A Letter to Wang Min

Hi! Wang Min, happy birthday. I hope this letter feels like I'm right there with you.

This year I decided to write you a letter. I remember the last letter I wrote you, a few years ago, never made it into your hands. I've forgotten what was in it by now, and I regret it a little. Why didn't I give it to you back then? But regret isn't what made me write to you again. I'm writing simply because I feel there are some things I want to say to you.

That day I'd had quite a lot to drink and went to bed early. I slept deeply. When I woke up at two thirty and opened my phone, I never expected to see a message from you, and we ended up chatting.

Afterward, I felt a little wistful. In the blink of an eye it's 2026. If I've got my math right, we've known each other for eight years. Eight years is long enough to cross from any stage of life to the next, and you and I are no exception.

It's just that your life seems to have moved ahead of mine. Over the past year, you've reached out to me twice to talk about what's going on between you and Li Aishen. I feel it deeply, how time slips away, how unpredictable life is. These days I keep thinking back to high school, to that time I didn't want to write my speech the night before I had to give it under the flag the next morning, with an event to host that evening too, and how you got angry with me.

I never thought so many years would go by in a blink. Now you're starting to face the question of marriage, the worries that belong to grown-ups. And in all of this, most of the time I can only be a listener. How am I supposed to help you? The truth is, I can't help you at all. I can't urge you to break up with him, and I can't wholeheartedly take his side and help him either. The most I can do is say something vague.

But you know what, I think vague is no good. So I think in a letter I should be more direct. These are things I couldn't bring myself to say when we were chatting.

My core position is that you should be happy. I might tell you that Li Aishen is a good guy, that maybe his family has its difficulties, but you should understand him more and fight a little harder for him. I might also tell you that I think you two should break up, because marriage is for life, and it's also a matter between two families, so you have to choose carefully.

But whatever I say to you, I'm really just saying the same thing in different ways: I want you to be happy.

I'm not seeing anyone right now and have no plans to start a family, but I've never been completely against marriage. I'd call myself someone who puts happiness above everything. You're my friend, and I want you to be happy. Whatever choices, hardships, or upheavals your life brings, as long as you come to me, I'll always lean toward your side. Anything that goes against you, anything that would make you unhappy, upset, or miserable, is something I should refuse.

We haven't been in touch much these past few years. But that night, after you reached out to me, I thought for a long time. The difficulties you're facing now are ones I may well run into someday too. Sometimes I still feel like we're in high school, nowhere near the grown-up world.

But time won't stop moving. Sooner or later, you and I will both face the common worries of this world: money, marriage, family, children, birth, aging, sickness, and death.

But don't be afraid, Wang Min. Be brave, and choose happiness!

On your left.

Your dear friend, Zhang Luxi Evening of March 8, 2026, 19:19