NCND – 36

April 10, 2018miumiu596

I didnt know how much time my father had, and I was not going to miss out on a chance to show him filial piety. I did not return to Japan and Brother Feng helped me in the procedures to drop out from my doctoral program. I did not ask him about Ye Zhengchen and he did not mention him, except that they were frequently in contact

Later, my father asked me to admit him in the oncology department of our hospital

This was the place where most people never came out after being admitted

For three years, I had sent many people inside who went to heaven thereafter

Fortunately, my father was still relatively healthy and was recovering well. My mother accompanied him for a walk in the park every morning

Every time I saw them, I smiled

When we are young, and we are eager in love, we expect love that is as hot as fire, consuming all your passions, a love that overpowers all rational thought. Only once you saw people die, would you actually see beyond the superficial

I was no longer young , no longer yearned for an all consuming, passionate love, but I never regretted my choices when I was young

Long after the pain had passed, I still remembered him

And I would, till the day I died

…… …

*********** ***********

Three years passed by.

I looked at my watch. It was five minutes after eight. I dressed up to get ready for work.

Yin Zhong Tian had called me yesterday, asking me to accompany him as he bought some furniture for his house.

I had told him that I was on night duty and was free during the day

Immediately he replied that he would pick me up in the morning at nine o clock

Because of his father’s contacts, he had been assigned to the municipal office right after graduation. Step by step, he had slowly but steadily risen to be the secretary of the deputy mayor.

Perhaps it was a habit that was inculcated into him because f his profession, but every time we would meet, he would arrange the details like a professional meeting. He would always respect my time and willingness

With him , everything was planned in meticulous details, including our meetings

I never had to worry about him suddenly changing the meeting, because he would always plan carefully

Smiling on my way down, I saw his car parked downstairs. He was sitting at the wheel concentrating on a map, perhaps selecting the most optimal route

I got into the car and he put down the map

“ What are you thinking ? You seem to be in a good mood.”

“ I was thinking that you are so good at planning everything in meticulous detail, do you already have a girlfriend living with you who will become a fiancée and then a wife?”

With a cute face, he thought about my question seriously and said, “ Apart from you, there is no one else.”

I believed him

Zhong Tian never spoke nonsense

Whatever he said was always carefully considered. He would never say something he did not mean

Mom and Dad were always pointing out the many advantages of Zhong Tian – he was calm, considerate, spoke well, treated people well. I agreed that he was a really good man.

I leaned back against the seat, waiting for him to start the car and drive to the main road.

As we passed the familiar streets, I smiled faintly, thinking about a patient who had been released from the hospital today.

When she left, her husband helped her change her clothes and then supported her as she walked back. She smiled as she waved goodbye to me

In the case of some people, when you waved goodbye, it meant that you would never see them again.

…… …

********* *********

As Zhong Tian had already done a preliminary survey, we quickly selected a cabinet with glass sliding doors. We still had some time left on our hands, so we went to see some curtains. There were many styles and designs – dazzling ones, Korean ones, gorgeous European designs and simple designs as well.

“ Do you like any?”, he asked me.

I looked around for a moment and pointed to one, “This green one is nice.”

“ How about this gray one?” he pointed to a design in a light gray color.

I looked at it and it looked quite elegant. But somehow I found my eyes straying back to the green one on the left. A picture of light green curtains of a translucent material, touching almost the ground and tied up with dark green tassels came to my mind. Whenever the door was opened, the tassels would ripple in the breeze.

It was a beautiful sight!

“ Bo Bing?”

“ Huh?” I came back to earth. “ Yes, it’s really nice.”

“ Then let’s take these.”

I pointed to the green curtains and asked the salesman, “ Do you have this in any other color?”

“ What colour do you want?”

“ Anything other than green…”

The salesman immediately showed me the design book. “ We have this pattern in purple, blue..even this pale pink is really nice.”

But the pattern in other colours looked vulgar. It didnt really appeal to me

“ Thank you!” I gave the book back to her.

“ Let’s take the gray one on the right.”

Before leaving, I turned around for one last look at the light green curtains. They were stunning!

…… …

After lunch, Zhong Tiam called me again

One of his friends ran a shop that sold wedding gowns and he had called Zhong Tiam saying that they had recently got a new batch of gowns.

While the date for the wedding had not yet been set as I was in no mood to wed in a hurry the shop owner still insisted we at least have a look. It was off-season now, and he promised to give us a discount.

We had to bow down to his repeated requests

He even joked, “ A wedding is not like anything else. Even if you dont marry Zhong Tiam, sooner or later, you will end up marrying somebody and will need to get a wedding gown.”

Zhong Tiam playfully punched him on the shoulder when he heard this comment

I had rarely seen him participate in jokes. I could understand that his relationship with the shop owner was very good.

“ This is a very popular style in Europe and US this year”, he pointed to a gown on the display window. “It would really suit you. If you don’t believe me , try it!”

Zhong tiam touched the dress and added, Yes, try it.”

…… …

The US and Europe have always favoured low cut styles with a long skirt. The shop assistant procured a pair of three inch high heels for me to wear. She even helped me tied up my hair, with a few strands left loose.

Twenty minutes later, I came out from the changing room, a smile on my face.

Zhong Tiam looked at me and looked completely taken aback.

I was embarrassed to see his hot gaze on me and quickly moved my eyes towards the window

It was a warm summer afternoon. The sun rays came through the window and hit the floor.

Outside the window, I could see the faint silhouette of a man in a dark green army uniform.

As soon as I looked at him, there was a sudden rush of emotion in my heart.

I blinked, trying to confirm that the face I had seen at the window really resembled the person who often haunted my dreams.

But he turned, and his back resembled that person’s back.

There was too much of a similarity. Knowing it could not be true, I still moved quickly towards the window to see him more clearly…

He had a  military bearing . He was in a dark green uniform with stars on his shoulder, indicating a high rank

Just a view of the back was enough to entice a woman

He crossed the road and got into a white, high brand name SUV

The car was standing next to a very obvious ‘No Parking’ sign. This didnt gel with military ethics

The car started but did not drive away

Time stood still for a while, everything in front of me seemed to have frozen in time.

Zhong Tiam came towards me and looked at me.

“ What is it?” he asked as he place his hand on my bare shoulder.

“ Nothing. I was just admiring the car”

Suddenly, the car shot out of parking and drove towards the main road

At the intersection, the light was red. The car accelerated past the intersection ignoring the red light, causing a chaos as the other cars hit their brakes

The traffic police manning the intersection was also stunned, dumbly watching the car speed away.

Just because he was military, he need not be so arrogant!