Xue Jinxu was talking over the phone while walking on the busy streets of Beijing. She was returning from an errand after sending out preciously home-made bento full of love to the husband who was busy making money for the both of them at Xue s.h.i.+pping.
She was currently preoccupied talking on her phone. She had decided to make the most out of the trip in the afternoon outside.
"Are you really okay? If you need someone to talk to, I"m just a phone call away alright? I"m sorry I"m busy lately but I will always make time for you, mhmm?"
"You"re being a mother hen again, Jinxu. I"m fine! Relax! Please allow me to take some days off. I need a vacation away from the city! I almost do this every year, right?" The lady on the phone argued back. It was Teng Man Rui.
"Honey, are you going far? Is it safe? I"m worried." Xue Jinxu stopped by a café and sat at an empty seat at a table outside the shop.
"I"m fine Jinxu, relax! Just in Hangzhou, my home away from home. I"ll be back in time for your wedding. Just let me think things through. It"s suffocating already." The lady on the other line explained patiently.
Xue Jinxu squinted her eyes suspiciously. "Hey, Man Rui, what"s suffocating? How come I don"t know anything that"s happening in your life? Am I still your best friend? Is it about Zhu Li Qiang? I heard you two had some sort of misunderstanding?"
"Honey, where are you? We can talk it out. Maybe you don"t have to go away."
Teng Man Rui sighed. "I really need this Jinxu. I love you like a real sister but sorry, there are things I can"t share even to you. I"ll be back before your wedding. I promise. Bye. Love you."
Only the dial tone was left in the line.
Xue Jinxu nearly cursed from annoyance. "That girl is so secretive, and no one can make her share what she doesn"t want to share."
"I hope she finds what she"s looking for." She sighed and called the waiter to order for an afternoon snack of cheesecake and caramel macchiato.
At the sight of cheesecake, she was reminded of Teng Man Rui. "Oreo cheesecake is her favorite."
She sighed again. "She knows what she"s doing. I just hope she trusts me just a little bit more."
***
Teng Man Rui put another person on the line. "Zhu Li Qiang."
"Teng Man Rui. What a pleasant surprise! What can I do for you?" Said the pleasant, cheerful voice from the other end of the line.
"Zhu Li Qiang, please make your men retreat from my side. I want to be alone."
There was silence from the other line. "Are you still there, Z-Zhu Li Qiang?"
"Can you keep at least one? Just one?" The voice seemed dull.
"My family will a.s.sign one to me. You know the drill right? It"s enough. Pull out your team." She requested rather forcefully.
"I will be traveling for a while. I want to be alone."
She was met with silence yet again.
Then the man sighed. "Can you at least tell me where? Can"t help but feel worried about your safety."She rolled her eyes. Zhu Li Qiang had the same sentiments as Xue Jinxu. "I"m not a kid."
She knew his intent was good so she gave in. "Mostly in Hangzhou. I have to go back."
"Please pull out your team."
"Okay. When are you leaving?"
"Today."
"That soon?"
"Yeah."
There was yet another silence at the other line.
"Be safe, Man Rui."
"I will. You, too Zhu Li Qiang."
When the call ended, Teng Man Rui felt an inexplicable heavy feeling in her heart. Zhu Li Qiang"s voice was too cheerless. "It"s not as if I won"t come back. I will! Why are they too sad about it? Hangzhou is where my life is. I"ve been gone for too long already."
She was seated on a bench in the Beijing airport near her boarding gate. She will be boarding the plane any minute.
Her flight took two and a half hours. By night time, around six in the evening, she landed in Hangzhou.
Teng Man Rui went straight to her home. It had been vacant for a little short of a year. She switched the lights on and revealed a dusty apartment. "I have lots of cleaning to do tomorrow. Maybe I can just hire a cleaner."
She left her suitcase and bags in her bedroom, and then went outside again for a walk. She found the empty dusty house too stifling.
"I need fresh air."
"Oh, Hangzhou."
As she traversed alleys and parks and streets in a mult.i.tude of turns, past memories came flooding by. Her lips wore a slight smile. "How long has it been?" Melancholy got the better of her.
"It"s where we started our love story. It"s also where we ended it."
She walked some more. At around eight in the evening, she settled at a bar overlooking the majestic West Lake and ordered tea.
She sighed. "Oh, Hangzhou. The place I settled in when I was such an innocent naïve young girl so green and inexperienced, so frail and frightened, to try my luck and establish independence. It"s where I met you, fall in love with you. It"s where we built our dreams. But… It"s where you changed too. You changed. And perhaps, I changed too, eventually. Consequently. Because I grew alongside you..."
"Eventually, we lost our innocence together, you and I. Eventually, we were overcome by circ.u.mstances. In the end, it"s better to just part ways."
"But, it all started in Hangzhou…"
She was lost in her own thought bubble. The tea she ordered came and even cooled down a bit. The clock kept on ticking. She was unmoving. The surrounding people wouldn"t know just where her thoughts had taken her already. She was taken to the past long gone. She was on time travel. When she took a sip of her tea, it was almost at ambient temperature. She didn"t mind at all.
Her weary heart wanted answers. Her weary heart wanted to be freed.
"I want to start a new life too."
"Away from you, without you."
"How am I going to do that?"
"I want to remember our story for the last time, then let it go."
She bit her lower lip. Two teardrops fell from each eye. She smiled bitterly. "I want to stop shedding tears for you."