Pu Qingman was gentle and reserved, bad at socializing, and longed for a quiet, steady life.
Tao Zhuo loved freedom. He believed that stopping was a waste of life, and insisted on capturing the world through his camera, unwilling to be tied down.
One time, Tao Zhuo agreed to accompany Pu Qingman to her teahouse's anniversary celebration, but then he got an offer at the last minute to photograph the aurora and stood her up. After a huge argument, they broke up.
Two years later, Tao Zhuo was commissioned by a travel magazine to photograph a feature on "slow living in the city." Pu Qingman's teahouse happened to be the best-regarded hidden teahouse in the area, so when they met again after a long separation, they were forced to work together.
During the shoot, she appeared calm and composed, but her fingertips trembled. When making tea for Tao Zhuo, she deliberately used the bitterest aged tea.
He drank it without changing his expression and smiled. "It still tastes the same."
Through Tao Zhuo's lens, Pu Qingman was still beautiful and sophisticated, but he noticed she no longer looked him in the eye.
He found that change incredibly hard to accept.
On a rainy night, Tao Zhuo rushed into the teahouse, soaked through, and handed Pu Qingman a photograph developed in the darkroom.
The teapot they had broken years ago had been repaired using the art of kintsugi. Its cracks had become golden rivers.
Pu Qingman choked back tears. "What good does it do to mend it?"
Tao Zhuo took her hand, scented with tea. "The cracks let the light in, just as you showed me where I belong."
Theme: Find freedom in the slow life
