"... Brother A Bao, your hands... Are so dexterous..."
"... You like it?... If you like... I... Make it up for you every day..."
In the twelfth year of the Republic of China, that is, eighteen years ago, Qinghe Village.
The two willow trees, with intertwined roots and intertwined branches and leaves, cast a ferocious shadow under the blood-like setting sun.
The legend about these two strange "willow trees" spread quietly but quickly like catkins in the spring breeze. It not only spread throughout Qinghe Village, but also flew across the Qingshui River. It was spread by word of mouth among the fields, tea houses and wine shops in eight villages within ten miles.
The legend tells the story of A Bao, a tenant, and Tu Ya Mei, a little girl from the landowner Niu Wancai's family. Because they couldn't fall in love, they both threw themselves into the river and died. They were buried by the river bed by kind people in the village. In the spring of the next year, two embracing willow trees magically grew beside the river bed. People in the village said that they were the spirits of Tu Ya Mei and A Bao! Unable to stay together while alive, God showed mercy and allowed their souls to transform into twin trees, and they could finally be together in another world and never be separated.
Later, a scholar passed by Qinghe Village and after hearing this tear-jerking love legend, he carved the word "freedom" on the couple's willow tree.
...
