4 - Wild plum blossom (Xiao Jingyan/Lin Shu)
October 4, 2025 at 6:30 AM
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As it is known, winter smells like a plum: Wild and resistant; used to this freezing frost. And, if I could, I would do this — at any cost, I would sacrifice it all, just to warm your hands, — just to keep your fragile health. But who are you, at the end? My advisor, so wise, reserved? Or the warrior, who till the end for the country served, or… What I mean, This wild plum (you remember?) once was purely green. Both of us were playing with wooden horses… Good old times, no flood! In a moment, the horses got their flesh and blood, and your touch sparked the fireworks inside… If only I could, I’d return to stay by your side. But I can do nothing — only keeping your memory as the value of values, While you’re staying there, — in the winter of wild plum, Cold, faint, — and so desperate, — numb.
Notes:
1) "As it is known, winter smells like a plum" refers to the part of the Chinese proverb 宝剑锋从磨砺出，梅花香自苦寒来 bǎo jiàn fēng cóng mó lì chū, méi huā xiāng zì kǔ hán lái A precious sword becomes sharp through sharpening, and the scent of plum blossoms comes from the harsh cold (fig. only continuous effort and self-improvement makes a person successful)
2) "This wild plum (you remember?) once was purely green. Both of us were playing with wooden horses…" refers to the Chinese idiom 青梅竹马 qīng méi zhú mǎ green plums and bamboo horses (children's games, also an image of children's spontaneity and purity, of friendship from childhood; of lovers who have been friends since childhood)
