Stories: Imagining Winter
Chang Yun received a letter that shook her soul. It was a printed letter:
Although I have a deep love for romantic art, this time, it is not to play a romantic game with you.
I am someone you are familiar with. Because of this familiarity, you probably know my past and experiences. This is why I am not coming to see you but instead writing you this letter. Alas, I don’t know how you view me.
I need someone who can accompany me in lonely times, or rather, walk with me.
If you already have an unwavering partner, you need not reply. Just consider this as reading an old story, inexplicable and dull.
If you are still choosing, I am willing to be a competitor. Once you choose me, I will not disappoint you. I will prove to you that your choice is, if not fortunate, at least wise. As long as I live, within ten years, fifteen at most, you will see my success. If I succeed, I need someone to share it with. Of course, if I fail, I need someone to bear it with me. This is my feeling, not contradictory.
If you think this is a game, please discard it. I will silently say behind you: forgive the disturbance, don’t mind. I will quietly leave.
If you guess who I am and are willing to interact, please reply with a letter. Say nothing, just write your initials: CY. I will come to find you, to meet you. I will write to you with a pen, not type.
If you have made up your mind not to accept or ignore it, please do not tell anyone your guess. Guessing wrong will hurt others; guessing right will hurt me. I have endured hardships, my heart, lonely like a parasol tree in a deep courtyard locked in autumn. If you do this again, the season will advance. The leaves of the parasol tree have long fallen. Then, it should be the season for snow. Please don’t do this.
Chang Yun kept this letter by her pillow for five whole years. She savored it, savoring that sense of sorrow. Reading such a letter, she couldn’t help but feel melancholic.
She didn’t know who that person was. After receiving the letter, she mentally went through all her acquaintances. She dared not be reckless, always hesitating. She vaguely felt that her delay in replying had already hurt the other person. She didn’t want to be heartless. She always had respect for those who stubbornly held onto poetry. She has not married to this day, and in her heart, she regarded the other person as a state of being.
This person, so dedicated to his career and so confident, why couldn’t he be a bit braver in matters of love? Why make me guess painfully?
Does this mean that no matter how strong a person is, they inevitably have their own vulnerabilities?
The familiar people around her, one by one, got married and settled down, yet Chang Yun remained alone.
Later, she showed the letter to her girlfriend. Her friend exclaimed in regret, “You made a fatal mistake.” Chang Yun was puzzled. Her friend said, “At that time, you should have sent letters to all the familiar people.”
“That reckless?”
“No, you just write the initials CY. If the recipient isn’t the one who loves you, they wouldn’t understand and would think it’s a prank. If the recipient is the one who loves you…”
“Stop talking!” Chang Yun covered her face.
Chang Yun finally confirmed who the person was. He was a knowledgeable, aloof, and sensitive person, with an average family background, no house, no car, no connections. She had once had feelings for him, but unfortunately, he had never mentioned anything.
And now, among the familiar people, only he was absent. He went to the south five years ago and has never been heard from since. Chang Yun originally had the power to advance the season for both of them, to experience spring. Sadly, she missed it. From then on, she truly understood the meaning of the sentence in the letter:
Then, it should be the season for snow.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
