A Tragic Love Story: Love, with an Uncertain Ending
This is my own story, and as for the ending, I don’t know how it will turn out. Perhaps the ending won’t be so beautiful, but unfortunately, I can’t write it down for you.
— Foreword
Summer in northern Jiangsu is unbearably hot. But for someone like me, who is already living a hard life, it’s nothing. Moving through the streets, even in this scorching summer, the wind cuts coldly across my face, while sweat steadily soaks through my quick-drying clothes.
I am a typical 80s-born individual—no college diploma, no office job. My daily work is almost mindlessly repetitive, moving between three fixed points. You could say I’m a construction worker. But despite this, I actually enjoy my life; it’s exhausting yet fulfilling! Just like many others, the path I chose, no matter how bitter or tiring, is still my own. I’ve been lost many times before, and after ending a relationship, I returned to living my own life.
She, on the other hand, is a young girl still in school. She’s going to be a nurse someday, a white-clad angel. Like all her peers, she lives the life her parents have arranged for her. She has shoulder-length hair and a cute smile. Her eyes shine like black pearls, and she lives a carefree life. She’s always chatting on QQ on her phone, sometimes sneaking out to see her little boyfriend. When she gets home, her mom always has a lot to nag her about.
One day, we took on the job of renovating her house—a two-story building, which is quite a decent house around here. The work wasn’t too tiring, and occasionally, I would catch a glimpse of her. Back then, she was just like a niece to me. During breaks, we would chat a bit or watch TV. We were like parallel lines, seemingly destined to remain in this kind of relationship forever. Then, one day, it was just the two of us left, and we exchanged QQ numbers.
From that day, everything quietly began to change, though no one noticed—not even us. We started texting and chatting on QQ every day, gradually getting to know each other. She was so helpless, still just a child, searching for the blurry feeling of love. I remember it was summer by then, and her school was about to go on break.
Time slipped by unnoticed. On the last night before vacation, her dormmates wanted to drink beer, so I bought a lot and brought it to them. They were very happy, and that night we talked on the phone for a long time. I told her to drink less, and she asked me, “If no one else cares about me, will you?” Without thinking, I replied, “Even if no one else cares about you, I always will.” And so, we fell in love.
The summer days were happy for us. Every night when her parents were at work, I would spend a few hours with her at her house. Summer weather is always unpredictable; one night, there was a storm with lightning and loud thunder. Her family was at work, so I grabbed an umbrella and walked down the path to her house.
On the way, I wondered if she would be sad if I got struck by lightning. Happy times are always short-lived, and soon, my night visits were discovered by my family. Every day, I would come up with different excuses to explain everything because our love couldn’t be exposed. If discovered, there would only be one possible outcome.
Time flew by quickly. The work on her house was finished, she went back to school, and our chances to meet became fewer. But we missed each other even more. Every day we would chat about all the interesting things happening around us. Her school had a rule that students couldn’t go out at noon, but we always found ways to meet.
When we could no longer control our feelings, we were discovered—by her family. We took all our savings and ran away because we couldn’t bear the anger of our families. We were too scared to face them. I believe all elopers feel the same. But soon, our families convinced us to come back. They said we could discuss everything once we were home, and at the time, we thought returning home meant there was hope.
After we got home, our families sat down together one evening to discuss the situation. We were forced to give in and compromise. We gave up on our love, just like that. But is love really something you can just give up on? We deceived them once more, continuing to stay in touch, though now in secret. Every time, we were extremely cautious. But then she got pregnant—a little life.
Once again, we had to face our families, this time as three of us together. The outcome was the same—we were forced, bound by everything. That little life was taken away. We cried for a long, long time. Love always seems so fragile in the face of family.
After we parted ways, we returned to our old lives. Everything seemed to calm down again. Then one day, I received another message from her, asking if I still cared about her, if I really didn’t want her anymore. Men are always soft-hearted; we both knew what the outcome would be. But when love comes, nothing can stop it. We continued texting and chatting on QQ, and it seemed like nothing could halt its progress. We dreamed of running away. I worked hard, preparing for our escape. Finally, the day arrived. On the sixth day after the New Year, we took all our savings and ran away again.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
