Childhood Friends to Lovers Narrative
Look, That Big Red Lightbulb
When Cheng Jiaying returned from Seattle, Jiang Zhili went to pick him up.
She rummaged through her closet and found that red corduroy jacket, but couldn’t help feeling a pang of sadness. This only memento of their day as lovers had become wrinkled. The bright red color seemed veiled by time.
At the airport, Jiaying immediately spotted the eye-catching red and waved vigorously through the crowd, shouting, “Jiang Zhili! I’m here!”
Zhili saw him standing tall in the crowd like a giraffe and instantly believed the joke about American hamburgers making you taller. She wanted to rush over and hug him, but when she saw the blonde beauty next to him, her cheerful expression wilted. After Jiaying introduced Zhili to the foreign girl, he excitedly switched between speaking Chinese to Zhili and English to the blonde. Zhili didn’t listen to what he was saying. She only knew that he patted her shoulder and told the foreign girl, “She’s my buddy, we grew up together.”
That one word, “buddy,” froze her passionate heart. The red jacket she was wearing made her feel utterly embarrassed. Passing by a large mirror at the airport, Zhili wished she could take it off. Meanwhile, the confident blonde beside Jiaying walked proudly, laughing and chatting with him, almost ready to kiss his face.
It seemed Jiaying had completely forgotten about the red jacket.
People came and went at the airport, and Zhili felt like everyone was saying, “Hey, look at that big red lightbulb.”
Even the fish in Houhai must have heard it.
Zhili, with the mindset of an old lover, went to pick him up but returned with the label of a lightbulb. After Jiaying returned home, he called her every few days to invite her to his buddies’ gatherings, all of which Zhili declined.
Zhili would never forget, in their senior year of high school, Jiaying got dumped just before Valentine’s Day. But he had already promised his buddies to bring a girlfriend to Houhai for drinks on Valentine’s Day. Frantic, he lay on the table, asking Zhili for advice.
“You can take me,” Zhili suggested with a small hope.
“Don’t be silly, everyone knows you’re my buddy, and why do you have to be so tall?”
He glanced at Zhili and continued to sigh.
“Even if you invited me, I’d have to think about it!” Zhili said loudly, tilting her head to look at the bare branches outside the window.
In the end, Jiaying dragged Zhili along. Zhili remembered clearly that he thought her outfit was too boyish and specially bought her a bright red jacket. That day, Jiaying looked at Zhili, who was half a head taller than him, and said, “If you were shorter, I wouldn’t be so troubled.”
At Houhai, Zhili and his friends ate and drank until everyone was tipsy. On the stone bridge, Jiaying stumbled and fell onto Zhili, pushing her off the railing. As she fell into the water, she heard Jiaying frantically shouting, “Can anyone swim? Save my buddy!”
Zhili thought, only she and the fish in Houhai heard her silent scream, “I am not your buddy!”
Only by being taller than you can I look you in the eye
A week after Jiaying returned to Beijing, he blocked Zhili at her company’s entrance.
His first words were, “Jiang Zhili, don’t you want me?” He leaned against the pillar, his casual stance and joking tone almost made Zhili cry.
“Get lost! I’m busy.” Zhili walked ahead with big strides. Now he was half a head taller than her, and she didn’t even have the courage to look him in the eye. He chased after her, asking if she had a boyfriend, and when he could meet this family member. She lied, saying she had a boyfriend and had already met his parents, promising to introduce him sometime. She lied, and he was happy.
Jiang Zhili and Cheng Jiaying had known each other since kindergarten, through high school, and into the same university. On that Valentine’s Day in their senior year, when Zhili fell into the water, it was the non-swimmer Jiaying who saved her. When Zhili woke up in the hospital, she saw him lying on the bed next to her, the doctor said he was just feverish and asleep. Zhili tiptoed out of bed and, while no one was looking, kissed his lips, her heart pounding.
After graduating in their second year of college, Jiaying went to Seattle.
At that time, Jiaying was 174cm, and Zhili was 176cm. In the airport waiting room, Zhili cried her heart out saying goodbye. Jiaying said, “As a 176cm woman, crying like this is too fake.” Zhili held back her tears, watching him go through security. At 3 AM in Beijing, Zhili received his call from across the ocean, where he was crying his heart out. After crying, he said, “It turns out, a 174cm man crying is faker than a 176cm woman.” Over dinner, Jiaying held his lemonade and said, “Jiang Zhili, ever since I grew taller than you, I can finally look you in the eye.”
This world only allows petite girls to be pitiful
Even though Zhili said she had a boyfriend, Jiaying still shamelessly flirted with her, relying on his height, putting his arm around her shoulder wherever they went.
“What about your blonde girl?” Zhili asked nonchalantly.
“She was just someone I met on the plane, we went our separate ways after landing,” he replied easily.
“You’re such a flirt!” Zhili shouted on purpose, but her heart blossomed with joy.
Zhili’s mother saw her and Jiaying with their arms around each other in the city and dragged him home without a word. Clearly treating Jiaying as a future son-in-law, her mother ignored all of Zhili’s explanations and watched as she exposed her lie.
“Xiao Cheng, right? You used to come to our house when you were little. Zhili said you just came back from the U.S. No wonder she hasn’t dated anyone all these years, she was waiting for you.” Zhili’s mother smiled and invited Jiaying to stay for dinner. While her mother went to make tea, Zhili pulled Jiaying and ran downstairs.
As they ran, Jiaying said, “Jiang Zhili, you lied to me! All these years, you never dated anyone…” Jiaying remembered calling Zhili from Seattle, asking about her love life. She said she was dating, then a few days later said she broke up, and he laughed at how quickly she turned the page.
Zhili pretended not to hear, holding Jiaying’s hand and running for a long time. The wind howled past, mocking her cowardice. She had liked him for so many years, but never dared to say a word.
This kind of love, born of feelings, often ends friendship when spoken without certainty. Zhili understood this well, and perhaps Jiaying did too.
That night, Zhili said nothing, taking Jiaying to a street stall and getting drunk. He drank with her, puzzled, and said, “Why are you suddenly so sentimental?” Zhili suddenly stood up, holding the bottle, and shouted, “Is this world only allowed to pity petite girls? Can’t I, Jiang Zhili, be vulnerable once without being seen as fake? Get lost!”
Jiaying was stunned.
The sixth floor, your name echoes
Zhili’s home was in the old district near Tongzhou, on the sixth floor, with no elevator.
The old district had no streetlights outside, only voice-activated lights in the stairwells. Before she liked Jiaying, Zhili would shout her own name to light the way. Since middle school, she called out “Cheng Jiaying” from the first floor every night, one floor at a time, until the sixth floor, for over ten years.
For this hidden love, the smallest comfort was calling his name and seeing light.
Since the drunken night with Jiaying, Zhili had been finding excuses to avoid him. She was torn about whether to confess her feelings.
Two weeks later, Zhili came home from work, shouting Jiaying’s name as usual. “Cheng Jiaying, Cheng Jiaying!”
On the sixth floor, the light came on as usual.
“Jiang Zhili, you…”
She was startled and looked up to see Jiaying leaning against her door, shocked. With one more step, she didn’t know where to put her foot.
Jiaying seemed still in shock: “Since you kept avoiding me, I had to come.”
Zhili stared at him, silent. The surroundings were quiet, and the voice-activated light went out. In the darkness, only their breathing could be heard.
“It’s just that your name is easier to shout…” Zhili spoke, and the light came on again, but before she could finish, Jiaying interrupted.
“Jiang Zhili, you’ve been secretly in love with me… Hey, don’t run!”
Zhili didn’t listen, sprinting downstairs with her long legs.
“Jiang Zhili, I’ve always loved you”
After the voice-activated light incident, Zhili completely avoided Jiaying, blocking his calls, emails, and MSN.
Why avoid him, Zhili couldn’t explain, she was just scared. Perhaps anyone this close to their long-time dream would be as anxious as Zhili.
On the fourth night, returning home, Zhili reached the sixth floor and shouted “Cheng Jiaying,” the light came on, and she heard Jiaying’s
voice, “I’m here.” She looked up to see Jiaying coming down from the seventh floor. She tried to run but Jiaying grabbed her wrist and pushed her into a corner.
“Jiang Zhili, do you know, all these years, I’ve always liked you. But you always saw me as a buddy. Before I went abroad, I tested you several times, but you ignored me. That’s why I left. The first person I wanted to see when I returned to Beijing was you.”
Hearing this, Zhili felt wronged. He always saw her as a buddy. “Cheng Jiaying, I like you, no doubt. You always disliked that I was taller. I’ve been your buddy for over ten years. On our only day as lovers, you still called me a buddy, and even the fish in Houhai laughed at me.”
Zhili breathed heavily, “So, now you must go to Houhai and tell those fish I’m not your buddy!”
“How should I say it?” Jiaying scratched his head.
“Of course, jump into Houhai and shout, ‘Jiang Zhili, I love you!'”
Zhili was just saying, but Jiaying really took her to Houhai and jumped in.
The difference was, he shouted, “Jiang Zhili, I’ve always loved you.”
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
