Hide the longing in my heart, letting the monsoon gradually thin the face. If autumn waters could be gazed through, I would quietly wait for the passing years by the riverside maples, watching a thousand sails, persistently guarding this lifetime that belongs to me until the end of time.\ —Preface\ Another year the rain falls on Jiangnan, another year the leaves fall silently. Every time I walk into that red maple forest, lightly touching with my fingertips always stirs a curtain of hidden dreams.\ Walking on the path covered with fallen leaves, should it be more about being moved by the scene? Low spirits come in an instant, unstoppable.\ I am at the edge of the sky, you are at the corner of the earth; tenderness has always been hurtful at partings, even more so in the cold, desolate autumn festival.\ A layer of autumn dust brushes past, the sleeves fluttering in the wind carry a touch of desolation. Letting thoughts condense into broken fragments of verse, blooming freely in silent smiles...\ I can no longer remember how many times we brewed wine and wrote poetry together, how many words full of Jiangnan misty rain softness like dreams we wrote; I can't remember how many times I gazed from the long pavilion, watching the dusk quietly bury the warmth of dawn. I only remember that you said I looked most graceful in a long skirt, so whether in the scorching summer or the cold winter, all year round I wore long skirts, nothing else; I only remember you said my long hair was most charming, so whether the moon rose or fell, whether spring came or autumn arrived, year after year, I could never bear to cut my hair short.\ How far is the end of the world? I never had the chance to measure it, I only know that on the path of watchfulness, the ground full of red beans is planted for you.\ Your name will always be the zither and lute my palm holds together, and the only green verse I can never forget in this life. In this life, I only write one love song, just to compose your and my unparalleled elegance; in this world, day and night I splash ink on red silk, just to paint our eternal love in this life.\ I am just a mortal woman in this mundane world, desiring something actually very simple, only a bit of tender warmth is enough.\ Frost and rain accompany a cup of tearful wine, half awake and half drunk. For you, I tried to use a thin brush to paint season after season of longing, forcing myself in the deepest part of the mundane world to slowly learn to wave my sleeves with composure, smiling warmly without sorrow. But oh, the longing is so deep, no matter how hard I try, I cannot fill the void in my heart; I can omit many words, but I can never omit the sorrow of longing buried deep inside my heart.For you, I once tried to sit in a corner of spring, piling up words with a calm heart, only to find that words never contain the vigor of the seasons, only the coldness of the years. I know you love autumn the most, so every season when autumn arrives, I sit in the depths of night, listen to the sound of falling leaves, close my eyes, and think of you. With you in this life, I can no longer accommodate any man who enters my heart. Even if you are not by my side, I can hold onto that dustless moment in the night, as if I have held your heart and breathed with me...... A song of parting sorrow, whose face has grown thin? A season of fallen leaves, awakening whose melancholy? In the wind, Buddhist chants blend into my feelings. Today, with a pair of delicate hands, will brew a pot of autumn feelings, praying in the most devout way that you step on the leaves, sit on the ground, and drink freely with this autumn mood and colors?
Casually, picking up a fallen leaf, I gently ask: can this season of persistence and unwavering persistence cross the river of time and write the most beautiful and immortal chapter of a lifetime?
I have always agreed with this saying: "Waiting is also a kind of happiness, even if it is lonely, long-winded, and sorrowful." "
Yes, flowers bloom and cherish each other, and when flowers fall, do not grieve! Looking at each other from afar without forgetting, longing from afar never parting!" In the vast world, your feelings are hard to forget. In this life, I only want to hold your hand, walk with you with a gentle smile, and enjoy the tranquility of the years together. I wish you were by my side, holding my shoulder, and together we would walk toward that endless end...... Look! The sky is so pure, so blue, with no dark clouds, only my pure longing. I think, if memory is a square city. Then, for love, I am willing to draw a prison and trap myself within it. Beauty, three thousand strands of black hair, this life is left only for you. If possible, I wish to convey my feelings with my dark eyes, speak of a city of lotus beauty, and spend a prosperous era; If possible, I would long to use the misty rain of Jiangnan to soak half a cup of tea fragrance and gently tell the story of a lifetime of endless time. If possible, please allow me, with a single persistent thought, to wait for you in the countless feelings of the maple forest, waiting for you to arrive unexpectedly one day.
Before my eyes, every falling leaf fluttering is like your smile; I am content to gaze and listen quietly.
As the wind rises and leaves dance, I seem to see you in a blue robe with long sleeves, holding a plain zither gracefully, your bright eyes full of affection, just like our first meeting.You once told me that you loved autumn the most, and that every falling leaf carried your deep longing. So today, I focus solely on trying to gently pick up each and every fallen leaf.
I think that by picking up the leaves, I will possess your longing. By holding the leaves close, you and I are at zero distance.
Silently making a wish for warmth, and that smile as warm as before, let me be as serene as poetry, forgetting the melancholy of falling leaves, in this maple forest full of longing, continuing to wait for the next unplanned encounter.
— Wen Yumai Duwu
