Because of Understanding, Therefore Compassion – Zhang Ailing and Hu Lan Cheng
About Zhang Ailing, her story may be full of illusion, making it impossible for many people to truly understand. But her name is well-known. When thinking of her, one can't forget that black and white photo. Wearing an old but luxurious qipao, with a haughty and noble head, she looked at the mundane world with aloofness and indifference. That level of disdain, that disregard for joy or sorrow. She was beautiful, with extreme brilliance, but also with unwavering loneliness. Let her be an ordinary, unremarkable woman, and it would be impossible.
When she hadn't had a chance to meet love, she knew love was a game, and as smart as she was, she could only be an outsider, unable to truly understand the situation within the game. When she experienced countless things and arrived at that long-awaited harbor, she didn't realize that time had stolen and years had changed, making the landscape unrecognizable. Knowing that she was flying towards a burning flame, she still recklessly indulged herself until she turned into a pile of fallen snow, finally giving in.
Hulan Cheng said that Zhang Ailing was a 'water-side flower-viewer' in the Republic of China. That's right, Zhang Ailing was a spiritually gifted woman. Her writing seemed to understand everything in the world, but her experiences were actually quite shallow. She didn't need to delve into the world, and everything would come to her. She didn't want to be a legend, but she was already a legend. Zhang Ailing's talent was innate, so she would bloom and wither at the right time, in the right way.
There is no plant in the world that can be worthy of her, not even that 'herb of solitary survival'. But she said, 'When I see him, she becomes very low, low to the dust. But her heart is filled with joy, blooming flowers from the dust.' How deep and moving these words are! Even a handsome and charismatic Hulan Cheng, or any ordinary man, would bow before her. But at that time, Zhang Ailing was just blossoming for Hulan Cheng. It wasn't that she was infatuated with her eyes, but she needed a legendary love to adorn her youthful beauty. She was lucid even when she was immersed in darkness.
Therefore, Hulan Cheng became that lucky viewer of flowers. He really did love her, because Zhang Ailing was an unexpected surprise in his life, a destined gift. Hulan Cheng had many women, and he knelt before them in the most flamboyant manner, but he couldn't win her over. But Zhang Ailing was the only legend, and it was the debt he could never repay.
Hulan Cheng once wrote, 'Let the years pass peacefully, and enjoy a stable life in this world.' He made a promise, 'Let's be together, live together, share the same fate, and see things the same way.' But the person in front of him was still unchanged, and he needed many beautiful companions on his journey.
Now imagine, if Hulan Cheng had truly kept his promise and lived a stable life with Zhang Ailing, would Zhang Ailing have been able to 'entwine like ivy, never departing, never separating'?
It's hard to imagine that a woman with a cold and detached demeanor like this, could 'pick a flower, gather a speck of dust, and remain faithful.' Hulan Cheng also said that Zhang Ailing was heartless. When she felt something was right, she wouldn't be faithful. But was Zhang Ailing really heartless? Perhaps in her heart, love had many forms – some love was like a fleeting encounter, some love needed to be ground into a paste with years, and then consumed.
It wasn't that Zhang Ailing was heartless, but she met the wrong person. Hulan Cheng's betrayal made her feel that spring water had lost its color, and the mountains and rivers had changed. She felt that love was a punishment, a weariness. So when she realized everything was beyond saving, she turned and walked away, in a breathtaking manner. And the man who thought she would wait for him for the new moon to become round, didn't realize that the wardrobe was still full of beautiful qipaos, and the old records still repeated endlessly, and she had already gone astray.
