When she first met me, I had nothing.
No money, no house, my bank card can't even hold three digits. In the toughest times, I had to check on the app which restaurant had discounts for a bowl of beef noodles, then get off two stops early and walk with her for more than ten minutes. Yet she didn't complain about being tired, instead she smiled and said: 'Walking is great, I can spend more time with you.'
I looked at her sweaty forehead and sunburnt face, my nose started to feel sour. I knew, at that moment, I could give her nothing, yet she gave me all her tenderness.
She never asks how much I earn, only whether I am tired today; she doesn't need me to buy her designer bags, she only gifted me a notebook filled with my dreams on my birthday. She said: 'I am not afraid that you are not capable now, I am only afraid that one day you will give up on yourself.'
We have argued, gone through cold wars, and even broke up for several days once. But she eventually cried and came back, saying: 'I am not afraid of your failure, I am afraid that you will no longer hold my hand.'
She doesn't fail to see my childishness, cowardice, and stubbornness, but she always believes that one day I can become reliable. That moment, I truly understood what love means.
Love is not the applause you receive when you succeed, but a light during your downfall;
It's not the admiration during the glorious times, but a simple 'I will accompany you' during the tough times.
To not let this love down, I started to work desperately hard.
Working part-time during the day, writing at night, staring at the computer day and night, facing humiliation in business but pushing through. I told myself that she shouldn't know about all the hardships, and I would bear all the exhaustion alone.
She accompanied me to eat instant noodles, and I must treat her to truffles;
She lived with me in a ten-square-meter rental, and I want to take her to see the aurora and stay in a sea view room.
That year the market was cold, I used my little savings to buy a few Bitcoins, no one believed in it, but it became a turning point in my life. I didn't tell her until the day we sat on the plane, she stared blankly at the sea of clouds outside, I handed her the passport and hotel reservation, she looked at me in confusion, and I just said: 'The Maldives you mentioned, I remember.'
She cried, laughed and cried, saying how I still remember wishes from so long ago. I smiled and said: 'You accompanied me through my entire youth, now it's my turn to fulfill my promise.'
In this world, there are some women that you only think of marrying after you become wealthy;
But there are also some women that you work hard to earn enough to match her.
She is the gentleness I owe the most in my life, and the debt I want to repay with my whole life.
So don't ask me why I work so hard, it's not because I'm greedy, but because behind me, there's someone who believed in me, accompanied me, and stood by me when I was down and out.
She gave me a whole phase of youth without asking for results, and I finally held onto the rope of Bitcoin in the low valley, and I could finally hold her hand and lead her to our good days.