Chapter 97: Romantic Dali, a Love Story

At eight in the morning, Hai Lanjing woke from her bed, flipped over Su Baoer, whose leg had been draped across her, and Su Baoer simply turned over, hugged the pillow, and went right on sleeping.

Hai Lanjing carried her toiletries out to the courtyard to wash up.

After carefully checking... and making sure she was well away from the spot by the wall where Teacher Little Hand had relieved himself yesterday, Hai Lanjing began brushing her teeth.

Just then, Wu Heng, Teacher Little Hand’s assistant, also came out with a towel in hand, still half asleep.

“Morning, Sister Jing!”

“Ah... why are you up so early?” Hai Lanjing greeted him with a smile.

Wu Heng rubbed the stiff, sore side of his neck.

“I didn’t sleep well last night, so I got up a little earlier,” he said with a frown.

“What, was it uncomfortable sharing a bed with Qi Nai last night?” Hai Lanjing asked, smiling.

“Huh... Sister Jing, I slept alone last night?”

What?

“But your room has two beds, doesn’t it?” Hai Lanjing said, puzzled.

Qi Nai, who had been concentrating on her painting by the wall, suddenly turned her head and fixed a sharp look on the two people washing up...

...

Chengdu.

“Ms. An, you have a package.”

An Muxi gave a slight nod, then rose and headed for the front desk.

There, a carefully wrapped parcel shaped like a book had been quietly placed.

It was the year’s worth of Lonely Planet issues that An Muxi had subscribed to from the magazine office after returning to Chengdu.

For the next twelve months, on this very day each month, An Muxi would receive a new issue of Lonely Planet.

“Thank you.” An Muxi nodded softly and took the package away.

Back in her office, An Muxi gently put on the half-moon gold-rimmed glasses resting on her desk.

The moment she wore them, her whole presence seemed to sharpen.

She extended her slender, tender white fingers and tore open the package.

Inside was a deep blue cover, and the cover image was Erhai Lake.

The continuous Cangshan Mountains stood in the distance; under the bright sunshine, Erhai shimmered with faint ripples, while several large characters were printed alongside it:

Romantic and Free, Dali in the Cloud Kingdom.

Lin Shenlu’s article had actually been placed on the front page recommendation.

An Muxi could not help but grow interested.

She opened the contents page and found the page number for Lin Shenlu’s article.

Then she turned to his piece on Dali and began reading carefully.

“I was born romantic and free. I do not like restraint. My only ambition is to live a life of freedom...”

...

“On this sunlit afternoon, I arrived in Yunnan...”

...

“I admit that in a place like Dali, meeting a girl like her is a blessing granted by heaven. I admit that my heart was opening to her bit by bit, and I wanted to use my warmth to heal every hurt hidden within her heart...”

A faint blush rose on An Muxi’s face. She admitted that she was a little shy.

This passage made her temperature seem to rise; her face grew hot.

And beneath it, Lin Shenlu’s first photograph appeared.

It was taken on the S-shaped internet-famous road in Panxi Village, with An Muxi’s tall, beautiful figure standing by Erhai Lake.

Facing the evening breeze from Erhai, not only her hair ends but also the hem of her clothes were gently stirred...

The evening wind was so tender.

An Muxi found herself a little dazzled by her own photograph.

When had this been taken?

Why had she no memory of it?

Still, judging by the time and the clothes, it must have been on the very first day they met...

Lin Shenlu had come to bring her his phone.

Had this fellow secretly taken her picture from far away before even greeting her?

An Muxi pressed her lips together lightly.

“What a bad man...” she thought to herself.

...

“That night, we stood together by Erhai and listened to the waves striking the rocks. That night, we looked up at the moon hanging over Erhai. It was light that shone straight into the heart...”

Beneath this passage was An Muxi’s second photo, a close side profile.

Half of her delicate face filled one half of the image, while the other half was occupied by the moonlit night of Erhai.

In the distance, the moon’s reflection was hazy and indistinct. On the glittering night waters of Erhai, it seemed as though two moons were shining against each other above and below.

This softly blurred photograph fused An Muxi’s face with the dreamlike moon of Erhai.

As they complemented one another, it was almost impossible to tell whether Erhai’s moon was more beautiful, or An Muxi herself.

...

“She left, vanished just like that from my world... I could only believe that love may be separated by mountains and seas, yet mountains and seas can be crossed in the end...”

The photograph paired with this passage was of An Muxi’s back.

Lin Shenlu had stood on the balcony of the Erduo Hotel and taken the picture from above.

The main scene in the photo was the shore of Erhai and the redwoods standing in the water, with rows of bare rocks along the coast.

The Japanese-inspired style was warm, but the lonely redwoods growing alone in the water, together with the line of barren rocky shore, drew the atmosphere out to its fullest, and a sense of solitude welled up at once.

At the center of the image stood a tall, slender, beautiful figure. Though only a small back view, it perfectly conveyed the sadness left by parting.

Even An Muxi, looking at it, felt her emotions stir.

She had to admit that Lin Shenlu’s words were far too moving.

His skill with language was truly admirable.

In just a few thousand words, he had turned it into a beautifully lyrical travel romance.

And every photograph, beyond featuring her, blended perfectly with the scenery.

An Muxi truly had no idea when this fellow had taken all these photos...

The story continued with Lin Shenlu arriving in Santorini.

Elegant prose and beautiful photographs rendered Santorini with perfect clarity.

Of course, An Muxi read this section especially carefully.

Three thousand flowing words, accompanied by eight or nine photographs.

Yet only one of them was of Hai Lanjing.

And even that was just a back view.

It was Hai Lanjing on a swing.

An Muxi gave a soft snort and murmured, “At least you know your place...”

...

“That wishing pool clearly held one beautiful encounter after another, and each coin in it symbolized the hope of a story yet to come. I dropped a coin into the wishing pool, hoping that in this Dali... I might still meet the girl who had haunted my dreams...”

“That figure I could never forget through countless sleepless nights... where is she? Is she well? I believe that at this very moment we stand beside the same Erhai and look up at the same moon, yet we cannot hold one another in our arms...”

These were the final lines of the Santorini section, and the accompanying image was a photograph of the wishing pool.

A coin had stirred ripples across the clear water.

An Muxi covered her mouth.

So... he had built a wishing pool in Dali, all for the sake of wishing to meet her again.

...

And it was also on that night that she, too, had sent Lin Shenlu a message.

Could this have been destined by heaven?

Could this have been fate all along?

...

No one knew what Lin Shenlu’s true purpose had been in building that wishing pool.

Was it sentiment, or was it for making a wish?

In the end, it was still a romantic love story set in Dali.