Originally titled The Pear Before Dawn, also known as The Pear Tree Finally Forgot to Blossom
[Heart-wrenching campus romance, a secret crush ending in sorrow, tearjerker after tearjerker!]
Introverted and sensitive, Li Xiao has kept her feelings for her deskmate, Ling Xiyan, buried in her heart ever since elementary school. Pale and thin, Ling Xiyan always carries the bitter scent of hospital disinfectant, yet quietly protects her in his own way: deliberately keeping their scores half a point apart, the medicinal fragrance lingering on his handkerchief, the blank message he leaves in her yearbook...
Years later, as Li Xiao sorts through old belongings, the details sealed away by time piece together a cruel truth. The faded medical instructions on the back of a dried pear blossom, the candy wrappers engraved with chemical formulas in a tin box, the trembling handwriting along the edge of a notebook: all speak of a devotion no one ever knew about. And when Ling Xiyan suddenly returns from abroad, this secret crush, spanning nine years, stirs to life once more.
In this act of protection that comes at the cost of a life, their love teeters on the threshold of error. Every half a percent is a tender concession Ling Xiyan trades for with the rest of his life. But fate has other plans, and the story ultimately ends in tragedy. The confessions they never voiced, along with the pear blossoms withering on a hospital bed, are sealed away, becoming the most painful mementos of their youth. Join Li Xiao as she explores this regretful secret crush buried in the rainy season of youth, and feel the heartbreak and tenderness of a love that could never be returned!
