Xia Chen in Silence

In the sweltering summer study room, a gust of hot wind stirs, and Lin Zhixia catches the tenderness in Lu Chen’s eyes. They meet on the eve of their postgraduate entrance exams, drawing closer over practice questions and sharing their thoughts in the evening breeze. They tuck their feelings into the starlight on the rooftop, the sweetness of milk tea, and the words, “The most important thing in life is the experience.” With all her sincerity, she imagines him in her future trip to Yunnan, mistaking a brief flirtation for the promise of a life together. He indulges in the heat of the moment, never intending to turn novelty into devoted love. An unfamiliar message tears apart the illusion. As silence and tension drag on, she waits for an explanation while he keeps his silence. Not wanting to distract her from her exams, he briefly returns, weighed down by guilt, weaving a comforting illusion with his tenderness as he stays by her through the final stretch of preparation. But once the bells ring and the exams are over, he withdraws all his warmth and leaves decisively, without giving her the slightest leeway. Later, they catch sight of each other from afar at graduation. Later still, mountains and rivers separate them, and they each move on. She remains trapped in old memories, thinking of him again and again, while he stumbles into adulthood, weathered by life. When he falls ill after a business dinner, she carefully rushes to show her concern, only to be met with coldness and distance. When he announces that he has found new happiness, those words from the past, “The experience matters most,” quietly turn into a question with no answer. Summer begins in scorching heat and ends in a hasty silence. Some encounters, it turns out, are just a fleeting experience for him, but an obsession and a wound she cannot forget for half her life. Summer ends, love sinks to the bottom, and from then on, they never meet again. Her feelings have nowhere left to return.