“He’s not here,” she said in English.
Who was she? Perhaps a friend’s girlfriend?
I explained my situation to her.
“I’ll let him know,” she said.
I spent two lonely days in Dubai, cursing myself for choosing the cheaper ticket. By 10 a.m., Xiao Jue would already be seated in the auditorium wearing his graduation gown.
When the airport finally reopened, I arrived at Heathrow but didn’t see Xiao Jue. I took a train to the University of Bristol.
“He left this morning,” his roommate told me.
His flight was today. I had thought he might wait for me, but perhaps his ticket couldn’t be rescheduled.
I waited at the airport for a standby ticket back to Hong Kong. I had already waited a day and had no idea how much longer it would take.
In the airport restroom, I finally broke down and cried. A British woman approached me and asked, “Are you alright?”
I shook my head. In truth, I was exhausted and starving. I hadn’t expected to end up stranded at Heathrow Airport.
I called Xiao Jue again. He was already home.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“At Heathrow, waiting for a seat,” I replied.
“They said there wouldn’t be any available for another week, so I had to return,” he said.
“I understand.” I held back my tears, not wanting him to worry. “I’ll be back soon.”
The next day, I finally got a seat on a flight home.
When I returned to Hong Kong, I went straight to Xiao Jue’s home in North Point. He was having dinner with his mother, three sisters, their husbands, and two nephews. I had imagined us embracing at Heathrow Airport, but things turned out so poorly instead.
After three years, Xiao Jue seemed taller—perhaps because he looked thinner.
I had so much I wanted to say to him, but in front of so many people, I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
“Sit down and join us, Huan’er,” his mother said to me.
“You’ve finished your studies, so you should repay someone,” his third sister said.
I smiled at Xiao Jue. As long as he succeeded, all my hardships would be worth it.
“That someone is me. Your tuition wasn’t cheap, you know,” his third sister said as she used her chopsticks to nudge a dish toward me.
She was completely dismissing my contributions! I never liked his third sister—she’d always been a snobbish woman.
After dinner, Xiao Jue walked me home.
“You haven’t walked this road with me for three years,” I said, holding his hand.
“Thank you for supporting me through my studies these past three years,” he said.
“Don’t say that—” I tried to stop him.
“When I start earning money, I’ll pay you back.”
“I don’t want you to pay me back,” I said.
He placed both his hands on my arms and said, “I’ll give you happiness.”
In that moment, I felt a wave of relief, as though all my struggles had finally paid off. I almost cried.
“What kind of job do you plan to look for?” I asked him.
“Of course, I’ll intern at an accounting firm. There are several major firms in Hong Kong, and I’ll start drafting cover letters tomorrow.”
“When I called you from Dubai, why was there a girl answering the phone?”
“She’s my roommate’s girlfriend.”
I had guessed right.
“I thought she might’ve been someone else,” I said.
“Don’t you trust me?”
“How could I not? Aside from you, I don’t know who else I could trust.”
“You’ve lost weight,” he said, touching my cheek.
“It doesn’t matter,” I replied.
Nearly half a month passed, and Xiao Jue still hadn’t found a job.
“Didn’t you go for an interview the other day? How did it go?” I asked.
“They hired me,” he said.
“Then why haven’t you started working?”
“That firm is too small,” he said. “I want to join Macao Accounting Firm. It’s the largest Chinese-owned firm in the industry.”
“Have you sent them your application?”
“I have, but I haven’t heard back. For a Chinese-owned firm like that, you usually need some personal connections, which I don’t have.”
The next day, I reluctantly called Gao Hai Ming. I hadn’t seen him in a long time.
“It’s me, Qiu Huan’er,” I said.
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