[Tarot Love Series · Chapter 2] That Spring She Saved Those Words to Her Drafts

—

It was after Chen Qian’s third message that Lin Qiao finally decided to go back and see Joyce.

The first was a meme — the kind of dry humor they both used to love. The second said: “How have you been lately?” The third came just before she fell asleep: four words with no question mark. “Been busy lately.”

She stared at those four words for twenty minutes, typed seven different replies, and saved every single one to her drafts folder.

Now it was early evening, Venus freshly entered Gemini, and the studio lights felt warmer than last time. Joyce spotted her the moment she walked in and broke into a grin. “Hey, you’re back! Still haven’t cleared out that drafts folder?”

Lin Qiao managed a tired smile and slid her phone across the table. “He messaged me.”

Joyce glanced at the screen, then pushed the card box to the center of the table. “Okay. Shuffle. Tell me — is he actually interested, or just bored and looking for someone to chat with?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Then let’s ask the cards.”

—

⚡ Pause here for a moment. Close your eyes for three seconds.

Let those words — “Been busy lately.” — float up in your mind.

Which card number comes to you intuitively? Hold onto that number (1 through 5), then scroll down and find that card’s reading — that’s the one the universe most wants you to hear today.

—

**Card 1 — You Right Now: Queen of Cups (Upright)**

“Don’t worry — this is a great card!” Joyce flipped it over, her voice brightening. The Queen of Cups represents emotional maturity and inner abundance. She understands her own feelings and knows how to hold her boundaries. “This card says you’re the one with power right now. You’re not waiting for him — you’re deciding whether to open the door.” Lin Qiao said nothing, but quietly flipped her phone face-down on the table.

**Card 2 — What He’s Feeling: Knight of Wands (Upright)**

Joyce’s eyebrows rose. “He’s actually in motion.” The Knight of Wands is passionate, impulsive energy — someone who wants to act but moves fast and doesn’t always think before speaking. “He didn’t message you out of boredom. Something in him was burning, and it made him press send. The question is — he’s not entirely sure what that something is yet.”

**Card 3 — The Connection Between You: The Lovers (Upright)**

Lin Qiao’s throat went a little dry looking at this card. Joyce said it plainly: “The connection is still there. Neither of you has fully let go — you’re both just waiting for the other one to move first.” The Lovers card isn’t only about love. It’s about a choice that needs to be made. “The universe is saying: this isn’t a question of fate. It’s a question of courage.”

**Card 4 — What to Watch Out For: Three of Swords (Upright)**

“This one deserves a closer look,” Joyce said, her smile fading as she slowed down for once. The Three of Swords represents heartache, misunderstanding, wounds that haven’t fully healed. “When you two broke up — was there anything left unsaid? Any misunderstanding that never got resolved?” Lin Qiao nodded, almost reflexively. “That stuff is still there. The reason you don’t know how to reply isn’t that you don’t want to. It’s that you’re afraid replying means facing all the things that were never finished.”

**Card 5 — What the Universe Suggests: The Star (Upright)**

“Okay, stop overthinking!” Joyce practically slapped the card onto the table. The Star is hope, healing, the willingness to believe again. “The universe is being very clear: it’s time. Not telling you to confess everything right now. Not telling you to send every draft you’ve ever written — just one message. One real one. It doesn’t have to be perfect.”

—

Lin Qiao sat with her head bowed, tracing slow circles on the table with her fingertip.

“You already know the answer, don’t you?”

Joyce pushed the tea toward her, voice softer than usual. “You know what ‘Been busy lately.’ means. Someone who’s genuinely just bored doesn’t send a message at bedtime with no question mark. That period at the end — it’s him not knowing which punctuation mark to use either.”

Lin Qiao looked up. “But what if I reply, and I get hurt again?”

“That’s life — you’ve got to try!” Joyce laughed and spread her hands. “Besides, the way you are right now — forty-something drafts saved, staring at your phone every night — does that not hurt? You’re already hurting. You’re just hurting yourself.”

Silence. Outside the window, Venus crossed exactly into the first degree of Gemini, and something about language and choice shifted quietly in the air.

Lin Qiao picked up her phone and opened the chat.

“I’ll just reply two words,” she said. “I’ll type: lately.”

Joyce burst out laughing. “That’s perfect. Simple, responsive, leaves room. See? You don’t actually need me — you just needed someone to confirm what your gut already knew.”

Lin Qiao’s palm was damp with sweat the moment she hit send.

—

After those two words went out, she sat in the studio for a long time and finished her tea.

Chen Qian’s reply buzzed her phone just as she reached the door: “I’m okay, you?”

She didn’t reply right away. She tucked her phone into her bag, pushed open the door, and stepped out into the spring night air of Venus in Gemini — forty-seven drafts still saved, but tonight she’d sent her forty-eighth, and it was only two words.

In the next chapter, Lin Qiao will come back with a screenshot of that conversation, carrying a question she never thought she’d be brave enough to ask.

If you also have something you’re not sure how to say — come pull a card and ask yourself often! The universe is waiting for you to ask it every single day.