“You’re so silly. What if nobody wants you when you grow up?”
“Huh? What should I do, then?” She was still little, but she knew girls got married when they grew up. If nobody wanted to marry her, people would laugh at her. And maybe, after a while, even her family would stop wanting her. The thought was too much, and she burst into tears. “Waaah! Boo-hoo!”
“Don’t cry.” Seeing her cry sent him into a panic. “Fine, I’ll marry you when I grow up.” He’d made her cry, so he had to be the one to comfort her.
“R-really?” she asked between sobs, her nose twitching as she looked utterly miserable.
“Really. I’ll marry you when we grow up.” He touched his tongue to his teeth, then gritted them and declared it firmly.
“Then you can’t lie. Promise me you’ll come marry me when I grow up.” She added, “Let’s pinky swear.”
At that, he held out his little finger and hooked it around hers. “Okay.”
“Pinky promise, cross your heart. May it never change for a hundred years.”
He thought it was just a childhood joke. She gave it her whole youth. She believed the innocent promise they made as children: I’ll marry you when you grow up.
Xia Ruyun believed him. The boy who had always protected her when they were little never came to marry her when they grew up. So the shy girl gathered her courage and went looking for him. She followed him to the city where he’d once lived and rented a place nearby. At last, she ran into him by chance, only for him to say, “I’ve always thought of you as a little sister.”
Later, she cut her long hair, tore up her diary, and let go of her obsession. She decided to leave their unfinished story behind.
(A slowly unfolding story, so it’s a slow burn!)
The novel is realistic and the story is told eloquently. It is a slow-burning type. I look forward to the appearance of the male protagonist.