The Long Road Ahead

In the summer of 2004, torrential rain poured down, and the mountain roads were rugged and muddy.

A young male volunteer teacher arrived in the mountains. He wore glasses, had very short hair, and smiled with a warm, gentle air.

That day, she was wearing a pair of tattered cloth shoes caked with mud. He handed her a pair of new rain boots and asked, "Do you want to go to school?"

In the summer of 2007, Xu Qingran saw Ding Xiang off to college.

That day, he told her, "Once you've made it out, don't look back. Go as far as you can, little lilac."

In the summer of 2008, an unprecedented downpour swept across the entire mountainous region.

That day, she wrote a letter, just two short sentences:

Xu Qingran, forgive me.

I can't get out of these mountains.

A short tragic romance. Free to read, not paywalled.

2023.1.5 (screenshot saved)

Theme: You should go farther.