Never Forget

An iron box of chilblain ointment was filled with ten years of her heavy youth. Linxi and Chenyu are like two lines that meet briefly and then flow separately. In high school, he was a silent silhouette in her sketchbook, and the frayed elbow patches on the school uniform were secretly drawn into vines by her. He was her unreachable dream of Peking University, and the words "Weiming Lake is waiting for you" were the only flame in the cold winter of her re-reading. And she, wearing the label of "art student", struggled to find her own wings between the "stable" life planned by her mother and the "flying higher" defined by him. Ten years have passed. He transcended social classes and became an elite doctor, with a cold light on his watch; she went round and round, from the shattered dream of Central America to studying in a foreign country, from the rain and fog in London to the sealed refrigerators in Shanghai, experiencing the birth and death of love, the blow of her father's serious illness, economic embarrassment and the shock of the times. The small iron box containing chilblain ointment, dried locust leaves and a blackened piece of paper with "Weiming Lake" was the token of youth she held tightly during her wandering journey. It was also the first bit of warmth handed to her by her father in the snow. Ten years is enough for a humble secret love to settle into a vague name in the address book. When he sent her a photo of her daughter's little feet, she felt calm. The boy who once made her cry bitterly in the snow, together with the inferiority complex of an "art student" and the obsession to catch up, were all deeply covered by the thick snow of time. She finally understood that those struggles and unwillingness were not all for him, but also to pave a way for herself among the thorns. Now, standing on the podium of a higher vocational college, the smell of turpentine reassures her. The identity of "art student" that she once wanted to get rid of became her most solid foundation. There is no Weiming Lake under the podium, but there are students who trust her, the quiet snow outside the window, the gradually stable life of her parents, the hearty laughter of her friend Ling, and - the self who has finally learned to keep warm by herself and no longer depends on anyone to exist. This is a long farewell that spans ten years. About the regret of failed first love, Regarding the pull from the original family, Regarding the ups and downs of individuals under the torrent of the times, It's more about how a woman can finally find her own light amid disillusionment with love, pressure from reality, and self-doubt. Concept: Youth campus novel