Xia Xingmian will always remember that when she was eighteen years old, Gu Yanshen said to her under the plane tree: "I will marry you when this tree grows to the point where a person can hug her."
Later, the tree grew lush and leafy, but he disappeared.
The next time I saw Gu Yanshen was in the intensive care unit of the hospital. He was covered in tubes and was so weak that he struggled to even open his eyes.
"Xingmian, don't come..." His voice was hoarse and his eyes were full of pain.
But she stubbornly stayed outside the ward, day after day, from spring and summer to autumn and winter. She talked to him and read to him books they had loved, as if he had simply fallen asleep.
When his condition improved, he would hold her hand and go to see the sycamore tree: "Xingmian, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for so long."
She smiled and shook her head: "It doesn't matter, I can wait."
But fate is never kind. On the winter solstice, Gu Yanshen left her forever. His last words were: "Xing Mian, live well and don't miss me."
She sat under the plane tree all night, holding the diary he left in her hand. Every page inside is filled with her name and his expectations for the future.
Later, every winter solstice, Xia Xingmian would come under the sycamore tree. She would tell Gu Yanshen what happened this year, and she would touch the tree trunk and say, "Gu Yanshen, I miss you."
Until her hair turned gray, she was still alone.
It turns out that some promises will eventually be let down by time. Some people, once they turn around, are gone forever. And her love will always stop in that summer under the sycamore tree.
