Ci mu shou zhong xian,
You zi sheng shang yi,
Lin xing mi mi feng,
Yi kong chi chi gui,
Shei shuo cun cao xin,
Bao de san cun hui?
Translation:
The sewing needle sits on the caring mother's hand,
The clothes she made sits on the leaving son's body,
She sews the thread tightly,
Afraid her son may return late,
Who says a grass shoot's worth of gratitude Can repay the light of three seasons of spring?
Traveller Son's Verse -Lu You (Song Dynasty)
Chapter 02 - Starting Again
Syaoran sighed as he took off the jacket which his mother made for him before his journey.
Meiling looked through the travel brochures on the back of the seat in front.
"Wow, there are so many places I want to go" she said to herself excitedly as she gazed upon a photograph of the Forbidden City in the magazine. "We've got to go and see them all!" she turned towards Syaoran expectantly.
Syaoran was staring outside the window, at the tiny buildings below. "Our main reason in coming here is to go to school, not to go sightseeing" he muttered, not turning to face Meiling.
"Sheesh, why are you always so serious?" she pouted. Then, she caught sight of the Sakura Card hanging out his pocket. "What's this?" she snatched the card away playfully. "You caught a Sakura Card?" she asked, waving the card around.
"Sakura gave it to me before I left" Syaoran snatched it back, irritated.
"Oh" Meiling whispered. "I'm sorry."
A moment of silence stood between them for a while as they thought about the friends they had left behind.
"I am really sorry for bringing it up" Meiling sincerely apologized again.
"It's okay" Syaoran sighed. "It's just that now we're going to Beijing, I'll be even further away from her." He looked down at the memento.
"Aww, don't worry, I'm here for you" Meling put an arm around Syaoran's shoulder. He looked up. "We'll always be together" she assured. "As-as cousins" she quickly added, blushing.
"Thank you" he whispered. "I appreciate your help" he looked into his cousin's carmine red eyes.
***
In the centre of a busy city, a boy slowly walked out of a conference room holding a student's bag, looking bored. He brushed his hand through his messy black hair, tired, as he gazed down at his watch with his grey eyes. It was getting late.
With this in mind, he started walking much more briskly through the walkways towards the exit. Suddenly, he walked carelessly into someone, falling backwards onto the ground.
"G-gomenasai" he looked up, and saw that it was the editor of Kodansha.
"It's okay" the man smiled, offering a hand.
Taking the hand, the boy got up and quickly grabbed the bag that he dropped.
"Arigatou" he said apologetically.
"No need for the formality" the editor replied in a friendly tone. "Good luck, and keep up the good work!" he called, leaving.
After checking that the contents of his bag were okay, the boy also left the building.
Outside, the sky started to darken, as if it were frowning. Keen to avoid the rain that was almost certain to follow, he started to run.
Indeed, light droplets descended upon the ground, leaving dark marks where they landed. Already prepared, the boy opened his umbrella and kept running. Throughout the streets, voices could be heard, some calls, some complaints.
"Aw, it's raining again?"
"Quick! Over here!"
"C'mon, get in the car!"
"Syaoran-kun!"
For some reason, that last voice stood out among the rest. The boy noticed that it was a girl's voice, but he still kept running.
"Syaoran! Wait!"
Strange, there was no-one else near him. Could she be calling out to him?
He stopped, turning around.
A few metres behind him, a girl with auburn hair and emerald eyes was desperately running towards him.
"Syaoran-kun, what are-" she suddenly stopped when she got nearer, now able to look at his face more closely.
"Oh, gomenasai! You're not Syaoran..." she looked really disappointed, almost on the verge of crying.
"Sorry, you must have mistaken me for someone else. It happens all the time" he replied. "Are you okay?" he asked, seeing her expression.
She nodded quietly, but started sobbing. He was unable to tell if the water on her face was rain or tears. The two stood there for a while, until they noticed that the rain started falling more heavily.
Half-afraid of getting the contents of his bag wet, and half-worried about the stranger in front of him, the boy yelled above the sound of the rain: "let's find some shelter."
The girl just nodded as they ran towards the front of a shop. Under the safety of the roof, they breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you sure you're okay?" the boy asked again.
The girl didn't reply.
"I'm sure it's none of my business, but here" he handed her a tissue. Looking up, she slowly accepted it. Her eyes widened, as if it was familiar to her.
"Arigatou" she said, after drying her eyes. "I'm sorry I wasted your time."
"No, no, it's fine" he reassured.
"It's just that..." she broke off for a while before continuing, "you look a lot like a friend I had. I'm so sorry for disturbing you."
"No, not at all. Well, it was getting dark, and anyone could have made the same mistake."
She looked a little better.
"Here" he said, handing her his other umbrella. "You'd catch a cold in this weather. Use this."
She accepted the umbrella, speechless.
"Well, I'll be off, then" the boy said before opening his umbrella and walking off into the rain again. The monotonous drumming of raindrops continued above his head as he re-entered the coolness.
"Arigatou" the girl called after a while.
He stopped, and turned around.
"You're welcome" he smiled, then turned back, and disappeared into the darkness.
***
Syaoran's first experience of Beijing wasn't too great; it was raining, just like when he arrived in Hong Kong. But then again, it was still spring, and march had only just begun. After leaving the plane and collecting his and Meiling's luggage, they waited in the main hall for the driver, which Yelang had hired to pick them up.
Beijing International Airport was a lot bigger than Hong Kong's, but Syaoran expected no less from the heart of transport of the country's capital city. Apparently it had just been refurbished thanks to the Olympic Season. The front wall was made of pure glass, and the view (which was not much because of the dark clouds) outside could be seen clearly on a good day, while inside, the ground was made of hard, shiny marble.
Even though it was so dark and cold outside, the lights brightened up the interior, creating its own artificial daylight. The edges of the area was lined with shops selling many things ranging from Olympic merchandise (Yes, they were still selling it, even though the Olympic games were more than half a year ago) to everyday goods. Despite the gloomy weather, this place was bustling like any other high street in China.
"Hmm, this fan looks great! How much?" someone asked nearby.
"Ooh, history books" someone else said.
"Aww, this Olympic mascot plushie is adorable! I'm buying one for my homeroom teacher in England!" another voice squealed.
In the center of the hall, a huge sculpture stood majestically.
"Wow, what is that?" Meiling ran up to it, slowly followed by Syaoran.
It was an iron sculpture of four dragons, each supporting a corner of a large metal sphere. The level of detail in this work was exquisite; each dragon had its own unique image, with long, winding whiskers, countless impenetrable scales, and cold, sharp eyes which bore deeply into the souls of those who looked into them.
Even though they were just part of an inanimate structure, the dragons were full of life, and looked like they were ready to jump up and pounce on someone any second.
At the base of the sculpture, there were compass points below where the dragons were positioned.
The dragon to the north looked like a male. His scales were all sharpened, spiking downwards as if made of tough slate. The mane on his back flowed smoothly, but with strength, like the tips of a raging flame. The dragon to the east had a slender, more feminine body. The scales on her skin also looked strong, but they had an elegance to them, resembling the slabs of ice from the top of a frozen pond. The southern dragon seemed the oldest, his body was brittle, like the bark of a tree, the whiskers on his body soft and smooth like willow leaves, swaying in the wind. Finally, the western dragon was also elegant, like the eastern dragon. She had countless soft-looking scales on her back, covered by a gentle mane, like the clouds in the sky. The four dragons held up the sphere like it was the earth. At the base, there was an inscription, and Syaoran began waking towards it to read it.
"Are you Master Li?" a voice asked from behind as Syaoran turned around. In front of him stood a young man in a black driver's uniform.
"Yes, I am Syaoran Li" Syaoran replied as Meiling came around.
"And you must be Miss Li" the driver said to Meiling.
"Yep" she nodded.
"I am Huang, the driver your mother hired" he looked at Syaoran, then shook their hands. "Sorry I'm late, a road was closed due to bad weather conditions."
"That's okay" Syaoran replied.
Soon after loading their luggage, they set off towards the flat they rented.
The car journey was as uneventful as the one in Hong Kong, with Syaoran in a pensive state throughout. For him, though, it was slightly better than last time as he had Meiling by his side.
Both of them sat in silence as they thought about their new lives.
---Language/Cultural Notes---
1. "Gomenasai" - Japanese for "sorry".
2. "Arigatou" - Japanese for "thank you"
3. Kodansha - A major publisher in Japan, they released the original Cardcaptor Sakura manga.
4. The four dragons - There is such a sculpture in Beijing International Airport (I went there last year, so I know).
---Author's Message---
Hello again!
I know last chapter was too filler-y (is that even a word?), so this chapter, I tried to have something actually happening.
"Who's that boy who got mistaken for Syaoran?", "Is he returning in future chapters?" you ask? Well, you will just have to find out next chapter (which kinda answers the second question. Oops.)
With all the depressing stuff so far, it must feel pretty bad reading this, so, I promise I'll liven it up a little next chapter.
Until then, bye!
Michi Kobayashi
PS. I wanted to know if you preferred for me to write in British or American English? I can do both, so please let me know. Please select which language you want to read on the poll, which is on my profile page. Thank you for your time!