[School Life] [Sweet Romance] [Secret Crush Turns Mutual] [Two-Way Devotion] [Slow-Burn Epic] [Sweet Love Story] [Ensemble Cast of Youth]
Our Seventeenth Year Has No End, also known as Universal Gravitation
Lu Haoye's youth was one grand, silent one-man show, with the leading role played by Qing Anhan, the girl in the class next door.
He thought no one knew his secret, but he had no idea:
His best friend had already prepared two sets of lines for him, one to help him win her over and one to comfort him;
Her best friend was pulling her hair out over how clueless she was;
Even the owner of the noodle shop he often visited would wordlessly add an extra spoonful of his favorite topping whenever he caught Lu sneaking a glance at her.
This was a long, secret crush unfolding right under everyone's noses.
From their awkward high school days, to going to university together, and then stepping hand in hand into adulthood... They stumbled their way through growing up, while their noisy, bickering friends remained the warmest footnotes of their youth.
Later, at their wedding, their friends teased him: "Brother Lu, what's it like when your secret crush comes true?"
He looked at her in her wedding dress and smiled. "It's like spending your whole youth waiting for a reunion that was destined to happen all along."
The work successfully created an immersive feeling on a Chinese high school campus around 2009. From honor roll rankings, preparation for physics competitions, and the "assistance system" that arranges seats according to grades, to summer cram schools, occupying seats in the library, and buying popsicles at the canteen, these scenes have precise details and can instantly bring readers back to their youth. In particular, the description of academic pressure does not beautify or escape, and shows the true state of how young people find a balance between academics and emotions in the context of exam-oriented education.