MTL - Thousand Autumns - ~ Extra 8

I cut from south to north,

I cut from white to black,

I will cut down the thousand mountains and the ten thousand waters,

I want the world to know who I am!

I am Gu Zhan,

Gu Zhan who wants the whole world to surrender!

- Description from novelbuddy

Some exist with pride, others struggle with pride, some compete with pride, and there are those who fail with pride, but very few can walk away with pride.Congratulations, for as you read these lines, you have witnessed the whole lives of many great basketball players.This pronunciation was embodied when Stephen Curry, after facing defeat in 2021, claimed that no one would want to face them the following season; When Tim Duncan was convinced before the start of the 2014 Finals that they would not mess up; When Kobe Bryant promised at Old Buss's memorial to take the Lakers to the playoffs; When Nowitzki, shedding his label as a soft player, retreated to the locker room in tears at night; When Kevin Garnett let out a skyward howl after holding the championship trophy; When the 2004 Detroit Pistons won and the F4 Lakers lost…Our story begins in an era when pride still mattered.

Transported to a rural family in 1973, where eating required food stamps, dressing needed cloth tickets, stepping out asked for a letter of introduction, doing business was considered speculative profiteering, and securing a job demanded an urban household registration. She, a young girl from the countryside, faced an indifferent mother, a troublesome younger brother, and an elder sister who often had poor ideas. Life had become insufferable.Memories from her past life are mostly forgotten, yet the myriad of objects in her magical storage ring baffles her greatly.

Elaine Monroe never meant to fall in love with him. She never meant for her heart to betray her like this. But as she watches him stand beside another, hand resting on the waist of the woman he’s meant to be with, she wonders if she was always destined to be the outsider.“You knew,” she says, voice barely above a whisper. “You knew how I felt.”His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t deny it. He never does.“It wouldn’t have changed anything,” he finally says.She laughs bitterly. “I know.”Loving him was always impossible. He belonged to someone else. To his family’s expectations. To a future where Elaine had no place.“Forget whatever you think you feel,” he tells her, voice firm, but there’s something unspoken in his eyes—something that makes it hurt even more. “It will never happen.”And yet, his gaze lingers, just for a second too long.Then there’s her best friend—the one who stands beside her when the world turns its back. The one who sees her pain without asking.“You don’t have to do this to yourself,” he says, handing her his jacket on a cold night. “You deserve more than waiting for someone who will never be yours.”She wants to believe him. She wants to move forward. But some loves are impossible to forget. Some wounds never truly heal. And some desires, no matter how forbidden, refuse to die._____“loving him best decision i ever made” Elaine“you are my world”