Paper Stars

Shen Jianian and I had been married for ten years, and his feelings for me had long since faded.

On our tenth anniversary, I spent the night alone while Shen Jianian was with his new lover.

I opened the last folded star in the jar.

The boy’s handwriting had been youthful and clumsy, but he had written every stroke with care.

[Jiang Tan, I’ll love you for ten years, for a hundred years.

[In my next life, I’ll be with you too.]

But once the last star was unfolded, it was time for me to leave.