[Childhood sweethearts + both pursue each other + misunderstandings + reunion after years apart + happy ending]
*
Growing up in a large, quiet mansion, little Qingjin rarely had anyone to play with. She had stars in her eyes for the boy next door and thought he was clever and handsome.
The adults often joked that they would marry when they grew up.
Little Qingjin would grin and tell him, “When we grow up, you’ll be mine.”
Though young, Shen Yi'an already knew a lot.
He explained to his childhood sweetheart: “That’s called an arranged marriage for the sake of the family! If you meet someone you like more when you grow up, but still have to be with me, would you be happy?”
The little girl tilted her head and thought for a long time, then pouted in a huff. “No! I’ll only be with someone I love!”
He laughed, secretly pleased with his own cleverness, never guessing the price he’d pay for those words in the years to come.
*
Six years later, Song Qingjin appeared before Shen Yi'an, dazzling as Gu Mushen’s fiancée.
“You’ve changed so much.”
He looked at her, his voice low and filled with sorrow.
She looked up at the man before her. His handsome, refined features were both familiar and strange. His suit was crisp and immaculate, without a single wrinkle, and his top button was fastened.
There was no trace of the little boy who had once laughed and played with her in the courtyard.
But you’ve changed too.
She silently repeated the words in her heart and swallowed what she had wanted to say.
