Chapter 16
The Rules for Maintaining an Atypical Long-Distance Relationship
7
One winter break, there was a class reunion. By then, many classmates already knew about us. At times like this, no matter what they really thought back then, someone always had to jump out and say:
“I knew you two were a perfect match from the start!”
After being blessed so many times, I felt embarrassed and escaped to another table to eat. The people there kept toasting me, and to save face I drank until I was completely drunk.
After dinner, the group was heading to a nearby KTV to sing. I staggered to the bathroom, and when I came out, I found San Ye standing at the sink holding my coat, waiting for me. Most of the others had already left.
After I washed my hands—and for some reason, also splashed my face—San Ye put my coat on me and then used his shirt sleeve to wipe the water off my face. Then he asked,
“Why have you been avoiding me all day?”
I grinned foolishly. “I was shy.”
San Ye gave a little “hmph.”
I don’t know what came over me then, but I suddenly hooked my arms around his neck, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him. The moment the kiss ended, I ran away, leaving him rooted to the spot, stunned.
That was our first kiss—but I drank way too much that day and completely blacked out…
8
As for me drunkenly kissing San Ye… I honestly have no memory of it at all. Much later, San Ye, hopping mad, recounted step by step how I had taken advantage of him to “refresh” my memory.
But truthfully, he didn’t really remember either. He said his mind just went completely blank at the time.
So the next day, when we met up after the reunion, San Ye kept giving me these strange looks, while I had no idea what had happened. Both of us kept our own thoughts and went shopping together, then had hotpot.
That day I wore a fluffy hat—it was very cute, very warm… and very good at absorbing smells.
So on the way home, all I could smell was hotpot clinging to my hair.
When we passed a dry fountain near my home, San Ye suddenly pulled me to squat down with him.
Confused, I asked, “What’s going on?”
He glanced toward a figure not far away and said, “Someone’s there.”
I was even more puzzled. “Well, yeah, there’s someone there.”
It was like he was talking to himself. “It wouldn’t be good if they saw.”
Before I could figure out what he meant, he shuffled closer while still squatting—and then… kissed me.
I’ve regretted countless times that my first sober kiss happened like that: squatting beside a dry fountain, surrounded by bare trees and dim streetlights, the two of us looking like frogs in the night, kissing.
Maybe even heaven couldn’t stand such an unromantic love story. Because just before I went inside that night, San Ye gave me a big bear hug. His chin rested on my head, and suddenly I heard a loud bang behind me. Turning around, I saw fireworks blooming in the sky.
We stood hugging for five minutes, watching all kinds of fireworks—different colors, different shapes, bursting endlessly. It was beautiful. I asked him, “You didn’t do this… did you?”
San Ye was quiet for a few seconds, then smiled. “Just pretend I did.”
9
After the new semester started, I missed San Ye terribly. One day, I secretly ran off to Xiamen to see him. At that time, I had no experience and no savings, so we ended up spending all our living expenses. Not long after returning to school, we were completely broke.
It was about a month before summer break. I broke my last hundred-yuan bill into piles of one-yuan notes and carefully wrote down in a notebook exactly how much to spend on each meal.
At the supermarket, there was this ice cream called “Four Rings”—two yuan each, with a big chunk of chocolate inside. Very filling.
I called San Ye: “For lunch today I had a Four Rings ice cream and a steamed bun. Surprisingly, that combo was pretty good.”
San Ye had just eaten a proper meal in his dorm. Hearing this, he was horrified: “Don’t do this. You need to eat properly. If you run out of money, we’ll find a way.”
I pouted: “Find a way how? I can’t ask my family for more.”
After a pause, he suggested: “Just eat with your classmates! If they’re eating meat, they’ll at least give you a bone or something. Better than how you’re living now.”
I was speechless. “That sounds even sadder… It’s fine, I’ll just eat less—it’s like dieting.”
He asked, “But doesn’t eating ice cream just make you fatter?”
I wanted to cry. “Go away… Don’t worry about me, just eat well yourself.”
San Ye cleverly read between the lines: “So you’re basically telling me you don’t want me to eat well either, right? Fine, I’ll go to the cafeteria and drink free porridge at night…”
I sighed. “We’re so pitiful…”
We ended up plotting all sorts of ways to freeload meals or survive off the school’s free porridge.
A few days later, San Ye told me, “My throat hurts… I think I caught the flu.”
Worried, I said, “Aww, it must be because you’re not eating properly and your immunity’s weak. Go see a doctor right away.”
San Ye replied, “Can’t afford it.”
I asked, “Don’t you have a medical insurance card? If you use that, it should be free, right?”
After a pause, he went, “…Oh, right.”
Just as I was feeling smug about my cleverness, he added: “Well, I left my insurance card by the bed. The doctor will protect me.”
I nearly cried. “Are you sure the fever hasn’t fried your brain?”
A few days later, I told him: “My mom sent me money for a train ticket! We don’t have to live like this anymore!”
He was overjoyed: “Really?! That’s great! Now I don’t have to stick around another half-month lying to my mom for money!”
I sputtered, “Lying for money…? By the way, I paid all the rent in Xiamen! You lived there too, shouldn’t you pay half?”
In truth, while I paid the rent, San Ye covered all the eating out and entertainment. But he didn’t bring that up. He just said: “But I was the one cleaning every day, getting up early to buy you food, and even doing your laundry…”
I remembered my skirt that had been stained during my period and went red. Cutting him off, I said, “Enough! No excuses—we’re talking about rent!”
After a moment of silence, he said, “Fine, I’ll owe you for now. Once I start working, I’ll give you my whole salary.”
I giggled. “That’s so cheesy… but why does it also make me so happy?”
Because of the bitter lesson of nearly starving, we later learned to set a date for meeting and then scrimp and save. So, when we weren’t together, we were either saving up for our next meeting or just recovering after spending it all during one.
And during those days we did meet, we ate the best food, stayed in the best places, and had the most fun.
That’s why, when I look back on my college days, my happiest memories are all the ones I spent with San Ye.
