Fifteen Years of Waiting for Migratory Birds Chapter 1

Chapter 1: That year, you and mine's bet

June 15th 1990, Li Li was sitting in the school's assembly hall when her shoulder was tapped and she turned around.

The thick eyebrowed and big eyed Pei Shangxuan asked her with a grin, "Li Li, who do you think will the World Cup?"

June 8th was the Italy World Cup Opening. Li Li originally was not interested in football but her uncle was a fan. Ever since the start of the cup, he had entered an inexplicable state of excitement and set an alarm in the middle of the night to watch the games.

Li Li woke from the alarm and found her arm had been bitten by mosquitoes. She found it unbearably itchy and in a daze walked into the kitchen to retrieve some mosquito repellent perfume to find her uncle fiddling with the fourteen inch black and white television.

She went over to help and yawned as she tilted the antenna down then sure enough the screen became clearer. Her unmarried uncle had always been out of line with her so when he saw that she was awake, he dragged her to watch it together with him. As a result, Li Li sat down to watch her first ever live broadcast of football – Argentina against Cameroon.

Argentina was the defending champion and her uncle continuously pointed to the short guy knocked down by the Cameroons. He told Li Li in an excited tone that this was the King of Ball Diego Maradona* then continued to criticise the barbarous foul play of the African players. She indifferently looked at the man collapsed on the pitch, he had a painful expression.

*TL-note: Diego Armando Maradona is an Argentine retired professional footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. 

Since sleep was longer possible, Li Li got her literature book from her room and began to recite the words she had to write from memory a few days ago. She occasionally glanced at the television and could not understand why such a dull match could make her uncle so excited.

Afterwards, the commentator Song Shixiong's sharp intense voice entered Li Li's ears, "'Son of the Wind' Claudio Caniggia* will replace Diego Maradona."

*TL-note: El Hijo del Viento (Son of the Wind) is the nickname of Claudio Paul Caniggia. He is a retired Argentine footballer who played as forward or winger. Caniggia played 50 times for the Argentina national team. 

"Son of the Wind"? This street name was pretty interesting. She raised her head and a slim handsome man from the television instantly caught her eye.

The next day, Li Li flipped through [Weekly Television Programme] to find when the match would be rebroadcasted. She turned on the colour television and watched the opening match. She saw his graceful blond hair, his blue and white uniform and his light and flexible movements move into position – He really was worthy of the nickname "Son of the Wind."

From then on, she fell in love with football and Argentina. It was a deep-rooted kind of love. She was rarely moved so once she liked something then it was everlasting.

Li Li looked at Pei Shangxuan's face and spit out, "Obviously Argentina."

"My guess is Germany." The teenager was full of enthusiasm with a big mouth that his smile dazzled others. Li Li turned around without another word – Do not attempt to work with people whose way is not your way.*

*TL-note: A phrase by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher and politician.

Pei Shangxuan tapped her shoulder again and she turned around again.

"Want to make a bet? I bet on Germany." He was full of confidence as if he had already won.

Li Li did not understand what was wrong with Pei Shangxuan today. Why was he so insistent on this topic? They only sat together in class once every three weeks with no further interactions outside.

Li Li's class was unlike the other classes as she had a homeroom teacher who liked to come up with original ideas. In order to prevent unnecessary feelings from developing between boys and girls who shared desks, their teacher came up with the idea to change desks every week. Li Li disapproved but she was used to masking obedience in order to conceal her indifferent heart. She did not care who sat next to her which made her feel Pei Shangxuan's behaviour was very unusual since no one took notice of her.

"I bet on Argentina." She unhurriedly said. When she was about to ask what they were betting on, the Year Head announced the assembly was about to start. The strict voice accompanied by the high-pitched squeal of the microphone shocked her eardrums. She covered her ears and turned around.

July 8th, Argentina lost to Germany in the finals and Li Li's favourite "Son of Wind" was suspended. The broadcast featured Claudio Caniggia and his lonely expression was forever engraved in one's heart. At the same time, Li Li also lost to Pei Shangxuan.

Back at school after summer vacation, Pei Shangxuan was both copying her homework and proud of his victory. Not to be outdone, she raised her eyebrows and said, "Do you still remember we had a bet."

Pei Shangxuan was stunned and annoyed at this mistake. He sprained his head and looked at Li Li then smiled, "That's okay, you better remember you owe me a bet."

She still owed this bet, even after fifteen long years.

The thirteen year old Li Li was a girl with low self-esteem. She was not good looking and her family called her "ugly". Over time, Li Li's sadness became complete disregard for her appearance as if she had given up on herself. Previously, she did not understand why the helpers at nursery would always give the new toys to the other kids or why the boys in primary school would always help the other girls with physical labour. In middle school, she finally understood each person had a heart that loved beauty.

She no longer grieved secretly but instead opened her mouth wide. She smiled hard despite the downpour in the corner of her heart.

Li Li's grades were excellent and the number one spot of each year never fell to anyone else. Before the first exam in primary school, uncle helped her review mathematics while he stroked her head, "Little Li, girls who are not beautiful must strive to be more intelligent or else no one will want you later."

Li Li seemed to half understand but since uncle wanted her to be a clever girl then she will take it to heart.

Li Li had her mum's surname as her parents divorced before she could remember. Her mother, Li Mei took her back to her family and changed her surname. Li Li managed to get a sentence out her uncle – her own birth father's surname was Liu. Originally, her name was Liu Li.

At home, she could not find a single trace about her father as Li Mei had wiped it clean yet Li Li was still in front of her eyes. In middle school, Li Li often wondered whether she was the thorn in her mother's heart, a baggage that could not be thrown away but was a constant reminder of her own failed marriage. From this, she speculated another possibility – whether the unimpressionable father hated Li Li even more than Li Mei?

Children with low self-esteem matured earlier compared to their peers, Li Li was like that. At school, Li Li and other girls would play Chinese jump rope*, argue which member from Xiao Hu Dui* was more handsome and secretly discuss which boy liked which girl. Among them, her laugh was the loudest that it would seem as if she was no different to the other foolish girls of her age. However, away from the crowds, she never smiled.

*TL-note: Chinese jump rope, also known as Chinese ropes, jumpsies, elastics, yoki, French skipping, American ropes/Chinese ropes, and gummitwist, is a children's game resembling hopscotch and jump rope.  

*TL-note: Xiao Hu Dui, also known as the Little Tigers, were a Taiwanese boy band formed in 1988.

Li Li's class four was well known in their year as the beauty class. Some busybodies had secretly voted for the "Flower of the Year" and several of them were in Li Li's class.

The power of beautiful girls was truly astonishing. In the election for class committee, they would have the highest vote and are elected for committees that are effortless but appealing such as class monitor*, organisation committee member, literature and art committee member. Even her role of studies committee member was easily snatched away by the delicate Qui Yuerong when she sweetly said, "I don't want to be on the physical labour committee." Li Li smiled generously and took on the physical labour committee without complaint.

*TL-note: A class monitor must preserve class in peace until the next teacher arises. 

The physical labour committee was hard work – everyday they had to supervise the student on duty to clean the classroom before you could go home. Female students were alright but male students would always try to get out their duty once class was over and Li Li had to chase them down on more than two occasions. At the big school clean, her long speech on stage to evoke the male students could not compare to the single coyish sentence from the beautiful class monitor.

Before mid-June and Pei Shangxuan's bet, Li Li wrote a letter of resignation and resigned as a member of the physical labour committee. This incident made her a sensation in the school that had been built for only thirty years. Tao Haijuan, the class teacher who liked to be unconventional, became excited when she saw the words “resignation letter” and immediately circulated it in the office. Even the principal was alarmed.

The duty of the physical labour committee was not major, it was just wearing two strips of the squadron leader on your left arm. However, it was not a small matter either since the class elections was still a serious affair for a middle school in 1990 and schools had records. Therefore, the incident was controversial, and Li Li was invited to the principal's office.

The kind smiling face of Principal Shen reminded Li Li of the Maitreya* that she had bowed to in the temple that her grandmother took her to. Li Li sat upright on the sofa in the principal's room with her hands clenched on her knees.

*TL-note: Maitreya (Sanskrit), Metteyya (Pali), is regarded as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology.

Principle Shen held her resignation letter and praised her for her beautiful letters. Li Li looked up with her mouth wide open and smiled to say this was her uncle's efforts for urging her to practice letters.

Before their discussion, he had already talked to Tao Haijuan to understand her situation better – for a girl under the age of fourteen, resignation is a term that belonged to the adult world.

The gentle principle looked at the slightly ugly girl with her unrestrained smile and could not help but be shaken by the coldness in those eyes. He kindly asked her why she was determined to resign.

"To make the best of everything, there are people who hold more power than me." Li Li then played it down and said, "Plus, it's not interesting."

"Then…what is interesting?" A child in the rebellious period had a dislike for everything in their eyes.

Li Li twiddled her thumbs with her head down in great delight and spoke in a composed manner, "Principle, this is a matter of self-confidence. Currently at this stage, my personality has yet been finalised so I don't wish to spend the rest of my life without any confidence. If I resume my role, it will only make me feel more like a failure and then an inferior personality of low self esteem will form."

Principle Shen was completely stunned. Are these the words of what a first year would say?

Li Li walked out of the principal's office to find Pei Shangxuan standing at the corridor drawing with his toes on the concrete floor. She paused for a second then walked towards the person who she only sat together one week a month in class.

In fact, it was absolutely wasteful for Pei Shangxuan to sit in the third row with his height since his eyesight are both at 1.5. Everytime Li Li changed to his table, she would always inevitably curse silently at him for he was not passionate about studying. It was simply an insult to the teacher to sit in the front row.

Pei Shangxuan was a different kind, his studies were tolerable yet he was always able to gain all the teacher's favor. It was useless for Li Li to not accept it because he belonged to the good looking kind. More than once she had heard the other girls privately talked about which of the boys was the most handsome, and every time someone always mentioned Pei Shangxuan. This classmate of hers that she only sat next to one week a month did not leave a profound impression on Li Li. However, when she heard the others discuss about him then looked at him, he started to become more pleasing to the eye.

"Pei Shangxuan, what are you doing here?" Li Li walked in front of him and slightly tilted her head.

"That…that, was your resignation because of me?" The boy stammered and his eyes flickered.

Li Li was stumped and could not help but wonder where he got his strange conclusion from, "Hey, you really think that highly of yourself?" Resignation because of him? This is too funny!

Pei Shangxuan seemed relieved yet he still muttered, "Last time I was supposed to be on duty but I got away. I thought you were still angry about it."

If he had not brought it up, Li Li had almost forgotten about the incident. She grinned, gripped her fist and punched him in the chest then laughed, "I already forgot about it but let me make up for it now."

"No need." Pei Shangxuan turned his body and went down the stairs while giving her the letter "V".

A boy like Pei Shangxuan are destined to be an influential figure in school but in aspects other than academic achievements.

Most students in school admired two kinds of people. The first kind excelled in their studies and were smart beyond reason which made people wished they had been born a year later so they would not have to take the same exams.The second kind were like fish in troubled waters*,  they were proficient in fights, eating and drinking which made people wish they can be called as brothers and be "bad" together. By comparison, the latter were more popular because young people in the rebellious period would generally rebel against rules subconsciously.

*TL-note: To involve oneself in a difficult, confused, or dangerous situation, especially with a view to gaining an advantage.

When Pei Shangxuan first entered school, he fought with a senior. Almost every school had some bad students who liked to bully and extort the juniors. Limited to the disadvantage of stature, students commonly obediently allowed themselves to be bullied but Pei Shangxuan did not care. He openly engaged with the other side and made a name for himself even though his honour was flattened and wounded.

Pei Shangxuan was an outstanding character in year one and had a disdain for studious good students. However, Tao Haijuan had came up with the rotating table system which forced him to sit next to the bookish Li Li every third week. He was most discontent.

Pei Shangxuan felt nothing for Li Li because he like the majority of boys liked to look at the beautiful girls. Apart from occasionally copying Li Li's homework, their conversations were usually around thirty sentences in a week. He did not care for Li Li's indifference towards him because everyone knew she was a good student who spoke no nonsense in class.

A few days sharing desks with Li Li were always Pei Shangxuan's most boring period because he knew all along that Li Li was a strange person who was not easy to get close to. Even though he had seen her normal around the other girls until the day he forgot to take home an examination paper after school. When Pei Shangxuan returned to the classroom, he saw Li Li crying in the lonely room.

Pei Shangxuan stood outside the classroom door and listened to Li Li's suppressed sobbing sounds. He did not know what to do.

Li Li carried her bag and was about to lock the door when she was frightened by Pei Shangxuan who was leaning against the wall. She wiped her cheeks without batting an eye and erased the final tear stains.

"I came back to get the examination paper." He rushed into the classroom, retrieved it from his desk and waved it to her.

Li Li paid no attention and rolled her eyes at Pei Shangxuan. He scratched his head defeatedly and happily ran back to say, "Li Li, I saw you crying." His pleased expression seemed as if he had grasped the other person's weakness.

Li Li placed her hands on the door bolt and coldly replied, "Do you want me to lock you in here overnight?"

Pei Shangxuan quickly jumped out of the classroom because Li Li was the kind of girl who would do it and not think twice about it. The boys had given her the nickname "witch" behind her back – Li Li was neither good looking or had a good temperament so this nickname seemed to exist solely for her.

"Why were you crying?" Pei Shangxuan curiously asked as he waited for her to locked the door.

Li Li carried her bag and looked down as she walked with both hands in her jacket pocket. She indifferently said, "If someone said you are stupid even if it's true, wouldn't you be happy?"

"Li Li!" Pei Shangxuan's expression changed when he realised she was calling him stupid in a long-winded way. Just because he failed his maths test while she was the only person who got a perfect score in their year, what is there to show off about!

Li Li turned to look at his angry expression and shrugged her shoulders, "Why are you angry, in any case don't you guys just want to be fawned over by beautiful girls?" She lightly jumped down the stairs and Pei Shangxuan wanted to copy her but his clumsiness made him fall down on the last two steps.

Li Li laughed and gave her to Pei Shangxuan, "You can't even agree that you are stupid."

In other words, her implication was that he really was an idiot. The thirteen year old Pei Shangxuan did not understand what sort of girl Li Li was, he only felt that she was different from other people. Afterwards, their desk sharing relationship improved but of course Pei Shangxuan benefitted the most – it was now more convenient for him to copy her homework.

Pei Shangxuan and Li Li lived in the same neighbourhood, the old houses there were all of shikumen* architecture. They were separated by four kinds of alleys and had never met before they were classmates. Pei Shangxuan was the king among the children in these parts. Everyday, he would take along a group of children and pretend to be the People's Liberation Army* hurtling past in the long narrow alleys.

*TL-note: Shikumen Architecture is a traditional Shanghainese architectural style combining Western and Chinese elements that first appeared in the 1860s.

*TL-note: The Chinese People's Liberation Army is the armed forces of the People's Republic of China and of its founding and ruling political party, the Communist Party of China. 

Once Pei Shangxuan bumped in Li Li at the alley gate and asked her in shock when she had moved here because he was sure that he had never seen her here. On the first day of middle school, everyone had to go on stage to introduce themselves and Pei Shangxuan's first impression of Li Li was – this girl is really ugly! If they met again, he probably would not remember.

"I've lived here since I was small." She replied without looking at him and continued to walk in the direction of the school.

Pei Shangxuan quickly caught up with Li Li, "How come I've never seen you before?"

She rewarded him with a glance, "Because, I don't you want you to see me."

Pei Shangxuan did not understand. They were the same age but clearly their minds were at different stages of development. Pei Shangxuan continued to be in the childish games era while Li Li's young eyes were already observing the adult world.

Li Li's "resignation" made Pei Shangxuan guilty because the day before, he escaped his duty as the student on duty. That day, his mood was inexplicably bad. After each class, the student on duty had to clean the blackboard which he was so lazy in doing that there were still traces of chalk after and the next teacher had to clean it once more.

After school, Pei Shangxuan carried his bag and wanted to escape while Li Li was calling his name behind him. They were not desk buddies that week and there was a row separating them.

His footsteps did not stop but she caught up with him and yanked his bag straps, "Pei Shangxuan, you are the student on duty today."

"Not doing it." He rejected and removed her hands.

"Why are you being crazy, get a move on and sweep the floors." Li Li raised her eyebrows and her voice.

Just after school, it was peak time when all the students left their classroom so the hallway was filled with students from the same grade. Pei Shangxuan was a hero among heroes so he already lost respect when he was called out to "sweep the floors" by a weak girl. If he were to obey and return to the classroom then he will be humiliated to the depths of Huangpu River*. He clenched his teeth and stared with his eyes like a devil then angrily stated, "Men do not do sissy things like sweeping the floor."

*TL-note: The Huangpu, formerly romanized as Whangpoo is a 113-kilometer long river flowing through Shanghai that was first excavated and created by Lord Chunshen, one of the Four Lords of the Warring States.  

All the boys who were regularly caught by Li Li to do their duty applauded and even the boys from other classes also whistled.

Li Li smiled in contempt, "If you don't sweep the floor, how will you sweep the world?* With your conduct, the sissy who sweeps the floor looks more like a man than you."

*TL-note: If you don't clean the room(solve your problems), then how can you control the world.

Pei Shangxuan worried about losing face*, he shouted in a loud voice, "Ugly, why do you care anyways!"

*TL-note: Face is a class of behaviors and customs operating in different countries and cultures. To lose face is to lose the respect of others; to be humiliated or experience public disgrace.

She stared at him unwaveringly with an odd expression and turned a deaf ear to the sneers of others, "Do you think I want to care?" Li Li threw back at him and walked into the classroom.

Pei Shangxuan was sure Li Li's resignation was partly his responsibility so he became even more restless when the principal called Li Li to his office. He secretly ran to the principal's door and from the narrow slit of the door, he overheard Li Li's reply.

Pei Shangxuan did not understand what Li Li said but he kept in mind her last words – Inferiority. He immediately went home and opened [Modern Chinese Dictionary] to find an explanation.

"Inferiority: Despise one's self and think they are unable to catch up with others." Pei Shangxuan thought over the explanation but he still could not understand why Li Li would despise herself.

Once Li Li's resignation took effect, she returned the two strips of the squadron leader and easily returned to being a civilian.

They sat on the highest ledge of the school as the sunset to give them their final glory. Pei Shangxuan asked Li Li whether regretted it?

Today was her last day as a member of the physical labour committee and he made up for the day he skipped last time.

"It's useless to hold onto something if it doesn't belong to you." She answered softly with both hands clasped around her ankles.

Pei Shangxuan realised he really did not understand what Li Li was thinking and this awareness made him feel defeated.

June 10th, Li Li excitedly told Pei Shangxuan early in the morning, "I like a person."

He was shocked and curiously asked, "From our class?"

Li Li mysteriously shook her head and refused to tell Pei Shangxuan who it was. He pondered all morning and at lunch he held on to Li Li to ask, "Which class?"

"What?" Li Li could not momentarily react to his sudden question.

"This morning, you told that you liked someone." Pei Shangxuan raised his fingers and knocked against her head. What kind of memory does this girl have?

"You don't know this person." A blush appeared on Li LI's cheeks which gave Pei Shangxuan a sudden cold tremor.

He rolled his eyes in a mood, "Li Li, who is he?"

"Caniggia."

Without a choice, Li Li said the "Son of the Wind"'s name and unexpectedly saw Pei Shangxuan's blank expression. LI Li was happy and eagerly faced Pei Shangxuan, "I told you that you wouldn't know. He is the forward player for Argentina and his nickname is "Son of the Wind." I've never seen someone as good looking as him." At this, Li Li paused for a while and silently added "of course you're not too bad either" to herself.

As a guy, Pei Shangxuan would be on the field playing football in his spare time so did not watch that many matches. Plus the World Cup was broadcasted in the early hours when he would be asleep.

Pei Shangxuan refused to accept. When he returned home, he forced his dad who was not a football fan to watch football together. Li Li already often said things that made him puzzled, he did not want their gap to increase again. As for why he took their distance to heart, Pei Shangxuan did not know.

June 15th, Pei Shangxuan asked Li Li which team will win the World Cup in the assembly hall. Li Li decided on Argentina while he chose Germany. After many years later, the facts prove that they stood in the wrong positions.

Chapter end