Student Love Story: “Nepalese Princess, I Like You”
An Xiaoshu and Park Xiaofei met at the campus cultural festival. Both were assigned to interview the same professor. An Xiaoshu arrived first, ready to start the interview when someone called him from behind. As he turned around, Park Xiaofei breezed past him like the wind, already pointing her recorder at the professor.
In the subsequent interviews, An Xiaoshu always fell behind Park Xiaofei. Despite this, he graciously waited for her to finish so they could leave together. One day, as they parted ways, Park Xiaofei tossed him a diary and said, “Study more! You look so frail; how do you plan to compete with me?”
By the end of the year, Park Xiaofei indisputably won the best reporter award from the student council. She smugly said to the empty-handed An Xiaoshu, “Little brother, do you know my nickname? It’s ‘Big Sis.’ Today, Big Sis is in a good mood; I’ll treat you.”
An Xiaoshu felt a wave of panic; he realized he liked this beautiful girl from Nepal, who had lived in China all her life. But did she like him? An Xiaoshu didn’t know. Every time he showed her his work, she would critique it harshly. He wondered if he had wronged her in a past life, making her so intolerant of him. As he thought about it, his affection for her grew cold, like winter water.
Whenever An Xiaoshu saw Park Xiaofei, he wanted to boldly express his feelings, but then he’d second-guess himself. Could a poor boy like him ever win the heart of a noble princess with Nepalese royal blood?
In their sophomore year, Park Xiaofei said, “Introduce me to a boyfriend, will you? I want to have a passionate romance.” An Xiaoshu turned away, his heart aching. In their junior year, Park Xiaofei announced, “Guess what? Big Sis is in a relationship now.” An Xiaoshu’s face turned pale as he struggled to control his emotions.
Concerned, Park Xiaofei asked, “Why do you look so unwell? Are you nervous about me?” An Xiaoshu replied, “I didn’t sleep well last night; I’m heading back to the dorm to catch up on sleep.”
Friends advised him, “If you really like her, achieve something first. After all, she’s a Nepalese queen’s niece. How can you win her without some status?” Jolted, An Xiaoshu declared, “Yes, I need to start a business and prove myself!”
He next saw Park Xiaofei in the library, accompanied by a frail boy who looked like he could be blown away by the wind. An Xiaoshu whispered, “Is this the best you can do?” Feeling challenged, Park Xiaofei shot him a sharp glance and walked away.
An Xiaoshu ran into Park Xiaofei several times at the hospital but refrained from asking why she was there due to her hurried demeanor.
Teaming up with his two roommates, An Xiaoshu started a suit rental business. He opened a shop on campus and began operations. Due to the workload, he hardly saw Park Xiaofei, though she occasionally rented suits, always alone. Sometimes, An Xiaoshu would joke, “Where’s your follower?” Park Xiaofei would mutter, “There are things you don’t understand.”
At graduation, Park Xiaofei helped out at the shop and gave An Xiaoshu a business card, saying, “Come to Nepal when you have time.” On the weekend, An Xiaoshu took her to a mountaintop covered in wildflowers. Park Xiaofei said, “Do you know why these flowers are so beautiful? Because they are never self-conscious.
No matter where they grow, they always face the sun and smile bravely.” Touched, An Xiaoshu hesitated for a moment before saying, “Xiaofei, I’ve been wanting to tell you something…” But Park Xiaofei’s phone rang, interrupting him.
That evening, Park Xiaofei boarded a train to Nepal. An Xiaoshu went to see her off. As the train started moving, Park Xiaofei remembered something and quickly asked, “An Xiaoshu, did you have something to tell me when we went to see the flowers? If you don’t say it now, you’ll never have another chance.”
Running alongside the train, An Xiaoshu shouted, “Park Xiaofei, I’ve loved you for the past three years. But you already have a boyfriend. Have you ever loved me?” Park Xiaofei shook her head vigorously, tears streaming down her face. An Xiaoshu was devastated and spent the summer in a state of depression.
In the fall, An Xiaoshu picked himself up. With his partners’ support, his business thrived, expanding to all the colleges in the city. They rented out fifty suits daily. During his free time, he would often visit the mountaintop, where memories of Park Xiaofei flooded back. He kept the diary she gave him by his bedside, finding comfort in it every night.
That winter, he added Park Xiaofei on MSN. Though he sent messages, he received no response. Her phone was disconnected, and it was as if she had vanished. An Xiaoshu became sleepless.
Finally, in a moment of impulsiveness, he decided to go to Nepal to find her.
In Kathmandu, while visiting the royal palace square, An Xiaoshu saw a man kneeling before a young woman, holding a bouquet of roses, proposing in a language An Xiaoshu didn’t understand. Despite her vigorous head-shaking, the woman accepted the flowers, crying.
Confused, An Xiaoshu approached the man and gestured, indicating that her head-shaking meant rejection. The man laughed and explained in broken Chinese, “In Nepal, shaking your head means ‘yes.'”
An Xiaoshu’s heart sank as he recalled the farewell at the train station when Park Xiaofei had shaken her head. Now he understood that she had been saying yes. He remembered her words about the wildflowers never being self-conscious, realizing she had been encouraging him to be proactive.
He pulled out the business card Park Xiaofei had given him. The man said he knew the place and offered to take him there. After winding through narrow paths, they reached a small village with a hope elementary school.
A middle-aged man warmly greeted An Xiaoshu, saying, “You’re here to see Park Xiaofei, right?” Surprised, An Xiaoshu asked how he knew. The man replied, “A year ago, Park Xiaofei told me that if someone named An Xiaoshu came, I should help him find her.”
The man led him to her room, which was filled with the scent of wildflowers and decorated with his photos. The man explained, “For the past year, Park Xiaofei has been sustained by these.”
An Xiaoshu asked about her boyfriend. The man smiled, “Park Xiaofei told me about him. He was a boy who had pursued her for three years and was dying of cancer. In his final days, he wanted her to be his temporary girlfriend for a month. Xiaofei agreed out of compassion.”
An Xiaoshu saw Park Xiaofei the next afternoon. They stared at each other until Park Xiaofei began to cry. “I’ve been waiting for the person I love to come find me. If he didn’t, I was ready to marry someone else and make him regret it forever.” Overjoyed, An Xiaoshu exclaimed, “Well, here I am!” They embraced tightly.
An Xiaoshu pulled out the diary. Park Xiaofei, astonished, asked, “You haven’t used it after five years?” An Xiaoshu replied, “It was a gift from the girl I love. I couldn’t bear to use it. I wanted to preserve it, just like our love, forever.”
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
