Shining You

Another winter, snow drifting down in gusts.

A new photographer had joined the team — Lin Xuqing. Strikingly beautiful, tall and slender, with an aesthetic eye behind the lens, serious and devoted to her work.

The only flaw was her stubborn streak, which put her at odds with the team leader, Jiang Min.

At the year-end team dinner, Jiang Min had been running a low fever for most of the day, her head still swimming, and waved Lin Xuqing over. “Sit here.”

Lin Xuqing glanced at her and didn’t move.

A coworker had to nudge Lin Xuqing over, laughing to smooth things over. “Little Lin must have had one drink too many.”

“Her?” Jiang Min shook her head, smiling, and leaned against her shoulder. “She’s my creditor.”

The coworker went rigid, terrified she’d lose her temper and shove Jiang Min away.

Lin Xuqing dropped her gaze and pressed her lips together.

No one saw the hot sweat breaking out in her palm, or her heartbeat spiraling out of control.

And no one knew that Jiang Min had once been her sponsor.

Between them there was only a single photograph.

Its edges had yellowed; the resolution was so low the faces had blurred.

On the back, one line was written: *How good it is to be alive in a world with you in it.*

“So many sleepless nights. Emotions rising and falling, longing too hard to speak aloud, bitterness too tangled for words.

Deep down, I felt the storm and the tsunami unleashed by a single butterfly — and every wave that crashed bore her name.”