A long time ago—so long that I can barely place it now—I finished reading Keigo Higashino’s Miracles of the Namiya General Store. After that, I searched for “Namiya General Store” on Weibo. At the time, I really did have something weighing on me, even though I can no longer remember what that trouble was.
On a whim, and without much expectation, I sent an email to a real-life “worry-relief shop” account I had found. To my surprise, the owner actually wrote back.
Later, I followed the owner’s public account. There was not much posted there, but that somehow made it feel familiar. Like me, they seemed to enjoy recording small moments from everyday life.
Then, not long ago, the owner sent New Year postcards to a few people.
Times have changed. Letters and postcards can’t compete with the speed and convenience of leaving a message on WeChat, so I never really expected one to reach me. Eventually I forgot about it altogether.
And yet some things arrive when you least expect them. Lately, if I say I’ve been doing well, I’d only be pretending. But when this postcard showed up, it brought me a small, real sense of warmth.
Maybe winter is not quite so cold after all.
You still have to live with steam and heat in you, don’t you?
So I decided to pass that blessing on.
Not many people responded, which was about what I expected. But one stranger left me an address, and even a phone number. That kind of trust made me feel that I had to send the letter and postcard out for real.
Because right now, at this very moment, I truly hope that everything will go smoothly for everyone.