After Lives of Glances, We Meet in This Life

"Buddha said that it takes five hundred glances in a past life to earn a chance encounter in this life. But I fell for you at first sight. We must have exchanged glances five hundred times in more than one lifetime, right?" Ling Chen held Mu Tianying in his arms and whispered in her ear.

Mu Tianying leaned against him, taking in his scent. Ling Chen rested his chin on her head and slowly told her their story.

The first time Ling Chen saw Mu Tianying, he was climbing the stairs while she was downstairs taking pictures. He simply turned his head, and the girl entered his sight. She had suddenly, without warning, stepped into his world. Later, he learned her name was Mu Tianying and began paying casual attention to what she was up to.

The second time, Ling Chen saw Mu Tianying again at a bookstore. They both wanted the same magazine, but Mu Tianying let him have it. After leaving the bookstore, Ling Chen saw her waiting for a bus at the stop. He went over and boarded the same bus back to school. Sitting beside her, he wrote his name and contact information in a book and lent it to her.

Later, when she returned the book, people mistook Mu Tianying for Ling Chen's girlfriend. Ling Chen began pursuing her, and after a while, Mu Tianying agreed to be his model.

On Christmas Day, Mu Tianying couldn't help asking Ling Chen the question she'd avoided for so long: "What are we to each other?"

"Tianying," Ling Chen called her name.

"Hm?" Mu Tianying looked up. Ling Chen cupped her face and bent down to kiss her.

"Remember, this is what we are to each other." Ling Chen spoke each word clearly.

In Ling Chen's arms, Mu Tianying listened to him tell their story and smiled. "We may not have been through much together, but I don't want to forget a single thing." Hearing her words, Ling Chen held her even tighter.

Five years later, Mu Tianying wore the wedding dress Ling Chen had designed for her and took her father's arm, walking step by step toward the man she would spend her life with. When Mu Yuanhang placed Mu Tianying's hand in Ling Chen's, she looked through her veil at the man she'd loved for six years. Ling Chen held her hand and looked at the woman he'd loved for six years. At last, he was able to place his surname before hers.

Love at first sight may be the most fleeting kind of love, but it truly exists. Sometimes, all it takes is one moment when your eyes meet for love to begin. Nurturing a beautiful love may be life's sweetest memory.

Years from now, when we're old, look at the person beside you and ask yourself: Are they the one you cherished most from the beginning? Love doesn't need to be earth-shattering. It needs to flow quietly, like a long river.