Crossing the Clouds and Sky to Fall in Love with You - Chapter 16

Back at the apartment, Sister Tao was home today. She was very earnestly reading a book; I glanced at it and saw it was related to photography.

Unlike other girls, she didn’t enjoy reading novels or other romantic, flowery material. As I got to know her better, I felt that her personality leaned more toward a man, yet to call her a tomboy… she always maintained that subtlety and grace inherent to a woman.

A very clever combination, isn’t it? It would probably be hard to find a second Sister Tao in the world.

“You’re back? How was class today?”

I put down my bag. “Can I say that not having morning sickness is a cause for celebration?” I’m sure that if I rushed out to throw up once during a large class, the entire department would know I was pregnant the next day.

Sister Tao put down her book, pushed her scarf aside, and got up. “Were you crying just now?” The conversation with Tao Yian was only fifty minutes ago, and perhaps my eyes still betrayed the fact I was desperately trying to hide.

I turned my head away. “I… I was just asked some questions about how to break up. It’s nothing.”

“Who was so insensitive? They knew you were sad and still poked at your sore spot?” She put her hand on my shoulder, and I naturally smelled the light perfume on her. It was a refreshing and pleasant scent, unlike the cloyingly sweet smells I detected on other classmates, or the cologne on some handsome guys—it was just a gentle, soothing freshness.

Sister Tao truly understood taste, yet she wasn’t nitpicky about the small details; on the contrary, she was quite easygoing.

Another intriguing, contradictory combination?

“Xiaoning?” She rested her hands on her hips, smiling down at me, waiting for my answer.

“Ah… No, don’t say that. That friend was just trying to care for me as best as he could.” I forced a smile to cover up. Sister Tao’s eyes seemed contemplative, but just as I understood her—once a topic ended, she wouldn’t continue to probe.

Yes, Tao Yian was just being caring… and then conveniently confessed to me.

How could I possibly tell him that a man as refined, handsome, and well-off as he was, could never be with a disgraced mother who had an abortion?

After a quick wash-up, I turned back to see Sister Tao already sitting back in front of the computer; the screen displayed a magnificent scene—was that yak? A herd of yaks being driven by a boy about ten years old, with the vast sky and snowy mountains in the distance.

“Where is this?”

“Tibet!” Sister Tao raised her head and gave the answer lightly. “Before I returned to Taiwan, I first went to Southeast Asia, and then traveled along the way to Yunnan, Tibet, and other places. It took about half a year.”

Sister Tao rarely shared her travels. “That sounds like a grand journey!”

“I suppose?” She pointed to the herd of yaks in the photo, talking about experiences I couldn’t imagine but deeply yearned for. I was incredibly moved by what I heard.

“Sister Tao, what kind of places do you usually travel to?”

“What do you mean?”

I sat on the edge of the bed. She first turned back, and then simply gave up operating the computer and sat with me. I realized she was holding a camera; was she really inseparable from her camera?

“It’s just… I also follow the blogs of some travel experts. Everyone chooses different destinations. Some people like to visit places that aren’t particularly famous but are rich in culture, and others specifically choose popular big cities. What about you?”

“I believe the choice of travel destination represents a person’s mindset.” She propped herself up with her hands behind her, leaning back into a graceful posture. “Don’t you think it’s a bit unchallenging to constantly go to places like Venice, Kyoto, or Seoul? Of course, I’m not saying these places are bad, but too many people go there. My goal is to bring back sights that are rarely seen by ordinary people; sights that are hard to come by but shouldn’t be missed.” She tightly held her precious camera, showing me some of her photos in a demonstrative way.

One frame after another, from limestone landscapes to lush rain forests, majestic blue skies and white snow, or vast snowy plains and deserts, interspersed only with people wearing minority ethnic costumes, their strings of silver ornaments dazzling the eye.

Looking at the photos on the camera, we got closer and closer, and unconsciously, our shoulders were pressed together. As she passionately explained, I secretly glanced at her profile, feeling her intense love for photography. Within her field of vision, it seemed there was no place she couldn’t reach.

Sister Tao like this was beautiful, impossible to look away from.

“So, where’s the next place Sister Tao most wants to go?”

She put down the camera and seriously considered the answer. “Bhutan, Nepal. I’m currently very interested in these two places.”

“Nepal?”

“Xiaoning, do you know? It’s north of India…”

I held up my hand to stop her. “I know the geographical location! I’m asking why you want to go there?”

“I heard it’s a happy place, especially Bhutan. Even though the people live in hardship, the people there seem to live very happily… Happier than we are in wealthy countries. I want to go and see. Of course, there must be magnificent mountain scenery there too.”

Looking at her seemingly glowing eyes, I couldn’t help but tease her. “Someone told me they wouldn’t take photos of people anymore, right?”

She gave me a sideways smile. “So my lens is aimed at houses and scenery, people are just supporting characters!”

“Sister Tao, you are so good at arguing!”

“You! Weren’t you deliberately setting a trap for me to fall into?” She covered my head with one hand, freely messing up my hair; I laughed and shrieked—this kind of playful roughhousing was rare! I jumped up, and she was roaring with laughter.

“Looks like you’re in a much better mood; honestly, I was really worried you’d be unable to pull yourself out of the grief of heartbreak.”

I took a deep breath, inhaling her fragrance, and felt the pain in my heart gradually ease. “If you don’t think about it, and don’t touch it, you won’t feel the pain.” I pulled back some of my smile. “Ultimately, I’m still very envious of Sister Tao. You are so free-spirited. Perhaps things go wrong occasionally, but you can always quickly…”

“That’s not entirely true!” she interrupted me. I opened my eyes in confusion, and a hint of bitterness instantly mixed with her smile. “After all, I went traveling to escape… Traveling and my camera became my antidote during that difficult time.”

“Difficult time?”

“Didn’t I say I wouldn’t take pictures of people anymore?” She curled her lips, talking about the secret I had once cared deeply about as if it were a casual chat. “You even seemed a little hurt back then.”

I smiled awkwardly. “Because I really wanted to ask you to help me… take a photo.” With that person.

“Should I say it’s a good thing I didn’t take it?”

“You should say that!”

I sat back next to her, but she returned to the computer. “I’ll show you, anyway, it’s all in the past…” She slid the touchpad. The herd of yaks disappeared, and before I could clearly see the file path, she had already found the target she wanted to click on.

I moved closer to her, and she opened a photo.

It was a wedding photo, but only of the bride; the bride’s makeup in the photo was meticulously done, the white veil, the long dress, and the headpiece symbolizing purity were all beautiful, not to mention the bride herself was a great beauty!

As I looked at it, I somehow felt a strange sense of familiarity… Before I could pinpoint where that peculiar familiarity came from, I heard Sister Tao say, “That’s her… she’s the reason I decided not to take photos of people anymore.

“She was the last set of wedding photos I took; she was my former colleague, my ex-girlfriend… my first love.”

Instantly, a tidal wave of emotion drowned me! I gasped and covered my mouth, unable to think clearly…

Her former colleague, whom she met and fell in love with while setting up the studio, they originally thought they could continue to live happily like this, whether it was their life as a couple or their mission to capture the happy moments of newlyweds. However, it was completely shattered by a sudden, unexpected piece of news.

The moment I heard those words, I felt as if a force had gripped my throat. I stopped breathing until Sister Tao continued.

“When I received the wedding invitation, I realized she had a boyfriend of eight years.” That was a kind of betrayal, wasn’t it? “I heard her fiancé really loved my photos and absolutely wanted me to be the one to shoot this set of wedding pictures.” Sister Tao closed the wedding photo. “So, I took them, but they also became my last set of wedding photos; after that, I made up my mind not to take photos of people anymore… I started traveling alone, like I was escaping.”

Escape, stop taking photos of people, traveling alone… This was the true face of the loneliness Sister Tao inadvertently revealed in that moment.

My heart ached, even though the person who went through this wasn’t me, and Sister Tao’s expression remained light and smiling.

Yet, I felt a sense of empathy, as if I were the one who had been betrayed; only because the wound on my own heart hadn’t healed yet.

Behind that beautiful wedding photo, there was such a heartbreaking past.

“It’s been more than three years, and I still remember it clearly.” She folded her hands, staring straight at me, her eyes eventually breaking out into a smile. “Do you think I’m not as free-spirited as you imagined?”

“You still love her.” I took a step forward, glancing at the bride’s photo that was no longer there. My tone was certain. “Even though it hurt, you still kept this set of wedding photos.”

Only because she was still in Sister Tao’s heart.

Sister Tao fell silent. As calm as she usually was, she rarely showed such emotional fluctuation. Unable to help myself, I took her hand and gently stroked her cheek with my finger.

“Xiaoning…”

“She’s very lucky.” I choked out the words. “The person who gets to be loved by Sister Tao is definitely the luckiest.”