[School life + sweet young love + unrequited love + healing + happy ending]
[Heroine's perspective: Healing] Xia Yanqing used to be a bright, sunny girl, carefree on the basketball court and always smiling. But on the day the basketball league ended two years ago, her parents were in a car accident on their way to pick her up. They both died. From then on, she shut herself away, becoming quiet and withdrawn, going through the motions of living. To other people, she seemed cold and distant, but only she knew she was in so much pain she could barely breathe. Every day, she forced herself to write down four things “worth being grateful for,” telling herself that as long as she could still write them down, she would keep living.
She delayed starting school by a week. By the time she arrived at Ningcheng No. 1 High School, her classmates had already gotten to know one another, and the empty seat in the last row was the only one left for her. She rejected everyone’s attempts to get close, listening in class and sleeping during breaks, like an island cut off from the world.
Then one day, she instinctively caught a ball flying toward her on the basketball court. As the wind lifted her bangs, she had no idea that someone had been looking for her for two years.
[Hero's perspective: Unrequited love and the search]
Guo Yun is the young heir to one of the top families in the capital. Cool and aloof, he pays no attention to anyone else, yet he can’t forget the girl he caught a fleeting glimpse of on a basketball court two years ago. He gave up his place at one of the capital’s best high schools and came to Ningcheng No. 1 High School for the sole purpose of finding her.
He doesn’t know her name. He only remembers the way she looked up and smiled after making a basket, her bangs blowing in the wind. A week after the semester began, he still hadn’t found her, until the quiet, withdrawn student appeared. She was cold and distant, yet on the basketball court she unconsciously revealed a familiar poise. At last, he was certain: she was the one he had been searching for.
The profound thing about "I Love You in the Ruins" is that it doesn't portray love as a panacea that can cure everything. Xia Yanqing's sadness will still surge on the anniversary, and the family pressure and open and covert attacks on Guo Yun's shoulders have never stopped. Their love is that after recognizing the cruel truth of life, they still choose to light a lamp on each other's ruins. They know that there will still be wind and snow on the road ahead, but they have the courage to continue trekking because of the confirmed temperature in their palms. Just like the red plum that Xia Yanqing planted on the snowman's head - blooming in the ruins of winter, with the softest gesture, declaring the indestructible stubbornness of life.
This work is a love letter to all those who have been in ruins. It tells us that the most profound love may not be the blooming flowers on the smooth road, but standing hand in hand by the abyss. After seeing all the scars on each other, we are still willing to whisper: "I am here, above the ruins, to live with you."
The profound thing about "I Love You in the Ruins" is that it doesn't portray love as a panacea that can cure everything. Xia Yanqing's sadness will still surge on the anniversary, and the family pressure and open and covert attacks on Guo Yun's shoulders have never stopped. Their love is that after recognizing the cruel truth of life, they still choose to light a lamp on each other's ruins. They know that there will still be wind and snow on the road ahead, but they have the courage to continue trekking because of the confirmed temperature in their palms. Just like the red plum that Xia Yanqing planted on the snowman's head - blooming in the ruins of winter, with the softest gesture, declaring the indestructible stubbornness of life. This work is a love letter to all those who have been in ruins. It tells us that the most profound love may not be the blooming flowers on the smooth road, but standing hand in hand by the abyss. After seeing all the scars on each other, we are still willing to whisper: "I am here, above the ruins, to live with you."