[The print edition is now available on all major platforms. Weibo: @Wujin Yi]
* The bonus IF ending is also a bad ending.
* Bad ending / realistic fiction / the female lead's growth and transformation / see below for content warnings
Don't pity her past or feel sorry for what she went through. Recognize her efforts, encourage her perseverance, and celebrate her success.
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In 2007, a thirty-five-story skyscraper went up in downtown Rong City. The news said it was a gift to his hometown from Rong City's richest man. Jiang Song caught a glimpse on TV of an energetic old man with mostly white hair.
That same year, a new student joined her class. Li Er was handsome, came from a wealthy family, and became her first deskmate in three years.
Later, Li Er took Jiang Song to the top floor of that building. In the most expensive part of downtown, it turned out to be his home.
She saw a photograph on the table. The old man in the news, who had been wearing a suit, was now in a white shirt with his arm around a young boy's shoulder.
Li Er glanced at it. "That's my grandfather."
-
There were a hundred days left until the college entrance exams when Li Er stopped coming to school.
She asked innocently, "If you don't come to class, how are you going to get into college? I know your family is rich, but you still have to go to college."
Li Er's voice came through the phone, laced with a faint crackle and amusement. "Jiang Song, the college entrance exam isn't the only path in life. I'm going to London."
Of course, she didn't know any better. Back then, she was just an ordinary high school student from a small, underdeveloped city. Everything she knew about the world came from books.
The widest world she could imagine was the sea across from her home.
-
He changed her college entrance exam preferences for her. "Jiang Song, with your score, you can get into a better school. Don't let your family hold you back and bury your potential."
For his sake, she worked her way through school and saved up for more than three years until she won an exchange student placement. She set foot on British soil alone, her heart full of hope.
They kissed on the streets of London and held each other in the rain. They also spent their most passionate week together in his house.
Until one night, Jiang Song happened to see his inbox.
Li Er, his hair still half-damp, came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, lowering his head to kiss her neck. Her expression was cold.
"Li Er, is it hard for you to love someone with all your heart?"
-
Years later, they met again on a street in a foreign country. He wept, his voice choked with emotion. "I'm so sorry, Song Song."
Jiang Song stood in the wind and silently turned her head away.
"Li Er, let's not have a future together."
We met, we loved, and then we went our separate ways.
That was enough.
Li Er watched her walk away and remembered the call she'd made that year, asking what the weather was like in London. He'd said it was sunny.
Only years later did he realize.
He'd given her the wrong answer.
It had been raining in London the whole time.
The skies had never cleared.
Before you read:
1. The male lead is a flirt who acts like everyone's boyfriend, but he is sexually inexperienced.
2. Personal interpretations are welcome. If you think he's the male lead, he can be; if you think he doesn't deserve the role, then he doesn't.
3. The female lead does have flaws early on. Please give her time to change. Comments criticizing her are not welcome.
4. Slow-paced, from high school to college, with a little of their life in the city.
5. The main story is told from the female lead's perspective, so you only see what she sees. Things she can't see generally won't be written about. The extras include other characters' perspectives.
Theme: Don't become a prisoner of reality.
I cherish every moment that I love you. Even if I know that you don't love me at that time, I still love you with all my strength. But love is not about losing yourself. When you have accumulated enough disappointment, leaving without hesitation is to leave dignity to your past and future selves. Li Er is very good. For Songsong, who is seventeen or eighteen years old, this is her salvation. Li Er taught her how to refuse and how to love herself, so she loves him. But Li Er is also very bad, because he cannot see his own heart clearly, he is not loyal enough, he does not believe that he and Songsong can go on, he is greedy for all the freshness, and he will not stay and change for her, so she leaves without hesitation. Li Ye is undoubtedly lovable, just like all the female characters in the article will quickly like Li Ye, because he is humble, he is smart, he is worldly, he understands and masters the rules of survival in this world, he will only show you the side you want to see and accept, and he will lend a helping hand when you need help, so everyone likes him. But it is precisely because he has everything that he does not cherish it. He is arrogant and sentimental. He is a bit like Jia Baoyu, but he is not as good as Baoyu. His goodness is only superficial and cannot be deeply understood. When Songsong made a wish to have a loyal partner, the ending between them was already doomed, but it did not mean that the ending process was not important. Songsong really loves Li Er, but Li Er is also another part of Songsong. Songsong is indeed an escape from the sea of family, but in the sea of love, Songsong walks out soberly and rationally, in a free and easy way. No one can predict what will happen in the future. When Songsong discovered Li Er's infidelity, Songsong would have softened her heart for a moment when Li Er kept reassuring and apologizing. But her mother's forgiveness and tenderness over and over again left a huge scar in Songsong's heart, so Songsong didn't allow herself to forgive. At the same time, this relationship is constantly deducting points, and there is no capital for forgiveness. Li Er is not suitable for Songsong in every way, but she still walks towards him firmly again and again, because love does not need to be suitable. So when I step back step by step, when I gradually fall out of love, nothing can keep me. Some things can never be forgiven in a lifetime. No one could trap her. She worked her way up and finally escaped from the sea.
I don't understand those who say they feel sorry for the male protagonist in the comment section. First of all, he dated someone when he didn't like the female protagonist, and he used the female protagonist as an excuse to break up with her. Where did he put the female protagonist? Being ambiguous with others during a relationship, central air conditioning, think about it, would you be able to tolerate it if it was your partner?? It's just an ambiguous relationship now, but maybe we'll get a room later... I don't understand what's so distressing about seeing a man who cheats on his mind 💔
If line does not require HE, Li is not worthy
I'm really convinced. Who should I blame after this whole thing? [Feeling] It's right to be sad. After all, Li Er will never meet anyone who loves him more than Jiang Song, but Jiang Song will meet someone better than Li Er in the future. 💪
I am very happy to see Jiang Song tonight, returning subjectivity to women. I also hope that all readers will become people who can freely choose their lives like Jiang Song. I wish everyone can freely choose the country and lifestyle they want to live in. No matter how difficult the past was, you will always get the happiness you want. Maybe we will pass each other in London or Australia in the future~
After watching wb and then coming back to leave a message, Song is more about integrating Li Er's influence on her into a part of herself. Li Er will understand it better when she faces the new life.
Aren't you going to write a side story about Xiao Song and Professor Lu 😭
After reading it, my tears were gone. Crying for Jiang Song's secret love, crying for Jiang Song's struggle and inability to leave Yucheng, crying for the departure of Jiang Song's grandmother who loves Jiang Song the most, and finally crying for Jiang Song's words "I want to start loving myself". But this time the tears were with laughter. The teacher's writing was very good. When I read the article, it reminded me of myself, so much so that I skipped a few chapters about secret love. I don't have Jiang Song's tenacity, courage and excellence. I have never met a leader like Li Er. I am mediocre but that does not prevent me from expressing my congratulations and admiration to Jiang Song.
"It turned out to be a hymn of praise." "My name is Jiang Song, the song of singing" Who understands me 😭 😭
Li Er really, I don't know what to say, even if he has such a broken love, he still has a family business that can be inherited. It is not easy for him to be liked by girls. Most things in his life are easy to get. His life is simply a piece of cake. I have to say that Li Er made me very uncomfortable throughout the book, especially when he kept calling him a "boy". However, the character's worldly sophistication and attitude of looking down on Jiang Song was very "old man". Especially when it came to liking Jiang Song's vitality and innocence, I was really, oh my God, what kind of "old man hunting for beauty". Although the author assumes that the two people should be of the same age, the relationship between Li Er and Jiang Song is still too teacher-student/master-disciple/year-old romance, full of age-based filters and power relationships. It can be said that Li Er's charm basically comes from Jiang Song's imagination. His upbringing, his conversation skills, his indulgent youth, and his self-esteem basically come from his family background and parents. They are the result of his lucky reincarnation with good abilities. They are the illusory glory of meritocracy and elitism. They have basically nothing to do with his own hard work and true personality. So peeling off the worldly skin, Li Er is just half-hearted and unfaithful in love and likes to look down on women. In terms of friendship, there are many friends but none of them are deep and true friends (of course, if the author wrote it and I forgot, just pretend I didn't say it). In life, he can't eat alone for many years and can't take care of himself. In career, he can easily copy his parents' life and inherit the family business. He has no goals in life and just drifts with the tide. Jiang Song leaving him is like a fish leaving a bicycle. There is no wind or rain outside. Laughing, the most uncomfortable thing about Li Er in the whole book is that there is a scene where he tells Jiang Song that his mother helps poor girls. The way he talks with such social experience is really instigating. When he talks about this, he is thinking about Jiang Song being able to accept his help calmly. He is thinking about the world he has seen through his mother, and those girls he said have the motivation to climb up are to him. In fact, it is just an interesting ornament in a boring life, and it is also a source of conversation at this time. Every time I think of this, I can't help but feel sick. I wish Jiang Song could tell him that she doesn't love him directly in front of him. It's not because she doesn't recognize him as a good lover, but because she no longer recognizes him as a good person. Even if they are friends, they may not end well. Of course, Jiang Song is kind and sensible, and will never be ungrateful, so she won't say this (). In the end, although I don't really like Jiang Song's ending of getting married, if she is happy, I will still wish her the best. At the end of the sea is a broader world, and she will always be free.