A girl with a vast heart, yearning for the horizon.

It’s strange, but upon seeing this title, the first reaction is that it’s about the kind of girl girls like.

Upon careful consideration, the girl that girls like must be the favorite among the girls around. This kind of girl generally has a vast heart, neither humble nor pushy, yearning for the horizon, yet grounded in the present.

During graduate school, a classmate left no deep impression on me when I first met her, just her clean appearance and neat attire. If I had to say what attracted me, it should be her gentleness.

When I first joined the class, there were only four foreigners in the whole class, and my English was not very fluent at the time, so I didn’t fully understand some of the things said. But because she had studied abroad during her undergraduate years, she spoke fluent English. At that time, I sat at the back because I had to remember words I didn’t understand from time to time, and I would occasionally ask her questions involving understanding entire sentences, and she would quietly answer me in my ear.

After class, I apologized to her for disturbing her during class, but she didn’t say anything and instead handed me her notes to organize at home. She also transferred the recording of the entire class to my phone, told me the book the teacher was discussing, the teacher’s teaching style, and a joke she found funny.

Thinking back, I felt that this was just one small beautiful moment for her that day, but I remembered it for a long, long time.

Because we were classmates, we had more opportunities to meet each other.

I remember it took three months for us to become familiar with each other. We didn’t fall in love at first sight and immediately become best friends, but kept a comfortable distance from each other to get to know each other.

I thought she was a studious girl who went to the library as soon as class was over.

After becoming familiar with her, I discovered that she had her own daily routine. Sleeping in until 10 in the morning, a cup of warm water, two hours of exercise, going out for lunch, and having a beer while sunbathing on the grass, attending classes in the afternoon, going to the rooftop café after class for a hot Americano, and checking the book for the next day, not eating dinner after finishing the book, having her favorite chocolate, going home to watch a movie, have a drink, and occasionally turning into a wildcat at the pub on weekends.

In most people’s minds, a girl who drinks or goes clubbing cannot be considered a good girl. It seems that good girls are isolated from all desires.

Real good girls are those who have experienced desires, but refrain from indulging in them.

1. Knowing Oneself

She once said that she never places her hopes and future in the hands of others, even if it’s her partner or best friend, because everyone has their own life to strive for. In essence, a good person’s chance of meeting another good person is higher than that of a bad person. She knows her most charming features lie in her perseverance and hard work.

She likes Western literature, from the bitterness at the beginning to the later sophistication of literature, which she finds very interesting. So, even though the truth about good job prospects in business was right in front of her, she still chose Western literature.

Because she said, “Business only sees money, but literature sees the microcosm.”

She understands her own procrastination, so her plans are accurate down to the hour every day. Even during happy times, she meticulously includes them in her plans.

Because she said, “It’s impossible to experience something happy at every moment, but when you think about experiencing happiness in the next second after experiencing hardship, it doesn’t seem bitter anymore.”

She understands the importance of appearance and figure to a girl, so she reads feminist books and acts in the play “The Vagina Monologues” just to constantly remind herself not to change herself to fit the views of men or women, and not to live as a puppet under the eyes of others. Even if she goes to the gym every day, and even if the stretching in her Pilates class makes her want to cry, all her efforts are for herself, as she hopes her life is beautiful, elegant, and charming.

Because she said, “Beautiful things always have their benefits.”

2. Empathy

A good girl actually has nothing to do with being kind.

They have already thought of all the thoughtful ways for you before you feel tired.

Her ex-boyfriend once thanked her when they broke up, thanking her for being in his life.

Why?

Because she loves thoroughly and leaves thoroughly.

To love thoroughly is to consider things from the other person’s perspective at all times. Even if her blunt words sometimes embarrass the other person, she immediately realizes the embarrassment she has caused and uses her gentleness to resolve it.

I remember one time when she complained to her boyfriend about being too close to her female friends, but because she loves thoroughly, she didn’t control herself and went to find the boy and told him everything she didn’t like, but the boy questioned her, saying that her male friends didn’t count?

After going home, she locked herself in her room, seriously reflected on her interactions with her male friends, and thought from the perspective of her female friends. She later made an appointment with her boyfriend to apologize for not empathizing and to express the distance she believed should be maintained in opposite-sex relationships, hoping to gain the other person’s approval.

I understand that when you read this, you might think this girl is too rational. But to empathize, her rationality resolved the contradiction that they would have quarreled over their opposite-sex friends, and because of this discussion, they will understand each other’s ways of thinking.

3. Independent and Visionary

They have the ability to think independently at all times.

It’s really terrifying if a girl lacks the ability to think independently, as it’s easy to become the source of gossip in the community and possibly make judgments based on one piece of news.

Her independent thinking brings her confidence and reason.

She understands that she should break up when she doesn’t love, because she doesn’t expect love to give her company, nor does she depend on love to change her life.

She understands that her happiness comes from pursuing her dreams, so she insists on studying what she loves.

She understands her future self, the home she wants to have, and the love she wants to give to the other person, so she lives for herself every day.

She doesn’t lose herself to occasional desires, but instead finds ways to vent her emotions during tough times.

She won’t be fooled, because she has her own universe, star-studded universe.