Return to the Wilderness

The first time Zhou Ye saw Lin Yuan'an was a few days after New Year's. He was wearing a clean, stylish designer down jacket and limited-edition sneakers, standing in the muddy snow of a wheat field and gazing at something. A red string bracelet around his wrist held a good-luck bead that looked completely out of place. The second time, Zhou Ye was clutching medicine he'd brought back from town when he passed the village's Luming River and saw the young master from the city tossing his GUCCI scarf into the river like a rope, all to save a stray dog that had fallen in.

Two souls cast adrift by fate became each other's medicine and addiction on the northern plains. Lin Yuan'an taught Zhou Ye what love was, while Zhou Ye led Lin Yuan'an in search of a new self. They kissed on the drafty top floor of their school building and made promises amid the morning dew in the wheat fields. Their pages of drafts were filled with hopes and dreams for the future, but they couldn't bring themselves to write a single word: “us.”

The wooden tree sparrow carving he never got the chance to give him: “Yuan'an” was carved on its wings, and “Guiye” on its tail feathers.

Two free souls found a home in those fields, but their love also became a regret.

Theme: Breaking free of worldly conventions and returning to one's true self