She Doesn’t Look at Me

[Super sweet with a touch of angst + school life + lively, funny heroine + cool, pure-hearted hero + mutual secret crushes]

When the subject of her middle-school crush came up, Zheng Yangling declared with supreme confidence, “I stopped liking him ages ago. Even if he stood right beside me, I wouldn’t even blush.”

Until that unexpected encounter one day...

“Auntie, one jianbing guozi, no chili, and add two eggs!” Zheng Yangling was the first to rush out of the school gates, shouting as she headed to her usual stall.

“Coming right up, handsome! What would you like?”

“I’ll have the same as her.”

The voice of the boy she thought she had long since forgotten, buried deep in her memories, rang out behind her, clear as a mountain spring. That familiar instinctive reaction sent her turning and running.

Everyone thought Zheng Yangling’s relentless pursuit had finally won Xu Haoyu over, until one day they happened to find a photo in his album.

A girl stood on the sports field, taking turns photographing her friends with a camera as they took their graduation pictures. Her youthful face brimmed with smiles, her hair lifted gently by the breeze, sunlight glinting in its strands.

Beneath the trees, sunlight filtered through the leaves and cast shadows across the paving stones. Facing the camera, the boy lifted the corners of his mouth ever so slightly. As the camera flashed, it captured the secret feelings that belonged only to youth.

“Xu Haoyu, you liked me ages ago! Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I’m sorry. I had no experience... I thought the way I looked at you every time would convey how I felt.”