Twilight Spills Across the Paint Box

Who could have seen this coming? The two professors at Jingxing University who seemed least suited to each other turn their “parallel lines” into a game of matching pairs from the start

Su Yi, an art professor, is crouched in a hydrangea bed teaching students how to mix shadows. His fingertips are dusted with charcoal when he turns and meets the cool gaze of Jiang Xubai, a new colleague from the law school. Jiang is impeccably dressed in a suit, and the expensive watch on his wrist glints so brightly that Su Yi instinctively wants to wipe the dust off his hands.

Even more absurdly, right after the office finishes talking about “that law professor who’s so handsome he looks like a novel’s male lead,” Su Yi steps out to get some water and runs straight into him. He clutches his cup in a panic and catches the scent of cedar on Jiang Xubai, his heart racing as if a frame had skipped.

Su Yi thought, “Different fields, no chance of ever getting together.” Then one remark from his childhood friend blows that idea apart: “Jiang Xubai? Isn’t he Jiang Xiaobai, the kid who used to take off his shirt if even a few crumbs fell on it? You two even blew out candles at my house when you were ten!”

When a neat-freak powerhouse meets a soft, gentle oil painter, their story goes from a fleeting glimpse in a flower bed to an embarrassing run-in in the hallway, then to uncovering a bond from ten years ago. It turns out some encounters were always part of a reunion script written by fate.

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