Extra 2

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Extra 2: Love Letter for the Sky1

[1]

Qiu Ying often dreamed of the little alley outside the dance studio when she was a student.

It wasn’t a very wide road, paved with red and grey bricks, with all sorts of shops lined both sides. Students grouped together in twos and threes would laugh and make merry there as they strolled around for an afternoon.

Every week, there would be special limited-supply food sales, special orange-flavored sparkling water, ice cream boats filled to the brim with new flavors, steaming-hot fried noodles and bread…

Qiu Ying remembered that her luck was very bad. Oftentimes, the things she wanted to eat would already be sold out before she even reached the head of the line.

This sort of bad luck seemed to run through the entirety of her school days.

In her dream, there was a bus stopped at the head of the alleyway. Her classmates and schoolmates boarded it, one after another.

Qiu Ying ran forward endlessly, but the road seemed to be stretching longer so that she could not reach the end.

Finally, the bus left, leaving her alone where she began.

She called her house, but there was only an endless busy tone waiting for her.

As the sun set, the road suddenly became empty, and only her own shadow was left to accompany her.

Cracks gradually began to open up beneath her feet, with fragments dropping downward, as if they were scattered memories that occasionally came to mind.

At the time, Qiu Ying was learning how to dance. Because her family didn’t give her the money to buy the clothes needed to participate in competitions, she couldn’t stand on stage.

The teacher called out in the dance studio again and again.

“Whoever has extra clothes, can you lend her a set?”

“Are there any leftovers that aren’t being used?”

Leftover, unused, extra…

Word after short word piled up on top of each other, giving birth to a chilliness within the sweltering heat.

Qiu Ying stood alone in a corner, quietly waiting. She felt gazes from all around her which carried various emotions sweep toward her as if a searchlight. She was standing very straight, but her palms were oozing sweat.

There was a girl who gave her something from a few steps away, moving so quickly that the bag with the spare skirt in it accidentally fell to the ground. The girl carelessly waved her hand. “It’s a bit big, but you think about how to solve that yourself. Don’t break it.”

“Alright.” Qiu Ying bent over to pick it off the ground, carefully hugging it to her chest. She aimed a smile toward the back of the figure who had already turned around, her eyes curving, both sweet and clever, “Thank you.”

It was like a soaking-wet handkerchief had been stuffed in her chest. It didn’t hurt, but it was a bit uncomfortable.

Later on, with the polishing of time, this sort of uncomfortableness gradually became a habit.

[2]

Qiu Ying opened her eyes to discover that she had fallen asleep while leaning on Ji Xiangkong’s shoulder.

When he noticed her moving, he turned and asked softly with lowered eyes, “Had a nightmare?”

Qiu Ying breathed in through her nose, sourness surging up within her throat. “No.”

Ji Xiangkong grasped her hand, his fingers stroking her palm. As he thought of something, he asked, “Did you go to middle and high school in City A?”

Her heart abruptly tightened. Qiu Ying blinked, voice rising with an unconcealed shortness. “What about it?”

Ji Xiangkong held her even tighter and said evenly, “Next break, I was thinking about going to see the place where you grew up.”

Qiu Ying was stunned for a very long time, and then dropped down her head, slowly shaking it.

None were very good memories.

Perhaps it was the dream just now that had stirred up her heart, but she told him about her past. Those grey pages that had grown wet from the rain, she spoke of as if they were nothing.

As she spoke, Ji Xiangkong continued to gaze at her with deep eyes, not making the slightest movement.

Qiu Ying turned the mug in her hands, lemon slices undulating on the water surface. “For what must have been a very, very, long time, I thought that it was a very natural thing for me to not have the things that other people all did.”

Ji Xiangkong hooked up the corner of his mouth and raised his hand to tuck the long hair beside her cheeks behind her ears. “It’s different now. All that you have, other people don’t.”

Slightly startled, Qiu Ying turned her head uncertainly to meet his eyes. “What do you mean?”

The light in front of her suddenly darkened. She saw the upturned half of Ji Xiangkong’s face gradually grow larger within her vision as he leaned over to whisper into her ear, the breath that he exhaled scorching it.

“Me.”

[3]

Now looking back on the past, I don’t feel sad at all.

I used up all of my luck to meet you.

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1 The word for sky is 天空 (tian kong), which contains the same [kong] character in Ji Xiangkong’s name. I had a slight debate over whether to use “for” or “to”, but the original wording makes it clear that this is a letter written to give expressly to the sky, not one that’s sent “toward” the sky.

***

These two sweethearts,,,,

This extra was originally published in a fan-gift booklet, the contents of which the author kindly posted on her Weibo!

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