When the Wind Rises, Flowers Bloom for You

Chu Zhiyi × Xu Ji

"When the wind rises, someone will always go against it, just to protect the sound of a flower blooming."

At fifteen, Chu Zhiyi was the quietest shadow in class, always tucked away in the back row, building a castle around herself with textbooks. The day Xu Ji transferred to her school, a fierce wind blew at the end of spring. It scattered the willow catkins across campus and flipped open the textbook Chu Zhiyi used to hide her face. Inside was the secret she dared not show anyone: page after page filled with the profile of the same person.

"Not bad," Xu Ji said, lightly tapping the page with her fingertip. Her voice was as clear as a breeze. "But the light and shadow are off."

From then on, Xu Ji became the most contradictory presence in Chu Zhiyi's world. She would snatch away the drawing Chu Zhiyi kept revising and say, "The impulse behind your first stroke is the most precious. Don't change it." After shouting herself hoarse for Xu Ji at the basketball court, she would pretend she had only been passing by. And late at night, from opposite dormitory balconies, she would use her phone's light to send secret signals only the two of them understood.

On the eve of the college entrance exam, a typhoon swept through. Chu Zhiyi found Xu Ji in the art studio and summoned all her courage, only to say, "Let's apply to the same university." Xu Ji silently gazed at the gardenia tree outside, its branches broken by the wind, then handed her an umbrella. "Go back first."

After that night, Xu Ji disappeared. She didn't take the exam or leave any way to contact her. All that remained was a sketchbook filled with drawings of wind and flowers in Chu Zhiyi's schoolbag. On the last page, it said: "Wait for the wind to die down, wait for the flowers to bloom."

Seven years was long enough for the wind to erase every trace.

Chu Zhiyi became a moderately well-known graphic designer in her field, accustomed to building a safe world out of precise grids and proportions. Xu Ji, meanwhile, astonished the art world with a series of paintings themed around "wind and flowers." Her exhibitions were sold out, while she herself remained mysterious and reserved.

For a commercial project themed around "school memories," the client specifically requested Xu Ji's original paintings alongside Chu Zhiyi's designs.

They reunited at the project kickoff meeting. Beyond the glass curtain wall, it was another windy day at the end of spring.

"Designer Chu," Xu Ji said, holding out her hand, her fingertips cool. "I look forward to working with you."

On her ring finger, she still wore the ring Chu Zhiyi had woven from grass stems in high school. It had withered and faded yellow, but she still wore it properly.

The proposal spread across the conference table had been ruffled by the wind, revealing a sketch Chu Zhiyi had just drawn the night before: a gardenia blooming even in the midst of a gale.

"The wind hasn't stopped yet," Xu Ji said softly. Her gaze crossed seven years and settled on Chu Zhiyi's eyes, suddenly reddening. "But the flower has bloomed."

Theme: Protect the first flutter of love through the raging winds of time, and rediscover the courage to risk everything within the rules of adulthood.