Twenty Years Beyond

When I was twenty,

Mr. Luo reached into the mire and pulled me out. He said, “No one has ever died right in front of me.”

He taught me how to grow with his own hands, gave me bones and flesh, taught me wisdom and sharpness, and made the impossible possible. He gave me all the fame, fortune, and power I could want, gave me dignity and a name, gave me the best this world had to offer. The one thing he would not give me was him.

He was my teacher and my friend, and also my “forbidden love.” Gratitude blossomed into love.

On the day we got engaged, he asked me,

“What else do you want?”

“What I truly want is something you don’t dare give me.”