Sweet romance | School life at first, then city life | Healing each other | Wealthy families | Mutual secret crushes | Growing up |
Other people's youth began in the height of summer. For Chen Manxin, it began when she met Su Zhiye amid the winter snow at the start of spring.
Chen Manxin had been working to pay off her father's debts, but on her first day at school, her creditor turned out to be Su Zhiye.
The flamboyant boy, with silver hair and a lollipop perpetually in his mouth, sat atop a towering wall, holding a black umbrella. In the dark, he looked like a languid yet blazing god.
To his surprise, Chen Manxin sank to the ground and buried her face in her hands, sobbing in fits and starts.
Su Zhiye's eyes widened. He looked completely at a loss.
"Hey!"
The snow began soaking through Chen Manxin's pants.
"Hey..."
Su Zhiye crouched down and rummaged through his pockets, but couldn't find even half a tissue. He wanted to wipe the tears from Chen Manxin's cheeks, but didn't dare touch her.
"Chen Manxin," Su Zhiye called.
Afraid she might feel awkward about him paying off so much of her debt, he took out his phone, opened his banking app, and held it up in front of her.
Through tearful eyes, Chen Manxin saw a string of digits.
How much was that? Five million?
"That's my spending money. I can earn it back in a year."
-
Years later, Chen Manxin went to the counselor's office to ask about graduate school applications. She saw Su Zhiye sitting to one side in a white shirt. He lazily raised his eyes to meet hers, and she instinctively turned away with a cold expression. Su Zhiye hurried after her. "Chen Manxin, you still haven't paid me back in full!"
