How Far are You away from Love
  He runs a typist’s shop and she is a junior middle school English teacher. They met for the first time at a wedding. She was the bride’s maid. Her fresh complexion and pretty features were very delicately outlined by her pale blue dress. He is the bridegroom’s best friend. He was not asked to be the best man because he cannot drink much, thus he couldn’t have defended the bridegroom if he had been the best man. He was invited to be seated at the same dinner table with the newly wedded couple and the bride’s maids and the best men nevertheless. Chance was that they exchanged several friendly nods and some casual remarks.
  He is the type of young man she likes. Very well groomed, he smells shampoo and soap. He has thick black hair washed very clean. There’re some other details about him that she likes. She remembers he wore a blue checked cotton shirt and a pair of fading jeans, on trouser leg deliberately torn and then sewed up carefully with a patch. He looked boyish, shy but curiously cool at the same time. She also remembers he often smiled and was soft spoken.
  When they met the second time in his shop where she asked some papers to be typed, she smiled to him when he looked up. “Hi,” she said, “You may not remember me, but we have met before.”
  “Of course I do, you are the bride’s maid at my friend’s wedding.” He smiled back.
  She is a quiet girl, but slender and good-looking, she is not something easy to escape from a pair of shrewd eyes and a good memory.
  They have heard something about each other through the newly weds.
  He knows her school is in another town and her parents are eager that she could find a job in a local middle school and stay close to her family. He also knows because she is the beloved daughter and sister, her family expect her to marry a young man who would protect her and provide her with a comfortable life.
  She knows his small business is quite successful so far. He keeps busy with his work and every day he stays up until three or four o’clock in the morning. He has dated several girls, but none of these dates has worked. The most recent girl has complained he’d spent too little time being together with her and has broken up with him.
  Her friend, the bride, has jokingly mentioned several times to her that he would be an excellent match for her. She always smiles every time she hears this but doesn’t say anything. She is conscious of what her parents might say to this. He doesn’t have a college diploma as she does. He is not poor, but as a self-employed man, he is not rich enough. Her parents are not snobbish. They are just trying to be practical. They are just trying to be sure that their daughter will have security. At the time when nothing lasts and all is ever-changing, people tend to embrace things that seem to be able to be pinned down and held in hand. A post, a salary, a diploma, a title, an apartment, these things are solid; while a smile, a memory, a glow of fire deep down, a rush of feeling, these things are too pale, shadowy and fleeting. That’s why so many people nowadays are after the handful posts of public servants and that’s why young public servants are nowadays the most desirable choices of future spouses. So she sometimes bitterly thinks.
  When they met for the third time, it was in Hangzhou. She went to the foreign language book store to buy some reference books. At that time the book store was still by the West Lake. She got what she wanted, walked out or the door thinking about doing some sightseeing around the lake and suddenly saw him sauntering just towards her on the sidewalk. And almost simultaneously he looked up in her direction.
  “What a small world!” He exclaimed. There was something is his voice vibrating with unmistakable joy. She couldn’t help smiling. He then asked her to the ice cream shop next door to sit for a while, saying he was feeling hot and thirsty. She hesitated for a second and agreed. Seated opposite to each other at a table by the window, they had the opportunity to have a better look at each other. He noticed her smooth broad forehead and her sparkling eyes behind her glasses. She noticed his deep dark eyes on a face which was very white because of working for years indoor at the typist’s and his regular white teeth.
  They were both surprised to find words flowing between them quite smoothly and naturally as if they had been friends for years, even though they had never really talked before and neither of them is talkative.
  It so happened that they had bought the tickets for the same train back to their town and it was still too early for them to set off for the station. So, naturally, they decided to take a walk by the West Lake.
  It was an early summer afternoon. Because it had rained in the morning, the air was transparent and fresh. The sun was now shining brightly in the blue cloudless sky, spreading its rays playfully on the rustling soft leaves of the trees. The lake was shimmering gold and silver. Walking leisurely side by side, they looked like a handsome pair in a postcard.
  Quite unexpectedly a middle-aged man walked up to them, all smiling, “Excuse me, young man, it is the first time that I’ve been in Hangzhou and I’m struck by its beauty.”
  They looked at each other, a little puzzled.
  The man continued, “I was just now taking some photos of the west lake. And I found you and your girlfriend made such a favourable effect on the landscape that you were simply part of it. So, I’ve got you two in my picture without asking for your permission. I wish you could pardon me for my bluntness, but may I have your address so that I’ll be able to send you a copy. I dare say you’ll like it. It’ll be a pretty picture.”
  He gave the man the address of the typist’s before she could say anything. She asked him if it was safe to give the address to a stranger after a while. “Don’t you worry,” he answered, “a picture won’t do any harm.”
  The train was very crowded, so they had to stand in the aisle between the rows of seats. It was a slow train and stopped by every station. The compartment was stuffy and humid, but they hardly felt it, standing talking.
  They left each other cellphone numbers while parting at the station.
  She thought he would call her or send a message some day, but he didn’t. She half expects her friend, the bride, will tell her something more about him. But it seems that the new couple have been quarrelling these days, for whenever they meet, the bride complains to her about the bridegroom and the trivialities over which they quarrel. She is shocked to find how marriage has changed a cheerful girl into a complaining wife.
  He did once try to call her, but he hesitated. He remembered hearing the bride of his friend mention that her pretty friend would like to date a learned man with a college diploma. He has never attended college, and, he has never been confident about himself. Being the only child of a mismatched couple who have been fighting with each other ever since they got married and making their only child the excuse for many of their quarrels since he was born, he’s never felt sure and secure deep down, and he is not hopeful of marriages, either.   
  Waking up from the dizziness of meeting her and spending half a day with her, he suddenly refrains from getting too deeply involved with her, because he knows he will be hurt if he’s turned down this time.
  They haven’t met for a long time since in Hangzhou, or so it seems. It’s not surprising either, with her teaching in another town and him working until three or four and getting up at eleven most of the days, there isn’t much chance.
  But one evening, in a supermarket, he saw her with a vague-looking man. She didn’t see him and he didn’t venture to speak to her.
  Her date with that vague-looking man doesn’t last. She cannot forget the man she has met three times, but she doesn’t want to telephone him first, being a very cautious and conservative girl. Besides, she doesn’t think her family will support her.
  This is a small town. Sometimes it seems everybody knows everybody else. But sometimes they don’t know about themselves and their loved ones. He and she, they know many things, including the obstacles they might meet if they were to develop their relationship. But they also don’t know many things.
  She thinks that her parents will disapprove her dating him, yet in fact, her father knows the young man, having had many documents typed in his shop, and likes the young man exceedingly. If he knew his daughter is fond of the young man, he would most probably encourage her.
  He thinks that she will refuse him because he doesn’t have a diploma, yet in fact, she doesn’t care.
  She thinks that he has forgotten about her because he doesn’t call her, yet in fact, he has not. He has received the picture taken by the west lake, which he carefully keeps in an album and takes a look at every day.