To the North, Towards the Warmth

The winter in the north was cold and snowless, and Lu Xun was trapped in the stability that he could see at a glance - the work in the system was repeated like a pendulum, and the marriage contract finalized by his parents was less exciting, leaving only numb compromise. On the eve of his engagement, he tore up the step-by-step life script without saying a word of farewell. With his only savings, he headed north to a strange northern coastal city, just to live for himself. The sea breeze was wrapped in chill, and the winter sea was covered with a layer of confusion. He worked odd jobs at the dock and lived in an old B&B. He tasted the loneliness of a foreign land, and for the first time he was relieved of his shackles and tasted the taste of freedom. Until I met Shen Er, the cold woman who guarded the beachside grocery store. She kept an old wooden box locked with her. There was an unbreakable alienation and worry in her eyes, like a lonely bird trapped by the sea breeze, unwilling to open her heart easily. He rented the second floor of the grocery store, and the two lonely people gradually lowered their guard as they got along day and night. He glimpsed the past and self-punishment she carried, and she understood the confusion and stubbornness behind his escape. There is no vigorous rescue or deliberate flattery, only the warmth of a bowl of hot soup in the cold winter and the silent companionship under the sea breeze, which is just right and gentle. From being trapped in a small inland town to staying together in a small coastal town, Lu Xun gradually understood that escaping is not the goal, but peace of mind is the destination; Shen Er finally mustered up the courage to open the old wooden box and reconcile with the obsessions of the past. The northern sea breeze will eventually lose its chill, and two people who were once trapped in loneliness will finally find the simplest tenderness and stability that belongs to each other as they head north.