Song Qingchun raised her head to look at Tang Nuan.
Tang Nuan held her gaze, and the smile on her face was brilliant. Even her voice had dropped to a seductive drawl. "…The paper note also contained a small poem. The handwriting was nice, as was the poem. It struck my heart the first time I read it…"
Tang Nuan turned over to look at Qin Yinan as if reminiscing about their shared history. That shared gaze was overflowing with love.
"…Then I borrowed the same book from the library. After a few nights of brain squeezing, I finally came up with another poem to reply. I slipped the poem into the pages of the book before returning it. With a nervous heart, I returned to the library one week later, and to my surprise, there was a new note in it. I could tell from the handwriting, it was written by the same person who wrote the previous poem. It was then that I realized someone, like myself, was also closely following this book. After that, this became a literal poetry book club between us."
Song Qingchun stared directly at Tang Nuan, and her grip on the chopsticks tightened.A literal poetry book club… Why was that so familiar…
Many years ago, against a wonderful sunset that framed the wonderful memory of that afternoon, Tang Nuan and a few of her close sisters were returning home pushing their bicycles; Song Qingchun, at the time, had used the same shy and affectionate tone to tell them, "That was how Brother Yinan and myself started the literal poetry book club."
Back in the present, Tang Nuan was still relaying her first meeting story with Qin Yinan. "…After a while, the poems started to feel pretentious even to ourselves, so we stopped writing poem, and instead, we started to share the little secrets in our hearts. Finally, just one week before the grade exam, I returned to the library one last time to check out the book, and it was then that we officially met."
Following Tang Nuan's lead, Qin Yinan could not help but chime in, "That's right… Even though it has been six years since then, it feels like that was just yesterday. Whenever I think about it now, my heart still gets warmed from the feelings. Even now, I can still clearly remember that one stanza that you wrote me…"
Qin Yinan looked at Tang Nuan, and his face split into a gentle and loving smile. "I wish the greatest happiness for the ones who love me, and I wish the one who I love, loves me back."
Song Qingchun's fingers that held the chopsticks started to shake. Not only Qin Yinan remembered this stanza, she remembered it, too. Even until today, she would still occasionally scribble that sentence out whenever she was lost in thought.
After a long hesitation, she turned to Qin Yinan. With as much control as she could muster, she opened her lips to ask, "Then what about you, Brother Yinan? Of the many stanzas that you've written, which one is your favorite?"Qin Yinan contemplated it for a long time. He then smiled bashfully and declared solemnly, like he was saying his wedding vows, "May you hold my hand in love and companionship, but may good fortune hold yours in parting and solitude."
