The deep red rose was so new. It reminded me their love was so true.
……………………………………………
I was sitting at a sidewalk café taking a break. Along the whole street, there were lots of eateries like this small and cozy one for travelers.
I took a seat by an open window. From where I could see whatever that would probably catch my eyes outside. It was a better way I had grown fond of over the years, as it could break up the monotony of the often-dull moments spent sitting alone at sidewalk cafés.
It was still cold, the sky a flat gray pulled close over the city like a sheet, the early-spring sun not yet high enough to burn it away. Out of the window, I could see some travelers passing by in groups of three or four; a few local children were teasing and chasing and beating each other up in the street; and two minutes away on foot, a woman was selling roses at the intersection. As she walked around with a big basketfull of roses, she yelled, "Get roses for your beloved here! Get roses for your beloved!"
A wonderful place, I thought. I withdrew my eyes back to the local map I bought and started to study in it. When I called out for another cup of coffee, a couple entered and sat at a table. A waitress was soon in front of them.
"How much is a glass of hot milk?" the man asked. "Ten Yuan," replied the waitress. "Well, my wife will have a glass of hot milk. And me a glass of water, please," he said. The waitress brought them milk and water, put the bill on the table and walked away.
I could tell that the man wore locally tailored jacket. He had a long, angular face, and his expression was steady. He had no moustache and his hair was trimmed short, which gave him a clean appearance. The woman looked as if she had been lacking of sleep. Her hair seemed blown by the wind; her face was a little pale. I saw then that under her dark blue coat a baby was growing. It would arrive by the year's half, or before. They both looked like they were about twenty-eight years old. Obvious the local suburban people.
"I have no appetite,"the woman said abruptly.
It was nine o’clock in the morning, so it was still kind of empty and quiet in the café. I could catch parts of their conversation happening two tables next to me.
"Oh no. You should have to have something. You only ate a small piece of bread this morning," the man sounded anxious.
"I'll be all alone. Just thinking that you're leaving me all alone..." the wife was to cry out. "You know I don't want to leave. I have to."
Silence... ...
Curiously, I looked up and met with a helpless gaze from that young wife whose face now looked even paler. “Twenty Yuan a day isn’t such a lot of money.” She stopped, seemed making an effort to calm herself down. As much as she tried, she just could not hold back the tears. Quickly she lowered her eyes. Yet the rolling down tears betrayed her emotions.
"We need the money,"said calmly, the husband reached out his hands and held his wife’s into his own, continued, "It will keep the family in food after our baby's arrival. That’s not so little." Paused for a while, he said in a very hoarse but gentle way, "I want to give both of you two what I can give the best."
" I'll be back before you know it. Be brave for me--and our baby," he said winking as he patted slightly the back of her hand.
The wife looked up again and nodded at her husband. Her eyes were like two dark buttons now, flashing when gazing at him. "Now drink off the milk for our baby," said the husband. A slight smile flitted briefly across her face.
"And I will see you on the bus later on. It will be at least another forty minutes for you to get home," the man said in his always-steady way. "But...""No more arguments at this point. You’ve promised me that," the man said before his wife could put any disagreements.
"Yeah, then you will get on another bus that takes you far away from me," the woman murmured to herself.
Then they both paused. For the next few minutes the wife sipped her way at the now might be still warm glass of milk, while her husband just sat quietly waiting for her. They didn't say a word till she finished, paid the cashier and left.
So I was still sitting there sipping on my coffee studying in my map. And then I realized, oh I realized that I couldn't collect myself well. I guessed that I just spaced out for a minute. My sight couldn't help but follow them through the window.
I could still see them walking along the street hand in hand with their backs to me. When they were to reach the end and turn out of my sight, they stopped at that rose-seller. The one who had been selling roses around the street. Quickly I gulped at my cup of coffee, folded the map back to my bag, and stood up.
The next thing I knew I was standing out of the café in the street.
Now the sun was high enough and grew brighter. The sky started to show its light blue. Somehow, the whole street smelled kind of rose fragrance. That couple still stood there. And the difference was the wife held a piece of rose in her hands. She was touching the dew upon the rose, while her husband was gazing at her with such a sunny smile. The young wife seemed couldn't help but brought the bud up to her nose. Her oval serving plate like face was beamed with delight and looked beautifully red by the rose. So magic but so true. As I passed, they recognized me at once and nodded at me. I greeted them with a smile,
"Hey, that rose is red."
………………………………………………………
I will never forget such a place called Guilin that locates in south China. Everything there seems still so vivid and intense to me, although I stayed there for only three days as a traveler. The mountains and the caverns and the famous Lijiang River have been composed a unique and wondrous picture in my mind. And it will mark forever in my mind, tiny and yet distinct.
It’s been three years since that short journey. When I let my mind wander back to that street, Vividly, I could still see lots of sidewalk cafés there; I could still see a few children were teasing and chasing and beating each other up in the street; and I could still see a couple was smiling in thesunshine with a deep red rose in the wife’s hands. Then a sound arose into my ears, "Get roses for your beloved here! Get roses for your beloved!"
