From Innocent Love to Grand Nuptials: A Short Touching Love Story

Shen Ruowan first met Lin Yizhou on the wall in her backyard.

That day, she had just turned sixteen. Her parents were holding a grand banquet in the main hall, and the front yard was bustling with activity, as lively as a theatrical performance. Feeling stuffy, she lifted her skirt and slipped into the backyard for some fresh air. Looking up, she saw half a body peeking out from over the wall. A boy was lying there, holding a book in his hand, his expression so focused that it seemed he wasn’t climbing over the wall, but rather flipping through a classic text.

The boy clearly panicked the moment their eyes met.

He leaned back, nearly falling off the wall, frantically grabbing onto a crack in the brickwork. The book slipped from his grasp and landed with a thud at Shen Ruowan’s feet. She glanced down — it was the Book of Songs, the page turned to ” Guan Guan cry the ospreys, on the islet in the river . “

” You— ” Shen Ruowan looked up, suppressing a smile, ” Are you from the Lin family next door? “

The boy blushed and nodded frantically. He wore a faded blue shirt with frayed cuffs, but the patches on his knees were stitched neatly and finely, showing that the person who sewed them was skilled, probably his mother.

“ I’m … I’m studying, ” he stammered, his voice weak, “ It’s quieter by the wall, so …”

Shen Ruowan bent down to pick up the copy of the Book of Songs, dusted it off, and handed it back to him. She didn’t call him out on it — the wall was a hundred paces away from her study, so the idea of ”quiet” was simply untenable.

But the moment the boy’s fingertips touched her palm, she clearly felt a slight tremor. It wasn’t from a cool breeze, nor from the numbness in her hands and feet from sitting on the wall for too long.

That was the beating of a young boy’s heart.

Shen Ruowan said nothing, just smiled, and turned to leave. After walking a dozen steps, she looked back. The top of the wall was empty; only the branches of the old locust tree beside the wall swayed in the wind, like the back of someone running away in a panic.

She couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Every day after that, Shen Ruowan went to the backyard.

She told herself she was going to admire the flowers, feed the fish, and watch the clouds. But every time she walked under that locust tree, she would unconsciously look up at the top of the wall.

On the third day, another figure appeared on the wall.

Lin Yizhou seemed to have been struggling for a long time, his expression like someone trying to memorize a text but failing to remember it, both nervous and frustrated. He still had the Book of Songs in his arms, but this time he didn’t open it — or rather, even if he did, he didn’t look at it. Every few breaths, his gaze would drift down to the wall, landing on Shen Ruowan, then recoil as if burned.

Shen Ruowan deliberately sat by the wall for a full hour, embroidering a handkerchief. In truth, she didn’t even know what she was embroidering; the stitches were a complete mess. She was just waiting — waiting for the person on the wall to say something.

As the sun began to set, Lin Yizhou finally managed to stammer, ” Miss Shen, the flowers on your handkerchief are so beautifully embroidered. “

Shen Ruowan looked down at the handkerchief in her hand. The clump on it looked neither like a peony nor a peony, but rather like a ball of red thread tangled in the wind. She looked up and saw the boy’s flushed face and his forced composure in his eyes, and suddenly felt a softening in her heart.

“ This is called a hydrangea, ” she said, spouting nonsense without batting an eye. “ It’s normal that you don’t recognize it because you haven’t seen many. ”

Lin Yizhou paused for a moment, then laughed. He had a beautiful smile, his eyes and eyebrows curving like crescent moons reflected in clear water.

“ I’m so ignorant, ” he said. “ Then … Miss Shen, could you perhaps do some more embroidery for a few more days so I can broaden my horizons? ”

Shen Ruowan lowered her head, her ears turning a subtle red.

She wanted to say yes, but the words that came out were: ” That depends on whether I’m free. “

She went again the next day.

From then on, she ” happened to be free ” every day .

And so began a peculiar relationship between the boy on the wall and the girl at its base. Lin Yizhou recited his lessons atop the wall, while Shen Ruowan embroidered below, occasionally exchanging a few words in soft voices, as if afraid of disturbing something. A gust of wind blew locust blossoms into her hair; he saw it from above, hesitated for a long time, and finally uttered only, ” A butterfly has landed on your head , ” his words clumsy and unlike anything one would expect from someone who had been educated.

Shen Ruowan didn’t expose him; instead, she picked a locust flower and tucked it between the pages of the book, saying, ” Let me borrow this book. “

When Lin Yizhou handed over the Book of Poetry, his knuckles were white, and he gripped it tightly, as if he were handing over not just a book, but all his courage.

Shen Ruowan opened the book and found it filled with annotations, the handwriting neat and meticulous. Next to the phrase ” A fair maiden is sought after by a gentleman, ” someone had written a line in tiny characters: ” Yizhou, your journey is long, don’t be distracted. ” It was the tone of an elder, presumably his mother.

But then, there was another line of newer writing, the ink still bright: ” But Mother, my heart is in turmoil. “

Shen Ruowan closed the book, her heart pounding. She pressed the book to her chest, stood under the locust tree, and remained motionless for a long, long time.

She remembered her father often saying that the Lin family next door was originally a scholarly family, but unfortunately, Mr. Lin passed away early, and the family fell into decline. Now, only an orphan and a widow are left, living off a few acres of meager land. Her mother would always sigh when she heard this, saying it was a pity about that child, who was said to be very good at studying. It was just a pity.

What a pity? Shen Ruowan didn’t understand then. Now she understands. What her mother meant by “a pity” was that a poor scholar was not good enough for a rich young lady.

But Shen Ruowan didn’t believe it.

She began secretly helping Lin Yizhou copy books. He couldn’t afford expensive books, so many classics were borrowed, with short loan periods, and he had to return them before he finished copying them. Shen Ruowan’s small regular script was extremely beautiful. She copied until the wee hours every night, and the next day she would fold the pages into paper kites and throw them over the wall when no one was looking.

When Lin Yizhou received his first kite, he sat on the wall all night.

Under the moonlight, he unfurled his neat and beautiful calligraphy and read it word by word. When he read the line ” The beauty of a bandit woman, the gift of a beauty, ” his eyes suddenly welled up with tears. He picked up his brush and wrote a line on the wing of the kite, then put it back inside the wall early the next morning.

Shen Ruowan picked it up and saw that it read: ” Wanwan, when I pass the imperial examination with flying colors, I will welcome you with a grand wedding procession. “

She stared at it for a long time, then folded the paper into a small square and tucked it close to her clothes. The words on it were so hot they burned her chest all day.

The news reached Mr. Shen’s ears three months later.

It wasn’t someone else who informed on her; it was Shen Ruowan’s personal maid, Cui’er, who let it slip. Master Shen immediately smashed a teacup, shattering the blue-and-white porcelain on the floor. Shards landed on the hem of Shen Ruowan’s skirt, but she didn’t dodge.

” Are you insane! ” Master Shen’s voice echoed in the study, making the windowpanes rattle. ” A poor scholar, someone who can’t even afford tuition, you want to marry him? Where will that leave the Shen family’s reputation? “

Shen Ruowan knelt on the ground, her back ramrod straight: ” Father, he was a scholar, talented and ambitious, but he was just unlucky— “

” Bad luck? ” Old Master Shen sneered. ” Taking the exam every year and failing every year, is that bad luck? I think he’s simply not cut out for it! “

Shen Ruowan raised her head, her eyes red-rimmed, but her voice was remarkably steady: ” Father, he’s only nineteen this year. When you were nineteen, weren’t you just a poor boy? “

These words struck a nerve with Mr. Shen. He had indeed started from scratch, relying on his courage and a bit of luck to build his fortune. But precisely because of this, he was even more unwilling for his daughter to repeat his wife’s mistakes — he knew better than anyone how much hardship his wife, Shen Ruowan’s mother, had endured with him back then.

“ I said no, and that’s final, ” Master Shen said, turning his back to him, his voice cold and hard. “ From today onwards, you are not allowed to go to the backyard, and you are not allowed to see that person again. Cui’er, take Miss back to her room. Without my permission, she is not allowed to step out of her room. ”

Shen Ruowan was locked up.

The windows of her room were sealed shut, and two old women took turns guarding the door. Even her embroidery scissors were taken away, for fear that she might do something rash. Shen Ruowan sat by the window, looking out at the sky through the holes in the window paper, from dawn till dusk, from dusk till dawn.

She thought that Lin Yizhou must still be waiting for her on the wall.

He would bring newly copied articles to read to her, he would keep the handkerchief she embroidered close to his heart and be reluctant to use it, and in the late autumn when the locust flowers had all fallen, he would take off his only cloak and throw it inside the wall, even though his lips were turning purple from the cold, he would still smile and say ” I’m not cold ” .

She remembered the cloak he had thrown down last winter, still warm from his body heat. She draped it over her shoulders and smelled the faint scent of ink and soap. The next day, she folded the cloak neatly and put it back on the wall, tucking in a pair of newly made cotton shoes. The soles were tightly stitched, the shoes she had worked on for three sleepless nights to finish.

Later, Cui’er told her that on the day Lin Yizhou received those shoes, he stood on the wall for a long time, so long that his shoulder was covered in snow, and his mother called him several times before he went back.

Thinking of this, Shen Ruowan finally shed tears.

She wiped away her tears and began to write.

It wasn’t a love poem for Lin Yizhou, but a ” letter of repentance . ” She wrote it for three whole days, revising it more than a dozen times. Her words were earnest and her attitude humble, with every sentence saying , ” Daughter knows she was wrong, ” and ” Daughter will never dare to do it again . ” Master Shen was very satisfied with it. That very night, he dismissed the old woman at the door, only instructing Cui’er to keep a close eye on her and prevent her from causing any more trouble.

Shen Ruowan behaved extremely obediently. She spent her days reading, writing, embroidering, and playing the zither in her room, as gentle and dignified as ever. She even took the initiative to talk to her father about the young master Li from the silk shop in the east of the city, her tone carrying just the right amount of shyness.

Mr. Shen thought his daughter had finally come to her senses, and he happily drank a couple more glasses of wine.

What he didn’t know was that Shen Ruowan wrote those ” letters of repentance ” with her left hand.

The copy she wrote with her right hand was secretly delivered to the neighbor’s room by Tuocui.

It was a thin piece of paper with only one line of text: ” Yizhou, I’ll be waiting for you at next year’s imperial examination. “

When Lin Yizhou received the note, he was kneeling in front of his mother’s bedside. His mother had been ill for more than half a year, coughing up blood incessantly, and no medicine could cure her. She could no longer speak, but she took her son’s hand, stuffed a well-worn copy of the Analects into his arms, and pointed with her withered fingers to the sentence on the page: ” A scholar cannot but be resolute and persevering, for his burden is heavy and his journey is long . “

Lin Yizhou, with tears streaming down his face, kowtowed three times heavily.

His mother passed away that night, peacefully, like a lamp that had burned out its oil. Lin Yizhou knelt before her coffin, his hair turned white overnight — no exaggeration, a few strands of white hair had indeed grown at his temples, a shocking sight.

Shen Ruowan heard the crying coming from next door from inside the wall and didn’t sleep all night. She stood at the foot of the wall, sitting back to back with Lin Yizhou, separated by the brick wall, and neither of them spoke.

The next morning, Cui’er handed in a cloth bag, saying it had been found on the wall. Shen Ruowan opened it; inside was an inkstone, with two characters engraved on its base — Yizhou. Beside the inkstone was a note, the handwriting hurried but powerful: ” Wanwan, this is the only valuable thing in my house, consider it a betrothal gift. Wait for me. “

Shen Ruowan hugged the inkstone to her chest, crying and trembling all over.

But after wiping away her tears, she did something no one would have expected. She went to find her mother.

Shen’s mother was a gentle woman, almost to the point of being weak, who had never argued with her husband in her entire life. But that day, after her daughter knelt before her and recounted everything word by word, Shen’s mother remained silent for a long time, finally saying, ” You’re like your father. “

Shen Ruowan didn’t understand.

Mother Shen stroked her hair, her gaze distant, as if she were looking back many years: ” Your father was like that back then, penniless, with only a heart full of courage. Your maternal grandfather didn’t approve either, so I secretly ran away to marry him. “

Shen Ruowan was stunned.

” I won’t stop you, ” Shen’s mother said softly, ” but you must think it through. Once you’ve chosen this path, there’s no turning back. “

Without a second thought, Shen Ruowan replied, ” I won’t turn around. “

Days passed by, spring came and went, and locust flowers bloomed and faded.

The courtyard next door grew increasingly quiet, and Lin Yizhou rarely went out anymore. He locked himself in that leaky side room, studying day and night, munching on a few bites of dry rations when hungry, and dozing off at the table when sleepy. His eyes were bloodshot, and his cheekbones protruded from exhaustion, but the light in those eyes shone brighter than ever before.

Shen Ruowan saved up her monthly allowance, asked Cui’er to buy paper, pens, and lamp oil, and then secretly threw them over the wall at night. She stopped writing notes, afraid of disturbing his peace of mind. She only did one thing — every evening, she would stand by the wall and softly say to the other side: ” Yizhou, eat well today too. “

There was no response from the other side of the wall, but she knew he was listening.

Because every time she finished speaking, the sound of turning pages could be heard from the other side of the wall, softly, like a reply.

The year of the grand competition has finally arrived.

On the day Lin Yizhou went to the capital for the imperial examination, Shen Ruowan climbed over the wall. It was the first time in her life she had ever climbed a wall; her skirt was torn, and her knees were bruised, but she didn’t care. Standing on the wall, she watched the boy in the distance, carrying a book box and wearing a patched blue robe, walk away step by step.

The morning fog was thick, and his figure quickly became blurred, leaving only a small outline that lingered at the end of the bluestone path before finally disappearing.

Shen Ruowan stood on the wall and called out, ” Lin Yizhou! “

The sound carried far and wide in the empty morning air. The small figure stopped, turned around, and through the thick morning mist, he couldn’t see her, and she couldn’t see him, but they both waved vigorously in each other’s direction.

The day the results were announced, the Shen family was in an uproar.

The messengers, banging drums and gongs, rushed to the dilapidated courtyard next door, where a bright red announcement was pasted on the lintel — the third-place finisher in the second class, granted the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). The whole alley was abuzz with excitement; neighbors spread the news, saying that the poor boy from the Lin family had made something of himself, passed the imperial examinations, and brought honor to his ancestors.

Shen Ruowan was embroidering a handkerchief when she heard the commotion outside. Her hand trembled, and the needle pricked her fingertip. Blood beaded out, but she felt no pain. She just stared blankly out the window, tears streaming down her face.

How long did she wait? She couldn’t even remember. She only remembered that the locust flowers bloomed and withered, withered and bloomed again, and the face of the boy on the wall changed from youthful to resolute, from fair to thin, while she stood at the foot of the wall the whole time, never leaving for a moment.

Master Shen sat in the main hall, his face ashen.

He had already heard that the Lin family’s son had not only passed the imperial examination but had also won the examiners’ favor and been appointed to the Hanlin Academy. A poor scholar had become the emperor’s protégé, a high-ranking official, and the ideal husband that every young lady in the city wanted to marry overnight.

The Shen family had just rejected a marriage proposal from the neighboring Lin family three months ago.

On the day of the marriage proposal, Lin Yizhou, dressed in a brand-new blue robe, respectfully arrived at the door with the matchmaker and betrothal gifts. The gifts were few, but each one was meticulously chosen — an inkstone engraved with the characters ” Wanwan , ” a silk handkerchief embroidered with locust blossoms, a pair of tightly stitched cotton shoes, and a copy of the *Classic of Poetry* filled with annotations. On the first page were eight characters:

” With plum blossoms as betrothal gifts, and our hearts as a pledge. “

Master Shen immediately kicked the man out. What did he say? He said, ” A toad trying to eat swan meat , ” he said, ” A poor, ignorant scholar who doesn’t know his place, ” he said, ” My daughter from the Shen family would rather marry a peddler than a down-and-out like you . “

Looking back now, every word feels like a slap in the face.

Shen Ruowan walked in carrying a tea tray, her expression as calm as still water. She poured her father a cup of tea, took three steps back, and knelt down properly.

“ Father, ” she said, her voice soft but each word firm and resolute, “ I haven’t come here today to beg you. ”

Mr. Shen was stunned.

“ Your daughter has come to say goodbye, ” Shen Ruowan looked up, her eyes shining brightly, not with tears. “ Three years ago, you said you would agree to this marriage if he achieved great success. Now that he has, it’s time for your daughter to fulfill her promise. ”

Mr. Shen opened his mouth, but couldn’t say anything.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door. The butler rushed in, panting, and said, ” Master … Master, Lord Lin … Lord Lin is here! “

Before Master Shen could react, someone had already stepped across the threshold.

Lin Yizhou was much thinner than he had been three years ago, but he was like a sword that had been tempered, his sharpness restrained, his demeanor calm and composed. He wore a brand-new official robe, the beads on his hat flaps slightly, reflecting the sunlight and shining dazzlingly. After entering the room, he first bowed respectfully to Master Shen, then walked to Shen Ruowan, squatted down, and looked her in the eye.

For three years, they had exchanged countless words and written countless notes across that wall, but the days they had actually stood face to face were few and far between. Now that he was right in front of her, Shen Ruowan was speechless, only staring blankly at him, at the faint scar on his brow bone — it was from when he fell while climbing over the wall. She had offered to apply medicine to it, but he had said no need, it was just a minor injury.

” Wanwan, ” Lin Yizhou said, his voice a little hoarse, but his smile was gentle, ” I’ve come to pick you up. “

He took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his sleeve, unfolded it, and it was a marriage certificate. On it, the names of two people were written in delicate, elegant calligraphy, side by side, like two lotus flowers blooming together.

“ The betrothal gifts were given three years ago, ” he said. “ I’ve come today to present the formal betrothal letter. ”

Shen Ruowan looked at the marriage certificate, at the neatly written names ” Lin Yizhou ” and ” Shen Ruowan, ” and suddenly smiled. Her smile was exactly the same as it had been three years ago, her eyes crinkling like crescent moons reflected in clear water.

“ You look quite good in your official robes, ” she said, her voice trembling slightly, “ much better than that tattered blue gown. ”

Lin Yizhou’s eyes reddened, and he reached out to hold her hand. Her hand was small and cold, her fingertips covered in calluses from embroidery. He pressed her hand against his chest, where his heart was pounding fast and hard, exactly the same as when he first saw her three years ago, perched on the wall.

” Miss Shen, ” he said softly, his voice tinged with both laughter and tears, ” this time when I come to propose marriage, I won’t have to climb over the wall, will I? “

The guests burst into laughter. Shen Ruowan blushed and lightly slapped him, the force as light as a locust flower falling on her shoulder.

Master Shen sat in his armchair, watching the scene unfold before him. He picked up the cup of tea his daughter had poured, took a sip, and found it cold. He put down the teacup, sighed heavily, and ultimately said nothing, only waving his hand as if to say — go.

That evening, Shen Ruowan went into the backyard for the last time.

The old locust tree on the wall was still there, its canopy blocking out the sun, its blossoms in full bloom, the fragrance so strong it was almost overwhelming. Standing at the foot of the wall, she looked up and could almost see a boy leaning over it, a book clutched in his hand, stammering, ” It’s quieter by the wall . “

She couldn’t help but laugh.

A hand reached out from behind and grasped her shoulder. Lin Yizhou stood beside her, also looking up at the wall. He stared for a long time, then suddenly said, ” Actually, I wasn’t there to study that day. “

Shen Ruowan turned to look at him: ” I know. “

“ I heard that Miss Shen likes to admire flowers in the backyard, ” he smiled somewhat shyly, “ I’d like to see what you look like. They say you’re the prettiest girl on this street. ”

Shen Ruowan was stunned for a moment, then smiled, her eyes curving into crescent moons.

” What do you think? ” she asked.

Lin Yizhou looked down at her, his gaze as gentle as a spring breeze in March. He didn’t answer, but instead took something out of his sleeve — a neatly folded handkerchief, embroidered with a pattern that was hard to tell whether it was a peony or a peony, the red thread had faded and the edges were frayed.

That was the first time Shen Ruowan embroidered a ” hydrangea ” .

” These are the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen, ” Lin Yizhou said, ” but I’ve never seen anyone embroider them like this again. “

Shen Ruowan looked at the handkerchief, and her eyes suddenly reddened. She hadn’t expected that he would still keep it, that he would keep a handkerchief with ruined embroidery close to his body for three years, from a poor scholar to a Hanlin scholar, from the foot of a broken wall to the capital, always carrying it with him.

She tiptoed and whispered something in his ear.

After hearing this, Lin Yizhou’s ears turned as red as boiled shrimp.

She said, ” Fool, that’s a peony. “

The wedding date was set for August 16th, the first day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, to symbolize ” a perfect union of flowers and a full moon ” .

On the wedding day, Lin Yizhou kept his promise — the bridal procession stretched for miles, from one end of the street to the other, and the dowry list was so long that it took an incense stick to burn to finish reading it. As the bridal sedan chair passed in front of the Shen residence, Shen Ruowan lifted the curtain and took one last look at the wall.

Several children had appeared on the wall sometime during the night, peering over and watching the commotion, chattering and laughing. Shen Ruowan vaguely saw a young man, dressed in a patched blue robe, perched on the wall, looking at her helplessly, and saying, ” Miss Shen, the flowers on your handkerchief are so beautifully embroidered. “

She lowered the sedan curtain and smiled.

On their wedding night, the red candles burned brightly, filling the room with sweetness.

When Lin Yizhou lifted the veil, Shen Ruowan was looking down, secretly smiling. He looked at her, at that face that was exactly the same as it was three years ago, yet also slightly different. Suddenly, he took a plum blossom from his sleeve and tucked it into her hair.

Shen Ruowan was taken aback: ” You’re sending plum blossoms on our wedding day? “

Lin Yizhou smiled, a smile like that of a seventeen-year-old boy. He held her hand, counting her fingers one by one, finally stopping at her ring finger, gently stroking that spot.

” The plum blossoms are in bloom, ” he said, his voice so soft it was as if he were afraid of disturbing something. ” Wanwan, it’s time for you to keep your promise. “

Shen Ruowan paused for a moment, then remembered the small characters she had embroidered on that handkerchief years ago. The characters were embroidered crookedly, hidden among a mess of hydrangea flowers , and she thought he would never find them .

She thought he wouldn’t understand.

But he understood it from day one. He just didn’t say anything, he just tucked the words and the handkerchief into his bosom and kept them close to his body for three years.

” You— ” Shen Ruowan’s voice trembled slightly, ” When did you see it? “

Lin Yizhou smiled but didn’t answer. He simply lowered his head and whispered the words in her ear:

” When the plum blossoms bloom, will you marry me? “

The moon outside the window was round, and locust blossoms filled the courtyard, but the plum blossoms were not yet in bloom. But Shen Ruowan felt that her plum blossoms had already bloomed, blooming on the wall of that boy three years ago, blooming on his faded blue shirt, blooming in his cotton shoes with thousands of stitches, blooming between the pages of a book filled with small regular script.

From the ospreys calling to the ten-mile-long red bridal procession.

She got what she was waiting for.

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From Innocent Love to Grand Nuptials: A Short Touching Love Story