Chapter 5 [FINAL]
Tang Shuoran did not answer as his mind was still agonizing over the announcement of Fei-Er’s death. But, slowly, very slowly, the pain in his heart began to lighten. Though he met Zhang Shanxue through a song, the very same song that had made Fei-Er famous, it was that same song that led him to develop feelings for Zhang Shanxue. What these feelings evolved into later was a surprise beyond his wildest expectations. The two girls had nothing in common except for singing the same song. He liked Shanxue. It was a decision he made after he was sure of his feelings for her. He never treated Zhang Shanxue as Fei-Er’s subst.i.tute. Especially since Fei-Er was quiet but Shanxue was very active. Fei-Er did not talk much while Shanxue was very talkative. Shanxue was nothing like Fei-Er. He liked Shanxue just because she was Shanxue and nothing else. There was absolutely no reason to treat her as a subst.i.tute.
It was just that his reaction to news of Fei-Er’s death had badly scared Shanxue. She hid from him in the following days. It was down time at the Convention Center and she didn’t need to work overtime into the night since there wasn’t much to do. Shanxue was very moody during this time and frequently went to KEYS BAR to drink. Each time she went, she would drink until she pa.s.sed out. But the next morning, she would wake up on the big bed in Tang Shuoran’s home and he would be eating breakfast in the dining room.
She would walk out of the bedroom and for the first few times, ignored him. She would open the door and go to work directly. But this day, he pulled her over: “Shanxue…...don’t go drinking again.”
“I can quit drinking, but can you quit her?”
“Shanxue…….”
“What else do you want to say? I can never compete with her. Death is eternity and it’s no use to try to catch up! Wu wu wu……[1]”
Tang Shuoran stood up in an attempt to hug her. She flung his arms off and dashed out. He strode out to door, kicking his chair over. He had no time to worry about the pain. He yelled at the door: “You are you, not anybody’s subst.i.tute! “
Some neighbors stuck their heads out at the commotion this time. Zhang Shanxue saw that Tang Shuoran had tilted his head in embarra.s.sment. Shanxue thought for while and said loudly: “Then say you love me, say that the one you love the most is me!”
Tang Shuoran’s mouth half opened and stood there like a statue.
Shanxue stamped her foot and walked down the stairs.
Shanxue remained bitter for several days. She still went to KEYS BAR to drink, then -- -- pretended to be drunk, yes, she faked being drunk. Because that’s the only way she could receive the treatment of having Tang Shuoran taking her home. He told Lao Deng: “You be careful, uhm, just put her on my bed…….”
“Mr. Xiao Tang, it won’t do keeping this going.”
“It’s alright, Lao Deng, you can go home now. “ Wow, he’s asking Lao Deng to leave, Tang Shuoran wasn’t polite at all.
Shanxue almost bursted into laughter, but she tried very hard to hold it back. She feared that if she was found out, he would stop going to the bar to pick her up.
All of a sudden, she was frozen on the spot --- --- inside the dark room, his hand touched her face softly and caressed her face. Then his warm lips touched her forehead lightly. Afterwards, he quietly walked out of the room and closed the door.
Even though Shanxue wasn’t drunk, she still felt the effect of the alcohol. It was as if she had been hypnotized by this sweet kiss and slept soundly the whole night.
In the morning,Tang Shuoran was surprisingly not at home. She was a little disappointed. But after she saw the breakfast that he had prepared for her on the table, she was satisfied. She was thinking on her way to Convention Center on how to end the current situation? It had turned into a situation where it appeared as if she was blaming him for everything.…..Wasn’t it just the phrase of I love you? He wouldn’t say it. Why didn’t I say it? Was Zhang Shanxue a petty person?
She was relieved after she thought it all through. The conference today was a seminar on “Foreign Literature in China in the New Century”. She had already read the script of the opening speech of the Chinese host to Tang Shuoran yesterday. (The foreigners did not have scripts. They were quite capable of giving speeches on the spot.) It mentioned the status of the propagation of European literature in China. Beside this, the two had no verbal communication at all.
It’s very enjoyable to listen to Tang Shuoran’s simultaneous translation. Naturally, Shanxue would not want to miss the opportunity to listen to him. She arrived at the conference hall early, put on earphones, and sat in the front row. Tang Shuoran’s voice came in from the earphones. His penetrating deep and resounding voice had fascinated many people. n.o.body could count how many beautiful girls had changed their major to translation because of him.
Shanxue listened with great interest. Because many people talked about each country’s romance novels, it was very interesting to listen to the similarity and differences among the romance novels from various countries.
Tang Shuoran’s English translation came in: “Novels usually have several plots, so romance novels were of no exception…...”
It’s absolutely a pleasure to hear his voice. It’s like bathing in the spring breeze.
“The story of the Prince and Cinderella is one of these recurring plots found in romance novels. It’s the same in China…...”
Whoa, Shanxue reveled in her thoughts, his English p.r.o.nunciation was so precise.
Wait~~~~~~~~~~~~What’s the last sentence?
“…………I LOVE YOU.”
Shanxue rubbed her eyes (it’s weird that she didn’t pinch her ears). Did she hear it wrong? The Chinese author didn’t say that sentence. How come Tang Shuoran added the sentence I love you on his own? Strangely, she seemed to have heard her own name……
So it’s true that the last to come is the most critical part.
The last event on the conference’s agenda was to let conference attendees ask questions and for the guests on stage to answer.
As usual, Tang Shuoran was the translator.
But then, it turned out to be like this:
“As web literature has become so popular nowadays, do you think that the position of traditional authors will still hold the same amount of prestige as before? (English)……. Shan-Xue, je t’adore. (French: I love you).“
“Which Chinese author is your favorite? (English)…… Shan-Xue, …. Ich liebe dich. (German)”
“……Shanxue，Te amo（Spanish).”
“……Shanxue，爱（あい）してる(j.a.panese).”
“……Shanxue，사랑해요(Korean).”
Shanxue felt dizzy.
Many Chinese authors did not know all these foreign languages and thus had very little reaction to his translations. The foreign guests on the other hand were in laughing fits. Finally, the concluding speech was given by an older foreigner who was very fluent in Chinese.
“I think our translator must be in a very good mood today. His way of confessing love could be written down as a romance novel in itself. We were deeply impressed by this conference and it will bring us some wonderful memories. Thank you, Solomon. Even your translation matched the subject very accurately. Thank you again for your wonderful and creative translation. Solomon, do you want to say something? Today is your best opportunity!“
There was silence in the earphone for a while, but what followed was his deepest confession in Chinese.
“Shanxue, I love you. You are n.o.body’s subst.i.tute. I love you not because of somebody else. It is only because I love you. That’s it. VINCENT is my most favorite song. She sang it before, then you also sang it. But from now on, we two will sing this song together!”
starry, starry night
paint your pallet blue and grey
look out on a summers day
with eyes that know the darkness in my soul
shadows on the hills
sketch the trees and daffodils
catch the breeze and the winter chills
in colors on the snowy lined land
This song was not a song about self-pity and it’s not a tune of resentment and desertion. This song was sweet and lovely, but only when sung by a man and a woman together.
Shanxue did not hesitate, stood up and ran to the translation room.
Five minutes later, the singing in the conference room changed to the singing of two people, a man and a woman.
now i understand
what you tried to say to me
and how you suffered for your sanity
and how you tried to set them free
they would not listen
they do not know how
perhaps they"ll listen now
Pa.s.sionate applause echoed in the conference room.
----The End----