Scars of Time: The Unsent Letters and the Unfinished Melody
Shen Weixi, a forty-five-year-old history professor, is haunted by recurring dreams: a late Qing dynasty mansion, an unfinished melody, and endless waiting. Qian Tianxing, a twenty-eight-year-old restorer of ancient books, arrives bearing memories a century old, using his restorative touch to soothe the scars left by time. They meet through a Dunhuang manuscripts project, but the profound familiarity in his eyes unsettles her. A volume of late Qing dynasty sheet music and several unsent letters reveal the sorrowful story of a woman with the same name, the Daoist recluse Weixi, who spent her whole life waiting for a man who never returned during the Guangxu era. When Shen Weixi discovers that the name she waited for was Qian Tianxing, the karmic ties spanning time and space burst open. He is a dear friend forgotten by time, who searched for her through seven lifetimes until they finally reunited in this one. As they restore ancient texts and memories, two lives intertwine. Together, they face the regrets of a past life and the gazes of the present, carrying on the unfinished chapter of their love by the light of scholarship. Time stretches on, but waiting can cross mountains and seas. Among piles of old papers, an answer will finally come.
