Love Story of Boy and Girl
Over 1,400 Days of Missing You
Shu Lin found out about Song Yu’s return from the news.
Even with a blurry silhouette, she recognized him immediately. He was riding a horse through the traffic, his uneven shoulders particularly noticeable, with many girls taking photos of him with their phones. He still liked to attract attention, and the girls still fell for it, just as Shu Lin had, once being one of those girls chasing after him.
Shu Lin turned off her phone and continued to listen to the teacher’s lecture on the spatial theory of flower arrangement. But she couldn’t concentrate; her mind kept wandering back to Song Yu. If this reunion after a breakup was a ripple on a calm lake, then for Shu Lin and Song Yu, it was nothing short of a storm.
Shu Lin touched her half-broken front tooth, slammed her book shut, and ran out of the classroom.
She decided to enroll in a Taekwondo class, determined to knock Song Yu down with one punch to avenge her broken tooth from four years ago. But as she ran into the street, the spring breeze hit her face, and she couldn’t help it—a single tear, representing over 1,400 days of longing, finally fell.
The 19-Year-Old’s Life Choices
Six years ago, Shu Lin was a freshman in college, wearing a tank top, shorts, flip-flops, sporting ear-length short hair, and tanned skin from a summer at the beach. Compared to the fair-skinned, beautiful senior girls, she looked quite plain.
Song Yu, standing at 185 cm, with striking purple hair, walked into the school and validated the concept of “cutest height difference” as he passed by Shu Lin. Shu Lin rolled her eyes, but the girls around her had hearts in their eyes.
Soon, Shu Lin switched sides. When she got into an argument with a street vendor, Song Yu stood by her side, and the vendor immediately backed down. Shu Lin looked up at Song Yu, her heart pounding. As she later described it: his light purple hair under the streetlights had a dreamy quality, like a head full of forget-me-nots.
Shu Lin’s bold pursuit was unstoppable. Among many carefree and naive girls, she stood out as an anomaly, and Song Yu couldn’t help but be drawn to her. So, the following spring, he agreed to her pursuit.
Shu Lin’s head just reached Song Yu’s shoulder, and he always had to tilt his shoulder to see her face clearly, which gradually gave him uneven shoulders. Most college romances are short-lived, ending upon graduation. Song Yu had never thought he would stay with Shu Lin until graduation, but Shu Lin had already started planning their future, even calling him at midnight to ask, “Do you think we should live in the south or the north in the future?”
That year, Song Yu was only 19, facing his biggest choices as whether to have rice or noodles tomorrow. But Shu Lin threw a life choice question at him. Song Yu hesitated for a moment before casually saying, “South.”
The Front Tooth and Love Part Ways
Their relationship lasted less than three months. Shu Lin, a dreamer, had already drawn a blueprint for her life with Song Yu in her mind. She even wrote it down in a notebook: buy a house by the sea, travel once a year, have a baby at 29…
Song Yu memorized everything she asked for, but like most boys, he was rebellious inside. He thought as long as Shu Lin was happy now, it was fine. The future was too far off.
Shu Lin still had short hair. As soon as it got hot, she would wear a tank top, shorts, and flip-flops, standing out in the crowd. Song Yu had cut off his last bit of purple hair, getting the latest buzz cut, looking fresh and handsome, enjoying the attention from the senior girls.
In their year-long relationship, the only security Shu Lin found in him was his words: “As long as you don’t dump me, I will never leave you.” Shu Lin felt reassured. How could she dump him? She had used up all her pride and courage to get to Song Yu’s side; she would never be the one to say goodbye first.
But life is more unpredictable than absolute. One year and two months into their relationship, on Song Yu’s birthday, he invited a bunch of classmates to a karaoke room. No one acknowledged Shu Lin as his girlfriend, and a girl, drunk, kissed Song Yu on the cheek right in front of Shu Lin.
Shu Lin, also drunk, let all her insecurities and alcohol-fueled anger take over, slapping the girl and starting a fight. The scene was chaotic. Song Yu stepped in front of Shu Lin, and she bit his arm hard. Reflexively, he pushed her away, and she hit the glass edge of the table, chipping her front tooth. The noisy room fell silent. Shu Lin stared at the half tooth on the table and burst into tears. Before Song Yu could reach her, she ran out of the room.
It was the first time Shu Lin cried. Even when her father left her and her mother to join the monastery, she wasn’t this sad. Because deep down, she knew, in their year-long relationship, Song Yu never really liked her.
Lacking the Courage to Say Goodbye in Person
From that night on, Shu Lin and Song Yu drifted apart like the two ends of a rocket ascending into space, automatically separating.
Shu Lin, a decisive girl, deleted all of Song Yu’s contact information and warned all her friends not to pass any messages from him. She decided to forget him.
Song Yu called her name downstairs, but she hid under her covers, turning up her earphones’ volume. She seemed brave, but it was all because she lacked the courage to say goodbye in person. She always acted tough because she grew up without a father, severely lacking a sense of security. Shu Lin cried silently under the covers.
For the next three years, even though they were in the same school and department, they rarely saw each other. She heard rumors about their breakup, with some saying Song Yu found her too rough. Shu Lin smiled indifferently but grew her hair long in her senior year. She knew she wasn’t trying to prove anything to anyone; she just hoped to leave a different impression on Song Yu if they met again. Probably, all girls have had such fantasies after a breakup.
At graduation, Shu Lin took commemorative photos with her roommates on the playground. She dragged it out for an entire afternoon but didn’t see Song Yu. Someone as dazzling as him probably already had someone by his side.
Later, during her internship, Shu Lin heard that Song Yu had gone abroad.
Not Wanting to Lose Everything
Shu Lin stayed in the south. Her hair had grown long, and last month she decided to cultivate herself, enrolling in flower arrangement and etiquette classes. She thought she would never hear from Song Yu again, so she planned to be a lady, wearing light-colored dresses, even though she looked unlike herself.
A colleague asked Shu Lin why she didn’t get her chipped front tooth fixed. Shu Lin thought maybe she wanted it as evidence that Song Yu owed her, or perhaps it was the last thing related to Song Yu that she didn’t want to lose. But she told her colleague, “Because I only like original, and that part can’t be found anymore.”
Every week, she would visit the temple, watching her father in monk robes teach about letting go and returning to one’s true self. She always couldn’t help but cry. Over the years, her true self had already followed Song Yu across the sea.
She never planned to call Song Yu back because his heart was never with her. Just like she visited the temple every week at her mother’s behest, but she never really persuaded her father to come back. She knew his heart belonged to the Buddha.
Of course, Shu Lin didn’t really enroll in Taekwondo. She continued her flower arrangement and etiquette classes. She even secretly visited the street where Song Yu was seen riding a horse in the news but didn’t meet him.
Fearing the Long Nights
In those years without Song Yu, Shu Lin did date, but in the long nights, the person she thought of was always Song Yu. Her heart was too small to hold anyone else, even though she pretended to be full of enthusiasm, her partners could still sense her divided heart. Breakups were inevitable.
Shu Lin looked at the scattered lights outside the window, wondering what kind of girl was with Song Yu, whether he remembered her, whether he mentioned her to anyone… whether he also feared the long nights.
Shu Lin decided to cut her long hair, fearing that if she met Song Yu on the street, he wouldn’t recognize her.
The day after she cut her hair, she ran into Song Yu asking for directions near her office. He was still so tall but had gained some weight. Before she could run away, Song Yu saw her.
After some casual conversation, Song Yu said he was there to find his girlfriend. Shu Lin quickly said goodbye, but as soon as she walked out of his sight, she couldn’t help but cry on the street.
Song Yu had ultimately become the ship she could never board.
Taking Responsibility for His Uneven Shoulders
A week later, Shu Lin saw Song Yu again downstairs at her company. Under the scorching sun, he stood heroically on a chestnut horse in the busy street, his eyes gentle and determined as they rested on her.
“Buy a house by the sea, facing south, with spring flowers blooming; ride a horse around the city at 25; get married at 26; have a baby at 29; ride an elephant in Xish
uangbanna at 30. Today, you’re 25. I haven’t broken my promise. If we are to get married at 26, you need to come with me now because we need time to take wedding photos, pick out rings, and meet the parents…”
Shu Lin looked at the man on the horse, with his buzz cut and uneven shoulders, reciting a life plan she had almost forgotten, word for word. She immediately teared up.
Song Yu gracefully dismounted and, bending down, smiled warmly at her.
“Didn’t you say you have a girlfriend?” Shu Lin’s tone was full of jealousy. Song Yu looked straight at her and said, “Yes.” Shu Lin suddenly realized that he was looking for her that day. Although they had been apart for four years, she had never said the word “break up.” It seemed Song Yu was determined to use this to his advantage.
Song Yu said he went abroad after graduation, thinking he could forget her, but he realized he really couldn’t. And she needed to take responsibility for his uneven shoulders.
Before he finished speaking, Shu Lin was already in tears. Song Yu touched her hair, as short as it used to be, and took the opportunity to pick her up and leap onto the horse. Shu Lin leaned into his gentle embrace, feeling as though the missing piece of her front tooth had finally returned.
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