddenly instructed the driver to head directly to her university. J Yi was startled with this. “We’re not going home?”

“I want to see the place where you’ll be studying for the next four years,” J Chengyang stated.

“Oh, okay.” J Yi’s lips came together in a smile, and she looked out the window.

J Chengyang was back and was really sitting beside herthis feeling was truly too nice.

<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com only.

Pulling along his luggage, he followed her into this university and took in the scenery all around. While J Yi was introducing things to him, she thought of something. “Our school is known for having a lot of pretty girls. In Beijing, there are two schools that produce the most beautiful girls: Renda [Renmin University of China] and BFSU [Beijing Foreign Studies University].”

“Oh? Is that so?” J Chengyang cursorily responded. “Is it because there’s a high ratio of female students?”

“I suppose so.” Turning, she carried on step by step leading the way for him but was unable to restrain her lips that were curving upwards because of happiness. Worried that she would be embarrassed if he caught sight of her smile, she continually admired the scenery of this school campus that still could not be considered familiar to her. As it was the National Day holiday, there were not many people. There were still some students who had not gone home for the holiday, though, so the two of them took care of dinner by eating in the school dining centre. J Yi bought stir-fried sliced pork and onions as well as diced chicken in curry over rice for J Chengyang, while she ate stir-fried tomato with scrambled eggs and stir-fried celtuce stem with shredded pork.

Telling him to sit and relax, she personally brought over his dinner and set it down in front of him, then went back to get the other portion of food.

When they were eating, she deliberately picked out her egg and shredded meat and gave it to him. She watched as he pulled off his baseball cap, set it on top of his luggage, and, lowering his head, ate his dinner with chopsticks in hand. With his height, the instant he sat in the seat, he immediately caused the space around him to seem narrow and cramped.

J Yi gazed at him with her face propped on her hand. “Before I started uni, I didn’t know that when meats and veggies and other foods are put on top of the rice, it’s called ‘covered rice[1],’” J Yi said lightly. “So fun.” Everything was so fresh and new.

All these little things and details.

She told J Chengyang, there were girls in her dormitory who were from minority ethnic groups, and when school started, they had come still wearing the traditional clothing of their ethnic group. She told J Chengyang, she had also purposely run over to the Department of Arabic Studies to catch a glimpse of that host who used to always host children’s programs, but she had returned without success.

J Chengyang listened to her talk, all the while also appraising these foods that she normally ate. In passing, he asked, “Have you gotten your EEP for Hong Kong and Macau[2] yet?”

“Yup, I have it.”

“We’ll head out tomorrow, then.”

Making a sound as an affirmative answer, she bowed her head and ate her tomatoes and scrambled eggssour and sweet.

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Seeing her eating so carefully and focusedly, J Chengyang actually stopped and observed her for a little longer. Although he could only see her bangs that had fallen forward and her motions as she held her chopsticks and speedily took bite after bite, he still very much enjoyed this view. He recalled the idle conversation that had taken place on this return trip between two of his co-workers who were on the same flight as him. The two men had discussed the one and only female journalist who had been on this particular journey and who was even manlier than men. Their conversation topic had weaved this way and that until it really did circle over to land on the subject of women, and they had discussed why women have those characteristics of never feeling secure and always making things difficult for no reason. For example, when the man was out fighting hard to make a living, a woman would still squabble with him over questions like whether he loved her or not. When the two conversed about this, they had also asked J Chengyang. Since J Chengyang was a child, he had always maintained a bystander’s stance when it came to women, keeping them at a respectful distance. He had been very forthright and stated that he did not really understand women. Actually, besides being able to detect who had desires to get closer to him, he truly did not have much knowledge of any of the other things.

However, he surmised, it was unlikely that in a situation where he could sense that J Yi’s emotions were in turmoil, he would simply ignore them. And J Yi likely would not be as they had described, either, that when he returned home weary, she would suddenly remember the trigger for their quarrel seven or eight days ago and, without any rhyme or reason, start another round of arguments.

Life together was still very far off.

Take things slowly.

<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com only.

This trip to Hong Kong could not be considered their first time travelling together.

But, it absolutely was completely different from the times in Daocheng Aden and New Zealand because a secret layer of special feelings enshrouded it. Hence, it became such that everything was done very cautiously. However, aside from instructing her not to tell anyone, J Chengyang appeared more composed and at ease than her. J Yi truly did do the full-on secrecy work. When they were sitting on the airplane, she even peeked all around, worried over whether they might encounter any people they knew.

It was only when they had arrived at Tsim Sha Tsui[3] that she finally was free of anxiety.

“The first time I came here, it was with the orchestra for an exchange performance.” J Yi stared out beyond her room window at the ocean as well as Hong Kong Island, which was on the opposite side. “We stayed on Hong Kong Island. I don’t even remember now what the name of the hotel was. I just remember it was directly facing a cemetery, so at night, I didn’t even dare open the window. But when I looked at the tombstones in that cemetery again during the daytime, every one of those stone tablets was different, some tall, some short, and they kind of looked quite novel.” J Chengyang found what she was saying to be interesting, and so he listened. The little girl could somehow in her mind even link seeing tombstones with a mysterious feeling. This was such a wonderful age; there was an enthusiasm and a feeling of freshness toward everything.

Her and J Chengyang’s rooms were adjacent to one another. Earlier on, after they had eaten dinner, she had even hung out and played in his room for a while. She had gone online using his laptop that he had brought along, while J Chengyang sat on the couch and watched television.

Somehow, she had ended up finding her way onto QQ, and then before long, J Nuannuan had come and “poked” her in it.

I’ll come find you at your school tomorrow and have lunch with you?

She thought J Yi was still staying on campus and had not gone home.

J Yi’s heart missed a beat.

I’ve gone out. I went on a trip with some classmates.

Things went quiet on J Nuannuan’s end for some time, and then she sent a message over:

Then we’ll talk when you’re back. Have fun.

There was something not quite right with Nuannuan’s tone.

J Yi followed up with a couple more questions, but Nuannuan said she would wait until J Yi was back and then they would talk.

Shutting down QQ, J Yi mulled this over for a while. She surmised that Nuannuan was feeling agitated about the whole matter of going abroad. After all, she had not performed well on this time’s college entrance examinations so had only been accepted into an average university, and her family was planning on sending her abroad to study after she completed her first year of university here. She had expressed her dissent at this, but she had no true, hardline reason for not going

“Rest earlier. We’ll be getting up early tomorrow.” J Chengyang turned off the television.

The room suddenly became quiet. With an “mm,” J Yi shut down the computer and, picking it up, set it on the desk. When she turned her head, she saw him walk over to the bathroom, turn on the faucet of the sink, and splash two handfuls of cool water onto his face. Then, with his right hand, he wiped away most of the water that was on his face. She stood at the doorway of the bathroom, watching him.

Looking into the mirror, he noticed her behind him.

This was an unfamiliar hotel room, not J Chengyang’s home.

Unfamiliar suroundings, particularly hotels, are always able to intensify the attraction between opposite genders, especially J Yi leaned against the wall, her eyes growing especially bright as a result of the amber light in the bathroom. She still was unable to believe that the two of them, just like that, had come out on vacation together, and her voice when she spoke became rather soft because of the restlessness in her heart. “What time should I set my alarm for?”

“Nine o’clock. About that.”

She giggled. “Then I don’t need an alarm. I wake up naturally at seven.”

“Such a healthy daily routine?” He turned to the side to grab a towel from the rack on the right. It was a dark blue towel.

She discovered that this habit of his was very similar to her own.

Regardless of what type of place she was staying in, when she travelled, she had to bring along her own towel before she would feel at ease, as well as her own bed sheets and quilt cover J Chengyang was not as particular about this last point. Wiping away the water on his face and hands, he hung the towel back up again, then turned around and looked once more at her eyes. Finally feeling a little like he did not know what to do with her, he put on a languid tone and teased her, “You’re still not going to bed? You want to feel my stubble?”

He actually remembered that remark.

J Yi’s ears instantly burned up. Twisting her head away so that she was staring at the towel, she made up an excuse for herself. “It’s just because I realized that you and I have the same habit. We both have the habit of bringing our own towels along when we travel.”

J Chengyang paused briefly. “It feels a bit more comfortable that way. In an unfamiliar surrounding, there’s at least one thing that’s very familiar to you. It gives you a sense of security.” As he spoke, he took a step forward and bent down slightly, indicating that she could have a feel.

Feeling as if in a trance, J Yi truly did stretch out her arm and touch his chin.

Even though nothing different could be seen, it was evident his stubble was already beginning to poke through a little. With a few fingers, she touched it. There was a prickly sensation on the pads of her fingers, but it did not feel bad. Rather, it felt like there was a tiny current going through, a little tingly and a little She abruptly pulled her hand back. “You didn’t shave this morning?”

Hiding that arm behind her back, she anxiously rubbed her fingertips together nonstop, as if doing so would allow her to calm down. But that feeling was too hard to get rid of. That tingly sensation flowed with her blood from her fingertips into her heart. She felt her ears burn even hotter. In fact, they were not just hot. Before her eyes, there seemed to be some hazy white shadows.

This atmosphere was just too suggestive.

“I did shave. It’s not really obvious to the eyes right now, but you can feel it if you touch it with your hand.” J Chengyang’s voice was also rather low and husky. “If I don’t shave when I get up tomorrow morning, you’ll be able to see it.”

Oh God.

Just why did she have to choose to discuss with him, right here, in the middle of the night, the question of shaving?

J Yi was a little flustered. Saying that she was going to bed now, she hastily fled from his room.

But when the door had only just closed behind her, she realized that her own room key card was still on the table in his room. Hence, she had no choice but to go knock on his door once more. J Chengyang opened the door and looked at her.

“Room key card.” Peeking through the gap between him and the doorframe, J Yi landed her gaze on the glass table in front of the couch. “My room key card is on your table.” Without a word, J Chengyang went and got it for her, then watched as she bolted from there for the second time.

His hand against the door, he listened until he heard the sound of her swiping her key card and also her door closing. Only then did he close his own door once more, his mind set at ease.

He returned to the couch, sat down again, and offhandedly yanked over his jacket, pulling out his cigarettes and lighter from the pocket and quickly lighting up a cigarette. Taking a deep inhale, he forcibly tore out from his body that feeling of restlessness that had been evoked just now due to that brief instant of conact.

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Occasionally, he would consider quitting smoking, but there still was no compelling reason for him to carry out this thought to completion. Perhaps when he and Xixi were truly together, he would need to concern himself with how she felt when they kissed or her health. He likely, then, would be able to easily give up this habit of many years. With the ring finger of the hand that was pinching the cigarette, J Chengyang tapped his own temple lightly, chuckles completely coming over him as a result of this bizarre thought.

<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com only.

[1] “gai jiao fan.” Gaijiaofan, gaijiao rice, or sometimes simply gaifan or gai rice literally means “covered rice.” It is a dish of rice with meat, vegetables, and/or fish served directly on top of a bed of rice instead of as separate dishes.

[2] As Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions (SAR) of China, when travelling to and from one or both of these places, Chinese nationals who reside in Mainland China are required to obtain a special travel permit called Exit-Entry Permit (EEP) for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macau (also simply called the Two-Way Permit or the Valid Exit-Entry Permit to HK/Macau).

[3] Tsim Sha Tsui is a bustling place in Hong Kong filled with high-end malls and hotels and has a great view of the harbour and Hong Kong’s skyline. As a result, it is a popular destination for visitors.

This story was translated with the express permission of the author forhui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. All forms of reproduction, redistribution, or reposting are not authorized.If you are not reading this fromhui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the copy is unauthorized and has been taken without consent of the translator.

Completed:
35 of 69 Chapter segments
0 of 1 Epilogue