Dear Daniel Hu:

When you return back to Metro Suzhou, I must have left.

It makes me somewhat sad by the thought that no longer could I receive your “morning” greeting every morning, no longer could I hear “see you” when we separate at the bus stop every workday, still no longer could I be entertained by your Chinese sentence suffixed with “です”. Heehee!

We share a lot in educational experience, which serves as good reasons why during my 3-month working here I am inclined to confide to nobody but you, and that is why I reckon you should be the least surprised person in Metro Suzhou on hearing my resign.

Still remember the night that you said you were half drunk? We made a long conversation at the bus stop where we separated every workday. Tracing back to our innocent childhood, ranking our social status today, sketching our future, we heaved sighs, shed tears, bewildered, perplexed. We are about to merge into the social mainstream thought; we are struggling at the edge of the well-established life routine that countless others take for granted. At the same time however we are diverging from our dream blueprinted years ago, from a living style we used to pursue. Something is fading with time. Something is corrupted with aging. Some part of us is constantly fighting with the other part of us. And the more we approach the end of the youth, the fiercer this fight escalates to be!

Cars ran back and forth, and the curious passenger cast cold light on us from the corner of their eyes. We looked into the darkness in front of us. Mute! Is life also colored by darkness? Are we also one of the passengers waiting for the bus with a well-known terminal, and with an established course linked by bus stops?

Life should be vivid and bright. No routine leading to happy life. No bus waiting for us. No bus stop! Road is stepped by our own feet, directed by dream. I have set my mind to gamble. Dream comes alive.

Whether you were really drunk that day I doubted. I reckoned that you were extremely clear behind the drunk mask. And you appeared to be a truly yourself whole-heartedly eventually with the help of a certain amount of alcohol. Nice... 

On the last Monday before your departure to Blackwood, NJ, I had already made my decision to resign. As usual, we took the same bus; got off at the same bus stop; said “see you” before we separated. You however did not notice that when you were walking across the road, I stopped, turned back, and saw you off with a smile and sincere wish.

Good luck to both of us!

 Truly yours: J. Ling

 Posted on 07/03, modified on 09/02.