Butterfly Anecdotes

The first time Cheng Mangsi saw Qiu Guangfu was on the day she had just moved to Lincheng as a bride.

She sat in the wedding car, curiously looking out the window, when she saw a woman walking with her head down, pulling a suitcase and holding a little girl's hand.

Her husband noticed where she was looking and explained, "She's our neighbor. That woman sure knows how to make a fuss. She's always running back to her parents' place, and she argues at home every other day."

A neighbor who'd be hard to deal with.

That was Cheng Mangsi's first impression of Qiu Guangfu.

The second time Cheng Mangsi saw Qiu Guangfu, she had been beaten until she was covered in bruises and kicked out of her home. In the dead of winter, she sat in the snow, ready to end her life.

Qiu Guangfu told her daughter to take her schoolbag home. Then, without changing her expression, she turned around, took off her coat, and draped it over Cheng Mangsi. Her voice was soft and flat as she said, "Go stay somewhere else for a few days. Come back after he apologizes."

She spoke as if she'd long since grown used to living this way and knew exactly how to handle such a terrible situation.

But when Qiu Guangfu saw the tears on Cheng Mangsi's face, she still said, "Get a divorce."

She wasn't like what other people had said.

That was Cheng Mangsi's second impression of Qiu Guangfu.

Later, Cheng Mangsi formed a second, third, fourth, and countless other impressions of Qiu Guangfu.

The first time Qiu Guangfu took Cheng Mangsi's hand, Cheng Mangsi looked down and smiled. "My son asked me yesterday if you and I were dating."

Qiu Guangfu held on to her hand, but said, "No. I'm just helping you get by."

Cheng Mangsi fell silent for a moment, then held Qiu Guangfu's hand tightly in return. "Qiu Guangfu, your husband is dead and I'm divorced. Can't we be together?"

Qiu Guangfu's hand hurt because Cheng Mangsi was holding it so tightly. She rubbed the base of Cheng Mangsi's thumb and said with a soft laugh,

"Let's go buy groceries and make dinner. The kids will be home from school soon."

Cheng Mangsi had always thought Qiu Guangfu was an uneducated housewife. So when she secretly confessed her feelings, she was stunned to find that Qiu Guangfu wasn't unmoved.

The beautiful woman crouched down to clean her wound. At her words, she abruptly looked up and stared at her, then leaned in and kissed her without thinking.

"You know how a butterfly in the Amazon rainforest of South America can flap its wings a few times and cause a tornado in Texas two weeks later?"

"I know."

Just like the look in your eyes, full of unspoken words, in the snow long ago. Only now has it slowly come to bloom.

You asked if I knew you loved me.

I said I knew.

Just as you knew I loved you, too.

A story written for love, with a realistic setting.

I really want to write a gentle story about women supporting each other and falling in love in a small county town.

The story should be short. I have no outline, so I'll write as I go.

2022.11.15

Theme: Justice and the rule of law