First Snow and Eleven

First Snow on the Eleventh

On the eleventh day of the winter month, snow drifted through the air as the story of Chu Jinnian and Jiang Yu quietly began amid the icy wind and swirling flakes. From walking side by side across the school playground in winter to a heartfelt confession beneath the trees in spring, they finally broke through the barrier of their unspoken feelings and embarked on a passionate romance at high school.

Bottled water passed beneath the basketball hoop, strawberry candies hidden in a desk, the sight of them walking hand in hand after evening study: every sweet moment was etched into time. Their names dominated the top of the school forum, and even their teachers couldn't resist teasing them and offering their quiet blessings. But no one could have guessed that this romance, barely a week old, would be shattered by a sudden family upheaval. Their parents divorced, their mother left for Canada, and their father quickly started a new family, bringing along a five-year-old daughter who wasn't biologically related to him. A single notice sent Jiang Yu to France, with no clear date of return. How many years would it be? No one knew. It might be a short time, or a long one, or it might be forever.

Their hurried farewell became the most heartbreaking regret of their youth. For years afterward, they each went their own way, separated by mountains and seas. At university, they shed their childishness and grew more resilient. They tucked their longing into late-night exercise books and wrote their regrets in diaries no one else would read, holding fast to the promise they had made as teenagers and never forgetting.

Then, on another November 11 beneath a sky full of falling snow, a familiar figure appeared at the old place where they had once made their promise. After all the twists and turns, time was no match for the feelings they had kept in their hearts. This time, they held tight to each other's hands and never let go. From that first snow of their reunion, they walked step by step toward a happy wedding hall wreathed in flowers.