Our Anniversary

Seven years ago...

November 16, 2002...

I remember clearly—it was a Saturday.

The sky was shrouded in gray, heavy with gloom.

I sat alone at the street corner, helpless and lost.

It was you—your sudden appearance brought warmth back to that cold night.

You told me you had just gone through a breakup.

Later, I learned you had lied to me.

I was your first love.

Somehow, I found myself at your home.

With the help of alcohol, you poured out your heart, saying so many things...

November 17...

I still remember—it was a lazy morning, sunlight streaming in gently.

From that day on, we were no longer children.

“If I can’t give you happiness, I’d rather die...”

Those softly spoken promises still echo in my ears, yet now I find I can no longer keep them.

So many things—perhaps we were simply too young.

November 18, 2003...

You said this was our anniversary.

I once asked, curiously—why not the 17th? After all, that was when everything began.

You only smiled without answering.

It was not until much later that I finally understood.

But by then, everything was already too late...

—From “The Chronicle of Beizi,” Our Anniversary