JuPing considered. It probably depended most on what she was studying. JuPing thought she knew, but...
“What is your area of study, ChaoLi?”
“Economics and business administration, Chen Zumu.”
JuPing nodded. That had not changed, then.
“And your considerations are further impacted by the need now to be a partner to your husband, and with children on the horizon.”
“Yes, Chen Zumu.”
“My own advice would be to take a furlough and finish the degree first, ChaoLi. That would let JieMin mature into his role of husband before presenting him with children.”
“Do I have your blessing for this path, Chen Zumu?”
“It is your path to choose, ChaoLi, but yes, you have my blessing.”
“Thank you, Chen Zumu.”
“And I think JongJu can move up to your position at the reception desk. It is about time for her.”
ChaoLi got a crestfallen look, and JuPing chuckled.
“Do not fret, ChaoLi. I have much better uses for someone with the education you will have when you return to my employ.”
ChaoLi looked relieved.
“Of course. Thank you, Chen Zumu.”
JuPing merely nodded, and resumed her contemplation of the garden.
By the end of the first month, JieMin was well into his second set of courses on advanced math and physics. His little-understood method of integrating the knowledge was in full swing now. His distracted air was stronger now, as his mind worked in the background to process what he had seen.
Every once in a while, something he saw, or something he heard, would trigger an integration. Or maybe they were random. But, suddenly, some set of concepts or images would just click into place. When that happened, he had a new understanding, a new way of seeing.
Toward the end of auditing his second set of classes, one of those integrations changed everything.
It was a Friday night. He had almost finished the current round of classes today. ChaoLi was back in school full-time, and they had celebrated Friday by going out to eat tonight at the family restaurant.
It was late now. They had just made love, and ChaoLi was in the bathroom. JieMin was laying there in the afterglow, staring at the ceiling, when an integration hit.
JieMin sat bolt upright in bed, like he’d been juiced with electricity. He got out of bed and went over to the big armchair. He turned the light on, and began scribbling in the notepad he kept there.
ChaoLi came out of the bathroom to see him in the armchair under the light.
“JieMin, is something wrong?”
JieMin held up one finger to her – his ‘wait a minute’ signal – but it was half an hour before he sighed and tossed the notebook back onto the side table.
JieMin came back into bed and cuddled up to ChaoLi, who was already fast asleep.
The next morning at breakfast, ChaoLi was curious.
“What happened last night, JieMin?”
“I had another integration. A big one.”
“Tell me about it.”
“It’s hard to describe, ChaoLi.”
JieMin thought about it for a few seconds.
“You know what a picture puzzle is, right?”
“Of course, JieMin. All the little pieces to hook together.”
“Right. Now let’s say I had a completed puzzle, and I took a chunk out of the middle of the picture. A big hole. Then I broke up all the other pieces and gave them to you. When you put those all together, what do you have, ChaoLi?”
“A picture with a big hole in the center?”
“Exactly. Everybody would see that, right?’
“Of course.”
“OK, now let’s say I give you a pair of glasses with a big black dot in the center of each lens. When you look at the center of the picture, do you see the hole?”
“No. Of course not.”
“That’s the situation I have, ChaoLi. There is a hole, right in the middle of physics, and no one can see it. Their glasses won’t let them.”
“But you see it, JieMin?”
“Oh, yes, ChaoLi. I see it clearly.”
“We must tell Chen Zumu.”
“No, ChaoLi. It is too soon. When you take the middle out of a picture, what are you missing?”
“The important part. What the photographer was focused on.”
“That’s right. So I don’t know what’s missing. Not yet. I know there is a hole, and I know the shape of the hole. But I don’t yet know what the missing pieces are.
“And I don’t yet know what the important part is.”
Revelation
JieMin did not go immediately into the university to work on his new sighting. First, it was the weekend. Second, a new integration took time to settle. He would make much more progress on Monday after it had settled in.
And third, he had promised ChaoLi a trip to the beach this afternoon.
When they were first married, when JieMin had thought of walking to the bus stop and riding the bus to the beach nude with ChaoLi, he had a pang of jealousy, or possessiveness, or something. Other people would be able to see her lush body, and he didn’t think he liked that.
JieMin took his feelings out and examined them. He decided they were silly, so he discarded them. ChaoLi was gloriously beautiful, and he didn’t care who knew it. She loved him and no other, and that was all JieMin needed.
They had a wonderful day at the beach. They took a lunch from the cafe, and ate it on the beach. They played tag in the water, and ChaoLi bested him yet again, but the margins were getting tighter. They also lay on the water and just floated, arms locked. JieMin raised his periscope, and ChaoLi laughed little bells, and it was wonderful.
It was at that point, lying on
