Star's Farewell, Crossing the Fire of Sleep

[Childhood sweethearts + rekindled romance | Glamorous art-school owner × enchanting healing powerhouse | Seven years of angst, then a swift reunion | Mutual salvation]

Tsinghua's sweet-and-angsty couple: After seven years apart, he shows up at her shop with company shares

Lin Yumin was the “little flirtation queen” of the art academy. She dared to sit on Xie Xingci's lap and feed him candy, and even wove a red string around his wrist. Xie Xingci was the “code immortal” of the Yao Class, who had won so many NOI gold medals he could hardly keep count, yet he turned into her loyal puppy in an instant. When she stayed up late revising paintings, he studied lighting and adjusted plaster casts for her. She drew little algorithm figures by hand, and he tucked them into his wallet as his “optimal solution.” On the night he won the ACM championship, he even hugged his trophy and cried, “All my glory comes from you!”

But in their third year, their world came crashing down.

At her mother's wake, Lin Yumin knocked over Xie Xingci's hot porridge. Shards of porcelain flew toward the memorial portrait. “You bastard, with no father or mother! Don't you dare dirty my home!” His hand blistered from the scalding porridge, but he clutched the picture of a sun she had drawn when she was five and didn't dare defend himself. He still had her imported paints and Columbia offer in his pocket. As he turned away, his shoulders shook like falling leaves. At the airport, he clutched her old drafts and cried until he could barely breathe. During his three years in New York, the red string never left his wrist, and his code was full of “Mianmian.”

Seven years later, the alumni chat exploded!

Xie Xingci had become a tech mogul, just raised 300 million in funding, and named his company “Mianxing.” He showed up at Lin Yumin's flower-and-art shop. First he offered her the old red string, then he handed her a share agreement. “I failed to protect you back then. Now I'll give you 30% of the shares, and there's more…” He pulled out the yellowed drawing of the little algorithm figure. “I haven't forgotten you in these seven years.”

Before she could even cry, he pulled her into his arms and smiled. “My girlfriend deserves a whole lifetime of making it up to her.”