Bai Liu repeated softly, "Fifty years have passed since the war ended?"
Elena lowered her head and looked at Bai Liu through drooping, wrinkled eyelids. "Maybe it's been longer. I'm so old that I can hardly remember the dates anymore."
"I only remember that a long time ago, when Alex was still alive, he and a man named Guy wrote many, many letters to me." Elena took out a bundle of old letters from the pocket of her worn skirt. "Every time I visit their graves, I read the letters in front of their headstones so I won't forget them."
Elena sighed wearily. "You know, I'm the only old woman left who remembers these things. If I forget them, too, there really will be no trace of them."
Bai Liu looked at the stack of letters and asked politely, "May I see them?"
Elena looked at him in surprise. "Are you interested? Young people don't want to hear these old stories anymore."
Bai Liu smiled. "I am Alex and Guy's comrade-in-arms. I have an obligation to help remember them."
Elena stared at Bai Liu quietly for a long time, then suddenly laughed. "Young man, even if you are lying, your lie has made me happy."
With tears in her eyes, she handed the letters to him. "You're welcome to remember these two with me."
Bai Liu lifted one of the letters. "You're not suggesting that I open them and read them myself?"
Elena laughed and waved her trembling hands. "Of course not. I can recite every word by heart."
Bai Liu lowered his head, arranged the letters in chronological order, and opened them one by one. Elena spoke casually:
"You know, young man, when someone has lived a bad life and grows old alone, they replay the past over and over, wondering what they did wrong to end up like this…"
Her aged voice paused. "Do you know what the most terrifying part of that process is?"
Bai Liu looked up at her. "What?"
Elena forced a smile, but tears streamed from the corners of her eyes. "Realizing that you truly did do many things wrong."
Bai Liu lowered his gaze to the first letter in his hand. It was from Elena to Alex.
[To my dear fiancé:]
Your dirty, shameless, despicable male lover wrote to me two days ago, begging for my forgiveness for his disgraceful behavior with you and shamelessly asking me to bless your love and marriage.
What a disgusting idea.
Is there any god in this world who would allow two men to unite before Him?
I even imagined enemy artillery shells raining down on your wedding as punishment for such moral corruption.
Alex, as a doctor who studies the mechanisms of human life—the noblest profession on earth—how could you spend your time with such a ridiculous madman instead of saving lives?
When you are with him, don't you feel that your future and ideals are being dragged through filth?
When I received his letter, I felt as though my dignity had been stained.
-----------------
Bai Liu opened the next letter. The sender was Alex.
[To Elena:]
First, allow me to firmly object to the way you addressed me. I have never met you, nor have I ever agreed to let you declare yourself my fiancée. The title at the beginning of your previous letter is entirely inappropriate.
Second, there will only ever be one lover, one spouse, and one lifelong companion for me, and that is Guy—not you, who appeared suddenly after Guy and I had already fallen in love.
I do not know where your inexplicable affection for me comes from—whether from my parents' exaggerated praise, from the pursuit of the only young man in that small town with an advanced degree, or from the complacent belief that the prettiest girl in town must naturally win the best young man.
Let me state this clearly, Elena: I am not an object to be won or displayed. I am a person with feelings.
After giving my love to Guy, it is impossible for me to love anyone else unless I cease loving him.
You are also an independent person. Your worth does not depend on possessing me. You have far greater things ahead of you.
Guy and I both qualified for admission to higher education institutions. I will use mine. Guy says you are still young and have more right to experience the beauty and knowledge of the world than he does, not knowing whether he will return alive.
If you wish to pursue higher education, Guy is willing to give you his place.
Though you said many things to him that I consider nonsense, Guy forgave you and generously offered you this opportunity.
I disagreed strongly, but he insisted.
He believes you are a girl with ambition.
He says you admire me because I am a doctor, because I treat illness and save lives. If that is so, why not try saving lives yourself?
I apologize for any misleading assurances my parents made. But if you insult Guy again, I will not hesitate to rebuke you.
-----------------
The next letter was from Elena to Guy.
[To Guy:]
I apologize for my inappropriate and emotional insults.
I have enclosed all the money I saved over the past three years—from when I was eleven until now—as compensation for my hurtful words.
I will not accept the academic qualification you offered. I still believe you are wasting Alex's time. He deserves more. He invented a potion that can delay death. How many soldiers who died in this war could have been saved?
Everyone in town says Alex could become a war hero.
But after meeting you, all he thinks about is love.
I still hope you will stay away from him. Perhaps you can find another lover, but it should not be Alex.
-----------------
The next letter was from Guy.
[To the lovely little Elena:]
Hey, little girl—guess what? I think you might be right.
Alex does have a bright future. He is exceptionally talented. The experimental trials of his potion are progressing quickly, and his superiors have authorized its use on wounded soldiers—with remarkable results.
I am not worthy of him. But selfishly, I still want to keep him for a while and create beautiful memories together.
I have seen your photograph. You are very beautiful—but you are only fourteen. You cannot yet tell the difference between love and longing.
By the time you and Alex could seriously speak of love, at least four years will have passed. With your beauty and determination, you will likely meet someone else by then—a kind young man who makes your heart race.
Of course, it could also be a kind young woman. I am not particular.
After the war, you and Alex both deserve a slow, peaceful romance—not a marriage arranged under the feverish dreams of townsfolk and parents eager for a hero.
That would not be fair to either of you.
I hope you are happy, because you deserve happiness. I hope I can be happy too.
But unfortunately, the happiness I desire may not be blessed by God.
By the way, Alex says you are a talented seamstress. Could you make a wedding dress for me? I would quite like to dress up and marry him.
-----------------
The final letter Elena wrote to Guy was tear-stained and uneven, as though written while crying. But the tone was cold.
[To Guy:]
I do not know where you heard the rumor that I was forced to marry Alex. It was my own choice.
I will not make a wedding dress.
I will not allow anyone to marry Alex before me.
Give up.
-----------------
Bai Liu looked at the wedding dress Elena had placed on Guy's tombstone. He raised his eyebrows slightly.
"May I ask why you eventually made a wedding dress for him?"
Elena smiled wistfully, though sorrow tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"I was too young then. The town decided that the most beautiful girl would marry the war hero. The winner would receive money from Alex's parents. My parents pushed me forward."
"I was the most beautiful." Her gaze drifted into the distance. "I was chosen easily. But I was underage, so Alex's parents told me to wait for his return—and not to see or love anyone else in the meantime."
"My entire life became devoted to marrying the hero Alex. When someone tried to take him away, I panicked. I hated Guy."
Her eyes reddened. "He was so carefree, always teasing me in letters. I couldn't understand how a man at war could smile so easily."
"But Guy was different from any man I had known. He respected me. Encouraged me. Said that one day I would achieve things not inferior to Alex's. He even helped secure my admission so I could go to school."
Tears slipped down her wrinkled cheeks. "The night I wrote that letter, I secretly stayed up and made a wedding dress. At dawn, I rushed to the post office to send it to him."
She turned to Bai Liu in a daze. "But when I arrived, they told me a letter had come for me. It was from Guy."
Elena broke down.
"It was his obituary. And a suicide note."
"During a pre-dawn raid, he deliberately exposed himself and was shot on the spot. He had known it would happen and left the letter in advance, asking me to take care of myself—and to take care of Alex for him."
Her voice trembled.
"I wanted to give him a wedding dress. An apology. And my thanks…"
"He never had the chance to hear any of it."
-----------------
[Note:] In case anyone is confused, Guy is saying that he doesn't mind if Elena marries a good woman instead of a good man.