Collected Works of Huang Jin

The snow fell so heavily, on and off for three days and three nights. Early on the morning of the fourth day, the sun came out. What a beautiful sunny day. The villagers slung baskets over their arms and headed to the market. Someone spotted something sticking up high by the roadside at the village entrance. It looked like a person. They ran over and saw a large sack. Inside were bedding, clothes, and a bowl for eating. It was luggage. But if that was the luggage, where was the person? They leaned over the well and looked inside. Something in there seemed to look like a person, so they shouted, "Someone's fallen into the well!" The village chief came and had people pull the person out. What they rescued was hardly a person anymore. He had turned into a block of ice. Someone with a sharp eye cried out, "That looks like A Zheng from our village." Everyone took a closer look and saw that it really was A Zheng. He had left the village exactly three years ago. When had he come back? And why had he fallen into the well? The village chief was very old, his beard white. Looking at the rigid block of ice lying on the ground, he was heartbroken and sighed, "You unfilial child! You abandoned your sick mother and left on your own, and now you have the nerve to come back. Don't you know your mother died more than a year ago? Don't you know how much she suffered, her body ravaged by illness, during the year or more after you left? Don't you know how much she longed for you when she died? You unfilial child! Your mother has been dead for over a year. How can you still have the nerve to come back? You unfilial child!" The snow and ice slowly melted, but they could not thaw the cold body lying there. The sunshine today was brilliant. What a lovely day. Yet the wind that blew on such a fine day was cold, bone-chillingly cold. Winter was winter, after all. This winter, though, was especially cold. Cold enough to seep into everyone's heart.

She smiled, so calmly.

But my heart could not be still.

It's been three years. I've missed her for three years.

I always wanted to become a better person before facing her again, but in the end, I was worse than before.

After three years of yearning for each other, we met again as if we were strangers.

It seemed neither of us had anything to say. We could only stand there in silence.

If I had known it would turn out like this, why did I choose to leave?

Three years is neither a long nor a short time, but it's long enough for a woman to choose to marry another man.

It seems this is how sorrow in this world comes about.

When you can be together, don't choose to leave.

When you should cherish someone, cherish them well. Don't wait until you've lost them to complain about fate.

Time is the best matchmaker. It can make two strangers fall in love.

If you don't make good use of time, it can also turn two people in love into strangers.

People must learn to cherish and make good use of what they have.

Cherish the people around you, and make good use of our time.