- I heard from the wind that you like me.
In the most passionate years of her youth, Yun Ling lived like a transparent sheet of paper.
Yun Ling was an ordinary girl, and even a little insecure. She wasn't pretty, didn't come from a wealthy family, and didn't get good grades.
And yet this ordinary girl fell for Zhou Xu, the boy everyone admired.
Her secret crush began when he unexpectedly stood up for her, then grew into a bittersweet ache through countless near-misses.
She watched him show up at the classroom's back door again and again, always carrying two bottles of plain milk.
Everyone said he was there for another girl.
"So a secret crush is just a heartbreak you write, direct, and star in yourself."
"Hey! Zhou Xu's going to Class Eight again?" her friend asked as he headed that way.
Zhou Xu nodded without saying a word. He still had two bottles of plain milk in his hands.
"Why do you keep going to Class Eight?"
"Why else?" Her friend grinned mischievously. "Your sweetheart's there."
Yun Ling lowered her head and bit down on her straw. The plain milk suddenly tasted bitter.
- Plain milk was Yun Ling's favorite.
"Drunken honesty can't hide a crush."
"Do you like Zhou Xu?" Zhou Xu shamelessly held Yun Ling in his arms and shamelessly asked.
The girl had just finished drinking. Her cheeks were flushed, and the moment she heard Zhou Xu's name, she started protesting.
"I don't like Zhou Xu! I hate Zhou Xu the most!"
Zhou Xu paused, then asked with a smile, "Why do you hate Zhou Xu?"
Yun Ling sniffled. "He likes someone else. He already likes someone else..."
Zhou Xu paused again when he heard that.
"What?" He couldn't stop laughing.
"Zhou Xu likes someone else!!" Yun Ling burst into tears as soon as she said it.
"Who?"
"I don't know who. Anyway, it's not me... I'm so sad..."
Beneath the gentle night sky, his voice was as tender as water. "Listen carefully. The person Zhou Xu likes is named 'Yun Ling.' Did you hear me?"
Yun Ling heard her own name and just stared at him blankly. "What?"
"It's Yun Ling."
"Me?" she asked.
"Mm." Zhou Xu pulled her close again.
"You're lying. He thinks I get bad grades and I'm ugly. He wouldn't like me."
"Who said that? In his eyes, you're the prettiest girl in the world!"
"I still don't believe you."
"Unless..."
"Unless what? Hmm?"
"Unless he kisses me." Yun Ling smiled, looking especially happy.
Zhou Xu narrowed his eyes, then smiled. "Then should I kiss you?"
- The wind says I'm his little stroke of luck.
Only later did Yun Ling learn that
those perfectly timed "chance encounters" were all carefully planned by him;
every time he lingered in the hallway, he was waiting;
and the scent of plain milk hid the feelings he didn't dare confess.
Do you know why you always see him in the hallway by the back door whenever you pass his classroom? It's because he's deliberately waiting for you too. He's waiting for you to appear, waiting for you to look his way. He's secretly in love with you too.
- One bottle of milk is an excuse for your friend.
- The other is always saved for you, you... coward.
- So the wind really can carry secrets.
When it brushes past your ear, it gently whispers, "You're someone's long-awaited surprise, too."
!
- Reading Guide -
1. Both first loves | Mutual pining comes true | Sweet school romance
2. Plain milk x A long-planned romance
3. [Gentle and cheerful x Quiet and reserved]
4. No real-life inspiration, though maybe these are little stories from the youth we all share.
Theme: The sound of a young heart beating echoes through the whole summer
