[Mutual healing + love at first sight + one-on-one romance + both devoted only to each other + short tragic ending]
Wen Zhaoyu, who had been counting down the days of her life since she was twenty, met Cheng Xizhi, who had spent his whole life trapped in a teahouse at the foot of the slope below the funeral home.
“Wen Zhaoyu, how about giving us a try? One day, two days, three days... We only need to be happy in the present. Would that be okay?”
Wen Zhaoyu froze for a moment, then smiled until her eyes curved like crescents. She looked up at Cheng Xizhi. “The Buddha really does answer prayers.”
Their time in love was brief, but profound.
He bought her cotton candy and cooked for her, carefully protecting her newly pierced ears while they slept. She rested peacefully in his arms, as if time itself could stand still.
He could not make her stay, and she could not take him with her.
After leaving, she scheduled a picture to be posted on social media: on rice paper, the words “Zhaoyu Xizhi” were written in calligraphy at the center, with “May you be together for a hundred years” written in ballpoint pen in the lower-right corner.
Not Wen Zhaoyu and Cheng Xizhi,
but Zhaoyu Xizhi.
