In the autumn of the fourth year of Xiantong, at Xianyi Temple in Chang’an.
Nineteen-year-old Yu Youwei has just taken her vows and entered the temple. That night, a strange star streaks across the sky. When she opens her eyes, she finds herself in the living room of a blogger a thousand years in the future.
The homeowner, Wen Gu, is a blogger specializing in the history and literature of the late Tang Dynasty. At first, he assumes the young woman in ancient dress has wandered into the wrong home. Then she writes half of a lost poem in elegant, graceful cursive and casually mentions obscure stories from Chang’an during the Xiantong era, details he has never been able to verify despite combing through historical records.
Their life together across a thousand years begins.
She learns to use the water heater and gazes in wonder at the soda in the fridge. Kneeling by the bookshelf, she gently brushes her fingertips over a book bearing the name “Yu Xuanji.” He takes her to watch the sunset at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and walk through the renovated Tang West Market. “Your Chang’an has never disappeared,” he tells her.
After three years together, they go from wary and tentative to understanding each other’s hearts. The warmth of everyday life in the old lanes has long since thawed the heart that turned cold in the temple.
On the night the stars appear again, the band of light in the sky is exactly as it was a thousand years ago.
In silence, Wen Gu folds the Taoist robe she wore when she arrived. His eyes red, he says, “Take care on your journey.”
Yu Youwei instead brushes the robe aside and rises on her toes to kiss the corner of his lips.
“The Yu Youwei of the fourth year of Xiantong left with the stars. The person I am now only wants to stay in a Chang’an where you are.”
