Chapter 16:

The 7 days of Communism

I’m in love with a Chinese Nationalist


Lei Mei has never sounded so excited over anything before. I think I made the right decision, just being able to see her so happy makes me feel something warm inside. I want to keep seeing her this happy.

“What made you want to get into communism?”

“Well, I was reading over some stuff about it and a lot of it was kind of logical, so I wanted to learn more about it.”

“Wow! That's really great. Listen Taji, you’ll love it. Honestly, communism is phenomenal.”

“Really? Why don't you tell me more?”

“Of course of course! So listen…”

She went on for around 3 hours about how good communism is. I have never met anyone as enthusiastic as her about anything, other than Kingo about cooking and food.

There were a lot of things she talked about, starting all the way back about some guy called Barl Varx. We spend time reading the communist manifesto as well, it was rather interesting, I have to say, I am very surprised by how much more interesting all this seems now.

After learning about the foundations, I feel like I’m drifting in the right direction. Communism may be the right thing for me. What makes it even better is that I get to spend more time with Lei Mei, what harm could this do to anyone?

Once again I had a successful day with Lei Mei. I wonder what tomorrow will happen.

-

Day 5 of studying with Lei Mei.

Today will be the last school day before the weekend. I wonder, will I be able to go to Lei Mei again today?

“Good morning Taji.”

“Good morning Lei Me…i?” Wait did she just greet me in the morning this casually? What the hell?

“Want to come over to mine again today?”

“Yeah, yeah definitely.”

“Great.”

Just like that, she walked off with a huge smile. Seeing her like this is really satisfying, I feel like we would get along even better if I had been acting more normally from the start. With each of her smiles my heart to warms up. It’s a really amazing feeling.

“Hey, Taji. Do you want to work together on these tasks?” Lei Mei said as she turned her chair around towards me.

“Yeah sure. Maths isn’t my best subject though so I doubt I would help much.”

“No worries, I’ll help.”

No way. Was it really this simple to get along with her? I really have been a pathetic person before. I can’t believe that I let myself fall into such a state and not realise that just being normal is enough to befriend someone.

I am really glad that I have been able to come to my senses. I need to go back to the old man and thank him for waking me up. This has actually been life-changing. Who would have thought that a punch to the face and a talk would change someone like this?

“What are we going to study after school today?” I asked.

“Hmm, I was thinking to go over some more stuff about communism, also want to learn more about China. I think you would really enjoy this topic. I’ll help with normal studies during lessons like this so we have more time for that after.”

It’s almost impossible to decline her when she’s staring at me with those cute puppy eyes.

“Yeah, that sound’s perfect.”

“Fantastic.”

Class after class, we spend more and more time together. It’s been starting to feel like we are in a relationship, however, I can't let this get into my head, I need to wait for the correct time to ask her.

Once again, we were at Lei Mei’s house. I have been filled with so much information about China and the rise of communism. I have never thought that it was such a bloody process to achieve the greater good for a country.

I have been realising why Lei Mei is like this, I can really understand her reasoning. She’s really amazing for being so nationalistic.

“Hey, Taji… are you busy over the weekend?”

“No, I don’t really do much on weekends, why?”

“Well, if you’re free, want to come over? We’ll have more time to study and do other stuff as well.”

Other stuff? I hope it will be more communist stuff, it’s really been on my mind constantly.

“Yeah, I’d love to.”

“Fantastic, come to mine whenever you’re ready, my parents will be out so we won’t be disturbed.”

“Alright cool.”

-

Day 6 of studying with Lei Mei

I didn’t think that I would get to this stage with Lei Mei within such a short amount of time. This week has flown by so quick. It’s amazing how much I have learnt in this time. I never would have thought that having someone like her would actually get me interested in something.

Communism always seemed like something stupid to me but I can’t say that anymore. It’s truly a fascinating topic and a rather useful ideology.

I got to her house around 9 am, I didn’t want to come too early since I don’t know what time she wakes up but I think this is an ideal time since most people usually are up by now.

Knock knock

“Who’s there?”

“Taji.”

“Taji who?”

“Taji the guy you invited.”

“Oh ok, come in.”

“Thank’s for inviting me overrrrr-...”

“No problem, give me a moment, I need to get dressed,” she replied while yawning.

I really don’t understand her, she seems like a sophisticated person but she does random stuff like this, completely destroying that image.

“You can come up now!”

The moment I walked in we got right to it. We started with general school studies and after a few hours, we were at the main course.

“Hey, would you want to go back to China?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

“True, would have been more surprised if you didn’t want to.”

“Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering. Would I be able to come with you?”

“To China?”

“Yes. I have been thinking about it a lot recently and I feel like living there would be great.”

“Taji, you realise my parents left because it's not as good as it actually seems?”

“Oh… well yeah I guess, Japan isn’t as good as the rest of the world thinks either though. So it’s to be expected.”

“I wouldn’t mind you coming with me. I think you could probably enjoy it there, however, you do need to study to get a good job. Can you do that?”

“Yes, with you teaching me, I’ll be able to manage everything.”

“Haha. I appreciate the compliment. If you put yourself to it, I’ll be able to help.”

“Thank you. Shall we carry on now?”

“Yes!”

Another few hours passed, time seemed non-existent when we spent time together, nothing bothered us as if we were in our own dimension.

We ended up losing track of time and by the time we realised it, Lei Mei’s parents were already home.

“Wait, what time is it?” Lei Mei asked in a panic.

“Uh, it’s almost 11 pm.”

“No wonder they are back. It’s a bit late to go out at this time, do you want to stay here for the night? We’ll be able to study instantly tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah… I’ll just let my parents know. Where would I be sleeping?”

“Here. I don’t want my parents to find out that you’re still here at this hour, so I’ll hide you.”

“Wow, okay…”

Lei Mei pulled out a big drawer from under her bed, she laid out a few pillows and a blanket inside.

“Get in the box.”

“What?”

“You. Box. In.”

“You want me to sleep in that?”

“Thought that was obvious. Now get in the box.”

“Fine, whatever.”

I climbed in and tried making myself comfy, it wasn’t as bad as I had thought it would be, but it’s definitely not to the standards for a 2-star hotel.

“Great. I’ll pull you out in the morning.”

“What?”

Before I got the chance to say anything else, she pushed it in, locking me away from the outside world. What have I gotten myself into?

-

Day 7 of studying with Lei Mei.

I got woken up by the sudden dragging out from under Lei Mei’s bed.

“Good morning.”

“Yeah, hi, morning.”

“How did you sleep?”

“Well, better than I could have expected, though I would never do this again.”

“Pity, I was thinking to keep you there forever.”

“What?”

“Nothing Taji. It’s called a joke.”

“Ah, yeah haha.”

“Come let’s have some breakfast.”

“Okay, sure.”

We ate some food and quickly returned to studying. Lei Mei has been really determined to help me study and wasn’t wasting a single second. I am pretty happy that she’s helping me this much. Spending this entire weekend with her has made me feel thing’s that I haven’t felt before.

My entire body has been warm since I got here yesterday. My heart feels like it skips a beat every time she speaks. She’s a really amazing person, I would hate to lose her.

“Thank’s for helping me so much. I really appreciate it.”

“No need to thank me. You said you wanted to study and I find that really admirable. A lot of people usually just used me before when it came to studies, so the fact that you are actually putting in effort makes me really happy.”

“Oh, is that why you declined me the first time?”

“A little bit, I felt like you were being too obnoxious and wouldn’t want to actually study. Since you started to change and promised me that you would change, I felt like I should give you a chance. Not sure why, there was something about the look in your eyes, that made me think that you’re being serious this time.”

“I’m really grateful for this chance. It has been really useful for me and thanks to you I have actually made huge progress. I really appreciate it.”

“Thank you, I’m really proud of your progress.”

My hand reached out to her face, I’m not really sure why but it felt right, the two of us started to move closer. My body was starting to warm up. Lei Mei closed her eyes as she moved closer to me.

Our lips finally met. My first kiss with a Chinese Nationalist. Not that it’s any different from a normal one but this is definitely a memory for a lifetime.

Her lips were very soft, it felt nice. Her breath was losing its consistency the longer we kept going. I could feel her face burning up. I don’t want this to end.