Words Unspoken

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Because her grades were poor, she dared to fall out with her family. Ignoring her parents' fierce objections, she stubbornly insisted on transferring to a school in the neighboring city. In the end, her parents couldn't talk her out of it and could only watch as the girl set off with her suitcase for an unfamiliar city.

The breeze at Linxia No. 1 High School ushered in the start of Deng Ran's new life. On the first day of school, she ran into Zhou Yuji, and the two girls quickly became inseparable. It was also through Zhou Yuji's introduction that Deng Ran met Song Jingyi.

Back then, Song Jingyi was like the purest ray of sunshine at Linxia No. 1 High School, suddenly shining into Deng Ran's world. She realized she had fallen for him, but could only hide her feelings, even deliberately avoiding his gaze whenever she looked at him.

In the chaos of senior year, she never dared to say those words aloud. Then, in the noisy summer of graduation, with cicadas shrilling everywhere, Song Jingyi suddenly asked to meet her.

That day, Deng Ran was so nervous that her palms were sweating and her voice trembled. "Is something wrong?"

Song Jingyi looked at her, his eyes filled with a tenderness that would not fade, and asked softly, "Would you go out with me?"

At that moment, Deng Ran heard her heart pounding wildly. Her eyes red, she nodded with all her might.

But as soon as the new school year began, reality poured cold water over them. They went to different cities, and to keep their relationship from falling apart, they made a tacit agreement to meet again after graduation. That was the start of their long-distance relationship.

By the time they graduated from university, they had finally endured all those lonely, difficult days, and stood together again as promised.

But fate seemed to enjoy playing tricks. Just one year later, Deng Ran began suffering repeated stomach pains. When they hit, she could barely straighten her back. At the hospital, a diagnosis of "late-stage stomach cancer" on a single sheet of paper shattered the happiness she'd painstakingly pieced together.

Song Jingyi was frantic. His eyes red, he begged her again and again to accept treatment. Deng Ran always nodded obediently and agreed, but in secret, beneath her bedside lamp late at night, she hid away and wrote her farewell letter, one tearful stroke at a time.

She loved him too much. She couldn't bear to let him see her gaunt, ugly body covered in tubes, much less make him spend the rest of his life caring for someone helpless.

On a starless night, Deng Ran returned alone to the river where Song Jingyi had confessed his feelings. The water was icy. She closed her eyes and leaped into the freezing river, sinking all her pain and sorrow to the bottom forever.

By the time Song Jingyi rushed there like a madman, it was too late. He fell to his knees by the riverbank, his sobs so hoarse they barely sounded human. He simply couldn't believe that the girl who had smiled at him just yesterday had vanished forever.

Song Jingyi found Deng Ran's parents and, eyes red and voice hoarse, begged them to bury her at her maternal grandmother's home, the place where she had been happiest as a child.

It rained heavily on the day of the funeral. Song Jingyi didn't cry. He just stood quietly before her gravestone, as if she were only asleep.

Afterward, people at Linxia No. 1 High School would occasionally mention the couple who had once been in love. But no one ever saw Song Jingyi take another girl's hand.

He buried her in his heart and spent the rest of his life watching over her grass-covered grave. He never fell in love again...

Theme: Cherish life