In This Life, He Let Down Love
At that time, they had just been accepted into university. He was a boy from a remote rural area, and so was she. When people mocked them for being “country bumpkins,” they would always comfort each other. Over time, their hearts grew closer.
Like all young lovers, they ate meals together and strolled through parks. Because they didn’t have much money, they often spent their time in the library. Although they were poor, the brilliance in their world of love was just the same. They naturally fell in love.
Because their lives were difficult, compared to other couples, they had fewer intimate moments in cinemas and fewer mysterious gifts exchanged between lovers. He rarely bought anything for her. Once, she fancied a pair of red gloves that cost 10 yuan. He touched his pocket and found he only had 7 yuan, so he could only smile awkwardly.
Later, she bought some yarn and knitted two pairs of red gloves herself. He held her in his arms and swore to love her for a lifetime.
In their third year of university, they started working part-time jobs, and their situation improved. As a tutor, he managed to save a bit of money. This time, he spent two months of his wages to buy her a necklace. Once, while window shopping, she had stared at that necklace for a long time, and he had promised, “When I have the money, I’ll buy it for you.”
It was a silver necklace with exquisite craftsmanship. Wearing it around her neck, she looked even more radiant. She wasn’t a particularly pretty girl, but with that necklace, she appeared exceptionally beautiful.
Shortly after, it was her birthday. She said, “I have a gift for you too.” The gift she gave him was her “first time.”
That day, in a simple motel, she and he shared a passionate night. He said, “I will be good to you for a lifetime. Let’s love each other for life, no matter when or where, no matter how successful we may become. Let’s promise to never be apart for life, okay?”
She curled her body into his, tears streaming down her face. She believed this man would be good to her.
Two months later, she started feeling nauseous and vomiting—she was pregnant. It was a terrifying situation. She consulted him about what to do.
“Get rid of it,” he said. “We’re still students. If the school finds out, we’ll be expelled. We’re graduating next year; we can’t take this risk.”
“No!” she stubbornly replied. “I want this child because it’s our child. Because I love him, I have to keep him.”
A month later, she took a leave of absence due to illness and returned to her hometown with the child. He wrote letters almost every day, asking about her condition. By the time he graduated, the child was born—a boy.
She never returned to school, and he stayed in the big city, Shanghai. He could have gone back to the mountainous region, because she was waiting for him there. She hadn’t told her family about the child, and she raised him alone while working for a small company, barely making enough to survive. She was waiting for him to graduate so they could be together, but he didn’t return. He said there were more opportunities in Shanghai and promised that when he had enough money, he would bring her and the child to live with him.
He never fulfilled that promise.
He did return home once to visit her and found that she had become extremely haggard. Her hair was messy, there were sleep crusts in the corners of her eyes, and her clothes were sloppy, stained with milk from the baby who was crying uncontrollably. Compared to his well-groomed appearance, she still looked like a woman who hadn’t left the mountains. He felt a wave of fear. Did he really still want her? Was he really going to take her with him?
She still relied on him, asking how things were in Shanghai. He said, “Not great, just wait a little longer.” In reality, he was already a department manager, earning seven to eight thousand yuan a month.
Before he left, she gave him 1,000 yuan, saying, “Living in Shanghai is expensive. Take this.” His tears nearly fell, knowing he had let this woman down. On the train, he opened the paper package—it was a disorganized thousand yuan, probably gathered from many small bills she had saved up.
She continued to trust and rely on him, while he deceived her. He decided to repay her with money.
Not long after, he sent her 20,000 yuan along with a letter that said only, “I’m too busy right now; I might not be able to marry you soon.” At that time, he still didn’t have the courage to break up with her directly.
Shortly after, she sent the money back, writing, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t wait for you. I got married. You promised we’d love each other for life, but I got married.”
He cried. She was such a sensible woman, giving him his freedom back. He didn’t have the courage to return to see her. He thought, from now on, they should go their separate ways. Maybe her new husband would be better for her than he was.
At that time, there was a beautiful, fashionable woman by his side who loved him. With her departure, he decided to start over, especially since this new woman came from a powerful family, which could be very helpful to him.
Not long after, he and the woman went abroad to study. In the U.S., he started his own company. He made a lot of money, bought a villa and a private car, and achieved everything they had once dreamed of. He knew he had been a bad man, so he decided to return home and invest in a company in her hometown as a way of seeking redemption.
By then, she had become a teacher at a local high school. She was nearly 40, her hair already graying, and she had gained some weight. Her swollen eyes appeared lifeless from exhaustion. When they met, they were both stunned for a long time. Time had given her a face full of hardship, while it had given him a mature charm.
He saw their child—a 17-year-old boy, the spitting image of him, already accepted to Peking University. He wanted to say thank you but found the words empty. He wanted to say sorry but felt unworthy.
They sat in the shabby office for a long time before he dared to ask, “What does your husband do?” She smiled faintly, and the wrinkles at the corners of her mouth moved slightly. She quietly said, “I never married.”
Tears fell uncontrollably, and his heart overflowed with regret. She had been waiting for him, faithfully waiting all this time.
“You fool!” he scolded. She trembled, her eyes filled with tears. “You said we’d love each other for life. I thought it was true. You said so.”
He covered his face and then slowly knelt down.
When it came to love, he was no match for this woman. He didn’t understand what it meant to keep a promise. At that moment, he couldn’t be with her again, but he knew she was a priceless gem in his heart, worth more than anything. On the plane back to the U.S., he opened a package she had given him. Inside were two pairs of red gloves, worn out, discolored, and unraveling.
He tried to put his hand inside, and as soon as he did, the threads broke. They were truly old, too many years had passed. What can last forever? Only her—her pure gaze was as captivating as the day she said, “Let’s love each other for life.”
It turns out, “Let’s love each other for life” isn’t just a simple sentence. It’s a promise that must be fulfilled over a lifetime. But he had failed to do that. He knew that in this life, it wasn’t just her he had let down—he had also let down love itself.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
