Chapter 10 (2/2)
“Ai, don’t lower your head, I can’t rub it anymore.” Zhang Yuan lifted her chin with a finger. “Little young lady, look up and let master, I see properly!” He put on the airs of a ruffian.
“Don’t play around.” He Luo giggled, slapping his hand away. “We’re still near the school, be careful of the teachers and students catching us.”
“It’s still bright and sunny out here, and we’re not doing anything shameful, what should we be afraid of?” Zhang Yuan crossed his arms and looked at He Luo. “Oh… you’re thinking of something, aren’t you? Your face is all red!”
“What can I think of?” He Luo retorted.
“You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you!”
“En?”
“You’re going to pretend to hit your head, and then…” Zhang Yuan snickered. “Fortunately my mind is steady.”
“You’re itching for a beating, aren’t you!” He Luo pinched his arm. “And here am I thinking you’re quite the gentleman but now you’re a ruffian.”
“Hey, you weren’t my girlfriend in the past, I can’t exactly tease you like that.” Zhang Yuan evaded her hands. “Now you’re already my person, whether it’s flat or round, isn’t it all my say?”
“You dare!” He Luo pushed his shoulder.
“What is it that I don’t dare!” He held firmly on her hands. “Kao, it’s not a year ago when I still have to hide!”
“Oh… you, you really did it on purpose last year.” He Luo was stunned for a moment, but she didn’t let go, allowing him to hold her hands.
“I did it on purpose, what can you do about it!” He sounded arrogant, but the hint of smile was unmistakable.
“This bus is leaving the station. Pa.s.sengers, please hold on tight. Bus No. 2 heading towards the Railway Museum.” Just go as you like, we still have a lot of time, we can wait for another bus, and another, and another.
“Ah, you guys!” When the bus finally moved, Zhao Cheng Jie and Gao Fang who were waiting on the opposite street saw them. Gao Fang waved at them with his hand still holding a grilled squid, shouting, “You’re done, you’re all done for! I’ll report you, I’ll report you to the teacher tomorrow!”
“Just eat your food!” Zhang Yuan shouted back. “Be careful of choking to death!” His grasp became even firmer.
He Luo can’t help her smile and, adopting his tone, shouted, “Just eat your food! Be careful of choking to death!”
She was still all smiles during dinner, she can’t help the side of her lips tugging. Mom also looked happy and smilingly placed more rice in her daughter’s bowl. “Why do you look so happy?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.” He Luo immediately thought of an excuse. “The teacher discussed an answer to an exam question today. I think I did very well, my results this time should better than the last time.”
“Oh, is that so. I thought your dad let the cat out of the bag.”
“What? Dad, can’t it be that you’ve entered NASDAQ [stock exchange]?” He Luo laughed. “Then bring me to New York! I want to see the World Trade Centre, Central Park, and American Museum of Natural History! Either way, I want to see all the scenes featured in Cipher!”
“You really want to go?” Dad smiled. “Wait for another year.”
“You’re entering the American market in another year?” He Luo happily placed a shrimp on Dad’s bowl. “Old Huo Ji [t/n: his name], I wish you become more prosperous with each pa.s.sing day! Congratulations.”
“Look at you, so happy that you forget all sense of propriety between an elder and a junior.” Mom smiled. “You’re going to go on your own.”
“Me? Alone?” He Luo was dumbfounded.
“Yes.” Dad placed down his chopsticks. “Your uncle said he wants to help you apply for Wellesley College.”
[t/n: poetics about the college’s pamphlet]
Under the light of the antique lamp, He Luo read the Wellesley College pamphlet. One of the most well-known women’s college in America, the alma meter of Bing Xin and Song sisters, it seemed like they were legends there. In her other hand, she had a copy of Chronicles of Bing Xin: For Young Readers, a book she had read endlessly in her childhood. In that moment, it became as vibrant as an oil painting, the texture of the paint marks felt almost with her grasp.
He Luo seemed to fall into a daydream.
“Can I 100% go?” she asked her father.
“There shouldn’t be any problems,” Dad said. “Remember your uncle bringing a few friends from Greece to see the ice lantern festivals? What’s the lady’s called… the one who kept on praising you saying your English is good, the smart one.”
“Nata.s.sia,” He Luo reminded him. “It remains to be born on Christmas day.”
“Right, Nata-siya [t/n: in Chinese p.r.o.nunciation]. She’s an alumni of Wellesley College and now the supervisor of oriental research in h.e.l.lenic Open University. The moment your uncle mentioned you want to study in America, she immediately agreed to recommend you to Wellesley.” Dad’s entire face was lit. “In the future you will be Bing Xin’s schoolmate.”
“Since when did I want to study in America?” He Luo frowned.
“Unless you don’t want to?” Dad couldn’t understand her. “The last time we talked about another student managing study in high school abroad, weren’t you really envious?”
Did she really not want to? Wellesley. The hostel was as beautiful and strong as a fairy tale castle, the fiery red of autumn in New England, the handsome blond men wearing kilts during St. Patrick’s Day… all these pages were opened in front of her.
Further, it was America. The vibrant and colourful New York Times Square, the Was.h.i.+ngton reflection pool where Forrest and Jenny reunited, Orlando’s Disneyland, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone Park, Niagara Falls… to say she did not want to see all of this would be a lie.
But there was something that He Luo could not put down.
“Can I not go?” She asked. “I’m a little afraid.”
“What are you scared of?”
“I have never gone that far on my own before.”
“Won’t you have to do it when you’re in university in the future? You’re already so old now, you should be independent.”
“I can’t get used to Western food.”
“Your uncle’s old cla.s.smate is in Boston and has agreed to take you as a homestay. I heard the lobsters there are especially cheap.”
“I will really, really, really miss you all.”
“You can come back every break.”
“I…” He Luo thought for a long time. “Aren’t you worried about me learning bad things in America?”
“Ha, that’s why we don’t apply anywhere but Wellesley.” Dad laughed heartily. “It’s a famous women’s college, it should be quite strict. ABC [American-born Chinese] is the limit of my tolerance, you must not bring home a blond son-in-law. Your mom and I will have a heart attack.”
This was not that she meant! What I can’t put down the most isn’t all this, He Luo screamed in her heart.
She couldn’t sleep that night, tossing and turning in her bed thinking about a particular phrase in the book she read. “An endless number of s.h.i.+ps pa.s.s by outside the window in York, the colourful strings fluttering in the air all the way to the sh.o.r.e, even as the people bidding farewell held on, my heart was soaring as it wept! … I am in the fog on the lake, quietly blessing it, taking my love and comfort, and went with it to the far east. I don’t know this few hundred words, when it will reach at your doorstep, the world is indeed too wide!” [t/n: tried my best…]
The world is indeed too wide. If I am at one side of the earth, you are on the other side. How can my heart both soar and weep?
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