My Lover Returned from Forty-Seven Years Ago

The happiest thing in Xin Luo's life was coming out with Wen Chi. He proudly lifted his chin and told everyone that the two of them would be together for the rest of their lives.

Then one day, Wen Chi vanished without a trace. No one could find him. It was as if he had never existed.

Everyone laughed at Xin Luo. "Well, Xin Luo, looks like you were fooled. Your reputation is ruined."

Xin Luo stubbornly insisted that wasn't true. Wen Chi would definitely come back.

Little by little, Xin Luo lowered his head and stopped talking about anything to do with Wen Chi.

In time, he forgot the man altogether.

Later, Xin Luo's back began to stoop, too.

One morning, Xin Luo returned from the community senior center and saw the police at his door. They said they had found someone who knew only him.

Xin Luo saw a familiar face: young and full of spirit.

Forty-seven years later, Wen Chi had returned.

*

The happiest thing in Wen Chi's life was being with Xin Luo. They would be together forever and ever.

Then one day, Wen Chi left early to surprise Xin Luo. His sweetheart probably wouldn't remember that it was the 520th day since they had met. There would be plenty more anniversaries like that, and he planned to celebrate every one.

Wen Chi walked into an alley. When he came out, the world had changed. He stared in confusion at everything around him. He wanted to go back, but couldn't. He couldn't even see his home.

A kind stranger took him to the police station. They told him it was now forty-seven years later and asked if he could remember anyone.

Wen Chi could remember only his beloved.

The police took Wen Chi to an unfamiliar place, where he saw someone both familiar and strange: old, with white hair, speaking slowly.

This was his beloved, forty-seven years later.

*

Wen Chi had seen Xin Luo in three different states.

The first was when they met at an academic exchange. Xin Luo stood onstage and gave an impromptu speech, confident and bold, bright as a star.

The second was Xin Luo at seventy, white-haired and with drooping eyelids. He couldn't remember much and would often stare blankly out the window at an old tree that was always shedding leaves. Sometimes, as if speaking in a dream, he would call out, "Wen Chi, why have you come back?"

The third was in a recording Wen Chi found, made six years after he had disappeared. Xin Luo was so thin he was nearly unrecognizable, with small cuts on his palms and cheeks. Every move someone made put him on guard. In the video, Xin Luo's eyes were bloodshot. Timid and shrinking in on himself, he spoke in a tiny voice, begging people to stop coming after him and leave him alone.

*

"Wen Chi, stop! You're such a jerk, picking on an old man!"

"Luoluo, if you think an aged face, missing teeth, and wrinkled skin could make me stop loving you, then that's a terrible insult to my love."

Wen Chi (23) x Xin Luo (70)

Sincere x Stubborn

Theme: Love can transcend everything