★ Cool, gentle novelist × free-spirited, romantic architect
★ From school days to city life | Mutual pining | Reunited after years apart | Each other's first love | Happy ending
1
The summer Yuanyi turned fifteen, the region was struck by an unusually long rainy season. When September came and the golden rain trees bloomed everywhere, Xu Yuan met Ji Ran for the first time.
Back then, Xu Yuan was quiet and reserved, repeating the same routine day after day. Ji Ran, on the other hand, was bold and vibrant, like an eagle poised to spread its wings and soar.
Perhaps it was fate. Two people who seemed destined never to cross paths became deskmates through a twist of circumstance.
Xu Yuan remembered one time when she was changing seats and took just a few seconds too long. The boy lowered his voice, a smile in his eyes. "Are you moving or not?" It was only a matter of changing seats, but the way he said it seemed to carry another meaning.
Maybe it was because the sunlight was just right. Maybe it was because they were young. Whatever the reason, Xu Yuan fell for that boy.
And so every raindrop of that rainy season in Yuanyi became a gentle shower, nourishing the secret feelings in Xu Yuan's heart.
But in this one-sided performance of unrequited love, Xu Yuan was always like a fragile bubble, afraid to let anyone touch her secret.
2
They met again at a university academic exchange conference during their junior year.
Ji Ran was still the brilliant, confident prodigy he had always been. Xu Yuan sat in the audience, watching as he calmly faced the gazes of everyone in the room.
From so far away, surrounded by unending applause, Xu Yuan remembered only the moment they first met: the boy's eyes full of affection as he said gently, "Long time no see, Xu Yuan."
That same year, Xu Yuan finally learned what was written on the postcard she had never dared to open. It was a message from Ji Ran, written when he was seventeen: "Xu Yuan, you'll always be the most vivid stroke of color in my otherwise ordinary youth."
[Bonus Scene: The Proposal]
At dawn on the summer solstice, mountain winds carried a glimmer of light, and distant peaks were blurred by mist. The sky was stained golden orange by the sunrise, and a cross stood quietly between heaven and earth. St. Sims Church was both sacred and romantic.
Amid the boundless morning light, Ji Ran slowly rose and slipped a diamond ring onto Xu Yuan's finger. His voice was solemn yet tender. "Loving you has been the faith I believed in since I was a boy. And you are my conviction."
Above the crossbeam was carved a line of quiet words: I WILL LIFT UP MY EYES TO THE HILLS...
How lucky I am. I lift my eyes to the mountains, and you are in my arms.
[At seventeen, I said he was an endless rain that stretched across my entire girlhood.
At twenty-six, he proposed to me. He said, Xu Yuan, being near you is like a sunny day.
Adapted from Iris's diary]
*SC^^
*Iris is the heroine's online username. It means "iris."
*The final line of the diary comes from the internet. The story's inspiration comes from the lyrics of G.E.M.'s version of "Only."
Theme: Love is not jealous, does not boast, and does not seek its own.
