When a story begins, we always imagine how it will end: two people growing from awkward youth into a life filled with everyday warmth, with no partings or pain. But reality rarely follows the script, and that was true for Ling Chuwei and Duan Jinzhou.
Ling Chuwei was reserved and distant, her eyes cool year-round. She rarely spoke and never smiled. Everyone knew her father didn’t care for her and her mother didn’t love her. They said the girl would probably stay that way for the rest of her life.
Ling Chuwei didn’t care. Being alone was fine. She could still eat three meals a day, with a nose and a mouth like anyone else. So what?
But even she, with her heart of stone, shed tears for the first time in her life during that summer filled with despair and salvation.
Back then, Duan Jinzhou was the golden boy everyone looked up to. With his clear, striking features, he carried the gentlest breeze of midsummer into her world during those days of devastation.
But that summer, they met in a rush and parted in haste. Duan Jinzhou disappeared as summer came to an end.
Ling Chuwei stubbornly searched for him. When they met again, he was already engaged, yet he refused to let her go.
The man who had once been so gentle pinned her hard against the wall, his eyes bloodshot with madness.
“I can settle for less in life. I can settle for less in marriage. I can make do with anything in this world.”
“Except you, Ling Chuwei.”
“You are not something I can settle for.”
Years later, Ling Chuwei still remembered his words:
“Chuwei, just keep moving forward.”
“Don’t give way for anyone, including me.”
So, Duan Jinzhou, I did everything you told me to. Can you come back to me now?
Warning: This is a tearjerker. If you’re ready to cry, come on in!
