One More Wish

The marriage between Changsheng and Huiniang was arranged before either of them was born. Their families had known each other for years. One boy and one girl, childhood friends, with a betrothal their fathers had agreed upon. Everyone in town thought it only natural that they would marry when they grew up. Huiniang had always thought so too. Until one day, she learned that the Du family had been keeping something from the Zhao family for many years. When Changsheng was born, she was not the “son” the Zhao family thought she was. Was the betrothal a lie? Were all those years they spent growing up together a lie, too? But the first thing Changsheng thought of was not how to preserve the engagement. She wanted to call it off. Because she wanted so badly to marry Huiniang, yet was coming to understand more and more that wanting someone and having the right to demand that they marry you are two different things. And so the old betrothal was annulled. But only after it was gone did Huiniang truly begin to wonder: If her parents had never made that promise on her behalf, would she still choose Changsheng? Theme: A true marriage is not about honoring an old promise, but choosing each other anew after coming to know one another.