When the Forest Deepens, the Deer Appears

Completed, now part of the short-story collection

Youthful tragedy | Open ending | Birthday bonus chapter

(The author’s writing is limited, and the plot and characterization may feel a little thin. This story is also only mildly angsty, not for readers looking for intense angst. Read with caution! Read with caution! Read with caution!)

[About the Story]

“He is a deer in the woods, and the guest in her heart.”

Before Shi Lu met Lin Shenjian, her youth consisted only of endless books to memorize, endless tutoring classes to attend, and the mantra, “You have to work hard. You mustn’t disappoint your parents.” She thought that was just what youth was supposed to be, until he burst into her world with his defiance and exuberance. He showed her that youth could be the wind rushing across the sports field, running side by side beneath streetlights late at night, and the courage to speak up for your dreams beyond the sea of exam papers. Her world began to fill with light, and with someone she wanted to protect.

At the end-of-term assembly, the lights fell on his shoulders. Standing onstage, Lin Shenjian said, word by word, “Youth is running without letting anyone define you. It’s the courage to keep moving forward after you fall. It’s living passionately, even on the most ordinary days.” Applause rose and fell below. Sitting in the crowd, Shi Lu silently answered in her heart, “What is youth? Maybe it’s Lin Shenjian.”

But no matter how passionately youth burns, it can’t withstand the tide of time. The graduation bell rang, and their story ended at its most brilliant moment. The roads they’d walked together, the words they’d said, the promises they’d made, all remained behind in that summer. Youth came to an end, but their love was unfinished.

Cover by Su Chunchun from Xiaohongshu

Defiant top student x quiet book lover

Theme: The meaning of youth