[Bad ending / Short story / Free]
“To Yu Xiu, he was nothing but a fleeting dream.”
In the summer of 2015, a student came to Xunshan to teach in the countryside. She was a tall, slender girl named Yu Xiu.
His little sister said at the dinner table that Teacher Yu was from a big city, that she was kind, and that she was beautiful. Chen Jue said nothing. At the end, he only said, “Don't trust rich people. Not one of them is any good.”
But the school had assigned Yu Xiu a place to live right next door to Chen Jue's home, so they couldn't avoid each other. Chen Jue was a quiet sort and didn't even greet his little sister's teacher when they crossed paths.
Yu Xiu didn't greet him either, but every time she watched him walk away, she noticed how tense his body was and how his Adam's apple bobbed.
The mountains produced fine-looking people, she thought. Chen Jue would be considered a catch anywhere.
Chen Jue was stubborn, and Yu Xiu was just as headstrong. They clashed, trading harsh words more than once.
Later, Yu Xiu said, “Chen Jue, come with me. I'll take you out and show you the world.”
Chen Jue told her to stop dreaming and not to think that saying something like that would make him agree to kiss her.
Chen Jue turned her down every time, always cold and distant. Born in the mountains, he was outrageously proud, and his self-respect was his most precious possession.
Later, he crushed that pride and knelt before Yu Xiu, begging her.
“My life will always be like this. Chen Lin is a boy, so he can stay here and suffer with me in the mountains. Chen Yi can't. Please sponsor her and take her away. I'll do anything you ask.”
Chen Jue was always covered in bruises, and often had marks on his face.
Yu Xiu didn't know how many nights Chen Jue had stood outside her home, chasing away the single men who had designs on her.
It poured the day she left. The rain trails on the car window looked just like Chen Yi's tear-streaked face. Yu Xiu looked back. Chen Jue was still standing there with his back to her, getting soaked without even bothering to open an umbrella.
Three years, then five.
Chen Yi went from elementary school to middle school, while Yu Xiu went from university to work. She wrote Chen Jue many letters, all of them telling him how Chen Yi was doing.
The letters vanished like stones dropped into the sea. Chen Jue never replied.
In 2023, the high-speed rail finally reached Xunshan. Yu Xiu sent another letter, knowing she would never get a reply.
That summer, Chen Jue wrote back.
Theme: When the red star shines.
I cried while reading a novel for the first time in 26 years T_T I have always felt that love in youth is more meaningful than practical. Everyone has a beautiful, almost dreamlike memory at the age of eighteen. If something happens to someone at the age of eighteen, when they are the most sensitive, keen and imaginative, it is destined to leave a deep mark. What age is eighteen? Everything can be done with all your might. But the reason why the eighteen-year-old dream is a dream is that its eternity comes precisely from its regret, which is so fierce and hot that it burns desperately. Even if it's just for a moment. But only for a moment. In the past ten years, Yu Xiu has slowly emerged from the summer when she was eighteen years old. It cannot be said to be a compromise. Perhaps it is more appropriate to use the word maturity: accept Yang Yixuan's love, get married, and life is on the right track. Perhaps dreaming back to the pure star screen at midnight is just a sigh. Such an idealized time, so clear and poetic yet covered in tiny sour moments, is really too far away from me. Life is like this, constantly metabolizing, constantly brightening things and fading away. There have been flashes of brilliance that are too brilliant to be added, and there have also been hardships, hardships, or mediocre inaction. In the end, they are just like this sigh. When I saw the news of Chen Jue's death, I couldn't hold back my tears, and the weight of my sigh suddenly doubled several times. Chen Jue's life was one that I felt was too helpless and sad no matter how much I drank. He had to bear too much in his life and was too tough and stoic to escape the shackles of life and responsibility. However, Yu Xiu had the wings of ideals and wanted to take him away and take him to a bright world. No one dislikes angels, but not everyone can go to the most worry-free paradise. Even someone as pure-hearted as Chen Jue. Just because of his deep blue background and irresistible fate. Chen Jue has been born with too much weight. If there is an afterlife, I hope you can be lighter. My heart feels sour. There are too many people and too many things that we can't do anything about. Maybe I can only make a wish to the sky. There would be less cruelty in this world, and there would be less pain in this world. Anyway, thank you very much to the author for writing this story!! I hope they can achieve perfection in the parallel world^^
Dear Chef: Seeing words is like meeting each other, showing trust and comfort. Liking your rice is probably the most arbitrary and unreasonable thing in the world. It is not about weighing the pros and cons, or being motivated by sex, but suddenly having someone like you makes me worried and unable to let go. You are the extraneous branch in my stable years, and the sun, moon and stars in my ordinary life. Whether it's the sunrise in the morning, a nap at noon, or a night filled with stars, I want to spend it with you. Don't doubt why I like you, just like fish fall in love with the sea, birds fall in love with the sky, I don't quite understand what this means, I think it's like breathing, no need to practice, just because it's you. By the way, if there is still food, please remember to distribute it, I am still hungry.
2026.7.29 I have been looking forward to this book since the author posted the preview. What attracted me the most was actually the last line, "That summer, Chen Jue replied." When this line came out, Yu Xiu's waiting seemed to have an echo, but when it was placed at the end of the introduction, it just felt like an expired love letter. Xunshan finally has a high-speed rail connection, but the letter seems to have been delivered too late. By the end, at the end of the article, Yu Xiu gradually couldn't remember Chen Jue's face. The memories left behind were indeed very profound, but people are indeed powerless in the face of time. The boy I fell in love with when I first fell in love has also been fading over the past nine years. I can't remember his appearance, his handwriting, or his memories. In the end, all that remains in my life is his name. If you count it as love, it's very unconvincing, because I only love one name. If you don't count it as love, nine years is too long. And I always feel that at the end of the article, even if nothing happens to Chen Jue and he writes a letter to redeem Yu Xiu, they may not be able to be together. There are too many differences between the two of them due to their regional, cultural and family backgrounds, and after so many years, the vague memories may not be able to support them in going forward. Their best ending is for the two of them to return to their eighteen years old and have a love that lives in the present. That is the closest they can get to each other.
I can't say anything but I cried many times I like it so much woo woo woo woo woo I want to slow down 😭
Who are you to let go of the pigeons at the beginning?
2026.7.16
Resist slowly and live well first. There will always be a way.
Finished Spreading Flowers, thank Wujinyi for bringing this story [Spreading Flowers]
Still abusing me!!! 😭
Crying me 11 you are bad 😭 😭 Four little people 😭 😭