Seven years ago, Lin Shen, a law school star, and Su Wan, a sunny journalism student, began a beautiful first love at Ningzhou University. But shortly before graduation, disaster struck the Su family. Her father became embroiled in a financial scandal, and her mother, trying to protect her daughter, forced Su Wan to cut ties with Lin Shen and leave the country amid misunderstandings and coercion. With no time to explain, Su Wan hastily left him a letter, then vanished from Lin Shen’s life as if she had never existed. For seven years, Lin Shen bore the pain of being “dumped for being poor,” working himself almost to death until he forged an “undefeated legend” in the cold, rational world of law. He became the aloof, unapproachable senior partner at Hengyuan Law Firm in Yungang. Meanwhile, Su Wan struggled to survive in the foreign country of Jialuo. With help from businessman Gu Yuanzhou, she eventually transformed into a renowned war photographer documenting the hardships of human life, yet she could never let go of her guilt toward Lin Shen or the unresolved knot in her heart.
Fate brought them together again at a business reception in Yungang. Former lovers had become a leading figure in business and a distant photographer. Work forced Su Wan into contact with Hengyuan Law Firm, and especially Lin Shen. Their seven-year-old wounds and the misunderstandings between them made every encounter a mix of testing, deliberate distance, and uncontrollable longing. Meanwhile, professional clashes followed one after another. Lin Shen became the legal weapon of Hengyuan Group’s business rival, while Gu Yuanzhou, Su Wan’s benefactor and the man who had secretly loved and protected her for years, also entered the fray as a powerful competitor.
Amid this tangled maelstrom, Lin Shen made a declaration that shook her to the core: “If there was ever someone in this world who appeared in your life, everyone else would be settling. And I refuse to settle!”
