I thought this was the only one of his works, and that was the one that touched me. Until I read his new work in 2013 - "The Garden of Words", I realized that I was wrong.
"The Garden of Words" tells the vague love story of high school boy Qiuyue and Guwen teacher Yukino because of the rain. The film is very short, less than 50 minutes, but because of the subtlety of the story, it feels like time passes very slowly.
Always thought rainy days were not so flattering, like they would screw something up. It is also very troublesome to hold an umbrella when it rains, and you will worry about soiling your trousers when you walk on the wet road. In my definition, the only benefit of a rainy day is probably a good night's sleep. And Xin Haicheng gave me a different kind of rainy day. His rain symbolizes the love that will come no matter what you do, and also the problems that you will encounter in life.
They met for the first time in a pavilion in a park in Shinjuku, which was indescribably beautiful, but they felt like they knew each other. Yukino recited the sentence from the Thor's Tanka in "Wan Ye Shu": faint thunder, cloudy sky, but I hope the wind and rain come, can keep you here. They left with an umbrella. What they didn't say was the agreement with each other: every rainy day, we will stay here. Rainy days have become a signal, and they look forward to such a signal in their respective lives. On rainy days, he would skip the first class in the morning, while she would stay in the pavilion all morning.
They didn't ask their names and knew almost nothing about each other, but this did not affect their understanding of the rainy days in each other's hearts.
He told her his desire to become a shoemaker, and she took off her shoes, stepped on the stool of the pavilion, stretched out her right foot, and let him measure. At that moment, it was as if the rain had become the background, silently, just setting off. They shared bentos in the pavilion, chatted and laughed, and joked with each other, if only they could keep doing this. But the rainy season is gradually over, no matter how much they look forward to the rain, it is still sunny every day. Yukino was determined to quit her job. She sat in the pavilion under the scorching sun and watched Natsume Soseki's "The Pedestrian", as if the words could give her some peace in addition to the rain.
We meet again at school. They recognized each other, but she was about to leave. Qiuyue fought for her, even though she knew she couldn't fight, she still wanted to vent her anger even if she was covered in bruises. The rain started falling again, and they met again in the park pavilion, as if they knew each other would be there. This time, Qiuyue recited the sentence corresponding to Yukino in the Thor tanka of "Manyoji": faint thunder, cloudy sky, even if there is no wind or rain, I will stay here. The love for each other has been tacitly understood, and they ran back to Xueye's home in the heavy rain. The scene at home is like they are lovers living together, Yukino irons his clothes and Qiuyue prepares food for her. Finally, Qiuyue summoned the courage to say that she liked it, and Xueye blushed, but politely refused. Because she is leaving and going to Shikoku Island. Of course, there are unsaid reasons.
The scene that moved me was Xueye running out of the door barefoot to chase Qiuyue. They stood face to face at the corner of the stairs. Qiuyue's words against her heart were hit by the pouring rain in Xueye's heart. The steps jumped into Qiuyue's arms, and many small rainbows appeared in the slow motion of the jump. The rain was still falling, but the sky became brighter.
After Xueye left, Qiuyue's life returned to calm. He still likes rainy days and making shoes, but his homework is still not good. With Qiuyue's narration, the subtitles began to scroll. I thought this would end up being an imperfect story without the expected Happy Ending. I stared at the Japanese scrolling in front of me with regret, watching the ever-changing Shinjuku City behind the subtitles, it rained, cleared, sunset, dark, rained, clear, sunset, dark, and suddenly it snowed, Like showing something. The next picture is of Qiuyue walking in the snow with an umbrella, and came to the familiar pavilion. He sat down and read the letter.
I know, the rainy season that belongs to their love has just arrived. He took out the shoes he made for Yukino, put them on the stool of the pavilion, turned around and walked into the snow turned by the winter rain.
"If one day, I can walk more steadily and farther, go see her."
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