Love and loss on a university campus
The university campus is quiet and beautiful.
Under a shady tree, there often sits a female student, opening a book and reading it earnestly on her lap.
Her name is Xiaolin, a sophomore, young and beautiful, exuding youthful vitality. Her only flaw is her love for quietness and her lack of social skills. Naturally, many pursue her, but she rejects them all politely. The reason is simple: she has a lover.
Who is her lover? Her roommates press her constantly, but she just smiles and looks at the blue sky, with a hint of bitterness in her smile.
Xiaolin isn’t lying. She has a childhood sweetheart who went abroad. When she saw him off, the plane took off from the airport, and the sky was as blue as it is now. So she often looks at the sky, as if her boyfriend’s smiling face is up there.
A boy appeared in front of her one day, sitting with her and silently looking at the sky. He said, “I can see her up there.”
“What?” Xiaolin was puzzled.
“My girlfriend, she’s in heaven,” the boy said softly.
Xiaolin was surprised and turned to look at him. He was a classmate she had forgotten the name of, so she just gave a light “oh” and said no more. Love is like this: when lost, it feels like a knife to the heart. The only true remedy is time.
From then on, the two seemed to have a tacit understanding, often sitting under the tree. She read her book, and he sat beside her, quietly and attentively watching her.
Xiaolin couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you watching me?”
“You look like her.”
“The girl who passed away?”
“Yes. Are you angry?”
“Why would I be angry?”
“Taboo.”
“No, I’m not angry. But I don’t want you staring at me like that because I have a boyfriend. He’d be jealous if he knew.”
“Oh! But I just want to see her, not you.”
Xiaolin fell silent, holding her book and ignoring him, thinking, “Fine, look if you want. You’re not looking at me anyway.”
The boy really did just watch her for a whole year. During this year, they became friends, sharing everything with each other.
But one day, the boy didn’t come. Xiaolin sat under the tree waiting, feeling anxious. The wind was strong that day, chilling her heart. She particularly wanted to tell him that her boyfriend had returned and that they were going to get married. She wouldn’t be coming here anymore.
But why hadn’t he come? She looked around anxiously. It was quiet; only the wind danced wildly, making everything in the world its accomplice, acting arrogantly like a prince of winter, weaving through winter’s embrace.
When snowflakes flew, Xiaolin went back, with disappointed tears streaming down her face as she fell into her boyfriend’s arms. He held her, looking surprised at her tears.
She murmured, “I’m not crying. It’s sand, sand in my eyes.”
But her heart loudly questioned her, “Is that true? Is that really true?”
The wind wailed, giving no answer.
Xiaolin still got married, because she never saw the hidden figure. That night, he had flowers to confess to her, but saw her rush into her boyfriend’s arms with a scream. The flowers in his hand fell to the ground with a thud. He didn’t pick them up; love doesn’t come back just because you bend down. So he left, with a sorrowful heart, watching the stars all night long.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
