A heartwarming dream of love that almost never came true:
In the depths of winter, an epidemic sealed off the village. Liu Qiniang muddled her way into marrying a man she did not love, had a daughter, and was thrown out of the house less than two years later.
Her husband's family would not accept her, and her own family wanted nothing to do with her. Where could she go with her child?
Shen Yanhuai was a minor official sent to guard the plague-stricken village. She heard he had recently lost his wife, and that after being reminded of his grief, he had talked back to his superior and been demoted here.
On a snowy night, in a ruined temple, he saw Liu Qiniang and her daughter shivering. His heart softened, and he took off his cloak to wrap them both up tight. "Come with me for now. The world is vast. Surely we can find a way to survive."
A way to survive? Liu Qiniang went with him!
But a man and a woman alone together, beneath the covered walkway and under the eaves, with all those wagging tongues: how could they possibly escape judgment?
People's words were terrifying. Liu Qiniang had no choice but to move out of Shen Yanhuai's home. She set up a little stall at the corner by the road to the county office, supporting herself and her daughter with wontons that cost three copper coins a bowl.
Shen Yanhuai came by now and then. He would silently sit down and eat a bowl, then leave some silver and go.
That was so much money. He clearly... clearly worried that she and her daughter wouldn't get by. He had feelings for her!
Liu Qiniang picked up the silver ingot and ran after him, pressing it back into his hand. "If you give me this much, what will you live on?"
Shen Yanhuai refused to take it. As they tugged over it, she said, "How about this? I heard you're going to the neighboring county on official business tomorrow. I'll make some extra travel rations and count it as a purchase. I'll bring them over after I close my stall. How does that sound?"
The night was dark, and rain was falling, yet Shen Yanhuai waited for her all the same. The red candles dripped and dripped, and the two of them stood like a pair of silhouettes.
Everyone laughed at Liu Qiniang for being shameless. A village woman with a child to drag along, hoping to marry an official widower? This time, she had it figured out. Other people could say what they liked; she was the one who had to live her own life. She didn't care. Shen Yanhuai had ferried her out of a sea of suffering, so she would ferry him out of the prison of his heart.
They were meant to be each other's ferry.
They were meant to weather every tribulation and end up together.
Theme: Do not deceive yourself or give up on yourself.
