Evidence of Love

By Mo Xiaomi

Alady who was on the verge of breaking up her marriage came to visit. After a hasty narration, she produced a paper bag from her delicate purse. When she opened it, it turned out to be a stack of greeting cards arranged in chronological order, which were given to her by her husband after more than ten years of marriage. There were New Year’s cards and birthday cards, alive with catchy congratulations on each card.

“Look, our relationship was really pretty good, but for that slut...” she began to choke.

I would have liked to say to her: These things don’t mean anything. You’d better throw them away. But seeing her so infatuated, I couldn’t have the heart to do that. She took them out in this way, and it seemed that these things were the only evidence she had at her disposal. She needed them to prove the love she once had, to others and to herself.

Love is so heartbreaking that we often begin to dread losing it when we have just possessed it—so it requires evidence.

Nowadays, many young or not-so-young couples expend thousands of dollars on things like taking wedding photos, which are said to be for “keeping affection and love” and feel that they are worth it.

Not to mention whether the evidence is adulterated when a price tag is involved, so what if it is all true? Even if they can prove what they were, can they prove what they are?

The evidence was a sheer ornament when love was still passionate; and when it comes to making it all a public endeavor, it makes no sense.

(From New Family. Translation: Qing Run)

爱的证物

文/莫小米

有位婚姻濒临破裂的女士来访，一番急促的叙述之后，她从随身的精巧皮包中取出一个纸包。打开来，是一沓按年月顺序排好的贺卡，那是结婚十多年来丈夫给她的。有新年贺卡，有生日贺卡，张张卡上写满动听的祝词。

“你看，我俩的感情，实在是非常好的，要不是那个骚货……”她开始哽咽。

很想对她说：这些东西不能说明什么，不如扔了它。但看她那么痴情，又不忍心。她将它们这样拿出来示人，看来这是她手头唯一掌握的物证。她需要拿它们证明她曾拥有过的爱情，向别人，也向自己。

爱情就是如此让人心碎，往往在刚刚拥有的时候便开始害怕失去，因此便需要物证。如今，更有许多年轻的或已不太年轻的夫妇，花几千元钱补拍婚纱照，据说是为了“留住情和爱情”，觉得花这些钱很值。

且不说那些物证是否掺假打折，即使全是真的又能怎样？它们证明得了当初，能证明今天吗？

物证在爱情依然炽热的时候，形同摆设；在公开示人的时候，更无意义。