Old Dreams of Young Love: Farewell, Chang'an

She waited her whole life for a promise, and in the end, she found herself.

[A Childhood Promise] One spring, the impoverished scholar Shen Yanqing climbed over the wall to bring her apricot blossoms and swore, “I’ll marry no one but you.”

Lin Wantang, daughter of the Lin family, put away her brushes and ink, sewing all her hopes for the future into the luggage he took on his journey.

[As the Road Grew Longer] From provincial graduate to metropolitan graduate to palace laureate, every step he took toward success came with the same words: “Wait for me a little longer.”

The apricot blossoms in Chang’an bloomed and faded. She waited from the age of sixteen to twenty-five, going from a minister’s daughter to an “old maid” in the eyes of the world, yet never stopped painting. The waiting she could tell no one about eventually blossomed into landscapes on her rice paper.

On a rainy night, after placing first in the imperial examinations, he knelt outside the Lin residence for the first time, begging to see her.

Inside, she calmly burned the letters she had kept for nine years. “Brother Yanqing, I can’t wait any longer.”

Outside, he never heard the words she had once said: “No matter whether you succeed or fail, I only wish you well.”

[A Different Kind of Fulfillment] When she married Zhou Huaijin, the second son of the founding marquis’s household, she made just one request: “I want to keep running my calligraphy and painting studio.”

He solemnly agreed and handed her an equal marriage contract. “My wife is, first and foremost, Lin Wantang.”

Through their mutual respect, she found an understanding deeper than childhood affection. The best kind of love, she realized, wasn’t giving up the world for someone, but helping them see a bigger world.