wedge
"Are you worried about something?"
Fan Chen looked at the faint blue color under her eyes and suddenly sighed, breaking the tranquility of the restaurant's soothing music.
Zhao Jinglu's fingers tightened slightly around the wine glass, and she remained silent for a moment. The swaying liquid reflected her face, slightly exhausted, yet she managed to maintain composure. She was now a rising star in the workplace, her life completely filled with busyness. Only she knew what lay beneath this almost self-destructive struggle, a deep abyss she dared not touch.
She raised her head, her voice calm, yet filled with a long-pent-up desire that needed to be expressed:
"Want to hear a really long story?" Zhao Jinglu twirled her wine glass, a wry smile in her eyes. "It's about someone I've been thinking about for a whole ten years."
Fan Chen was slightly startled. She had never seen Zhao Jinglu look like this before—weary yet stubborn, as if that name were an old wound that had never healed.
"Ten years?" Fan Chen asked softly, "You never mentioned it."
"Because I don't dare." She lowered her eyes. "I'm afraid that once I start talking, I'll fall into it again."
So, in that softly lit corner, time went back, and she slowly unveiled the prologue of her story - it began many years ago in a noisy playground, an unruly face in the sun, and a No. 7 jersey that was destined to break into her life.
She recounted those moments when her heart skipped a beat, those insincere conversations, those fiery attractions and cold realities. She recalled every detail, as if she was not telling a story but conducting a long farewell ceremony.
A faint sadness filled the air.
Fan Chen listened quietly until she finished speaking, then took a deep breath and sighed, "Zhao Jinglu...you're really patient and able to hold things in. I've known you for so many years, from high school to now, and you're just now remembering to talk to me?"
She just smiled, with relief and lingering sadness in her eyes.
She finally delivered the story about "him" in its entirety.
Perhaps the ending has already been written at the beginning, but every heartbeat and rush in the process is as bright as a star, enough to illuminate the entire youth.
All of this entanglement and growth, running and departure, all started from that unknown and secret concern a long, long time ago...
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