On May 12, 2008, a magnitude 8 earthquake struck Wenchuan, Sichuan, China. Amidst the rubble in Qingchuan County, Guangyuan City, 10-year-old Liu Ximei was carried out of the debris by soldier Liang Zhibin. As Liu Ximei squinted her eyes in the blinding light, all she remembered was those mud-stained yet exceptionally warm hands. After parting ways in Sichuan, the two met by chance on the streets of Changsha 12 years later. After five years of dating, they decided to spend their lives together and become husband and wife.
Chance Encounter in Changsha after 12 Years
At 22, Liu Ximei was dining with her parents when her mother suddenly stared at a man at the next table for a long while. "That man's figure, could it be Soldier Liang who saved you back then?" Following her mother's gaze, Liu Ximei cautiously greeted him, "Brother Liang? Is that you?" "I was really excited and a bit embarrassed at that moment," Liu Ximei recalled the reunion.
As the saying goes, "girls change a lot as they grow up", Liang Zhibin at first didn’t recognize Liu Ximei at all. He had always considered her as a "little sister who needed care" and never thought in that direction. Liang Zhibin is 12 years older than Liu Ximei and always felt there would be a generational gap between them. But Liu Ximei was very proactive—she would share her daily life and talk with him about traditional culture. Her enthusiasm was like a beam of light, gradually illuminating Liang Zhibin’s heart. Later, it was also Liu Ximei who confessed first. "At first, I always had a knot in my heart. I’m so much older than her; I just couldn’t get over it," said Liang Zhibin. With a 12-year age gap, there was inevitably some adjustment. When they first got together, they often had funny "generation gap" moments, but they were willing to change for each other.
Liu Ximei said, "If it were just about gratitude, we wouldn’t have ended up together. We decided to spend our lives together because of love." Liang Zhibin agreed: "Rescuing her back then was my duty, but loving her now is genuine. They are two different things."