Chinese Stories in English
12. My Other Vehicle Is….
13. Posted
14. School's Out
15. Scissors-Rock-Cloth
16. Still With Him
7. Girly Gifts
8. Heart Transplant
9. Home
10. Letters
11. Loving Memories
Selections from Mini-Stories that Move the Heart, Page 3 (触动心脏的微小说)
All stories by anonymous; titles added by translator; comments in original; published on several web sites including http://blog.qq.com/qzone/80796072/1357217814.htm
and http://blog.renren.com/share/179004304/13519474530
1. Action Kamen
2. Beholder's Eye
3. BFF
4. Changes
5. Cutting
6. Exact Time
1. Action Kamen
"Daddy, you're home."
"Daddy's been busy all day," mommy said. "And you run off to bed now, Newbie."
After she saw him close the bedroom door, she said, "Guangzhi, why don't you tell Newbie that you're the one who plays Action Kamen? He'd sure be thrilled."
"I'm just afraid he'd be disappointed. He loves Action Kamen so much."
Newbie got up in the middle of the night to pull the covers up over his father. "Oh, foolish boy, don't you know? Daddy has a tough job, protecting the world all day."
【The gift you didn't know about】 (Story #40)
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2. Eye of the Beholder
She was very fat, so fat that everyone felt she'd never find a husband. He was very skinny, but by some quirk of fate he married her.
On their wedding night, she stood before him and took off her clothes. But when the clothing was all off, she still had on a layer of pork skin underneath.
She was in fact a beautiful woman. It was just that she hated what sticklers people are for external appearances, so she had used all her ingenuity to find someone who could accept her ugliness and to whom she could devote her life.
When he found out what she really looked like, he got mad and walked out. He had not only wanted a wife who looked ugly, but also one who wouldn't resort to trickery.
【Deceit is love's greatest enemy】 (Story #70)
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3. BFF
A young boy told a young girl, "I'm your BF."
"What's a BF?" the girl asked. He said it was for the English words 'Best Friend'.
Much later they got married, had a kid and grew to a ripe old age.
The husband told his wife, "I'm your BF."
"What's a BF?" his wife asked. He smiled and said it was for the English words 'Be Forever'.
【I'm your forever!】 (Story #74)
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4. Changes
On Forest Shade Road, the girl was sitting on the back of the boy's bike, her white skirt waving in the breeze, holding roses with both hands. Her smile was as beautiful as the flowers.
Several years later.
Man: "Your family doin' OK?"
Woman: "Yeah."
Man: "You've changed."
Woman: "You, too."
Man: "What'r'ya' eatin'?"
Woman: "Everyday stuff. Cheap 'n' sticks t'yer ribs. If I can't finish it I can get a doggie bag. Kongbao chicken is my kid's favorite."
Man: "Waiter! I'll have an order for my son, too. Not hot. The boy's got acne and can't eat spicy food."
【Time, it changes everything】 (Story #76)
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5. Cutting
Holding a paring knife, he told her, "I can cut myself anywhere for you."
She showed no emotion. "Go ahead," she said.
He couldn't say anything for a moment. Then he smiled and said, "I love you," and cut himself.
Still she showed no emotion. "Even when I'm joking," she said, "you believe me."
He died.
【By death, proving my love for you】 (Story #25)
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6. Exact Time
Just before leaving, she said, "On New Year's, if you text me at exactly 12:00 midnight, I'll do what you want and not go."
Her cell phone vibrated at 11:50. Is he really so casual about this, after all? She gathered up her bags and, her mind made up, boarded her flight to another country.
The fellow on the other end of the phone was wild with joy as he sent off the text message, but then he suddenly realized: In order to be on time to pick her up for class for the last four years, he'd set the time ten minutes fast!!
【A beautiful mistake, an omission he couldn't help】 (Story #95)
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7. Girly Gifts
"Don't be mad, dear. Here, I bought you some roses." He was as wooden-faced as ever and didn't say a word.
"Don't you like them? Well, have some chocolate. Maybe that'll make you feel better." He still showed no reaction.
"Well, tomorrow I'll go shopping and buy you a great big teddy bear, OK?"
He kicked at the man. "Next time you pawn off woman's things on me, see if I don't knock you flat!"
But he grabbed the flowers and the chocolate out of the man's hand. While he was eating, he said, "Don't forget the teddy bear tomorrow!"
【A "guy's" story, very complicated】 (Story #34)
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8. Heart Transplant
His wife was about to have a heart transplant. He looked at her lovingly as she lay on the bed.
The hand holding the form he had to sign was shaking a little. "Hurry up and sign, you good-for-nothing bum!" His wife was cursing him.
The operation was a complete success. She didn't reject the transplant.
"Where's that gutless husband of mine?" she asked the nurse.
The nurse handed her a piece of paper. A bright red heart was drawn on it, with a line of small characters: This is the last thing I can give you. I love you."
【What I can give you is my life.】 (Story #72)
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9. Home
He was looking at the frigid desolation of a snowy night in Beijing. The streetlights produced a yellow dimness, and the usual hustle-bustle was still. Only the odd car came whistling by. He stood there like a statue.
"Mama, why does he keep standing there?"
"Oh, he probably can't find his home."
His tears began to fall like rain.
【The farthest distance in the world….】 (Story #21)
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10. Letters
When she was 15, she wrote him a letter telling him that she'd had a fight with her parents, and he wrote back to console her;
When she was 18, she wrote him a letter telling him that she'd passed the entrance exam, and he wrote back praising her;
When she was 21, she wrote him a letter telling him that she'd lost her love, and he wrote back to encourage her;
When she was 24, she wrote him a letter telling him that she was getting married, and he wrote back to wish her all the best;
When she was 27, she wrote him a letter telling him that she'd become a mother, and he wrote back congratulating her;
When she was 30, she wrote him a letter telling him that her hateful father had passed away. She never got a reply.
【The one you hated】 (Story #38)
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11. Loving Memories
"Hey, you remember how many years we've known each other?
"We've known each other fifty years, and I know you don't remember.
"We'd just started grade school back then. You still remember what you promised me then?
"Ha, silly old man! I know you're too dumb to remember anything, so I'll tell you. That's when you wrote on the desk, uh, 'Girl, I'll love you….'"
"My, whole, life." He'd been lying in bed unconscious for ten days and it was difficult for him to talk. In his dreams, he'd seemed to return to his youth, when he'd written that promise on the desk, and his heart was full.
【Full, and all love】 (Story #98)
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12. My Other Vehicle Is….
They drove a dilapidated old motorbike by me slowly.
I distinctly heard the woman say: "I still like the Land Rover better."
【Even if that lifestyle is well beyond their means, they're working toward it together】 (Story #41)
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13. Posted
I got on late every day, just because I wanted him to notice.
In the middle of the night, my thoughts of him were a total disaster. I wrote a crumb directed at him on the school's bulletin board.
After I published it I hit F5 to refresh, and there was already a reply post. "I love you, too."
I looked at the ID and the tears flowed from my eyes – Grandpa Li, the gate guard.
【Is this a comedy or a romance?】 (Story #61)
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14. School's Out
That dusky evening when Grandma left this world, Grandpa was in the hospital room to walk with her down the last stretch of her life. Before she went, she told him, "School's out."
Grandpa, who had been pretending to be calm, started crying like a child when he heard her say that.
When the funeral was over, I asked him if there was some hidden meaning in those words. He told me that, when he and Grandma were still in grade school, she'd often say to him, "School's out! Let's go home together!"
【School's out. We'll go home together】 (Story #66)
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15. Scissors-Rock-Cloth
They were a couple who had been childhood friends, a boy and a girl who'd grown up innocently together.
Suddenly there came a day. He said to her. "Marry me."
But she hemmed and hawed and couldn't make up her mind.
So they played scissors-rock-cloth to decide everything.
He won. After they were married she asked him. "Why were you so confident?"
He smiled thinly. Then he told her. "I've known since we were seven that you like to start with rock."
【Loves you, and understands you】 (Story #51)
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16. Still With Him
"You start eating right for me, and quit your drinking! Before, when you weren't paying attention to your diet, you got sick and I had to carry you to the hospital on my back that very night! If it happens again, I won't be in any mood to take care of you."
He put the food that he'd prepared so caringly down on the table. His tone of voice softened. "I'm working overtime tonight and might be a little late getting home. You don't have to wait up for me. That's a good girl…."
As the sound of the closing door gradually faded, the empty room became completely silent. There was only a black and white photo hanging on the wall, softly reflecting the dim light….
【I'm just going to treat you as never having left….】 (Story #90)
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17. Text Message
She'd finally worked up the nerve to send him a text telling him everything, but it was late and she still hadn't got a reply. She didn't know that he'd punched in the wrong number by mistake.
She was disconsolate and complained about it to a friend the next day. Someone was sitting by her listening closely to what she was saying.
That evening, at about the same time, she got an unfamiliar text message: "A mistake's a mistake, silly, so let's make the best of it."
【Love comes when you least expect it】 (Story #33)
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18. Together
He was hugging her, sitting in the twilight on a long park bench beside the lake in the park, mumbling sweet nothings.
He said, "Noon is hot love between the sun and the land, and late night is their golden years, as they share their lives together."
He always said that, and she always smiled without saying anything. Four eyes looking at each other, they hugged even more tightly.
The next morning, people exercising in the park noticed an old man walking serenely, hugging a picture frame with a mottled, faded photo in it.
【Sharing their golden years】 (Story #75)
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19. Ultraman
Her: I'll tell you a secret. I'm actually Ultraman [the Japanese superhero who saves the world from monsters].
Him: I'll tell you a secret. I'm actually a little monster.
【If you're willing to hit me, I'm willing to take it】 (Story #45)
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20. Valentine's Message
Every Valentine's Day for three years, he'd received a greeting by text message from an unfamiliar number. It was only three short words: "Happy Valentine's Day."
He'd never replied.
On Valentine's Day the fourth year, the message didn't appear. He hesitated for a long time, but finally sent a "Happy Valentine's Day" message to that number.
He got a reply right away. "Thanks. Who are you?"
Love won't wait at a distance for anyone. A moment of carelessness and it will be lost to time.
【Some loves, when overlooked, are lost forever】 (Story #58)
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21. We Meet Again
In the operating room.
He cries out for all he's worth and comes into this world.
She looks at him and is startled. Then she smiles.
"Ha, ha," she says, "so you came back to find me."
【I couldn't give you all of my former life, but I give you this one】 (Story #48)
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22. A Wreck in Time
He missed her terribly after she died in an auto accident, so he used a time machine to go back to the past to prevent the tragedy from happening. He arrived several minutes before the time he'd set because of a machine error.
He used his key to open the door and heard the sighing and panting of her and a man.
Her cell phone rang. He remembered that it was him calling.
"I've got to go. My man wants me to hurry."
Hearing that stirred his embarrassment into anger.
He went out the door and stole a car. When he saw her rushing out, he stepped on the gas.
【Sometimes knowing the truth about events isn't a happy thing】 (Story #62)
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17. Text Message
18. Together
19. Ultraman
20. Valentine's Message
21. We Meet Again
22. Wreck in Time