I Want the Stars to Tell You: I Love You

Hua Yi and Yuanyuan were classmates from kindergarten through elementary school. They thought they would be going to middle school together, but Hua Yi’s father was transferred to Xinjiang for work, and the whole family moved with him. Li Chaorui became Yuanyuan’s classmate in middle school. He was handsome and did well in school. They fell in love as teenagers and were together for ten years. After graduating from college, they got married without a hitch. Not even a year into their marriage, Chaorui told Yuanyuan one day, “There’s someone else. Let’s get divorced.” Proud Yuanyuan packed her clothes, wrote her resignation letter at home, and left the city that had brought her so much pain. She embarked on a chaotic but unforgettable life. After getting off the train, she walked for who knows how long before collapsing on a barren stretch of land. A unit from an artillery brigade doing a five-kilometer weighted march found her and took her to a field hospital. There, she was told she was pregnant. With all hope gone, she saw a soldier walk into her room and sit down. “Do you remember me? Hua Yi!” At the sound of that familiar name, the warm memories of their childhood together brought all her pent-up hurt spilling out at once. She clutched the quilt and sobbed. With Hua Yi’s encouragement, she found the courage to return to her city. Only then did she realize she had no home and no job. For the sake of her child and herself, she threw herself into building a career. As she and Hua Yi grew closer, she accepted his proposal. After they married, Hua Yi cherished her and the child with all his heart. But she never forgot Chaorui, and often wept in her sleep in the middle of the night. Hua Yi would always hold her close. Then one day, she received the news: he had been killed in action. Only then did she realize she loved him, though she had never said so. Gazing at the stars, she whispered, “I really did love him.” Years later, one day, Chaorui came….