Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 19 - 18: Came to See You Specially (Extra for the 4th Alliance @ Ninth Assistant)
Chapter 19: Chapter 18: Came to See You Specially (Extra for the 4th Alliance @ Ninth Assistant)
This was the first opportunity Qi Yi "missed" to get into Peking University directly without taking the national college entrance exam.
It was also another important reason why Yan Yan later agreed to Qi Yi’s mother’s persuasion to make Qi Yi apply for Peking University and, for this reason, she resolutely chose to break up with Qi Yi.
Although Qi Yi’s mother’s words were a bit harsh at the time, in her heart, Yan Yan truly felt that she had already delayed Qi Yi’s chance to attend Peking University once.
Qi Yi’s withdrawal from the competition unintentionally substantiated Chen Jian’s reputation as the Student Union President who bullied others by using his power, and during high school, where emphasis was on the all-round development of "morals, intelligence, physique, aesthetics, and labor," Chen Jian indeed had some deficiencies in the "morals" aspect.
Despite this, because of Qi Yi’s withdrawal, Chen Jian unsurprisingly won the title of Best Debater in the competition, yet he lost in the election for the captain of the debate team.
Inside the debate team, not a single girl voted for Chen Jian, the one who had elbowed out the school hunk.
Even the boys, who mostly thought Chen Jian’s victory lacked honor, scarcely voted for him.
The spot for the recommendation to Peking University naturally did not fall into Chen Jian’s hands; instead, it was awarded to the class president of Liberal Arts Class Two, Jiao Zhifei, who in the end also opted to decline it.
However, Yan Yan’s chatter and liveliness only lasted for one year, and after breaking up with Qi Yi, she reverted back to her previous self.
During her senior year of high school, Yan Yan became quiet once more.
"Jin Jin just passed the judicial examination. I heard that the pass rate for this examination is at most only 10%," replied Yan Yan, with evident pride in her voice, to Qi Yi’s question. "Compared to the judicial examination, the college entrance exam is truly child’s play. However, as members of the Jiji Waiwai combo, we are naturally invincible in battle."
Yan Yan thought that "their" Jin Jin would definitely become a great lawyer in the future.
Yan Yan’s response also snapped Qi Yi out of his fixation on his past indiscretions.
Indiscretion? What’s so bad about that?
Qi Yi suddenly understood why he had come to Melbourne in such a rush. Was it not just the simple term "love-struck"?
"Let’s not talk about your deskmate for the moment. Let me tell you why I came to Melbourne." Qi Yi ordered two lattes at the coffee shop inside Skydeck and then steered the conversation to his main point.
"Are you here for tourism, or to work on a research project?" Yan Yan had already come up with her own answer when she bumped into Qi Yi earlier that evening.
"When I was at Stanford, there was indeed a project on probability actuarial science and data modeling sponsored by the Melbourne Crown Casino, but I didn’t join that project.
Had I known earlier that you were in Melbourne, maybe I would have joined that project team," Qi Yi began to organize his thoughts.
"So you’re not here for a project? Are you here just for tourism?" Yan Yan asked Qi Yi.
"Not exactly, I came to Melbourne specifically to find you," Qi Yi said earnestly.
Yan Yan hesitated for a moment.
"After all these years, you’ve really improved at making jokes—so serious that I almost believed you," Yan Yan replied with a laugh.
"I was actually just stating the facts," Qi Yi said, as once he had started speaking, he felt there was no reason not to make things clear.
"Haha, how could that be? Stop joking with me," Yan Yan was a bit unsure of Qi Yi’s intention in saying this.
"Why couldn’t it be?" Qi Yi asked back with a piercing look.
"If you were looking for me, why wait until now? What were you doing all these years?" Yan Yan still didn’t quite dare to take Qi Yi’s words seriously.
"I didn’t even know you came to Melbourne. Besides, who would have thought that you’d keep your domestic phone number even after going abroad?" Qi Yi asked Yan Yan.
"Who says no one would have thought of that? Your deskmate, Wang Pu, would think of it from time to time. If during university, you had remembered to call my domestic number like Wang Pu did, I would have been there at a moment’s notice," Yan Yan said, making an airplane taking off gesture with her hand.
"I think the person whose joking skills have grown is you," Qi Yi remarked, somewhat annoyed that he had never thought to call Yan Yan’s old high school number.
"Really? Which of my statements do you think was a joke?" Yan Yan asked, puzzled.
"At a moment’s notice," Qi Yi zeroed in on the key point Yan Yan had just made.
"That, well, from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere, a distance of eight thousand kilometers is indeed a bit far, but when I first came to Melbourne, if you had looked for me then, I would have gone back to the Northern Hemisphere without a second word.
Furthermore, if you had called me during our freshman year, I would still have been in Xiamen—I was at Xiamen University, you knew that, didn’t you?" Yan Yan didn’t think there was too much jest in her words.
"Are you serious? You would really have come at a moment’s notice?" Qi Yi felt both surprised and regretful after hearing Yan Yan’s response.
"More real than pearls," Yan Yan replied with a smile.
Since most of the Chinese people who came to Melbourne in the early days spoke Cantonese, Yan Yan used this Cantonese proverb with particular fluency.
"I’m serious about coming to Melbourne specifically for you," Qi Yi paused, "it was only two weeks ago that I read the ’Tombstone Inscription’ you wrote. After reading it, I was love-struck and came here on a whim." Qi Yi also spoke candidly.
"’Tombstone Inscription’..." Yan Yan didn’t know what to say for a moment.
It felt as if a diary entry she wrote a long time ago had suddenly been seen by the person in the diary.
"If you gave me up to ensure I would attend Peking University, did you ask for my opinion before making that decision?" This question had been the biggest doubt in Qi Yi’s mind for the past two weeks.
Yan Yan wanted to say something, but felt too embarrassed to speak.
Yan Yan’s resolute decision back then created her idea of "perfect love," but without even properly breaking up, the method was indeed too extreme.
At an age when love isn’t well understood, who hasn’t done something that, though meant well for the other person, ended up hurting both?
What we had back then was, at most, the perfect love we imagined.
Before understanding love in high school, who didn’t have a bit of self-righteous greatness and misguided self-sacrifice?
Unspoken words, unresolved misunderstandings.
With time and a change of circumstances, we understand how naive the six-word notion "assuming the other person would understand" is.
Yan Yan didn’t know how to answer Qi Yi’s recent question.
"Also, when did I ever tell you that I wanted to apply for Peking University?" Qi Yi continued to question.
"You always wanted to apply for Peking University, didn’t you?" Yan Yan felt that constantly dodging the question wasn’t her style.
"Who told you that?" Qi Yi asked.
"Your mother somehow got my number back then, and she specifically called me to discuss it. Moreover, I think I confirmed it with you on the same day," Yan Yan recalled.
