The Healing Sunshine (一厘米的阳光)

Chapter 7.1 - Night in Wellington (1)

After Jǐ Yi checked in her luggage, she only had a backpack remaining with her. When it was nearly time for takeoff, Jǐ Yi was putting her backpack into the overhead luggage compartment. Unexpectedly, a schoolmate tugged at her skirt. Puzzled, she asked, "You have something you want me to help you put up there?"

"That handsome dude over there is watching you. He's been staring at you for a long time." This schoolmate from her orchestra team hissed, "That look in his eyes is like the Big Bad Wolf's."

Turning to look, Jǐ Yi saw someone whose presence here gave her a great surprise.

Wang Haoran?

And there was also that person beside him, Su Yan, poking her head out to look at Jǐ Yi while grinning and talking to him.

Seeing Jǐ Yi turn her head, Wang Haoran waved at her and said, "I'll come find you after takeoff."

She was finding it somewhat difficult for her mind to catch up. As she took her seat, her schoolmate beside her whisperingly asked in follow up, "You really do know him? I remember our teacher said earlier that most of the people on the plane are part of the cultural exchange group. That person isn't also part of our group, is he?"

She actually did not really know what Wang Haoran did. They had only seen one another a few times in total.

Afterward, when the plane had taken off, Wang Haoran really did come over to her, and she also finally learned that he and Su Yan were indeed part of the group of young performing artists who were going on this cultural exchange.

"You didn't know? Your Little Uncle Jì and I met because, back then, he beat me in a competition," Wang Haoran explained with a smile. "But losing to him is nothing to be ashamed of. What's a pity is that he's already given up the piano."

Wang Haoran played the piano, and Su Yan played the violin.

Jǐ Yi suddenly clued in to the fact that everything she studied was so patriotic—the dance she had taken was traditional Chinese dance and the instrument she learned was the guzheng... There really were no commonalities with Jì Chengyang that could be spoken of.

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This time was an orchestra and band trip, so the performances were group ones and not any sort of solo performances.

Actually, since that time when she was eleven years old and had humiliatingly run off the dance stage, she was very fearful of going up on stage alone. There were several instances where, even for only little internal celebrations in the school or within the district, she had declined her teachers' requests for her to give a solo performance. Even so, each time prior to going up on stage, she would need to listen to music to help herself not be nervous; for example, this time, the song playing in her CD player was "Suddenly."

It was from Karen Mok's album released in 1999. The following year, Zhao Xiaoying had bought it for her as a birthday present.

Watching her orchestra classmates conversing excitedly in front of her, she hopped anxiously on her feet and listened to Karen Mok sing huskily and tenderly. While she was staring blankly off into the distance, her teacher suddenly appeared before her, saying to her with a smile, "How did we manage to forget to put some lipstick on you? You won't look nice at all going up like that."

Performances for exchange purposes were not as strict and rigorous, but they were still required to wear makeup. Stage makeup, in particular, was a little heavier and thicker than everyday makeup. Her teacher applied a thick layer of lipstick on her that felt very uncomfortable. When they were done performing and had left the stage, she at once changed into her school uniform and went to the washroom to wash her face.