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Chapitre 1

Chapter 1

On a certain day of a certain year in a certain place

The girl said that she and the person she likes can't be together now, but she hopes that someday, somewhere, they can start over.

Is it really possible?

When we talk about a certain year, a certain day, and a certain place, we always have a hope, but also a bit of despair. If we can do it now, why wait until a certain year and a certain day?

Who knows what day it is? Sometimes, the time is right, but the place is wrong; the place is right, but the time is wrong; the time and place are both right, but the mood is wrong.

Now she's not free, and she can only hope to start over with him someday, somewhere. Perhaps, when he's free, she won't be; when she's free, it'll be his turn to be free. When they're both free, they'll be in different places and won't meet. If the location were right, they would both be free, but by then, they would both have changed.

Didn't they say "on a certain day, in a certain year, in a certain place"? It turns out that was a spark of hope in a time of despair. I love you, and I deeply believe our fate is not over. Someday, on a certain day, in a certain place, we will meet again. Live well... We say goodbye with tears in our eyes, striving to live on and welcome the moment of our reunion.

Unfortunately, all reunions are more beautiful in imagination than in reality.

The two people, longing to reunite, had each fallen in love with someone else. Until one day, in another place, they met again, and only then did they remember the promise they had made. Happiness was always overwhelmed by longing.

Taiwanese writer Hsiao Yeh wrote the lyrics to this song in his novel *Love Liberation*. I found them very moving, so I copied them down—

Why is the feeling of happiness always overwhelmed by longing?

Why is it that the promises we desire are only brushed aside with a smile?

What does physical intimacy matter if you can't have someone's soul?

If you can't have forever, why stay together forever?

You can relive your first love, but you can't relive your regrets.

You can repeat your regrets, but you can't repeat your greatest love.

The feeling of happiness is often overwhelmed by longing, because longing can sometimes be bitter.

A promise can only be glossed over with a smile, because he doesn't want to lie. Not wanting to lie, he can only use a smile to replace a promise.

Without a soul, intimate moments become ugly, but why can some men live without a soul?

Sometimes, being together forever doesn't mean it's eternal. The person he's thinking about might be someone else entirely.

The feeling of first love might return, but you'd better not fall in love with the wrong person again. Repeated regret is too frustrating.

After wisdom comes, it doesn't mean you can start over. There's only one true love. No matter where you are in the world, there's only that one person.

Are you happy today? Has the feeling of happiness been overwhelmed by longing? When you hear a promise, can you only smile? Just believe it.

A twenty-year-old girl fell in love with a man eighteen years her senior, divorced, and with two children. He told her he loved her deeply and even asked her to live with him. However, four months later, he broke up with her. He said she was too young and not right for him. He has now returned to his ex-girlfriend.

When they broke up, he said he would never disappear. He would always be there for her when she was down. However, she received an email from him yesterday saying that they should stop contacting each other.

She was heartbroken. All her friends told her that the man was playing with her and that he didn't love her at all. But she said she was sure he had loved her. She could feel his love in the way he looked at her. Shouldn't she trust her own feelings?

Since that's the case, just believe it.

Whether he ever loved you or not is irrelevant to your friends, but it's very important to you. So why don't you trust yourself? Believing you've been loved is always better than believing you were played with emotionally.

Just believe whichever brings you more happiness.

This love is yours, and only you have the right to say whether it was true love or not. You have the right to cherish the sweet memories and insist that he once loved you, only that his love was too short-lived.

For now, believe it. When you're older, maybe you'll start to doubt whether he ever truly loved you. But what does it matter? By then, you won't love him anymore. When do you miss home?

When do you most want to go home to visit your parents?

Every time my parents call and ask, "When are you coming back?" I'll say, "Next Sunday," "When I'm not so busy at work," or "Later!" But what I really want to say is this:

"I will come back when I encounter setbacks."

When we encounter setbacks, we miss home the most.

When things are going well and everything is going smoothly, we don't miss home. Even if we're not with friends or lovers, we'd rather stay home alone reading, watching DVDs, or playing computer games. Personal space is more important than anything else.

However, when we encounter setbacks, disappointments, or frustrations, we realize how fortunate it is to have a hometown to return to.

Wanzi had a fight with her boyfriend and ran back to her hometown in the middle of the night. Her parents must have been very worried. We had no choice but to wait until the next day to go back. Her parents asked, "Why did you suddenly run back?" We smiled and said, "It's a holiday today!" Actually, we had encountered a setback.

Betrayed by a friend, unhappy at work, I call home and ask, "Mom, can I come home for dinner?" My mom happily replies, "Sure, you don't have to work today?" At that moment, I really want to confess, "I'm tired of work, I really want to go back to my hometown to heal, is that okay?"

I'm sorry, we always come home with a defeated heart. A beautiful promise.

Is there an unspoken agreement between people? Should there be an unspoken agreement between friends, relatives, lovers, spouses, and superiors and subordinates?

Sincerity between friends doesn't need to be agreed upon. Since you're friends, you should trust and care for each other. This goes without saying. Betraying a friend is breaking that agreement.

Even among family members who aren't particularly close, if one of them is in need, the family will still be the first to stand up for and support them. We're family, haven't we already agreed on that?

Between lovers, promises are unnecessary. Our love is an agreement. A man's duty to protect a woman isn't because men are stronger than women, but because of the promise of love. You don't need to say you'll take care of me, love me, or care for me; this is our unspoken understanding. We don't have a marriage certificate, but we have an agreement. On the day we break up, our agreement will end.

Marriage begins as dating, and all our agreements remain the same. But we've added one more agreement: to do our utmost to maintain this marriage and never give up easily. You don't need to say, "Wife, I love you," every day. Didn't we agree on that?

There's also an agreement between superiors and subordinates. Superiors provide subordinates with development opportunities and reasonable rewards, and subordinates work hard for the company. Beyond salary and contracts, this should be an agreement based on mutual respect and goodwill.

I prefer to believe that there are many beautiful promises between people. In the palm of your hand, in the womb.

The girl said she loved her boyfriend very much, and her boyfriend loved her very much too. When she was with him, she felt like she was being cherished and loved by him.

To be loved and cherished in the palm of one's hand must be incredibly blissful, right? He was a giant from the land of giants. One of his hands was bigger than a rooftop, and she was held in his palm like she was in a playground, free to jump and hop around. He was also like the Buddha, his palms as vast as a grassland, where she could run and rest. If she accidentally fell between his fingers, he would catch her and prevent her from falling.