I pursued Tang Nianwei for two years, thinking she was just slow to warm up.
I brought her breakfast, did her homework, and took the blame for her. She accepted it all. I confessed three times, and three times she smiled and said, “Just wait a little longer.”
Then one day, I saw her across the street, going into a Sichuan restaurant with a guy. On the phone, she said she was in the study room. Her voice was soft, just like always.
“Then get back early.”
“Okay.” I hung up and set the milk tea I'd bought for her on top of a trash can.
That night, I developed a high fever and drifted in and out of consciousness. In my dream, a voice kept buzzing in my ear, but I couldn't make out what it was saying.
After the fever broke the next day, I discovered I could hear people's thoughts.
The voices were so noisy that I hid in the stairwell just to get some peace. Then I heard another voice: that quiet girl in my class, so unassuming she was almost invisible. She was walking past the window, her ears red as if they might drip blood.
“He doesn't seem very happy today... Should I give him one of my candies? ...No, no, no... But he's been so handsome since kindergarten...”
Kindergarten?
Vague memories surfaced of an afternoon many years ago. A little girl was crouched on the ground crying, and I ran over to help her up. I couldn't remember her face, only that she was crying so hard her nose was running. It was kind of cute.
So that little girl had quietly loved me for ten years.
So the right person had been by my side all along.
Starting today, I'll hear every single one of her thoughts.
Encourage yourself