First Hints of Summer

The First Buds of Summer tells the story of Lin Qingyu, a provincial sprinting champion who transfers to Jiangcheng No. 2 High School and clashes with Su Ningxia, the arts committee member of Class 2, Grade 11, over an accidental “lemonade incident.” Though the two seem haughty and sharp-tongued, they gradually discover each other’s strengths through everyday campus life, from preparing for the sports meet to dealing with a crisis at the manga club. When Lin Qingyu struggles to break through a bottleneck on the track, Su Ningxia draws him a training guide in comic form. And when Su Ningxia is at a loss over a crisis at her family business, Lin Qingyu quietly stays by her side. With childhood friend Gu Nanxing’s support and her best friend Tang Xiaotang’s all-out matchmaking, this “Lemon Soda Couple” transforms from rivals into lovers amid the cicadas’ midsummer song, using the sweat of youth to nurture the purest flower of growth. In this bittersweet story where the track intertwines with the art studio, every young person is searching for their own first-bud moment.