Chapter 26: Letter to Liang Jing (3)
I'm not sure if such a wish will come true. Maybe one day our feelings will fall and disappear like today's warm sun. We have not been tested enough, and our understanding of human nature and society is still shallow. If the feelings that can be provided are the firewood of the whole car, I want to take it out and ignite it one by one, like a relay transmission. Like you, I am afraid of a sudden parting after being fully engaged, and I don't want to give my heart to an uncertain future too soon. Qin Hong and I are waiting for each other, waiting for us to grow into the person each other wants. We are very secretive about it, this topic is taboo for conversation.
At this point, I couldn't help but think that if Yona pushed the door and saw me in my room all afternoon, she would have shown a reluctant expression. She always tried to convince me to live a healthy life, snatching the potato chips I had just eaten two bites of two days ago along with the bag, and by the time I saw it again, it was inedible with a lot of cigarette ash. John never approved of her arbitrariness, but he was willing to show support in front of her and convince her that his ideas were gaining popularity. She often wanted me to stay outside my room, walking in the wilderness or seaside woodlands that looked like pastures. She believes that the power of nature can bring endless inspiration to people, far more than the harvest of reading at the desk.
"I'd like to live outdoors forever if I could."
That's what she used to say. Compared to the bustling metropolis, the place where I live is indeed quite desolate. Sitting on the bridge across the strait during the storm, I could hear the waves roaring under the instigation of dark clouds. On a sunny day, I stood on the edge of the cemetery and looked up and saw white clouds forming dark shadows among the leaves. The night sky here is clear, and there are always stars swirling in the sky. The reflection of these distant dust made me confused for a while, and I remembered a passage from "The Lonely" for no reason:
In a sea of people
Do you dare to isolate yourself from the world
Stand alone
Let the people around you make a fuss
But you don't care
In the embrace of nature, people can feel small. I NO LONGER ENVY MY CLASSMATES WHO LIVE NEAR THE CAPITAL, AND THE FERRIS WHEEL AT TIVOLI'S PLAYGROUND DOESN'T PIQUE MY INTEREST. During the day, I spend more time in the church and the library. When I come back in the evening, I will participate in activities in my senior community. Everyone shared home-cooked foods such as raspberry cake and pumpkin pie made by each family. John likes to make jam because it makes the most of a few plum trees in the garden. The jam in the supermarket here is cheap, but they insist that they make the best. From picking the fruit, washing the fruit, to finally canning, the whole afternoon is wasted every time. His secret ingredient is to use honey instead of sugar for flavoring, which makes the flavor more mellow. He probably regretted leaking this secret, and told me many times not to pass it on. He always stared at me at community meetings, afraid that I would go out while he was not paying attention. The other neighbors didn't know what was going on and laughed at him as my bodyguard.
At the party, they shared photos of their travels with me. An octogenarian couple on a trip to Iceland is happily waving to the camera on the back of a donkey. Their house cat often comes to my room, and I like it to sleep on my pillow, and that shy look reminds me of the first time I met Xiaobai.
After the mid-term exams, we are given visits to major companies in the UK and Belgium. I will describe what I saw on the way in as much detail as possible, and if I can, I will invent a postcard for you. This is probably the Danish model of teaching, never detached from society, and completing education on a tour. Last week we visited MAESK, Denmark's largest logistics and transportation company, and had lunch at the company, where I was impressed by the simple and crisp office design. The staffing at the company's headquarters was much lower than expected, most of the processes were modernized, and human staff played a major role in monitoring. We'll be visiting ECCO in two days and I'm looking forward to it. The company's shoe design is world-class and world-leading in terms of comfort. Qin Hong once asked me to buy him a pair of leather shoes of this brand when I was free, and if I could mail them on time, he would receive this gift on the first anniversary of our acquaintance.
My emotions began to stir up by these arrangements, and although I hadn't seen you for thirty-five days, and time passed at different speeds in different places, I still vividly remember talking to you by the lake the day before I left, fantasizing about what life would look like. That night you wore a long skirt that didn't reach your feet, and the metal pendant around the white top ping-pong sounded. There are no cicadas, no noisy frogs, and similar magpies rarely make noises. The only big sensation was the fireworks show organized in town. That night, all the residents of the nearby community stood on the asphalt road, fireworks from the seashore blooming overhead, and everything around was shrouded in rainbow-like light, and after a moment it went dark again.
I'm learning Danish and German. While there are many things in common, learning two foreign languages at the same time is no easy task. Luckily, there is plenty of language to help me practice. Qin Hong said that I like to be ambitious when I am studying, and I am always overwhelmed by some greedy things that I can't chew. Every time I hesitated to give up, the fear of wasting my time would cloud over me, and I would have to push myself harder and harder. This is indeed stupidity in everyone's eyes, and I don't know how to get rid of it. As a result, I learned a lot of unsystematic knowledge during the time when I should have rested, and it spread out, and sometimes it was out of control. Just like the idea of my letter, I originally planned to complain to you, but it ended up being a long list of words, and I didn't remember what I wanted to say, or forgot anything, just moved down little by little with the scroll bar of the mailbox letterboard. I hope you'll forgive me for this foolish account.
Miss you. Please tell me about the recent school events when you have time.
Thank you very much.
Chen Ying