Chapter 23 (1/2)
Chapter 23
Were other couples like them? Their love would soar to the skies but just as easily crash to the ground.
Yu Hua would tease “This is the h.e.l.l you’ve chosen.”
After Cheng Zheng was discharged, he stayed in Yun Jin’s city for two day before reluctantly making his way back to his campus. Yun Jin took a day to realize with horror that they had not taken precautionary measures in their two days of intimacy. She became ashen-faced at the thought but had no idea what she should do to remedy the situation. She’d rather die than go to the pharmacy to buy medication alone. With no other alternative, she looked up Mo Yu Hua and stammered her way through the recounting. Mo Yu Hua did not pa.s.s comment but dragged her to the pharmacy immediately.
She took the medication but since it wasn’t downed in the most opportunate moment, even Yu Hua couldn’t clear her of the risk of consequences. Yun Jin spent the entire week in fear. It was only when her period came right on time that her apprehension was finally eased. She felt extremely lucky that the melodramas in which babies were frequently born out of wedlock was not as likely to occur in real life. She would never be as careless again.
The moment Cheng Zheng returned to Beijing, everyone in the hostel knew that Yun Jin was attached once again because Cheng Zheng was diligent in calling. To quote Xiao Wen “I can’t possibly pick up the phone more often than I already do!”
So it came to be that the usual reticent Yun Jin was often on the phone even till late in the night. Initially, Yun Jin basked in the lovely honeymoon phase of their romance. However, as time pa.s.sed, Cheng Zheng’s domineering ways caused her much distress.
Little things like calling when she wasn’t in and disagreeing on certain matters would set his temper off. Luckily, his temper would quell just as quickly as it came. Yun Jin would merely give him the silent treatment so that his temper was not fuelled any further. Ultimately, he was always the one to end their cold wars.
Su Yun Jin was used to being by herself. Now that she had Cheng Zheng, she still found it hard to give all of her time and energy unreservedly to him. Even when she was with Shen Ju An, a boy she was infatuated with, she still maintained her independence. In this regard, Ju An and her were like two parallel lines; they were similar in appreciating times of solitude as they walked the same course closely. They were two separate ent.i.ties that never crossed each other, figuratively. She had felt secure even in that manner of dating.
Cheng Zheng was different. He was dying to envelope Yun Jin in his affections and wanted nothing more than for them to become so close that they became one. Simultaneously, he expected Su Yun Jin to give him the same amount of attention. He wanted all of her. It would be best if even her dreams only contained him.
Yun Jin, what are you doing?
Yun Jin, what are you thinking of now?
Yun Jin, where are you?
Yun Jin I miss you. Do you miss me?
Yun Jin, why aren’t you replying?
Yun Jin, Yun Jin, Yun Jin!
Day in and out, he flooded her with texts which hinted of both his possessiveness and his child-like insecurity. Initially, Yun Jin accommodated him and would rea.s.sure him. But eventually, she lost her stamina and would keep silent on her end. However, the more unresponsiveness she was, the faster and more furious his texts came. Su Yun Jin felt that Cheng Zheng was like a ball of yarn a kitten was unravelling; he encircled her and made her feel bound yet at other times he made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.
The two of them were separated – one in the Northern and the other in the Eastern part of China. Whenever Cheng Zheng had a stretch of spare time, he would race over to Yun Jin’s area. Yun Jin’s heart ached over his plane fare though he couldn’t be bothered with financial considerations. He felt nothing was more important than the two of them being together.
Before the first semester of their fourth year in university wound down, he gave her a cell phone so as to make it more convenient for her to find a job. Yun Jin recalled an earlier episode where he tried to give her a handphone but she had refused. In a fit of anger, Cheng Zheng dropped the new phone from his apartment window down eighteen stories. She flinched at the memory and accepted it this time round. With her new phone, it became even more convenient for him to contact her but whenever Yun Jin heard the personalized ringtone that Cheng Zheng purposely set for himself, she felt annoyed. Yun Jin just couldn’t make sense of it; how could a cool person be so clingy to one he loved?
Before Chinese New Year descended on them, Yun Jin attended an employment drive organised by her university in which compatible employment companies and students were matched up. She had never been in such a populated venue before – people were packed like sardines. She was even swept along by the current and had no chance to scrutinise each stall properly. The more popular companies had such a horde of students crowding around them that Yun Jin couldn’t even approach the staff. Yun Jin couldn’t even gauge how desirable she was as a prospective employee so she headed for the exit and sighed.
Naturally, Cheng Zheng did not have to undergo such a discouraging experience. His credentials as a student from his prestigious school alone made his cv more outstanding than peers in his cohort. Adding his strong family connections to that, it was not at all difficult for him to get an enviable job.
He was more inclined towards his father’s architectural profession than his mother’s entrepreneur one. His parents were easygoing and left it entirely up to him to choose what interested him. They only hoped that he would choose a company that was not too far from their residence. Being their beloved only child, they wanted him by their side. As his father was the president of the city’s architectural union, it was even easier for him to pull strings to get his son the job of his choice.
However, Cheng Zheng had no intention of returning to his hometown. He confided in Yun Jin “There is no meaning in relying on my dad. Besides, if I returned to their side, I would have to endure his nagging. I much rather remain in Beijing. Yun Jin when you graduate, you can come over and we can be together forever.”
In all honesty, Yun Jin also had no intention of returning to her own county. However, unlike Cheng Zheng’s grand plan for her, she was more inclined to stay in this Southern city that had been her home for the past four years. She no longer felt like an outsider as she was fully immersed in the local lifestyle. She shared her thoughts with Cheng Zheng who merely remarked “Are you crazy? Of course you have to be with me.”
Of course they had to be together Cheng Zheng had stated so matter-of-factly. But Yun Jin just could not imagine herself graduating only to up herself to the North for the sole purpose of reuniting with him. It wasn’t that she didn’t miss Cheng Zheng but her pensiveness towards the future had cooled all thoughts of recklessness. She was unwilling to move to a completely foreign city because then all she would have was him and nothing else. If she should lose him, she would be stuck. Yun Jin was aghast at her own considerations; she now realised how selfish she could be.
Yun Jin was mind-boggled to know that a few companies had responded to her application during the fair. One of which was a company that she really wanted to work with. She decided to attend the interview with the mindset of giving her best and leaving the rest to fate. Surprisingly, the recuiter of the company was impressed by her composure.
Everyone in her faculty was envious of her good fortune when they learned she had signed such an elusive contract. In their society where graduates were numerous, to be able to sign on with such a well-received company was something to celebrate over. Yun Jin was delighted but also uneasy; she didn’t want to know how Cheng Zheng would react when he eventually learned of this.
She knew it was inevitable so when Cheng Zheng called that night, she told him about her recent contract.