I spent twenty years loving him in secret, in exchange for a growth he would never know about.
In her sophomore year, Lin Wan fell for her design teacher, Shen Zhiyuan. His door was always open, and he never crossed the line. She called him “you” with formal respect, keeping the familiar version locked in her heart.
He left before the semester was over. She said nothing.
Later, he started a business, failed, opened a studio, and held an art exhibition. Later, she went to graduate school, quit her job, worked as a designer, and opened a guesthouse.
Twenty years passed. They were never together. He never once sent her a message of his own accord. She never stopped wishing him well.
She ran marathons because he had once shouted, “Keep it up!” He never knew. He knew nothing.
This is a story about secret love, growing up, and all the things left unsaid. For twenty years, she waited for a “long time no see” that would never come.
"Those two words 'read' are more painful than any rejection."