Seeing a Letter Is Like Meeting

Millennium, small town, two girls. Wen Shimo is an honors student in the third year of high school. He is calm and taciturn, hiding all his tenderness in his heart. Lu Sheng is a freshman in high school. She is quiet and timid and always walks with her head down. No one knew that Wen Shimo would appear on the third step of the playground stand at 6:20 every morning - where Lu Sheng could be seen running and doing exercises. No one knew that every time Lu Sheng passed by the senior high school teaching building, she would subconsciously slow down - she was looking for the figure who helped her swipe two cents from behind. Their story begins with a look at each other in the cafeteria and ends with that night by the river. In the summer of 2002, Wen Shimo was admitted to a university in Beijing. The night before leaving, they sat on a bench by the river. The moonlight was very pale and the river was very quiet. Lu Sheng leaned gently on her shoulder, Wen Shimo lowered his head and kissed her. That was their only night. On the third day, rumors spread throughout the town. No one asked them if it was true, no one wanted to know what happened that night. How the small town rumors turned two girls into monsters, how they drove a silent old man into the river - that was what happened later. Wen Shimo's grandfather is gone. The old man who had never left the town in his life went out for the last time to seek an explanation for his granddaughter. No one listened to him. When he came back, it was already dark. Wen Shimo could have left. She passed the exam, and she didn't have to come back. But Lu Sheng still wants to live here, her family is still here, and those rumors will chase her day and night. So she said a lot of nasty things. He said that he had never liked her and that he was just confused that night. After saying that, he turned around and left, never looking back once. She thought that this way, Lu Sheng would be able to live well. Three years later, Wen Shimo returned to the town after burning paper for his grandfather. The streets were filled with red lanterns, firecrackers, and luxurious wedding cars - the mayor's son was getting married, and she was symbolically invited. She didn't recognize those eyes until the bride stood in front of her wearing a red cheongsam and holding a wine glass. That was the person she had been waiting for. It was also the person she pushed away with her own hands. Across the yard full of red characters, across the table full of guests, and across the summer that would never come back, they had a glass of wine. She couldn't say anything. She could only watch her turn around, the red skirt crossing her eyes like a wound that would never close. That night, Lu Sheng asked someone to deliver a book - the "Haizi's Poems" she had given him three years ago. Chapter 3, page 7, the poem is called "The Bride". There are two lines of words next to it: The first line, written in pencil three years ago, has become blurred: "Wen Shimo, I don't want to be someone else's bride." The second line was just written today, with ballpoint pen, and the ink is still new: "You asked me to wait for you, and I did. What about you?" This is a millennium story. In that year, two girls would be regarded as crazy if they liked each other. That year, a turn around, is a lifetime. On the last page of the book, there is a line of words, very small, hidden in the spine: "Wen Shimo, if we meet at another time in the next life, will you still like me?" On the train back to Beijing, she wrote down the answer: "Yes. Next life, the next life. Every life." The millennium has passed. The town has changed. They have all grown up. But the book is still there. That line of writing is still there. That problem is still there. Concept: When an era cannot tolerate one kind of love, the youth that has been run over becomes a sacrifice. Millennial hope and conservatism coexist - the world is changing, but the town remains the same, and the people's hearts remain the same. The love between two girls was regarded as a "disease" in that era and had to be treated, imprisoned and destroyed. Wen Shimo thought that as long as he was admitted to college and went to Beijing, everything would be fine. But what she didn't know was that after she left, Lu Sheng was trapped where he was, swallowed up by rumors, imprisoned by his family, and forced to put on a red cheongsam and become someone else's bride. And the old man who had never left the town in his life jumped into the river in order to seek justice for his granddaughter. This is not a simple love tragedy. It's asking: What exactly is "normal"? Who defines "normal"? When the whole world says you are wrong, can you still believe that you are right? And the most cruel question—— If it were a different era and a different place, would they be able to be together openly?