An old calligrapher at the Lunar New Year market makes a young woman rethink what she truly longs for.
A Corner of the Year-End Market
腊月二十八，集市挤得，林晚却被角落里一个写的老人吸引住了。
On the twenty-eighth of the last lunar month, the market was packed shoulder to shoulder, yet Lin Wan found herself drawn to an old man writing Spring Festival couplets in a quiet corner.
他面前的红纸上只有四个字：心安即归。
On the red paper before him were just four characters: where the heart is at peace is home.
Lin Wan
老先生，别人都写，您怎么写这个呀？
Sir, everyone else writes 'may wealth and fortune come,' so why do you write this?
Old man
钱财年年求，求来求去，心反倒越来越空喽。
We pray for money year after year, and all that praying just leaves the heart emptier and emptier.
林晚笑了笑，没接话，掏出手机扫了二维码。
Lin Wan gave a faint smile, said nothing in reply, and pulled out her phone to scan the QR code.
The Empty Envelope
付完钱，老人却从抽屉里摸出一个空红包，地塞到她手里。
Once she had paid, the old man fished an empty red envelope out of a drawer and pressed it solemnly into her hand.
Lin Wan
里头是空的呀，您是不是忘放东西了？
But it's empty inside. Did you forget to put something in it?
Old man
不空。你把今年最放下的那件事，写下来，封进去。
Not empty. Write down the one thing this year you find hardest to let go of, and seal it inside.
Old man
等明年这个时候再拆开，看看还放不放得下。
Wait until this same time next year to open it, and see whether you can finally let it go.
林晚握着那个的红包，忽然觉得它沉得很。
Holding that feather-light envelope, Lin Wan suddenly felt how heavy it was.
New Year's Eve
夜，烟花在窗外炸响，林晚一个人坐在出租屋里。
On New Year's Eve, fireworks crackled outside the window while Lin Wan sat alone in her rented room.
她本想写下那份没争到的，可笔尖悬在纸上，迟迟落不下去。
She had meant to write about the promotion she'd failed to win, but the pen hovered over the paper, unable to come down.
手机里躺着母亲三天前发来的消息，她一直没回。
On her phone sat a message her mother had sent three days earlier, one she still hadn't answered.
Lin Wan
原来我真正没放下的，根本不是那份工作。
So what I really couldn't let go of was never that job after all.
她拨通了那个号码，听筒里很快传来母亲带着哭腔的笑。
She dialed the number, and through the receiver came her mother's laughter, thick with the edge of tears.
One Year Later
第二年腊月，林晚又挤进那条集市，特意绕到那个角落。
The following year, in the last lunar month, Lin Wan squeezed back into that market and made a point of wandering over to that corner.
老人还在，红纸上依旧是那四个字。
The old man was still there, and on the red paper were the very same four characters.
Lin Wan
老先生，您那个红包我拆了。里头那件事，早放下了。
Sir, I opened that envelope of yours. The thing inside, I let go of it long ago.
Old man
放下了就好。今年还要不要一个？
Letting go is a good thing. Would you like another one this year?
Lin Wan
要。这回我想封一句谢谢妈，等明年回家亲手给她。
Yes. This time I want to seal in the words 'thank you, Mom,' and next year I'll hand it to her myself when I go home.