The Wutong Tree Couldn't Wait for Spring

[Cheerful, sunny underachiever x aloof on the outside, warmhearted on the inside top student]

[Sweet at first, then heartbreaking | BE | Mutual pining] (Ensemble cast)

I love you like a book that never closes,

Every line holds a passage of tenderness meant only for you.

In the early autumn of senior year, twelve years ago,

she accidentally put his name on an award certificate,

and two people with nothing in common became entwined.

After they became deskmates, she secretly wrote down every little thing about him on cards each night.

Beneath the magnolia tree, she thought no one had heard her confession.

But he was wearing headphones with no music playing, quietly treasuring the feelings she’d shared.

They thought the climax of their story would be the college entrance exam, and that it would end in Nanjing, beneath a shower of plane-tree leaves.

But the “ci” in “Chen Yanci” means farewell.

The plane trees still stand, but his heart is empty.

At Chen Yanci’s wedding,

“Dad, why isn’t Uncle Chen smiling?”

“Uncle Chen is thinking about something very important. He’ll smile in a little while.”

“In my heart, I’ve already spent the rest of my life with you.”

I dedicate this book to every youth that came to an end without ever beginning,

and to the person

we once loved with all our might.