See You Again (Time Already Knows) - Chapter 87
Chapter 87 - “Don’t Be Anxious, Baby. I Will Wait For You.”
The temperature gradually got warmer as the days went by. Summer quickly arrived.
Shi Jian originally liked summertime. She liked the pretty summer dresses, but she rarely wore them now. She basically only wore classic styles from OL, simple white tee shirts paired with all kinds of skinny jeans, wide-legged jeans, straight-legged jeans.
The sun was blinding outside. The Yi Mao offices were still cool as usual. The air conditioning was set too low. After Shi Jian’s small group meeting ended, she put her thin sweater back on. Her group was all composed of young people born after the 90’s. The youngest, a lanky young man, was born in 1993. He was a new intern that had joined the company this year.
The analysis plan for the new project was still being adjusted. During their break time, everyone continued brainstorming. Shi Jian accepted a cup of fragrant tea that an intern brought her and said, “Thank you.”
She was in charge of three interns this year. They were all young, energetic, and clever with their own ideas. They were also adorable at the same time.
One man was an otaku. He talked about the Tianya Amusement Park that was about to open in Japan. He planned to bring his girlfriend there. Then, he planned a couple of routes he could take and let everyone give him advice.
Shi Jian said to him, “Don’t go in the near future.”
The male looked at her, “Why not, Jane?”
Shi Jian said, “We’re going to be busy with projects. I’m not giving days off.”
The male reached a hand out towards her and cutely protested. Then he exaggeratedly howled, “Alright, Shi-jie. For the project, I will work my hardest until my dying day!”
That afternoon, Shi Jian sat in her office chair and looked through the images on the Tianya Amusement Park website. She was lost in her own mind for a good while. Then, she massaged her forehead. She felt that she was about to become muddle-headed again.
Only, recently, the feelings that she was about to become muddle-headed became stronger and stronger.
Shi Jian declined two meeting invites that night. She drove back to Tianmei Jia Park by herself. She made herself two small plates of food in her kitchen. After dinner, she sat amongst her hanging plants on her balcony as she breathed in the air.
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The lights were splendid and the night was quiet, as if the whole city belonged to her only. Only, she got a dry feeling that this world had nothing to do with her at all…… Shi Jian leaned on the metal railing. When she was by herself thinking about Ye Jiacheng, she still cried. She could make herself stronger, but she still couldn't resist the sadness.
She still wanted to go to Japan. It was a compelling thought that she’d had recently. She wanted to see Tianya Amusement Park, even if Ye Jiacheng was no longer waiting for her there.
Even if there was no appointment of a sky filled with stars, she still wanted to go.
“Shi Jian, baby, Shi Jian, baby……”
Shi Jian dreamed of Ye Jiacheng again. It was nearly the same dream that she had when she was last drunk on Valentine’s Day. Her dream was so vivid, it was as if she could touch him if she reached out, as if that world was extremely real.
In her dream, Ye Jiacheng seemed to sit in a room filled with sunshine. The dazzling beams of sunlight shone through the floor-to-ceiling window at a slant. His hair had grown long again, and looked as if it hadn’t been cut in a long time, so it was a little messy. But this did not affect the fact that he had always been a man with a good looking face.
Then, what was Ye Jiacheng doing?
Shi Jian heard Ye Jiacheng’s voice speaking softly by her ear. He called her “baby” in an upset as well as helplessly conniving tone. He said to her, “Whenever you used to sleep in, I had to call you up many times. Shi Jian, how many times do you think I’ll have to call you before you get up this time……?”
Was she dawdling in bed again?
In her dream, Shi Jian could even see herself quietly lying down in a hospital bed. Surprise instantly rushed through her like a flash flood, unceasingly battering her. Finally, it turned into the most extravagant and indistinct possibility.
How much she wanted to open her eyes, to wake up and hug Ye Jiacheng. They could be together again…… Only, when she woke up, she was still faced with her bedroom, alone.
Jiacheng, Jiacheng, Jiacheng…… Shi Jian called her lover’s name endlessly, replying to the embrace that she only received in the night.
The next day, Shi Jian held a warm water pack against her swollen, red eyes. She was thirty-one years old in the mirror that she saw herself in.
The twenty-one year old Shi Jian looked like that, the thirty-one year old Shi Jian looked like this. In the future, there would be the forty-one year old Shi Jian and the fifty-one year old Shi Jian…… Only, now she wouldn’t be able to see the Ye Jiacheng that was older than thirty-six years old.
Shi Jian felt that recently, she’d been a bit abnormal.
Only, in her dream, it was vivid. She’d entered into her dreams many times. After a while, it was very easy to think that it was real. Could there be a possibility that if she flew to Japan and if the plane had an accident again that she could go back?
Shi Jian knew that she was being foolish and knew how absurd this idea was. Only, she once again went onto the website that she’d booked her ticket on before, and bought a ticket to Japan on the twenty-third. That date was the twenty-third, that’s right.
Sometimes, once a person had a spark of an idea, they had a tendency to start a wildfire.
At about 1:00 PM on the day of the twenty-third, Shi Jian sat in the airport lounge as she waited. Her brain was filled with Ye Jiacheng, all Ye Jiacheng…… Until she heard a little girl and her grandmother singing a song by her ear, “Little rabbit be good, open the door……”
Shi Jian glanced at the child. She looked healthy, had apple cheeks, and her hair was tied into two braids. She was in her grandmother’s lap singing a nursery rhyme. Her voice was crisp, genuine, and pleasant to listen to.
Oh, right. What she was seeing and hearing right now was the real world. A real child singing a song, a real smiling face, a real world……
Shi Jian, wake up! Time couldn’t make everything chaotic return to normal. It was impossible……
The grandmother looked at her and said with a smile, “We’re going to Japan in a bit to send her to play at her parent’s place for a few days.”
Shi Jian said nothing.
The little girl turned towards her, and looked at her with an especially intimate gaze. Immediately, she turned back again childishly. She asked hopefully, “Nainai1, will Baba and Mama come pick us up?”
In an instant, Shi Jian only felt her heart violently jolt. She took a look at her surroundings. Everyone was getting ready to fly to Japan. Some were returning home, some were going on vacation, and some were going to have a reunion with their family members…… Some had smiles on their faces, some were looking down at their watches, some were talking to their friends. How high-spirited their conversations were.
Shi Jian snapped her head downwards. Her chest ached so much she couldn’t breathe. The grandmother immediately rushed over to help her, “Darling, are you okay?” The little girl’s voice also rang out, “Auntie, what happened?”
Shi Jian quickly stood up. She ran to the control room of the airport as if she had gone mad. Shi Jian felt that she’d gone mad. No one believed an insane person’s words, not to mention how absurd her words were.
In this world, only one person believed her, and he had the power to stop everything.
When Yi Pei answered her call, he was in a meeting. The meeting had been long and boring. When he heard some relaxing words in the middle of the meeting, he smiled. Then, his secretary came to get him. His private phone was with his secretary. When he saw that the call was from Shi Jian, Yi Pei stopped the meeting, left his seat, then answered the call, “Shi Jian, hello.”
The flight to Japan today was cancelled at the last minute.
Shi Jian returned to Tianmei Jia Park. When she sat on the sofa, she lowered her head and didn’t know what she should say. Yi Pei spotted the boarding pass Shi Jian was gripping in her hands and also silently sat down.
Shi Jian felt that she had no way to explain this. She was extremely apologetic, but also was glad of everything. She had been obsessed and went overboard for that tiny spark of hope.
Yi Pei still hadn’t spoken. He had an especially grave expression. Shi Jian said she had gone mad. Then he was also insane. When he learned that she had originally wanted to go to Japan too, his emotions went out of control and suffocated him.
What should he say to her? Persuade her not to be foolish? What right did he have to try to convince her……? He still loved her, so much that he didn’t want to anymore and that another woman could finally appear. But she was still in this world. She lived alone. Even if she was living better, he still couldn’t help but care about her. He still had feelings like this in his heart.
Once, Yi Pei had raised a hypothetical to Shi Jian: If Ye Jiacheng was gone, would she love him? She didn’t even give him an answer to a hypothetical question. She told him, “There is no ‘if’, Yi Pei. There is no ‘if’.”
Presently, just now, Yi Pei recognized one thing clearly. Whether she didn’t love him, didn’t accept him, or if she forever loved Ye Jiacheng, none of that mattered. She only needed to be healthy and living happily in a world that he could see. This was enough for him!
The flight that was cancelled today would fly again tomorrow. Shi Jian spoke to Yi Pei about Tianya Amusement Park and how Ye Jiacheng was managing that project in the past. Shi Jian sucked in a breath, “Yi Pei, I won’t be foolish anymore. I actually really understand that it’s impossible for everything to be the way it was, other than……”
Shi Jian did not say the laughable words aloud. She felt that Yi Pei had become truly angry. What happened today was thanks to Yi Pei as well. All in all, Shi Jian felt that her brain was clear now, if not a little bit messy.
“……Do you still want to go to Japan?” Yi Pei asked.
Shi Jian looked at the boarding pass in her hand and nodded, “I still want to go see Tianya Amusement Park……”
Yi Pei nodded and did not stop her.
Shi Jian looked up. She didn’t say too much, until Yi Pei said, “I’m flying to New York tomorrow. The time is similar. Let’s go together.”
——
How could one calculate whether the two of them had destiny or not? Only later did Yi Pei understand how difficult it was to have truly good destiny between a man and a woman. In the two words of “destiny”, other than having “reason”, there was also “portion”.
In the A-City airport, Yi Pei sent Shi Jian into her plane first. Seeing Shi Jian from behind as she lined up, he was dazed for a long moment. Shi Jian also turned back to look at him.
She could only be sorry to him, because she had no way to reciprocate his feelings. Actually, he was more sorry, because he clearly knew that she had no way to reciprocate. He even forced his own love onto her. He was chasing after the ending that he wanted.
As for what exactly was love between a man and woman, her harmony with Ye Jiacheng was love, but was what he begged for but couldn’t have not love?
Yi Pei stood like an unmoving mountain. Seeing that he still hadn’t left, she smiled at him. Her eyes were curved, as if she was saying: Yi Pei, goodbye.
Yi Pei suddenly recalled the snowman that he and she built together on the Yi Mao rooftop all those years ago. She piled the snow on handful by handful. Her face was pink from the cold. Her eyes were bright as if they were stars that came from the snow. He didn’t know how to make a snowman. His hands and feet were fumbling about. She had suddenly asked him, “President Yi, have you never made a snowman before?”
……
Shi Jian boarded the plane. She had bought an economy class ticket, just like last time. It didn’t take long to fly to Japan, so there was no need to buy a first class seat. Last time she had booked an economy class ticket, Ye Jiacheng even said in an especially pondering way, “So it turns out I have married a frugal and housekeeping wife……”
The plane was soon about to take off. Shi Jian put her carry-on bag in the luggage cabinet. She also helped put the bag belonging to the elderly man next to her into the cabinet. “Thank you.” “No problem.”
Shi Jian sat down. She took out her phone and shut it off. She stared at the device in her hands and was dazed for a moment.
In front of her in the first class cabin, Yi Pei was also sitting down. The special flight attendant next to him bowed and respectfully greeted him, “President Yi, good afternoon.”
——
“President Yi, good afternoon. Welcome aboard……”
Same as in the “past” August 24, 2016, at this time, a plane was about to take off on it’s trip to Tokyo, Japan. The executive chairperson Yi Pei of Yi Mao entered the cabin and sat in his seat. He looked at the LANGE men’s watch on his wrist and asked the flight attendant, “About how much time until takeoff?”
“Apologies, President Yi. We’ve run into some aviation restrictions. It may be half an hour before takeoff.”
Beside him was a businessman he had worked with before and was acquainted with. He hurriedly stood. Seeing that Yi Pei was alone, he greeted warmly, “President Yi, are you going on vacation to Tokyo?”
“For personal matters.”
In this same airplane, a well known architect’s wife turned on her already off cellphone again. She sent a cute text message to her husband: “Jiacheng, the plane hasn’t taken off yet. Do you think I’ll be late for the party?”
Mr.Ye quickly replied to his wife: “Don’t be anxious, baby. I will wait for you.”
Don’t be anxious, baby. I will wait for you.
Don’t be anxious, baby. I will wait for you.
Don’t be anxious, baby. I will wait for you.
This was the last text in Madam Ye’s cellphone. This was also the record of Mr.Ye’s final conversation with his wife.
Author’s Note:
If you like open endings, you can take this chapter as the final chapter.
In this story, the true beginning should have been the final part here: An architect’s wife and a legendary businessman both had a plane accident……
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