Wen Anning has lived by a twelve-character motto since childhood: raise him right, let love bloom slowly, cook more, kiss him senseless.
[Childhood sweethearts + mutual healing + devoted, circuitous secret crush + a shameless marriage bureau ad]
Wen Anning: “What? Yan Song is really coming to stay at our house for two months?”
That's right. She's been given a mission: give Yan Song a complete makeover and turn him into a gentle, handsome college guy.
Since he's here, he has to do what she says.
Wen Anning: “Throw out all those ridiculous cuffed joggers and jeans. Get rid of them for good.”
Yan Song does as she says.
Wen Anning: “Wash your face with cleanser every day, and use a face mask once a day. I'll check at night.”
Yan Song does as she says again.
Wen Anning: “I've signed you up for the gym. Don't come back until you have an eight-pack.”
Yan Song does as she says once more.
In just a few months, their feelings grow fast. They're one kiss away from finally admitting how they feel.
That winter, when spring was just beginning, Yan Song enlists.
Wen Anning lowers the brim of her hat and pretends not to care. Only when she watches him walk away does she dare to reveal all the love and longing in her heart.
They spend two years apart, each living their own life.
Wen Anning never told anyone that in the spring she was seventeen, when the magnolias bloomed, she fell in love with fifteen-year-old Yan Song.
Then, at twenty-two, she sees Yan Song again, his youthful innocence completely gone after his military service.
“Yan Song, do you like magnolias?” she asks.
A breeze passes by.
Yan Song gently brushes a petal from her hair, then tucks a perfect magnolia behind her ear.
“I do,” he says.
Love is written in the stars, and so is finding your way to each other.
Very close to my life, school bullying. I found a glimmer of salvation in the book, and the sun seemed to shine on me