Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 32 - 31: Suddenly Leaving

The feelings between people are always strange, some don’t believe in love at first sight.

Especially for those who are rational and slow to warm up.

But sudden separations often turn a slow burner into an enthusiast.

This sensation is hard to explain; sometimes you’ve just started to like someone, just a tiny bit of liking, and then that person suddenly leaves.

That bit of liking seems to be infinitely magnified, making you feel as though you’ve already fallen for that person.

When you see them, it’s a part of life; when you can’t, it’s a matter of imagination.

The feelings between Yan Yan and Qi Yi were never just a tiny bit.

At this moment, it was the lowest point in their spirits since they had met in Melbourne.

Nobody knew what to say.

Qi Yi found out about the impossibility of changing the ticket earlier than Yan Yan, so he had adjusted his mood a bit sooner.

"The New Year is coming up. Are you going back home for the holiday this year?" Qi Yi asked Yan Yan.

It was a question filled with anticipation.

If Yan Yan was to go home for the New Year, they could meet again very soon.

"I’m not going back this year. My dad and mom said they haven’t had the time to visit for the past two years of my undergraduate studies, so they plan to take advantage of the holiday lull to come to Melbourne. Otherwise, by the time I graduate from my master’s this year, they wouldn’t have visited Melbourne at all," Yan Yan adjusted her mood and answered Qi Yi’s question.

"You’re graduating with your master’s this year?" Qi Yi was a little surprised.

"Yes, the Australian education system is shorter; the undergraduate degree is three years, and the master’s can be one, one and a half, or two years depending on the major.

I’m in the Master of Fashion program which is usually a two-year course requiring 192 credit points.

But, because of the many design courses I took during my undergraduate studies, I was able to directly transfer 48 credits as the equivalent of four courses in the first year of the master’s.

So, the remaining 144 credits can be completed in a year and a half.

That means I will be able to graduate by the end of this year.

The situation in the United States should be similar, right? Graduate once you’ve completed the credits," Yan Yan explained her academic progress to Qi Yi. (note 1)

"Master’s, huh," Qi Yi pondered.

"Yeah, surprising isn’t it? Even someone with average IQ like me has the potential to be a top student," Yan Yan also tried to tune her mood.

"Since when was your IQ average?" Qi Yi retorted.

"I was crushed by you in high school every day," Yan Yan answered with a smile.

"That’s because you didn’t focus on studying. If you’d been just a bit more serious, your grades have always been quite good," Qi Yi disagreed with Yan Yan’s self-deprecation.

"Nonsense; even if I had been more serious, I could never have gotten into Peking University," Yan Yan disagreed with Qi Yi’s words.

"How do you know you couldn’t if you never tried?" Qi Yi said with a slightly angry tone.

"How could I possibly? I know my own limits," Yan Yan never believed she could get into Peking University.

In fact, her scores in the college entrance examination were indeed quite far from Peking University’s requirements.

"Why couldn’t you?

Your scores in the second year of high school were already close to Peking University’s admission standards.

Also, we filled out our college preferences after taking the exam.

Why couldn’t you have talked it over with me?

You’ve always been good under pressure, haven’t you?

Haven’t you always performed better in important exams than usual?

Even if I really wanted to go to Peking University and you couldn’t make it, we could still have studied together in Beijing.

When you wrote ’Tombstone Inscription,’ did you feel like you were something great?

Did you get moved by your own actions?

My mom told you to persuade me to apply to Peking University, so why didn’t you just persuade me?

Why did you break up with me?

Did you ever consider my feelings?

Were you not worried that I couldn’t handle it and might not get admitted anywhere?"

Qi Yi said all this quite passionately.

It was these issues that had Qi Yi "very angry" and led him to decide to come to Melbourne.

Yes, he was initially "angered" into coming by Yan Yan.

However, upon meeting again, Qi Yi hadn’t yet found the opportunity to let himself become "angry."

Yan Yan was at a loss for words. Once Qi Yi, the best debater, exerted his presence, Yan Yan had nowhere to hide.

Qi Yi wasn’t wrong. There could have been many better ways to solve the problems, but Yan Yan had chosen the most cruel one for both of them.

In fact, Yan Yan’s eloquence was also good, often managing to argue that what was wrong was right.

Qi Yi had never used his debating skills to argue with Yan Yan about who was right or wrong.

Each time, he simply let Yan Yan’s flawed arguments overpower him.

Qi Yi would never treat a conversation with his girlfriend as if it were a debate that needed preparation and summarization.

However, the reality that he would soon return to his home country was distressing to Qi Yi.

How long would it be until their next meeting? Did he and Yan Yan still have a future?

"Qi Yi, I’ve also booked the Tram Restaurant for tomorrow night with Bao Bao’s help. It’s very hard to get a reservation. It’s the super famous tram restaurant here in Melbourne.

Although there are tram restaurants in many countries around the world, it’s only in Melbourne that one operates on the normal city tram tracks, running alongside the other trams.

You can enjoy dinner while admiring the night view of Melbourne’s city center.

Normally, it would be impossible to make a reservation in such a short time, but we were lucky yesterday; Bao Bao caught a cancellation.

Ah, it’s probably not so much my luck, but your luck instead."

Yan Yan tried to change the subject, talking about anything but the matter at hand.

She couldn’t answer any of the questions that Qi Yi had just asked.

Qi Yi had no intention of letting Yan Yan off the hook.

Sitting opposite Yan Yan, Qi Yi continued to look at her with an extraordinarily angry gaze.

"Qi Yi, why do you have to leave suddenly tonight?" Yan Yan tried once more to steer away from the topic.

"You should know that if you don’t answer the questions I just asked, I won’t be drawn into a new conversation," Qi Yi said sternly.

Yan Yan very well knew that if Qi Yi wasn’t willing, no one could get past him with mere words.

"Qi Yi, you’re right, but you can’t interrogate the words I wrote when I was nineteen with the mindset of someone in their twenties, nor the underage me described in those words.

I’ve thought about all these questions myself, and each one of them now seems very naive to me.

Indeed, I had many other methods, many other choices.

But if I could do it all over again, I would still make the same choices as I did at the time.

I don’t know if you remember, in that ’Tombstone Inscription’ article, I wrote that your mom vehemently advised me to break up with you?" Yan Yan paused.

Qi Yi gave Yan Yan a confirming look. Yan Yan continued:

"Well, how should I put it, if your mom had told me at that time that she opposed you having a relationship in high school,

I would have told you directly.

Wasn’t it just about changing the nature of our relationship from public to secret?

I’ve been targeted since I was a child, so psychologically, I’m probably a bit more mature than most.

However, the way your mom spoke to me didn’t seem quite like she was just opposing our relationship.

It felt strange, as if I were the third party breaking up your family.

To be precise, I was probably scared at that time.

I know my subsequent handling of the situation was extreme, excessive, and stupid.

I’m sorry."

Yan Yan didn’t want Qi Yi to leave in such anger.

Therefore, she ultimately chose to confront Qi Yi’s questions rather than evade them.

After listening to her, Qi Yi didn’t speak; his eyes still fixed on Yan Yan, conveying not anger anymore, but rather an indistinct and hard-to-define emotion.

"Qi Yi, I’m sorry. I think you probably won’t understand that strange feeling," Yan Yan looked at Qi Yi and apologized to him once again, sincerely.

.........

note 1:

In Australia, there is no fixed concept of a school year; you can start or graduate in any term of the year.