Bitter Green

Not quite a teacher-student romance. A short story of around 150,000 characters with a bad ending.

On the eve of her honeymoon, Tian Heyi gets a call from a friend, who brings her some tragic news:

The Chinese teacher she had secretly loved in high school has been dead for ten years.

When she sees him again after ten years, her old friend has become a gravestone. Two lines are carved on it:

[When I was eighteen, I saw a green moon, first hidden among the clouds, then falling into the water.

The wind lotus dyes the autumn night green, crushes fallen flowers to carry spring onward, yet cannot measure the distance of a wind destined to pass away.]

It suddenly rains on the day she visits the grave. Through the mist, Tian Heyi remembers listening to him teach in her final year of high school, repeatedly turning his name over in her mind. At the time, she filled a page with a little poem, but that sheet of paper later disappeared without a trace.

It turns out his name was in the poem all along:

Yun Zaishui.

When she first meets him, Tian Heyi catches a clean, crisp scent wafting toward her. Her fingers twitch, and she plucks a leaf from a potted plant without thinking.

Only later does she learn that

his entire life was like that bitter, cool mint.

Reading guide:

1. The male lead has a terminal illness. There is no twist.

2. The female lead keeps her secret crush buried in her heart. The leads never have a romantic relationship, so this is not a teacher-student romance.

Theme: A little red flower for you.