Lin Zhen, a wealthy young woman from Jincheng, and Zhang Qiming, a poor student from the mountains, meet by chance in the university library and fall in love.
During their four years on campus, she hides her designer clothes and rides crowded buses and eats simple meals with him, carefully protecting his pride. He gives her a wooden figure he carved himself and quietly supports their little world with scholarships and money from part-time jobs.
Their shy confession beneath the pagoda tree and their tender embrace in a hotel are the purest moments of young love.
But when graduation arrives, the gulf between their worlds suddenly becomes impossible to ignore. Lin Zhen’s parents strongly oppose their class difference, while Zhang Qiming’s job search runs into one setback after another.
She hides the pressure from her family behind a smile, while he clutches his meager resume, anxious and uncertain. Can a love that began on campus endure society’s scrutiny and protect the light they once brought into each other’s lives?
After they marry, Lin Zhen gradually realizes that Zhang Qiming is far from as simple and honest as he seems. When his true nature is fully exposed, what will Lin Zhen do? And how will she face the four years of her youth and the choices she made in her marriage?
(The novel is getting a major overhaul in this second edition. I wasn’t happy with the first version, so I’m scrapping it and starting over! I’ll try to finish the revisions as quickly as I can. If you’re passing by, don’t miss it! Come take a look, you’ve got nothing to lose! Muah, muah!)
