They met on a rainy night, when she took in a "fish" who didn't want to go home.
Human love is so fleeting, yet it moves Jiang Yu more than eternity ever could.
Love is courage: the resonance of two hearts that know they shouldn't, but choose to anyway.
Xie Wan found a fish.
When other people would have called the police, Xie Wan took off her coat and draped it over her.
Driven by a writer's dangerously keen curiosity and compassion, Xie Wan took the fish home.
She named her Jiang Yu, taught her to use utensils, and helped her hide the signs that she wasn't human.
She named her Jiang Yu, taught her to use chopsticks and adapt to human society.
And so Jiang Yu was brought home. She had a name and a place to belong.
That night, she dragged her not-quite-transformed body ashore, intending to stay only briefly.
Then a warm coat settled over her shoulders, and a gentle voice asked, "I'm Xie Wan. What about you?"
"...Little Fish," she replied hesitantly.
This human called Xie Wan smiled at her clumsy attempts to use chopsticks,
quietly kept her company as she gazed at the sea,
and brought her a cup of warm water when she felt unwell after spending too long out of the water.
Jiang Yu said, "Every seventy years, I fall asleep once, then am reborn."
Xie Wan asked, "You don't die?"
"I do. I'm killed by the tears of the one I love."
"Gentle, resilient human writer x world-weary, aloof mermaid"
"Don't cry, Xie Wan. Your tears scare me more than death."
"Then don't leave me, Jiang Yu. Face everything with me."
Theme: Prosperity, democracy, civility, and harmony
