A treasure map of memories here, translated…
A Lonely Little Girl Who Socialized on Campus Comfortably
When I was growing up, I lived near Dihua Street in the Dadaocheng area, although my family does business, but, I’m not one bit like them, sociable, and talkative. As I got into the elementary years, I’d become even more of a loner, becoming near invisible to everybody in class, and every day, it was like I was wearing that invisibility cloak, without making a single sound in class, and in between classes, I’d, strolled along on my own in the schoolyards, and, as the bell rang, I’d wandered back to my assigned seats, and, nobody ever noticed me! Back then, I’d felt, very comfortable, like everything should be like this in life with me.
And yet, by the time I got into the third grade, things started changing, because we’d started playing that game of dodgeball: actually, I’m not even the least bit agile, but, “hiding” and “dodging” had been my expertise, so, every time, everybody got taken out toward the end of the game, and I was, the only one left inside, and this time, it would be, difficult, for the rest of my classmates, to not notice me.
And there was this one more, weird and interesting thing that’s happened that I’d become, surprised by: being quiet, I’d won the first place trophy for a group game of tongue twisters. I’d still recalled the boy who’d came after me, in second, that normally naughty boy, with his jaws, dropped to the ground, can’t believe that he’d lost to a girl, who’d almost never made a single sound, someone who’s, seemingly mute. I thought, “I too, am surprised by myself here!”
After that, there were, classmates who’d given me invitations to their homes. Most of my classmates had storefronts and their home connected, like the cloth store, the furniture shop………and what impressed me the most was, a classmate called, Kang. She was, extremely pale in complexion, like a piece of white jade, with absolutely NO sign of ever being under the sun. Our teacher told us, because she has leukemia, her blood didn’t clot easily, that whenever she’d gotten hurt, it would be, life-threatening to her, that everybody needed to, watch out for her safety, and that we must also, watch out for her as well. She’d paid close heed to her own safety, rarely walked around in school. Just, stood far off, like a white jasmine plant, just, sat there, nobody dared approached her, fearing, that if they were too rough, the petals would, fall off. And, the classmates discussed, that normally, children who were diagnosed with leukemia, usually don’t live that long anyway.
The Princess of the Old Tea Shop that’s as Precious as Edelweiss
She’d never interacted with the class, never invited any of us, her classmates to her house, and nobody knew what her home life was like, but, at the moment she’d invited me to her home, I was, not the least bit surprised. She and I, were both considered quiet kids in the class, and, during a time, we’d once, used that sense of connectedness between us, to show one another that we’d cared for each other, to watch out for each other.
As I walked into her house, the fresh aromas from the teas entered into my nostrils, it was, a tea shop. “Mistress is home!”, immediately, someone was there, to usher us in. “Follow me”, she’d smiled and told me, took me on a tour of her house, it was, so magical, from the first floor storefront, walking inward, a small, delicate garden stood before me, the trees bathed under the sun, the pinkish purple orchids, the clean-white jasmines, sat under the trees. Lifted up my head, the sunlight splashed so leisurely onto the leaves, so bright that it’d, made me blind. Passing through the garden, moving forward, there was, another room, that, was the very first time, I’d see the three layered shop. With the aromatic scent of the jasmine, the atmosphere, it’d, matched up to the young owner’s flair very well indeed, and it’d, given that illusion, of walking into a tunnel of time, and, my unsettled heart became, settled.
On that afternoon, in this ancient tea shop, on the second floor, there were, two quiet girls, drinking teas, snacking, doing their homework assignments, without saying much to one another, just smiled and gazed at one another. She knew, that I’d loved and enjoyed this sort of serenity, quietness. And still, after a while, we were assigned to different classes, and, I’d never, seen her again.
I’d once wanted to seek her out, and kept rehearsing the words I wanted to tell her, but I’d never, made a move. One day, as I’d finally, worked up the courage, to head to her class to seek her out, I was told, that she’d not come to school for a long while. And I’d asked around, and nobody knew, what had happened, to her, and I’d not wanted to know, as I feared, it might be what I’d guessed to have happened to her.
I’d not wanted to hear the flower petals fall off, so, I’d, allowed my memories, to halt, on that quiet afternoon! That little girl, with such pale skin like a piece of jade, with that smile of satisfaction, like a small, pure, scented, white flower.
So, this, is a friendship you had with someone, and, because the two of you are both very quiet, that, was how the two of you were able to, connect with one another, and the friend probably died, because of her illness, but, the friend’s presence in the writer’s life lasted longer than her life had, as the memories of the times they shared were still, intact.