/
Holding fast to the belief that studies came first, Yin Longqi had secretly loved Gao Zhi for three years without letting it show.
After the college entrance exams, Gao Zhi could only politely turn her down when this girl he barely knew confessed to him out of the blue.
Yin Longqi sadly turned to her friend for comfort. "He said he doesn't plan to date until he's financially independent."
Her friend saw right through it all. "What kind of lousy excuse is that? He just doesn't like you!"
Yin Longqi thought so too.
But he was even willing to come up with a polite excuse and take the blame himself just to spare her feelings when he rejected her.
How could she ever stop loving someone like that?
/
Afterward, they went to university and started working. Their shared memories of youth and attachment to their hometown gave them more and more chances to cross paths, and they grew more and more like real friends.
One day, when they were both quite drunk, Gao Zhi suddenly asked her if she still liked him.
Worried that she might lose even the chance to be his friend, Yin Longqi quickly shook her head and said decisively, "I stopped liking you ages ago! When I confessed to you back then, I was just caught up in the end-of-youth atmosphere and acted on impulse!"
Gao Zhi fell silent, his smile turning strained.
/
They had both once thought that until they achieved success by society's standards, they should avoid discussing where a relationship might lead.
Years later, after Yin Longqi struggled to make it in Beicheng, received his care, and once again looked up to his success when their paths crossed, she finally learned to stop dreaming of love and settle for being Gao Zhi's longtime friend.
But on the day she finally decided to pack her bags and slink back home, Gao Zhi actually came panting to the airport and stopped her, saying in a panic:
"Yin Longqi, are you sneaking off again? You haven't even asked whether I agree!"
She said she couldn't keep wandering far from home. She wasn't making any money, and she couldn't wait for a future that might never come.
Gao Zhi just looked at her and smiled gently.
"So what if you can't make money? Stay, and we'll get married. Didn't you say you didn't want to keep relying on your parents? Let me show you another way. Instead of living off your parents, live off your husband."
"I can wait for your spring to come with you."
*
How could I have been so foolish for so long? I had so many chances to tell you how I felt, but some strange sense of pride kept me from saying it.
Which matters more, my pride or Yin Longqi?
The answer is obvious.
I really don't understand the person I used to be.
*
Later, Yin Longqi recalled to her friend, "You know, back then we all thought Gao Zhi was just using the excuse that he wasn't ready to date. Then I realized he really is just that kind of person."
"If you can't take responsibility for everything, you won't start something lightly."
[Reading guide]
· Overthinker × carefree girl
· A sunny, avoidant type whose life keeps throwing setbacks at her × a reserved man who follows his wife the more she pulls away, working himself to the bone just to support her (future husband edition)
· From school to the workplace, from friends to lovers: I set out to write a very healthy, youthful romance
· I'm scraping together some words to advertise an upcoming story about people struggling to get by. If you happen upon this and are interested, please follow~
Theme: Then let's never lose each other, and face the uncertain future together
