One Leaf Reveals Autumn’s Meaning

Past life: tragic ending. Present life: happy ending.

Past life: Fallen heiress and opera performer x unruly officer and air force pilot

In the winter of the year she turned eighteen, Song Xinning had the sudden urge to visit a local thousand-year-old temple and pray for blessings. Following the instructions, she picked a wish ribbon at random. Six characters were written on it: [A bond from a past life, fulfilled in this one.]

An ancient tree stood in the courtyard, its branches bent beneath the snow as flakes swirled through the air. Song Xinning stood beneath it, quietly studying the red ribbon in her hand. A few seconds later, she rose onto her toes and hung it on a branch.

A sudden gust sent the ribbon swaying and drifting toward the ground. Song Xinning sighed and bent to retrieve it, but a well-defined hand reached it first.

Song Xinning looked up and unexpectedly met a pair of deep, dark eyes. The young man before her had a smile at the corner of his mouth, a tall, straight figure, and handsome features.

"A bond from a past life, fulfilled in this one." Xie Yuheng read the words on the ribbon softly, then held it out to Song Xinning. "Is this yours?"

She waited, but the other person made no move. Only then did Xie Yuheng slowly raise his eyes to her face. He paused for a few seconds, then his smile faded.

Another gust of wind rose. Snowflakes swirled and settled here and there on their hair and shoulders.

Song Xinning stood frozen.

Though this was their first meeting, an overwhelming sense of familiarity engulfed her.

When she came to her senses, she realized her face was wet with tears.

Realizing how flustered she seemed, Song Xinning looked away and turned to leave.

Unexpectedly, someone suddenly caught her wrist.

She turned around. It was the young man from before.

He looked into her eyes, his expression serious.

"Sorry to bother you." Xie Yuheng paused, his Adam's apple bobbing. His voice was faintly hoarse, though it was hard to notice. "Have we met somewhere before?"

In the autumn of 1930, Song Xinning traveled south with her mother to Shanghai to visit relatives. At a local temple, she prayed for harmony in her family and peace for her country.

An old monk, sensing a connection with her, offered her a red ribbon for love. When the wind rose, Song Xinning failed to hold on to it, and the ribbon drifted toward an ancient tree in the distance.

With no other choice, Song Xinning chased after it. Just as she reached out to grab the ribbon, another hand reached out from in front of her and grabbed it too.

The ribbon was caught between their hands, fluttering in the wind.

The last blossoms drifted from the branches. Before they could touch the ground, the wind caught them and swept them apart.

Song Xinning looked up and met Xie Yuheng's half-smiling gaze. "Miss, praying for a match?"

At the time, Song Xinning had no idea who the young man who had held the love ribbon with her at the temple really was.

Xie Yuheng was the fourth son of the Xie family of Shanghai, a notorious scoundrel in the city. He held tremendous sway over Shanghai, and even the foreigners in the concessions had to show him some respect.

Song Xinning, meanwhile, was the legitimate granddaughter of Song Heguang, a high-ranking official of the former dynasty. After the Qing Dynasty fell, the Song family went into business and grew immensely wealthy.

One lived in Beiping, the other in Shanghai. They should never have crossed paths, yet the red ribbon tied them together at both ends, knotting them into an unbreakable bond...

Before he died, Xie Yuheng clutched the faded love knot. Blood soaked through the red ribbon, and he left behind just one sentence: "In this life, I give myself to my country. In the next, I give myself to her."

He thought she would live to see a peaceful age, never knowing she would not outlive the winter of his departure.

A deafening explosion left Song Xinning's body nowhere to be found. In her final moments, all she could see was the young man beneath the ancient tree when she was young, his brows lifted as he held the ribbon.

Leaves drifted through the air, and the red ribbon swayed.

Song Xinning slowly wound the ribbon around her ring finger, imagining it was a Western-style wedding ring. It was a pity that she and he could never be together in this life. A tear slid slowly from the corner of her eye as she murmured, "Xie Yuheng, in my heart, I've been your wife for a long time."

A bond from a past life, fulfilled in this one.

When we meet again, I'll come to fulfill my vow.

An unbreakable knot, bound until death, through life after life.

"You promised you'd take me to Beiping to see the autumn leaves. You broke your promise."

How lucky I was to meet you, and how unlucky that we were born in a time of chaos. If there is another life, may we both be born in a peaceful age, without war or parting.

It turns out the ending was settled from the very beginning. Everything was a tragedy from the start.

🍽️ Reading guide:

1. The leads are each other's only one, emotionally and physically, from beginning to end. Read with confidence!

2. Tragic ending in the past life, happy ending in the present life.

3. The Republican-era setting is entirely fictional. Please don't scrutinize the history; this story is not based on real historical events!

Theme: A prosperous China