Under The Sunset, She Kissed Me. - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I’ve been thinking about how to start this novel—how to introduce my partner and myself. Miss Zhao Wenya gave me an idea.

(I will use “Miss Y” as a code name in this story, because Miss Zhao always says that seeing her real name while reading a novel feels a bit strange.)

So, the story begins here—

Miss Y and I met in the second semester of our ninth grade. At the time, the school required everyone to do the morning exercises. I was a top student and too lazy to move, so I would stay in the office doing practice papers instead of running.

Miss Y didn’t go either. She just didn’t want to run that day and was slacking off, hiding in the bathroom.

How did we meet? She was coming out of the bathroom, and I was going in. We… boom, we collided.

The bathroom only had a long curtain blocking the view, so you couldn’t see anyone until you pushed it aside. I wasn’t looking where I was going, so we ran right into each other.

Even though it was my fault for not watching the road, Miss Y was so honest and dorky at the time. She apologized to me first. I said it was fine, and she even said, “Thank you, classmate, you’re so nice. I bumped into you and you’re not even mad.”

I remember thinking, this person is such a dork. At the time, I thought she was being sarcastic, but Miss Y just looked at me with those dorky eyes of hers… how should I put it—she was just so adorable.

Later, when I went back to the office to do my papers, the teacher asked why my face was so red. I said it was hot. The teacher took one look at the open window and ordered me to get out and go run.

That was the beginning of our story.

After living with Miss Y, we always do a deep clean every weekend. If Miss Y is mopping the floor, I’ll be washing the sheets and duvet covers. The laundry detergent she buys always leaves a faint citrus scent on our clothes. She has always loved eating citrus fruits, so our home has basically turned into a giant citrus candy house.

By the time we finish cleaning, it’s usually one o’clock in the afternoon. Our delivery food arrives, and the clothes are hung out on the balcony. She’ll move two chairs out there, and we’ll eat our takeout while sunbathing. Sometimes, when the sky is gorgeous—blue, white clouds, and the sun is warm—she’ll hug me with a grin and tell me how much she loves me.

I love the youthful feeling of summer; Miss Y loves the sense of security that winter brings. I’m used to being alone; Miss Y enjoys being with friends. I like brewing strong tea; Miss Y prefers sweet drinks. I’m used to sleeping in a pitch-black room; Miss Y can’t fall asleep without a light on.

I’m great at science and love to write; Miss Y gets a headache from science but loves painting and dancing. I like dark colors like grey and black; Miss Y likes bright, vivid colors and anything sparkly. I have five tattoos on my body; Miss Y is so afraid of pain that she cried when she got her ears pierced.

Sometimes Miss Y says we are complete opposites and asks me why I like her, since our interests and habits are totally different. At those times, I’ll tell her deeply and affectionately: “Love at first sight.”

We went to different colleges, so we couldn’t share our thoughts with each other immediately. By the time we were about to graduate, our plans for the future were completely different.

She wanted to stay in Kunhe to find work, and I wanted to go home. Since we hadn’t seen each other for a long time, we hadn’t really talked about it.

I assumed we were on the same page—that we both wanted to return home—never thinking Miss Y would want to stay in Kunhe. We kept arguing over this issue. I wanted her to find a job at home, and she wanted me to go to Kunhe. We couldn’t agree. At the worst of it, Miss Y said, “Ru Ru, I love you, but you need to respect my choices. If you’re going to keep thinking like this, let’s just break up.”

Graduation season was busy. We only had about thirty minutes to chat before bed each night. We were so busy every day that we barely had time to send messages, let alone have a proper argument.

After she said that, Miss Y regretted it, but she was afraid I would try to persuade her again, so she hung up. Later, when I sent her messages, she left them on “read,” and she hung up on my calls directly. I thought Miss Y really didn’t love me anymore and really wanted to break up. I was so busy at the time that I didn’t even have the bandwidth to process it.

After I went home, because I had no work experience, many companies rejected my resume. I had no choice but to interview during the day and send out resumes or write my novel at night. Every night before sleep, I would send messages to Miss Y, but she ignored me. I had no choice but to ask our mutual friend to talk to her, but our friend just replied, “It’s fine.”

That was the most serious argument we had since we got together. I never wanted to say the word “break up” to Miss Y. It felt like as long as I didn’t say it, we could still keep being sweet and happy. But reality kept hitting us—rejection after rejection from companies, my writing being rejected over and over. I sighed at how unbearable that time was.

Luckily, I went home, otherwise, I wouldn’t have even been able to pay rent. Thinking about how miserable I was trying to make a living at home, I imagined Miss Y must have been having an even harder time.

I had 2631 yuan in total across WeChat and Alipay. Knowing she wouldn’t accept money on WeChat, I exchanged it with friends to move it all to Alipay and sent it to Miss Y. She refunded it that same night.

Later, after she finished her work, she video-called me, saying she wanted to talk. I was afraid she really wanted to break up, so I played dumb and told her I was busy, but Miss Y insisted on calling.

She looked significantly haggard on the screen, her dark circles looking like a panda’s, but she forced herself to keep up the spirit to talk to me.

Miss Y said she had spoken too quickly and didn’t mean it that way. She had been thinking a lot lately and wanted to know my opinion—did I want to break up? She said she would respect my decision. Regardless of whether we broke up or not, she wouldn’t be coming home. She told me to think it over and let her know. Of course, I didn’t want to break up. Forget long-distance; even if we were in different countries, I wouldn’t want to break up. Aside from death, I really couldn’t think of anything that could make us separate.

Before I could even open my mouth, tears flowed before my words could. Miss Y watched me cry for a long time before she spoke. As soon as she opened her mouth, she choked up too. That night, we just kept crying. We didn’t say anything, but we both understood each other’s feelings. Even now, having been together for a long time, thinking about that argument still makes me want to cry.

After working for a few years, Miss Y and I finally saved up some money. One night, I held Miss Y in my arms in bed and asked her:

“Baby, is there anywhere you want to go?” “How about Yunxi? I’ll take you to see my alma mater.” “Okay! Then let’s go travel in Yunxi, eat mushrooms together, how about that?” “Sure, sure! And then we can go see the little people together!”

Miss Y and I looked at each other and laughed out loud.

My dear Miss Y, it was only after meeting you that I learned how colorful and wonderful the world is. I want to stroll through the night streets with you, get up early for breakfast, experience the different sides of the world, and hold your hand—together, everything becomes so happy. It’s not love that makes me strong; it’s because you love me that I’ve become strong.

Miss Y’s appearance let me know how beautiful the world is. Or rather, it’s not the world that is beautiful, but her. It is she who makes me feel the beauty of this world.

I don’t like using metaphors to describe Miss Y. When you truly meet Miss Y, you will find that she is an ineffable existence in this world, impossible to express in words.

I think I am a sensitive, suspicious snail, always curled up in my own world—dull, quiet, and not good at socializing. That someone so wonderful could love me—I am so grateful for fate.

One night when I couldn’t sleep, Miss Y patted me and asked if I wanted to go for a drive. We got up, got dressed, and headed out. We drove all the way to Nancheng, and at 3:00 AM, we drove up an unknown mountain and watched the sunrise.

Miss Y loves shiny things like diamonds and jewelry, while I prefer gold because it holds its value. After living with Miss Y, entering the house is like entering a dragon’s cave—it’s blinding. There’s a three-tier crystal chandelier in the living room; when the sun hits it, oh no, my eyes! “Amaterasu!” Miss Y always scolds me for making lame jokes, even though she makes them too sometimes.

Miss Y is just a little girl who loves shiny things. At first, the money I saved could only buy her small things; I could only afford the cheapest diamond ring. But Miss Y, who loves shiny things so much, still smiled brightly while looking at that tiny ring, saying it was her favorite. Seeing Miss Y’s eyes at that moment, I swore to myself that when I had money, I would buy her a bigger one. Six months later, the book I wrote was published. With the prize money, I took Miss Y to exchange it for a bigger diamond ring. Compared to the new one, the old ring looked lackluster, but Miss Y still put it away carefully. Looking at Miss Y’s smiling face, I felt there was nothing more important than her happiness and our happiness.

In high school, I would take Miss Y to school on my electric scooter.

Miss Y said, “Everyone else’s teenage romance involves riding bicycles to school. Why is it an electric scooter with you? It’s so unromantic.”

I replied, “If you want to tire your wife to death, I’ll ride a bicycle tomorrow. Just don’t blame me if the tires go flat.”

Aiya! Miss Y punched me in the back. It didn’t hurt, but that punch made my heart flutter. Later, whenever we talked about it, Miss Y would call me a “sly, repressed pervert.”

I have always felt that Miss Y was settling for me by being in a relationship with me, so I have been working very hard, always afraid that Miss Y, who is like a princess, isn’t living well with me. There was a period when I was under a lot of pressure; I had writer’s block, and my editor was pushing hard. I was so anxious I broke out in acne and mouth ulcers, and I couldn’t sleep at night. Miss Y saw it all and took it to heart. Later, she couldn’t stand seeing me torture myself like that, so she took three days off to take care of me. During those three days, I woke up in my wife’s arms every morning. When I was hungry, I ate the food my wife cooked. When I was tired from writing, I had the fruit plates my wife cut for me and the tea she brewed. I was so happy I was tearing up. At midnight, my wife would hold me in bed. Even though she was clearly tired, she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, so she would sing to me in a soft, gentle voice.

In my drowsiness, I heard Miss Y say:

“My dear Ru Ru baby, you don’t need to be so tired. We are lovers; this relationship needs us to manage it together. You don’t have to work so hard. I am not a princess; it’s just that you love me too much, so you think I’m that great. But please, relax a little. My Ru Ru baby, let’s work together to run our little home, okay?”

I forgot if I replied to Miss Y, I just remember that when I woke up the next day, Miss Y was by my side. That feeling of happiness… ahhhh! You single dogs wouldn’t understand.

In the last few years, many Bluetooth earphones have come out, but I’m still used to wired ones. Sometimes, looking at the tangled cords, I’m taken back to high school with Miss Y. During lunch break, I’d go to her classroom, we’d sit close together, and music would flow from the earphones. We would just wait quietly for class to start. Under the desk, our hands would be held together. It was also at that time that I trained myself to write with my left hand.

This is what daily chatting with Miss Y looks like:

“Ru Ru baby, I feel like I’m so happy I don’t feel like an earthling anymore.” “Then what are you, an alien?” “Your person.” “Eww, you’re so cheesy, but I love it when you express yourself to me like that.”