Lin Guanguan loved Jiang Shu from the age of thirteen to twenty-three. Her girlish feelings began as a secret tucked away in her diary, too shy to speak aloud. Then she carefully worked her way toward him, studying hard, crossing mountains and seas to reach him, and spending three more years giving him all the tenderness and initiative she had, doing everything she could to enter his world. She thought her ten-year unrequited love had finally reached its happy ending. But Jiang Shu was always rational and restrained. He hid his feelings so well that not a single tender word ever escaped him. She quietly waited for him to open up, waited for him to show her plainly that she was special, but all she ever got was endless silence.
Ten years spent reaching for him, ten years spent waiting. Day after day, his indifference slowly wore down her passion until love turned into exhaustion and disappointment. On the day she finally gave up, he didn’t try to stop her, and she left without looking back.
Five years passed in a flash. In the crowds of Jing City, they unexpectedly met again. This time, Jiang Shu was the one who stopped first. He crossed through the crowd and approached her. He seemed to have changed: he’d learned to take the initiative, to be tender, and to hold on carefully. He’d learned to accommodate her in everything. But the one thing she’d longed to hear for over a decade, “I like you,” still remained unspoken.
Lin Guanguan thought history was repeating itself, until one evening when the breeze was gentle, he stood before her and spoke, serious, slow, and awkward. “Lin Guanguan, I like you. I’ve liked you for many years.” It was a confession a full ten years late, crossing the distance of youth and regret to finally be spoken honestly.
I don't know what to say, but after reading the whole article, I felt that this feeling was the most painful.