A Love Story Before Bedtime
In Gao Binghan’s possession is a treasured letter from fellow countryman and veteran Sang Shunliang to his fiancée—a farewell letter that could never be sent.
“Dear Xiao Juajuan, Thirty years apart, thirty years of longing, I’ve cried all my tears. Do you still remember me?
In July 1948, we graduated from Heze High School and swore on our knees to be together for life. I would marry no one but you, and you would marry no one but me. On September 1 of that year, I was admitted to the police academy and left for Xuzhou for training. We planned for you to come to Xuzhou after the Mid-Autumn Festival, but the situation changed drastically. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, you did not come to Xuzhou, and I moved with the academy to Nanjing. From then on, we lost contact. In early 1949, I followed the academy to Taiwan. Recently, while serving as the head of a police station in Taiwan, a health check revealed that I have liver cancer in its final stage.
The doctor says I have six months left to live. Now, the possibility of retaking the mainland is gone, and we will never have the chance to meet again. I kept my promise and never married, but have you married and had children? Or have you been faithfully waiting for me? Or are you no longer in this world? Due to the hostility between the two sides and no communication, this is an undeliverable letter, my last will. You live in Xiao’s old village northwest of Heze, and I live in Dasangzhuang. I entrusted this undeliverable letter to Gao Binghan from Xiaogaozhuang, three miles northwest of Xiao’s old village, asking him to deliver this letter and my ashes to you if retaking the mainland is successful, or if the two sides reconcile. If you are still alive and waiting for me, we will hold a posthumous wedding.
If you are no longer alive, please ask Mr. Gao to bury my ashes next to your grave. Although we could not marry in life, we can be together in death.
As my life draws to a close, I completed this farewell letter in tears. We cannot meet in life, but I will wait for you in the afterlife. Dear Xiao Juajuan, I call out your name in tears, Xiao Juajuan! I love you forever and always.
Your fiancé, Sang Shunliang, tearfully written.”
When Xiao Juajuan saw this letter, it was the early 1990s, and Sang Shunliang had been dead for more than a decade. Along with the letter was an urn of ashes. Gao Binghan had known Sang Shunliang because they were fellow countrymen. Over time, Gao became curious about why such a good man remained single. Many villagers were concerned, but Sang Shunliang always politely declined, earning a reputation for being a bachelor.
It wasn’t until the terminally ill Sang Shunliang handed this farewell letter to Gao that his emotional world was revealed: he was a man of deep feelings and loyalty.
Gao was deeply moved by the passionate and sorrowful words in the letter. Though the tumultuous times were beyond anyone’s control, this love, shining with human brilliance, stood above it all, unafraid of the ravages of time.
In December 1978, Sang Shunliang passed away, calling out Xiao Juajuan’s name in tears.
Following Sang’s instructions, Gao eventually found Xiao Juajuan. She had defied social norms and lived a single life in her family home, waiting and enduring from a young maiden to an elderly woman. Her life’s mission was to wait, finding strength in the bittersweetness of waiting.
“She is a great lady, just like Brother Sang, keeping her promise for forty years,” Gao praised the incredible love.
Though she did not receive her fiancé’s embrace, she received his steadfast love. Xiao Juajuan, dressed neatly, touched the urn with Sang’s photo, eyes filled with young lover’s affection.
“This is an educated woman with strong beliefs,” Gao thought. He asked gently, “Ms. Xiao, you’ve read Brother Sang’s letter. He hoped for a posthumous wedding. Do you agree?”
Xiao Juajuan wiped her tears and nodded.
The next day, Xiao Juajuan, in a red robe, held her fiancé’s urn, and under Gao’s witness, held the posthumous wedding ceremony. With tears streaming, she entered the bridal chamber with her “husband.”
Gao, filled with sorrow, seemed to see Sang’s disease-ravaged face, now smiling with happiness.
Months later, Xiao Juajuan passed away. According to Sang’s wishes, they were buried together in Dasangzhuang, never to be separated again.
Gao, visiting their grave, said, “Brother Sang, Ms. Xiao, though you couldn’t be together in life, you are now united in death. Brother Sang, I fulfilled your wish. May you be together forever, as eternal as the heavens and earth.”
Tears blurred his vision. Beyond, the grass thrived, and the plains stretched on…
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
