[Gentle older professor × straightforward, adorable student]
One-on-one, both devoted to each other, happy ending. Seven-year age gap.
On Mount Yun, Dai Ci’s first crush begins with a spectacularly embarrassing moment.
Clutching her best friend, she analyzes a man’s tall, straight-backed silhouette, from his broad shoulders and narrow waist to his jawline. The more she says, the bolder she gets. His stride is brisk, so he must be long gone by now.
She rounds a pavilion and walks straight into a pair of amused eyes. Xu Qingshan is resting on a stone bench, and he has heard every one of her “shameless remarks.”
“The steps ahead are slippery. Take it slow,” he says gently.
Dai Ci’s ears burn red, and she keeps her head down the whole way.
She never expected that the man she met by chance on Mount Yun would be Haicheng University’s youngest anthropology professor. Three days later, when she arrives in Kuncheng, she bumps right into his arms again at the subway station.
“Fancy seeing you again.” Xu Qingshan steadies her, his eyes warm with amusement.
She is a 22-year-old junior majoring in Chinese; he is 29, a rising young scholar who has already attracted attention in academic circles. The seven-year age gap and the thousand kilometers between them repeatedly warn her to stop.
But when he explains local customs to her amid the old city’s nightscape, and patiently answers her academic questions over late-night video calls, Dai Ci gradually understands:
Once some feelings begin, there’s no calling them off.
“Xu Qingshan,” she finally asks during a long-distance phone call one day, “what are we… exactly?”
A low laugh comes from the other end. “I’m waiting for a flower to bloom. Though… I have to admit, I’m getting a little impatient.”
Reading guide:
The leads fall in love at first sight.
This is not a teacher-student romance.
