During the Spring Festival of that year, I did notreturn to China. I went to Bali alone and stayed at the Bahrain Hostel on PopisStreet in Kuta District, which was a paradise for backpackers.

Bahrain Hotel was a large courtyard. The houses wereone-story high and built around a garden. There was a small park in the middle,which was lush and full of flavor. Probably to protect against hurricanes andtsunamis, the houses were relatively small, but the rooms were very spacious. Istayed in a double room for 200,000 Indonesian rupiah a day.

Legan Road in Kuta was lined with bars and crowdedwith people. Giant bars such as Paddy's, Bodi, and Sky Garden attractedthousands of European and American tourists. These giant bars changed myperception of bars, for their size capable of accommodating thousands of peoplepartying at the same time.

I slept during the day and lingered on Lurgan Road atnight. At noon on the second day after I arrived in Kuta, I vaguely heardsomeone knocking on the door. I opened the door and saw that it was the waiterat the front desk, leading a pretty Chinese girl. The waiter politelyapologized to me and said that he was bringing guests to visit the room. Hepointed to the empty bed in the room and said to the girl, "There is stillone bed left. Do you think it will work?" The girl dragged the big suitcase,looked at the bed, and then at me. She felt that I didn't look like a badperson, so she nodded in agreement. After the girl put her luggage properly,she reached out her hand and said, "Hello, my name is Jielan." Isaid, “my name is Roger.” After shaking hands, I pinched myself and felt pain.It seemed that it was not a dream.

We sat on the edge of the bed and briefly introducedourselves. Jielan was from Jiangsu, worked as a nurse at the National Hospitalof Singapore, living in Clementi, and traveling during the holidays.Indonesia's public security reputation was not good. I asked her how could agirl be so bold? She said she had traveled across Java alone and had not metany bad people. I said, what if I was a bad person? She looked at me seriouslyand said seriously, I would not make any mistakes. What she said was so wise thatI felt embarrassed even if I wanted to do something bad.

Jielan suggested that we should rent a car togetherand visit together, which I couldn't help but wish for. In the afternoon wewent to Lover's Cliff, Tanah Lot Temple, and finally Jimbaran Beach, where thesand was soft and soft, the waves were bursting, and the sea and sky are thesame color. The locals put the tableware on the table, spread the tablecloths,and placed it directly on the beach. Bands, singers, and dancers sang anddanced on the beach. Stepping on the sand and chasing the waves, watching thesunset, listening to music, and eating seafood was a unique experience.

A little girl in her teens was selling roses on thebeach, carrying a small basket on her back. When she came to our table, thelittle girl asked me, sir, “would you buy a rose for the lady?” The little girlmistakenly thought we were a couple, and I felted a little embarrassed. If Ibought it, I was afraid it would be an offend to Jielan. If I didn't buy it, Iwas afraid that Jielan would be unhappy. I looked at Jie Lan in my avatar, herface was already blushing. The little girl persevered and said, just buy onefrom me. I would spend money on food after selling it. I had no choice but topick a brightly colored one and hand it to Jielan. Jielan took it and placed itbeside the dining table, her cheeks getting even redder.

At nine-thirty in the evening, I told Jielan about thegrand nightclub on Lurgan Street and invited her to go to the Sky Garden. JieLan declined, saying she was tired and wanted to rest early. For the people onLegan Street, the night had just begun. I didn’t want to waste such a beautifulnight, so I went to the Sky Garden alone. I met a group of Australian youngpeople. They talked about my relationship with Australia, and they invited meto join them drinking together. I played with them until early in the morningbefore returning.

Jielan got up early. After washing, she called me andasked me to go to Ubud with her. I really couldn't get up, so I asked her to goalone. Jielan came back very late and looked very tired, so I gave up the ideaof taking her to the Sky Garden. Jielan just wanted to visit more scenicspots and took more photos as souvenirs. And I just wanted to get to know morefriends from all over the world, listened to their thoughts and stories. Wedidn't agree with each other, and we didn't make concessions for each other. Itwasn't until Jielan visited every corner of Bali and there was nowhere to go,that I told Jielan that I wouldn't go to the bar today either. Let's go to KutaBeach to sunbathe. That was our last day in Kuta. We rented two tents on KutaBeach, wore sunglasses, lay in beach chairs, drank fresh coconut juice, andenjoyed Indonesian foot massages. I fantasized about letting this time lastforever.

Something unexpected happened. In the mid-night,Jielan kept tossing and turning, feeling uncomfortable all over. I feltsomething was wrong, so I touched her forehead with my hand, and it was veryhot. It turned out that Jielan had a high fever. I quickly found thereceptionist. The receptionist said there was a 24-hour hospital in Denpasar.He found a box of medicine and a thermometer from the hotel's first-aidmedicine box and handed it to me, telling me not to worry and to take themedicine first. Had to wait and see how the condition developed. When I saw itwas antipyretic medicine, I quickly took it back to the room and helped Jielantake it. The temperature was taken again, thirty-nine degrees. I soaked a towelin cold water and put it on her forehead. I didn't dare to fall asleep, so Ichanged the towel every half an hour. After a few hours, her temperaturedropped to 38 degrees and became relatively stable. I fell asleep.

I didn't wake up until noon. Jie Lan also woke up andlooked at me with grateful eyes and said, "Sorry to trouble you." Isaid you would do the same thing if I were sick. I took her temperature again,and it was still 38 degrees, and it didn’t drop any further. I was a littleworried, so I suggested we postponed our return date until she recovered.Jielan accepted my opinion. After we each called our employers to ask forleave, I took Jielan to the hospital. The results of the hospital examinationshocked us: Aedes mosquito infection and dengue fever. The doctor prescribedmedicine for us and asked me to repel mosquitoes in the room. Tried not to goout, brush your teeth, or scratch. Took medicine regularly, and the fever wouldsubside in three to five days. I knew Jielan was a nurse and asked her whybrushing teeth would be not allowed. Jielan said that if she broke her teethand lips, the bleeding may not stop. She asked me, “are you not afraid ofinfection?” I said I wasn't afraid. If I got infected, we could stay togetherfor one more week and let her take care of me. Jielan raised her weak hand tohit me, and I jumped away.

It would be a lie to say that I was not afraid. When Ireturned to the hotel, the first thing I did was to repel mosquitoes, and thenclose the doors and windows tightly. If there were no mosquitoes, making surethat Jielan did not bleed, and I would not be infected. Less than two hoursafter returning from the hospital, government health officials also visited herat the hotel, inspected the environment, and told Jielan not to go out. Afterthey left, I joked with Jielan who was lying on the bed, saying that I musthave contracted the disease in the mountain village of Ubud. I heard that themosquitoes there were big and fat, specialized in biting foreigners. Jielan wasnot in the mood to respond to my joke. She said that it was a good thing shedid not return to Singapore, otherwise she would be forced to quarantine.

Jielan's low-grade fever lasted for four days beforeit subsided. She said that this was considered fast, and some people took sixor seven days. The fever has gone away, but she had a loss of appetite andlooked sickly, but her movements were no longer hindered. I asked her if shecould go back. She said that it was not possible yet, and she had to wait aweek for the virus to clear up, otherwise she would have to be quarantined whenshe returned to Singapore.

We stayed in Bali for another week and we got alongfor day and night. I tried my best to take care of Jielan until she recovered.We changed the flight back to Singapore. I took her downstairs and insisted ontaking her upstairs, but she refused. Before I left, she hugged me and said inmy ear, “thank you.”

We kept in touch and maintained a goodrelationship. Later, Jielan returned to China and moved to Boston, USA, whereshe married a local Chinese and gave birth to a lovely son. After she went tothe United States, we never contacted each other again, but I believed that wewould never forget that period of love in Bali.