The Loves of His Lifetime

Translated…

Hard to guard up the love?  Hard to keep too?  Is the word, really, filled with, the heaviness?

In all of my friends, those who worked in the artistic industries seemed to be most trapped by the word love, they’d all carried their stubbornness toward it, they’d relied on the love to inspire them in work, which is why they’re all, able to make such touching work.

The Trials from the Entrepreneurship Came One, Right After Another, and Yet, They’re All Able to, Manage it

Over a decade ago, a friend who’s very artistic, N, was separated from his girlfriend, from back in college, when they were, the it pair, to after they got out of school, one of them flew to the States to study, the other stayed in Taiwan to work, they’d agreed, that when the time is right, they would, get wed.  One night, as the nightly events ended late, my good friend N pulled me back to his place to get a few more drinks, so he could wait for the time to call the States, he will be, spending his night with his girl.

After I’d done my duty as a friend who’d acted as a great companion, when it was time for N to call.  I’d gone to the bedroom, to sleep.  In my sleep, I’d heard N playing on the guitar, kept serenading his girl with that song of nostalgia, but, I’d felt, that N was way too, infatuated, that he’d stayed awake in the nights, that he’d not worried of waking the neighbors up………until the next morning, after the sun came up, I’d gotten up for work, I’d found N, dumbfounded, like a piece of wood, stared, into space, with his, blood filled eyes.  My heart went tight, I’d asked him what had happened?  He’d opened up, and told me, that his love had a change of heart, that she’d gone to, another man now.  N became a zombie, for a while afterwards, couldn’t work, I’d delivered his meals to him regularly, feared, that he might starve himself to illness, and I’d also, felt the need, to keep his secret for him, causing a huge group of my friends to get angered at me too.

Looking back now, I’d realized, that even IF I was extremely agile I still have the stories of three of my best friends, I’m merely, an observer, a bystander; the impacts from that hit was so monstrous, that I still can’t quite forget it to this day.

Yi Chang is a known talent with the fluency in writing, amazing scriptwriting abilities, with the methods to direct the shows, he is, an expert, in storytelling.  The romantic affairs he had with Huei-Shan Yang and Li Hsiao, had become news of yesterday, and, I’m not going to, mention it again, I’m going to talk about the helping one another out, the difficulties he’d endured with Huei-Shan in entrepreneurship.

Yi Chang and Huei-Shan Yang left the movie industries, and started cultivating the glass arts, I was in Japan at the time.  And, Yi Chang asked me, to become a representative for Liuligongfang in Japan, and, I’d also just, quitted my job in the news industries then.

Yi Chang had multi-faceted talents, he’d not only gotten interested in the food industries, he’d also, put in the time, to research too, as he’d talked about the dishes, it’s as if, the dishes were served, right in front of us, that the aromas of the food is, filling up the space.  Once, after he’d arrived with Huei-Shan in Tokyo, it was, already real late, I’d made some kimchi instant noodle for them as a midnight snack, Yi Chang stood by the stoves, asked me if there are any vegetables?  I’d told him that I have some spinach, he’d immediately had me put it into the pot, and, waited until the noodle was stir-fried, whether the taste, the aromas, it’d all become, a delicacy, and this dish also became, one of the most favorites of my guests later on as I’d entertained my guests at home.

Yi Chang is fluent in English, toward the Japanese friends, he’d had no troubles, arguing with them, he and the singer Fei-Fei Ou-Yang because good friends from the ritualistic meetings, they’d talked on anything from wine, steak, to the international affairs; as Mr. Taipufirudo sees me, he’d asked me to say hi to Yi Chang for him.  And, all of my friends who worked in the media in Japan all carried a great impression of him too, especially the ladies, they’d all said he had that flair about him.

Every time when Yi Chang drank coffee, and talked about the ins and outs of Liuligongfang, it’d kicked my adrenaline into overdrive.  He’d felt so much about the founder, Wang’s skills, had once wanted me, to persuade, to keep him with the company.  He said, as the money is being burned out, Huei-Shan had sold her properties one by one, if it’s still not enough, then, we’ll figure something out, to meet the 3:30 deadline at the banks; and, if there’s no other way, even asking Li Hsiao for a loan, and, living on hard, the blood pressures are taking a hike.  Although, for the sake of getting funding, life gets harder by the day, but Yi Chang had kept that motivation going, still kept at the schedules he’d set for himself, and had chosen the hardest market, Japan……and, naturally, in the Mitzukoshi at Ginza, I saw the vision and the success of Yi Chang, he’d had that confident flair about him, and changed the awes of the Japanese rich people into order slips, one, right after another.

The Colorful Dusks and Setting Sun is in Tomorrow’s Skies, the Blinking Stars Intertwined

Comparing, Huei-Shan’s professionalism toward work, is exactly like how she never goes back over the roads she’d already traveled in love.  Toward the sculpting of the prototype, she’d done it, knife, by knife without hesitation, and, she’d lost track of the time often.  The moment she’d taken off her work clothes, she’d needed to transform herself back into the graceful female actress, she’s also, the spokesperson for Liuligongfang and sign too, the glamour, the flair she’d become, the public’s attention in a matter of few short seconds.  What impressed me the most is, that Huei-Shan is definitely not that pushy, forceful woman she’d portrayed on screen, next to Yi Chang, she was, a fitting wife, when she was being interviewed by the press, she’d had Yi Chang draft up what she is to say; naturally, whenever Yi Chang started to speak, she’d stared at him, with love in her eyes, whether it be one hour, two, she’d become, statuesque, as if, the world had, stopped turning, in the moment’s time too………

The time we’d worked together in Japan, we’d gone early, to the showroom to receive the clients, and, in the middle of the day, we’d gone to make house calls to the major clients, and in the evenings, we’d had to, take the providers, the owners, out, for meals and drinks.  But, Huei-Shan had never complained, and, Yi Chang is always, that unmovable mountain.  The real time when we can all let out a breather is at the beer houses late at night, or at the ramen shops, with a huge glass of beer, a plate of skewers, a bowl of ramen with soy sauce, and, we’d feel, very blessed.  To this date, every time I saw Yi Chang, he’d still offered me his warm hand shake, and Huei-Shan would, give me a great big bear hug, with a Japanese phrase, “Natsukashine” (meaning nostalgia).

Because of Yi Chang, Li Hsiao and I became friends, naturally.  Last we met, she’d mentioned how she’d stayed at my home in Tokyo for a couple of days when I’d come back to visit my relatives here in Taiwan, I’d already, forgotten about that.  And now, Li Hsiao is a grandmother, published her new novel recently too, her days are peaceful and fulfilled.  I’d told her, that I’d especially loved her “The Romances of the Small-Town Doctor” so, Li Hsiao’s description of aging men’s desires, expectations, hesitations, toward love is delicate to the point, that it can, move the readers very much.  She’d smiled at me, told me, that there’s going to be a reprinted version of that novel soon too.  I’d joked to her, said, that a lot of people said that although Yi Chang wore his smiles, but there’s this, coldness about his smiles, without any time to think, Li Hsiao immediately defended Yi Chang, “No, not at all!  That, is the way he is.”

Although I hadn’t had a conversation with Yi Chang in quite awhile but, I’m guessing, that after walking through the storms, being tested by the trials of his life, going through his life and near-death experience, a major heart surgery, Yi Chang’s skies is probably now, filled with the stars that blinked at night, and the beautiful sunset now, and perhaps, the light no longer hurts the eye, nor is it, passionate; but, the warmth that radiated from it will keep on, extending.  And, by the same token, the loves he’d been in, like all of his family members, is forever too.

And so, you can see, how the life of a man goes, that no matter how huge the storms are up front, the waves are eventually, going to, return back to the calm and collected states, you can always be high up, and you won’t always be down, there are, the ups, and the downs in a lifetime…

from the papers.