The summer breeze in Jiangcheng carried the scent of gardenias, ushering in the early middle-school days of Lu Nianwan. As one of the top students in Class 13 at Xingchen Middle School, she should have been steadily following the path her parents, Lu Shiyan and Su Wan, had hoped for, lost in her books. But after a series of chance encounters around campus, her thoughts were stolen by a boy in Class 15 named Lu Yanchen. He was the top student and class monitor, a familiar figure sweating it out on the sports field. The dimples that appeared when he smiled held a secret that made her heart race.
This innocent crush grew like a quietly spreading vine, winding around the girl’s heart. Luckily, her close friend Shen Jianan was in on it, and Chen Yuxin, Lu Yanchen’s deskmate, helped bring them together. Students from both classes formed an impromptu “support squad” to plan Lu Nianwan’s pursuit: creating chance meetings with a difficult question, conveying her feelings with a bottle of warm water, cheering him on at the sports meet, and arranging to “walk the same way” after evening study...
In the tug-of-war between the aloof top student and the brave girl, there are no earth-shaking vows, only little notes tucked into homework, supposedly casual glances in the hallway, and flushed cheeks when friends tease them. From careful testing of the waters to an unspoken closeness, then walking side by side beneath the cicadas and the stars, they show the most moving side of youth in their purest way. It turns out that liking someone means turning “I” into “we,” and filling ordinary days at school with a sweet, gentle warmth.
This is a story about growing up and falling in love, holding the shyness and courage every boy and girl has known, as they write their own story beneath the plane trees of Xingchen Middle School.
