A Book Dedicated to Our Youth - Volume 3 - Chapter 7.2

V3C7.2
On our way back, Zhang Jun’s temperament was less restrained than usual, and he didn’t want to walk the beaten road. He suggested climbing over the Great Wall to walk in the bushes.

Lin Yiran was a little scared, so I passionately encouraged her. “I’m the worst in class at sport, if even I can do it, you can definitely do it as well. If we meet any wild animals, I promise that I’ll stay back and block them from you.”

Lin Yiran was still reluctant and looked questioningly at Shen Yuanzhe. It seemed that his decision would determine the outcome. “We shouldn’t…” Shen Yuanzhe said. 

“It’s boring if we go back on the same route, I know you always do a lot for me, please!” I begged immediately.

Shen Yuanzhe didn’t reply. His eyes were hidden behind his glasses, reflecting the white light from the sun, concealing his thoughts.

“Alright,” he said. “Then we’ll break the rules, but just this once, and first things first, if we’re found out, say that it was because of me and Zhang Jun that you two were forced into this.”

“Sure, sure, no problem.”

I laughed and dragged Lin Yiran to find a spot that could be climbed over easily.

Walking through the wild, we were met with a different kind of scenery than the Great Wall’s.

Surrounded by the wilderness, Lin Yiran soon forgot her fears. If she saw a cluster of wildflowers, she’d run over to take a photo, if she saw a tree, she’d run over to take more. In the end, she had even more fun than I did.

As Shen Yuanzhe helped Lin Yiran capture her latest scene, Zhang Jun asked me if I wanted any. I smiled and shook my head. He understood why I wouldn’t take any and opened his mouth, wanting to say something but I ran away immediately.

It had rained last night and Lin Yiran walked falteringly on the slippery ground. Naturally, the ever-attentive Shen Yuanzhe took the task of taking care of her, holding her hand when they encountered places that were difficult to walk across.

Zhang Jun tried to hold my hand several times as well, but I refused, continuing to jump around crookedly by myself. These kinds of bushwalks needed the thrill of danger or the fun would disappear as well.

The four of us climbed through the mountains and ridges, wading through rivers and streams until we were finally almost at the bottom of the mountain. Lin Yiran asked Shen Yuanzhe to take a few last photos for her as a memoir, and the two of them busied themselves trying to find the perfect angle.

I stood at the foot of the mountain and looked up. The mountain ranges were endless and undulating, creating a sense of awe and delight. This kind of feeling was something that could never be felt by simply reading books.

I bent down, picking two pinecones up from the ground and tucked them into my pocket.

“Luo Qiqi.”

Zhang Jun stood by a tree and called my name. I turned around, and he smiled softly. “Come.”

I smiled and walked over. He suddenly kicked the tree and retreated rapidly. With the movement of the tree trunk, all the dew on the leaves was shaken down in a light drizzle.

“Ah!” I shrieked and in my attempt to hide, almost slipped and fell. Zhang Jun took this opportunity and grabbed my hand. I lightly jabbed him and laughed. “My hat and clothes are all wet! What are you going to do?”

Zhang Jun didn’t reply, taking my hands and going to walk down the mountain, a smile on his face. I wanted to let go of him but he held on. I didn’t realize at first and thought he just didn’t understand what I meant. “It’s fine, I can walk by myself now.”

He acted like he didn’t hear me at all, pursing his lips, a stern look on his face, eyes fixed firmly forwards. After I tried to pull my hand out several more times only for him to grip it tighter, I finally realized that he wasn’t just supporting me as a friend. 

My heart started jumping, making me feel both flustered and muddled, wanting to look at him but without the courage to. It was as if countless liquor chocolates had melted in my heart making me flushed and dizzy, forgetting about everything except for him. Even if he had led me down a cliff, I would probably have followed him.

Maybe my actions had unconsciously revealed my feelings, Zhang Jun’s face was no longer as nervous and stern, a smile slowly creeping up to his brows.

He spoke up suddenly. “That day at the fortune-telling thing, Huang Wei wanted me to say the name of four girls. I wanted to say yours first, but I wasn’t able to so I wanted to say Lin Yiran’s name first and then yours to make it seem more natural.” 

“Then, why didn’t you?”

“You didn’t say mine either. Did you truly not like anyone back then?” he retorted, smiling.

We both became silent, but our hearts were immersed in a sweetness beyond what words could describe. That kind of love which had penetrated our entire heart was something that we could never forget, no matter how many years passed.

It was only when we had almost arrived at the foot of the mountain that I suddenly remembered there were two other people with us. “Ah, where’s Shen Yuanzhe and Lin Yiran? Did we lose them?!”

I didn’t know what was so funny about what I had said, but Zhang Jun looked extremely happy, the joy in his eyes even brighter than that of the summer sun. He smiled and pointed up, “They’ve returned ages ago.”

I rose my head and there behold! They were standing on the edge of the Great Wall, looking for us. I immediately broke free from Zhang Jun’s grasp, hoping that they hadn’t seen anything. 

Zhang Jun and I climbed back onto the Great Wall. He took out his camera and passed it to Shen Yuanzhe. “Take a photo for me and Qiqi.”

I immediately stood up, not realising that he was now calling me Qiqi. “I’m not taking any photos.”

Zhang Jun wanted to grab me but he landed on thin air; I had already rushed down the stairs.

I ran down the slope and found that even though we had returned much later than others, the teachers and students were all purchasing souvenirs so no one had noticed our absence.

I also looked around the stalls. There were the Eighteen Arhats carved onto walnuts, bracelets made of cloisonne, glass ashtrays… I picked up every little item to admire before putting them back in the same place. 

Zhang Jun stood behind me and asked, “Do you like them?”

I shook my head. Back then, I liked the photographer Lang Jingshan, the author San Mao, and I aspired to walk the earth with a toothbrush and a pair of shoes. I believed that the influences that outside items could have on someone was limited, but their heart could record down all the beauties of this world.

The displayed items on each stall were mostly the same. I wasn’t buying anything, so soon I was standing next to Zhang Jun, waiting for everyone.

“Aren’t you buying anything?”

Zhang Jun shook his head, “I’ve climbed the Great Wall twice before, this was the third time. I used to like these things when I was a kid but not anymore.”

“If you’ve already been here so many times then why did you attend the summer camp?”

Zhang Jun didn’t reply but instead smiled at me.

My cheeks flushed but a sneer came out of my mouth. 

Disappointment flashed through Zhang Jun’s eyes and he said gently, “Let’s take a photo, just one.”

I shook my head, adamantly refusing. “I don’t like taking photos.”

“Qiqi, whatever I had said before, it didn’t come from my heart. You kept refusing to look at me so I just wanted to force you to not ignore me anymore. Obviously I was in despair too, I thought that if I couldn’t make you like me, then I might as well make you hate me, at least that way, I would be in your heart.”

I smiled, silent.

He was unable to convince me to take a photo together all the way until the teacher called us. In all honesty, it wasn’t because I didn’t trust him, or because I still hated him but rather that… I felt inferior, so much so that I was unwilling to record myself down next to him.

On the bus, Zhang Jun packed up his camera and said to no one in particular, “Next time, we’ll come back to Beijing and visit all the places again, get rid of all the unpleasant memories, and take a photo together on the Great Wall.”

Because we were still young, we kept thinking that the road in front of us was long, so long that there was a chance for everything to restart, but we didn’t know that the river of time only flowed forwards; there was no turning back. 

Last night I wasn’t able to sleep well, and with the entire day spent climbing the Great Wall, I slowly fell asleep.

In that state of half-consciousness, I heard Ms Xing asking Zhang Jun about good places to visit in Qingdao, as well as places to avoid, Zhang Jun easily replying.

My head slowly cleared up. So he really did go to Qingdao. Then did that mean he was truthful when he said that he didn’t attend the summer camp for fun?

A while later, the voice of Ms Xing vanished “Are you awake?” Zhang Jun asked.

I opened my eyes. “How did you know that I was awake?”

He laughed. “When you are actually sleeping, your head constantly drops to your shoulder like a little turtle.”

I felt a little abashed and fell silent.

Maybe it was just as Xiao Fei said, when I wasn’t smiling or talking, I would give off a feeling of coldness and distance. Zhang Jun immediately stopped joking around. “Are you angry?”

I smiled, “No. What are you being this sensitive for? Am I that scary when I’m angry?”

He didn’t reply until a while later. “You’re not scary. I’m just scared.”

It wasn’t any kind of flirtatious remark but my heart was enveloped by happiness, the corners of my mouth curling up uncontrollably like a waning moon.

“Qiqi, tomorrow morning, let’s go to breakfast together?”

Without thinking, I blurted out, smiling, “Sure.”

At Qingdao, we ate seafood almost everyday, a much better diet than in Beijing. But, our living quarters were worse, four people sharing a single room. Me, Lin Yiran, Ms Xing, and another girl were placed together.

Lin Yiran and the other girl were only a little more uncomfortable with the presence of a teacher, but I was extremely uneasy.

Despite all these years, that trauma against teacher’s was still there, prominent, so I could only try my best to avoid contact with them.

Zhang Jun no longer shared a room with Shen Yuanzhe but instead lived with Master Jia and Master Zhen. Because I started hanging out with Zhang Jun, I gradually got to know Master Zhen and Master Jia better. 

At night, us four would get together to play piggy. Zhang Jun was very good at this game and the two masters would often be forced to run down the corridor, opening the door of every room and shouting “I’m a pig” to the people inside.

They couldn’t beat Zhang Jun so they would team up against me. Almost every time those two had shouted “I’m a pig”, I would soon have to follow suit, but the next time they lost, Zhang Jun would make them say, “I’m a lazy, stinky, dirty pig who hasn’t washed in three months.”

Sometimes, if I was on the verge of losing, he would give up the game and open the door himself, saying, “I’m a super shameless, lazy, gluttonous, despicable and stupid pig.”

The spectators went from laughing their heads off to having no change in expression at all. If they saw us pushing open a door, they would say calmly, “Oh look, another pig is here.”

At night I fooled around with Zhang Jun’s friends, in the morning I hung out with Lin Yiran, and gradually, I distanced myself from Shen Yuanzhe without meaning to. But Shen Yuanzhe had never been someone to be lacking in friends so I had never realised that we had drifted apart.

Lin Yiran was very quiet and gentle. At first glance she appeared to be somewhat dull but once you got to know her, she’d turn out not to be boring at all. On the contrary, she had a fast reaction time and spoke quickly; both Master Zhen and Master Jia liked Lin Yiran and gradually started to treat her as a real friend. However, they only treated me nicely for Zhang Jun’s sake. I was too sharp, too untamed, and they didn’t like girls with my type of personality.

Together, we climbed Laoshan. There was water everywhere, and we played as we walked, enjoying ourselves thoroughly.

On our way, we ran into a Taoist wearing a black and white robe, his hair tied up into a bun. I walked over and talked with him about daily life, about Taoism, about Laoshan’s permanent fog…

To think that a character from a book would appear right in front of my eyes. I had so much that I wanted to say.

Master Zhen and Master Jia were extremely bored and dragged Lin Yiran around with a camera, constantly taking pictures. Only Zhang Jun sat patiently next to us, listening.

Back then, Taoists were actually Taoists and there weren’t as many fakes as there were now. The Taoist enjoyed our chat greatly and became our guide on Laoshan, visiting the many caves and explaining the history behind them.

Leaving the yard in which they lived, me and Zhang Jun chose to lead everyone down a wild route, rather than the paved tourist road. At first, there was a small path to follow but later, even that vanished.

I wanted to climb to the edge of the cliff, but Lin Yiran was unwilling to take the risk and tried to persuade me against it. I smiled and replied, “We’ve come all the way here already. If I don’t go up there and have a look, I would regret it for the rest of my life.”

I used both hands and feet and climbed upwards. Only Zhang Jun accompanied me. Lin Yiran, Master Zhen and Master Jia all stood at a safe distance and waited for us.

After some difficulty, I finally reached the edge of the cliff. I gazed forwards, emotions suddenly piling up inside me.

Laoshan wasn’t very high, but its peak was surrounded by mist all year round. When I stood there, it was a completely different experience, it was impossible to see my own feet, let alone in front of me. There were only clouds, so close it felt like I could grab onto them and fly away with the gods. No wonder people from the past had thought this mountain was holy when they climbed up to its peak. 

From learning geography, I already knew it was because Laoshan was close to the sea and when moisture rose, they would be stopped by the mountain range, forming mist, but maybe I was somewhat superstitious. Despite knowing the science behind it, I still faintly believed that the plants had emotions, and that the animals had intelligence. That within the broken Taoist temple, a wise old man had once watched the changing world with a smile, and on a full moon’s night, the pomegranate tree in front of the window would laugh lightly, the red flowers crowning it swaying like the dress of a dancing fairy, as a fox sitting on the winding stone road would silently listen to the sound of a guqin, head raised at the moon.

The wind surged, hard enough to blow someone down the cliff. I pushed my hat down and walked another few steps forward, the clouds whipping past me between the unending heaven and earth. Suddenly I could understand those feelings that brought lines like ‘the flowing river of time from the past until now, all looking up at the same moon’ and ‘for the endless heaven and earth, I am still alone to weep out my sorrow’. Though the poets had long left, their meanings imprinted themselves in my brain. At that moment, I was both myself, and not.

I was never able to go to many places when I was younger. This trip from Nanjing to Beijing to Qingdao had truly opened up my world, allowing me to see things I had never seen before and meet people I would never meet normally. On one hand, I proved that they were similar to what I had read before, but on the other, I also saw their differences.

This world was really as Xiao Bo had said: something that deserved to be fought for and explored, chasing after all sorts of brilliant surprises.

The recklessness of youth surging through me, I couldn’t help but open my arms and shout to the rolling clouds, “Hey——”

With a woosh, my hat was swept away by the wind, tumbling into the sky. I shrieked in surprise and started laughing again.

Zhang Jun laughed and grabbed my arm, pulling me next to him. “Be careful there.”

I opened my eyes wide and glared at him. He gradually stopped laughing, just looking at me. 

On the mountain peak, the winds were rushing but time was frozen.

It didn’t matter if the ocean would dry or the rocks would rot, in this endless path of time, for just this one moment, his eyes only held mine, and mine only his.

My brain was unusually clear. I suddenly understood with sorrow that a moment like this could only be discovered, not sought. Maybe he would soon forget it, but I would remember this for the rest of my life- that when I was sixteen, he had stood next to me at the peak of Laoshan.

Master Zhen shouted. “Oi, oi, have you two become rocks yet?”

Master Jia also shouted. “Have you two had enough of the scenery? If you have then let’s get down.”

Zhang Jun waved at Master Zhen and Master Jia and turned to me. “Just ignore them. If you want to stay a bit longer, then we’ll stay here.”

I smiled. “It’s fine.”

Such was the world of men. Even though we already collected the wisdom of our forefathers from books and we knew each moment was something extraordinary to be treasured, we could do nothing but let it go since the hands of the clock were forever turning, stopping for no-one.

The way back down was harder than getting up, but thanks to the help of Zhang Jun, I made it back safely.

Lin Yiran finally let go of the breath she was holding. “Don’t do it again, this is way too dangerous!”

I smiled and replied, “Let’s go find everyone else, it’s probably time to get down.”

Lin Yiran agreed immediately. She had always been an obedient child but now that she was hanging around me, she kept doing things that went against the rules.

When we returned to the main group, Ms Xing and Mr Wang had already been waiting for us for quite a while and were jumping up and down from stress. Maybe because Master Jia was there though, they didn’t get angry, just pretending to scold Zhang Jun a little.

Back at our dorms, we had dinner. Zhang Jun said that he wanted to go shower first and that he’d come look for me after he’s finished.

When I had finished showering and packed up my stuff, Zhang Jun still hadn’t come to find me. I secretly laughed at him for being even slower than me.

Ms Xing would be returning in a while, and since I didn’t want to contact her, I left the dorm and took a light stroll outside.

I was walking along the small path when I met up with Shen Yuanzhe, and it naturally turned into a stroll with two people.

Shen Yuanzhe paused for a moment before hesitantly asking, “You and Zhang Jun… I didn’t expect you two to make up so quickly.”

I felt apologetic towards him so I explained it from the start. “We actually came from the same primary school and competed in the math competition together, so we were quite close. It’s just that after middle school we stopped talking as much. I’m sorry I never told you before.”

He paused for quite a while before replying, “It’s fine, I was just too foolish to notice. Zhang Jun isn’t a mean person and would never pick on a girl, nor were you so easily angered. Even though both of you were acting strangely enough that even Huang Wei and Lin Yiran had noticed something was wrong, I still never realized why. How stupid.”

I felt both guilty and happy, guilty for not telling Shen Yuanzhe, and happy for the acknowledgement of our relationship from someone else. “I’m really sorry. You tried so hard to fix our relationship as well.”

Shen Yuanzhe smiled lightly. “It’s fine. Both you and ZHang Jun are my good friends. Now that you two can… get along, I’m also really happy.”

“Thank you,” I replied gratefully.

We walked and chatted and I gradually forgot about the time. When Zhang Jun finally found us, it was already past nine. Shen Yuanzhe waved to Zhang Jun and left.

I apologised to Zhang Jun. “I didn’t bring my watch, sorry.”

Zhang Jun lowered his head and remained silent for a long time before smiling at me again. “It’s fine.”

The next day, we spent the morning in class, but in the afternoon we went to the beach.

On the bus, the summer sun landed right onto my face. I was just reminiscing about my sun hat which had been blown away by the wind when a shadow landed in front of my eyes. Zhang Jun had placed a sun hat onto my head. I took off the sun hat, saw that it was a pretty wide-brimmed rice coloured straw hat and laughed. “Where did you get this?”

He returned my question with another. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah.”

He looked happy and placed the hat back onto my head.

I suddenly realized that he had bought this yesterday night. No wonder he hadn’t returned even after I finished showering. I wanted to thank him, but also wanted to apologize. In the end however, I said nothing.

We all grew up in an inland city and this was the first time that many of us had ever seen the sea. On the beach, seeing for the first time in reality what we had stared at on television, everyone became excited, taking off their shoes and rolling up their trousers, rushing into the water.

Because Zhang Jun had reminded me beforehand to wear shorts, things like that weren’t a problem for me. I ran along the beach with Lin Yiran and when we had come back, Huang Wei had already changed into her swimsuit and was tentatively stepping into the water.

 “Try not to go into the water by yourself, just play in the shallow areas,” Ms Xing said.

She agreed but when she had actually gotten into the water, she only stayed in the shallows briefly before swimming farther and farther out. Neither Ms Xing nor Mr Wang knew how to swim, and they watched her worriedly. Everyone started calling out to her frantically, but she couldn’t hear anything above the sound of the waves.

Ms Xing summoned Zhang Jun nervously. “You know how to swim, right? Please go get her back.”

Zhang Jun bought a swimsuit from one of the stores on the beach, changed his clothes and chased after Huang Wei in the sea.

They both stayed in the sea for a long time without coming back.

The waves bobbed up and down, hiding their heads from view. Ms Xing and Mr Wang stood by the edge of the sea, their faces filled with worry. The rest of the students weren’t as concerned and soon went back to doing their own things.

Because Zhang Jun wasn’t here and my relationship with Master Zhen had never been very smooth, I didn’t hang out with them. Instead, I went with Shen Yuanzhe and Lin Yiran and started to build a sandcastle. I was actually very worried about Zhang Jun; the endlessness of the sea terrified me, but the more worried I was, the less I wanted to show it.

We had almost completed our castle when Zhang Jun and Huang Wei finally returned. Ms Xing became truly angry for the first time in the entire trip. Maybe it was because of concern towards Huang Wei’s parents, or because Huang Wei was a girl, but all of Ms Xing’s anger went out to Zhang Jun, scolding the life out of him.

We all watched on from the sidelines, not daring to make a noise. Only Master Zhen and Master Jia laughed as if watching a drama. When Ms Xing had finished her harangue, Zhang Jun smiled and walked towards them. They ran away immediately. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough, and Zhang Jun threw them both into the sea, drenching them from head to toe.

Master Jia remembered the teacher’s admonishing closely and walked back, water dripping from his body. Master Zhen, on the other hand, kept on swimming into the ocean, still wearing his clothes. Angry, Ms Xing shouted, “Zhen Yun, get back here this instant!”

Master Zhen shouted back, “How, by running? I don’t know how to do that in the sea!”

Everyone struggled to hold in their laughter. Ms Xing, exasperated, stomped her foot. “If you don’t get back here right now, I’ll make you stay in the dorm all by yourself tomorrow.”

Master Zhen swam back reluctantly. Even though Ms Xing was still scolding him, she passed a towel over.

After Zhang Jun came back from changing, he saw that Lin Yiran, Shen Yuanzhe and I were still building our sand castle. I smiled at him before continuing my building whilst he stood by us, watching. When we had finished the main outline of the castle, I asked him, “How’s our castle?”

He smiled. “It’s very good. Let’s go for a walk.”

I lowered my head, busy. “Wait a bit, we don’t have water in our moat yet. Shen Yuanzhe, let’s dig a diagonal river to draw the waves into it.”

After a while, I looked up and found that Zhang Jun had already left without me. He stood amongst the waves, gazing at the sea, a sense of loneliness emanating from his silhouette.

“I’m going to buy a bottle of water.”

I excused myself, telling Shen Yuanzhe and Lin Yiran what was obviously a lie, and ran over to Zhang Jun. When I had almost reached him, I snuck up behind him and jumped next to him. “Hey, why aren’t you building the castle with us?”

He saw me and smiled. “Wait a bit, I’ll come back soon.” He ran over to Master Zhen and Master Jia and said something before running back again.

We walked barefoot in the water and unanimously walked farther and farther away from the rest of the group.

He took hold of my hand and once again, I felt as if a current had suddenly shocked me, drowning my heart in a wave of sweet happiness.

“You’re not going to ask me anything?” he asked.

“Ask what?”

“Why I spent so long in the sea with Huang Wei.”

“I don’t want to. I could guess, more or less.”

I made a face at him, scorning his luck with women. Even though I didn’t know before, I realized now that Huang Wei liked him.

He suddenly dragged my hand and started running, laughing, until I was unable to run any more and begged for his forgiveness, promising to never laugh at him again.

We stood on the beach, thinking that the sky was pretty, the ground was pretty, and the sea was pretty- that everything the eye could see was pretty. It didn’t matter if it was him or me, one simple sentence could make us laugh and laugh for no reason.

That simple happiness, pure and wonderful, was something that could only bloom in that splendid youth.

“When the waves come up, let’s jump and see who can stay in the air for longer and avoid the waves when we land.”

“Okay.” I took off my glasses and sun hat and placed them on the beach.

We jumped, fell, jumped again, and fell again, the waves tumbling around our feet as we laughed.

We played to our hearts’ desire not caring if our clothes would be soaked and rushed into the surf, our hands holding each other. The waves hit us, breaking into thousands of droplets over our bodies.

This was the first time I had ever been in the sea, and since I didn’t know how to swim, I started to feel scared and wanted to back away, but he grabbed onto me. “When the waves come, just hold your breath and close your eyes. After a while, when it’s gone, you just need to breathe again. I’ll be holding onto you, always. You won’t get pulled away by them.”

The fear faded with him by my side, and the thrill-seeking part of my nature awoke. I followed him deeper and deeper until the water reached my waist. When a wave rushed at me, I held my breath and closed my eyes. There was a loud boom, and I felt like I had been dragged to the bottom of the sea with the current, unable to control my body as the feeling of terror, fear, and thrill rushed through my veins. We clutched onto each other tightly. In that moment, he was the only thing I had; the pillar of my world.

The waves rolled back, the water level lowering, and I resurfaced. I gasped, then started coughing violently. Since I had no previous experience, I still ended up choking on the water. Zhang Jun’s eyes were full of mirth, and he laughed heartily.

I was coughing, rubbing my eyes, wiping my hair and kicking him.

When we had enough of a rest, we took each other’s hand and prepared for the next round.

Amongst the endless waves, we became each other’s one and only, and amongst the ebbing tides, we laughed our hearts out, willfully happy.

A Song: Ascending the Youzhou Tower
Before me, where have all the sages of lore gone?
Behind me, where are their successors?
This endless heaven and earth, 
Yet I am alone to weep out my sorrow
Tang – Cheng Zi’Ang

A Question For the Moon
When was the sky adorned by the moon? I shall stop my cup and ask.
A man cannot dream of climbing the moon, yet she accompanies us closely,
Bright like a mirror in heaven, her light piercing through mist onto the ground,
Rising from the sea at twilight, vanishing behind the mountains at dusk.
Years pass and the rabbit is still there, who shall accompany the lonely Chang’E?
Who has seen the moon of the past? Yet the same moon had shone on those passed.
The flowing waters from the past to now, all looking up at the same moon.
Only wish that during our merrymaking, the moon will keep shining upon us.
Tang – Li Bai

Editor’s Note:
There are multiple versions of the story of Chang’E, one of whom you can watch an Overly Sarcastic Production on here, but the one I grew up on was this:

Once upon a time, ten suns scorched the Earth, making it unliveable. Hou Yi, a mortal with extraordinary archery skills, shot down nine of them, leaving behind the one sun we see today. As a reward for saving mankind, the gods gave him an elixir of immortality, enough for him to drink and become a god. Hou Yi went back to meet with his wife, Chang’E, and offered to split it between the two of them so they could both live long lives, but Chang’E, who was terrified at the thought of dying and was afraid a half-dose won’t be enough, drank the whole thing whilst he wasn’t looking. 

Rather than gaining eternal youth, she became a goddess and started drifting up, away from the earth. Terrified, she called out to Hou Yi, who watched her in regret. For her selfishness, she was banished to the moon, where a white rabbit accompanies her for the rest of her days. And that’s the story of the Chinese Man in the Moon!