Volume 9: The Acidity of the Setting Sun
Chapter 1: The Shallow Fate of a Past Life
“Hooray!” In the courtyard of the Chu family residence, Chu Jingyi tossed the study materials in her hands into the air like snowflakes. The lazy golden retriever merely opened one eye slightly before immediately rolling over in the sun, as if it hadn’t seen anything new.
Click.
Chu Xiaodong pressed the shutter button, capturing his daughter’s momentary beauty. He was very satisfied with the effect of the photo. “Yibao, very nice! This effect is great! I’m going to print it, frame it, send one copy to your paternal grandfather, mail one to your maternal grandfather, and hang one up in our own home.”
Chu Jingyi’s smile was brilliant, the dazzling sunlight a perfect match for the dazzling beauty. “High school is finally over! I’m so looking forward to university life. Dad, what’s university like?”
“University?” Chu Xiaodong said while fiddling with the camera. “University is not much different from high school, except you won’t have a head teacher or academic advisor supervising you anymore. You still have to be self-disciplined when you go to university. You absolutely must not waste your time.”
Chu Jingyi’s mother patted her husband on the shoulder. “Yibao is finally getting a rest, stop lecturing her. High school is tiring enough. I heard the son of the Zhao family next door didn’t do well on his College Entrance Examination and cried from morning till night.”
“Is it that exaggerated?” Chu Xiaodong put the camera into its case. “Alright, I’ll say less. Yibao, do you remember what I promised you?”
Chu Jingyi folded the hem of her skirt and squatted down in a ladylike manner, picking up the now-useless textbooks from the ground. “I remember! A family trip!”
“Looking forward to it?”
“I am!” Chu Jingyi smiled foolishly.
Chu Xiaodong shook his head. His daughter was already a grown woman, eighteen this year, yet she still had such an innocent air about her. If she couldn’t find a good man in the future, she would suffer for the rest of her life.
He had promised his daughter that after the high school graduation ceremony, the family of three would fly to Sanya for a vacation. If they had time, he even wanted to take his wife and daughter on a trip around the world. The graduation ceremony had ended yesterday, and Chu Xiaodong was already starting to prepare for the family trip.
He thought of the recent troubles in the parliament, and a wave of melancholy rose in his heart. He actually began to worry about his daughter’s future. “Jingyi, in your three years of high school, have you met any agreeable boys?”
Chu Jingyi blushed. “Why are you asking about this? No, I’ve been busy with my studies these three years. After class, I had to go to the student council. Where would I find the time to think about such things?”
“When I say agreeable, I don’t mean ‘like’ or ‘love’ or anything like that. I’m asking if there are any boys you’ve paid particular attention to? Perhaps some of their traits made you take notice, like their looks, habits, personality, and so on…”
Chu Jingyi bit her lower lip, her finger pressing into her soft chin. Speaking of which, there was indeed one boy she couldn’t forget. Lu Li… She still remembered the words Lu Li had said to her in their first year of high school, and she had felt guilty and blamed herself for it ever since. Even now that high school was over, she had not mustered the courage to apologize to Lu Li.
Thinking of Lu Li, she thought of the way he sat by the window, frowning in deep thought. She had always felt that the way Lu Li looked when he frowned was heart-wrenching. Only the young girl herself knew that she would often secretly watch Lu Li, wondering what kind of person he truly was.
Which university did Lu Li go to? Chu Jingyi was suddenly lost in thought. A nameless sorrow drifted through her heart. The thought of never again seeing the solitary, clean figure of the boy in the corner of the classroom filled her with a trace of reluctance. She didn’t know where this feeling came from. Was it a crush? She didn’t know.
She had paid attention to Lu Li for three years, yet she had never had a proper conversation with him. Did this count as a secret crush? Chu Jingyi’s face grew even redder. She decided to hide this matter in her heart forever, never letting anyone know, including her parents.
Chu Xiaodong was a shrewd man. He could guess a thing or two from the change in his daughter’s expression. “So there is a boy you’ve taken notice of. Yibao, your father is a very open-minded person. If you really care about him, you can keep in touch in the future.”
Chu Jingyi asked curiously, “You wouldn’t look down on him for his poor family background?”
Chu Xiaodong smiled. “Even if he were a beggar, as long as he treats our Jingyi with a sincere heart, I would welcome him as an honored guest of our family.” It wasn’t just his thought; his father thought the same, and the entire Chu family thought the same—the future son-in-law of the Chu Family didn’t need grand ambition or a noble background. He just needed to live a quiet life with the little princess of the Chu family and have a few big, healthy sons. That would be enough.
Chu Jingyi’s heart was touched. A sudden impulse surged within her. She wanted to find Lu Li and tell him that she had been inconsiderate back then, and she hoped he would forgive her.
Chu Xiaodong smiled as he packed up the camera tripod. “If you really have someone in your heart, Yibao, you can contact him after our trip. From now on, it’s our family time.”
“Mm… then I’ll deal with it after the trip…” Chu Jingyi nodded blankly, then asked, “Dad, when are we leaving?”
“Of course, the sooner the better. We’ll leave this afternoon at the latest. Yibao, hurry up and pack your things. We’ll take our family’s private plane.” Chu Xiaodong shouted to his wife, “Honey, give your dad a call. The flight crew is arranged by him. Ask them if they can be ready by this afternoon.”
The “your dad” he referred to was his father-in-law, the Chu family’s in-law.
Watching her parents bustle about, Chu Jingyi turned and walked alone to the golden retriever’s doghouse. The big dog was still lying lazily on the ground, not even wanting to open its eyes. It must be getting old, Chu Jingyi thought. When she was little, she could still ride on its back and run around the neighborhood, but now it couldn’t even be bothered to lift a paw. Everyone gets old, and she would be no exception. When she was old, would she regret not having apologized to Lu Li back then?
Chu Jingyi sat in the courtyard, lost in thought. The wind blew through the swing set, making a creaking sound like a mother’s lullaby, causing her thoughts to drift even further. If, she was just saying if, if she had properly apologized to Lu Li, would they have become good friends? She had always wanted to understand Lu Li better, to get closer to his life, to approach his thoughts. If she had been a little more considerate back then, would she and Lu Li have become friends? Would they have even taken it a step further?
Chu Jingyi took out her new phone, opened the class roster for Class One of the third-year liberal arts track, and found Lu Li’s name and home phone number. She copied Lu Li’s number, created a special memo to save it, and even set an alarm for fifteen days later so she wouldn’t forget. In fifteen days, I must ask Lu Li out and apologize properly!
The little girl nodded earnestly, as if preparing for a great battle.
Just then, Chu Xiaodong, who had stepped out earlier, walked back in. “Yibao, good news. The plane is already on standby. Let’s head out now.”
Chu Jingyi said, “Oh,” patted the grass clippings from her dress, and took small steps to catch up to her father’s figure. Halfway there, she suddenly remembered something, turned around, and waved at the lazy golden retriever. “Bye-bye, see you in half a month.”
These were the last words this girl would speak in this warm home.
