“I used to be obsessed with love. Now I take everything in stride.”
Both leads are pure | Each other’s first love | A young woman experiencing first love x a steady, gentle older man
At eighteen, Si Qing was innocent and carefree, convinced that true love mattered more than anything.
That was when she met Wu Xingshi, who was twenty-five.
Steady and composed, Wu Xingshi guided Si Qing forward when she felt lost and gave her a solid shoulder to lean on.
She thought they would be happy together for the rest of their lives. But in the end, their relationship came down to a breakup dictated by weighing the pros and cons.
Si Qing clutched Wu Xingshi’s sleeve, sobbing as she begged him not to leave. All she got in return was a curt apology.
Their sweet, tender fairy tale became a bubble that burst, and her first love ended there.
-
Six years later, everything had changed.
At twenty-five, Si Qing had a smooth life. She had made room for her career, her personal life, and love in their own separate corners.
At a friend’s wedding, Si Qing unexpectedly ran into Wu Xingshi.
They should have gone their separate ways and become strangers, but the peaceful life she’d led for six years was about to be disrupted.
As she was leaving, Wu Xingshi suddenly stopped her and gently took hold of her wrist.
Then, without warning, he said, “Could we…” His deep gaze fixed on her face as he asked, “Could we give it another try?”
Si Qing lowered her eyes and fell silent for a moment. In the end, she said nothing. She calmly pulled her wrist free and walked past Wu Xingshi, leaving without a backward glance.
-
“I used to be obsessed with love. Now I take everything in stride.
I once thought losing you was like falling into an abyss. Later, I realized I’d been young and naive, far too innocent back then.
You know, the worst thing you can do in love is go back.”
-
“In some northern towns, when dragonflies appear in summer, people tie a slipknot around their tails with a piece of thread. They watch the dragonflies fly ahead while keeping a firm grip on the thread.
When she was young, Si Qing thought it was a way to protect them. Later, she finally realized she’d been bound and dragged along far more tightly than she’d known.
Luckily, the thread around her was tied with a slipknot. Luckily, she could break free and fly far away.”
Content warnings:
A short story with a bittersweet ending. The story begins when the woman is eighteen and the man is twenty-five. Neither of them gets involved with anyone else after they separate.
For more content warnings, see the author’s note in Chapter One.
The blurb has been saved as screenshots and a screen recording.
Theme: People change and grow. Face everything with grace.
