1
Jiang Mingzhi was born in a small county town.
Before she met Tan Zhou, her life followed a predictable course.
If nothing unexpected happened, she would attend a teachers' college in the province as planned, then return to Tan County and spend the rest of her life in quiet obscurity.
The day she met Tan Zhou, a thick fog seemed to surround the boy.
It looked as though it would never lift.
Some time later, when she saw him again,
she happened to glance at the old television, where a fantasy series about immortals was playing. A girl from the Miao region had cast a love spell on the young man she had fallen for at first sight.
Then she announced to everyone, "He's mine now!"
The Miao girl's love was known to everyone.
But for a long, long time afterward,
only the wind knew how Jiang Mingzhi felt.
After the college entrance exams,
at the teachers' appreciation banquet, the girl pretended to be ten parts drunk when she was only three, and cupped his face in her hands.
"Let me cast a spell on you. Will you fall for me?"
2
In the first decade or so of Jiang Mingzhi's life, the farthest place she had ever gone was the city center.
Everything she knew about the world beyond came from Tan Zhou.
He told her of the romance of Florence, the blue eyes of Siberia, the snow of Quebec City...
Jiang Mingzhi suddenly found herself longing to see the world beyond.
"I wish I could see it all with my own eyes."
So he said, "Then go, Jiang Mingzhi. Live freely, with a clear conscience."
3
Tan Zhou left Jiang Mingzhi a letter. It read:
May your road be long,
may you meet many summer mornings,
joyfully, happily,
and sail into harbors you have never seen before.
Note 1
I will live freely, with a clear conscience.
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground
Note 2
May your road be long,
may you meet many summer mornings,
joyfully, happily,
and sail into harbors you have never seen before.
Source: the internet
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