Every chance encounter, however unremarkable, is part of a fate already written.
The transfer student Lin Lizhen arrived at ZH No. 1 High School, cool and composed, with excellent grades. She had planned to focus on her studies at this “top-student factory,” but by the window, her gaze collided with that of Xie Yizhao. His face was cold, but his personality was lively and carefree, like the most unexpected ripple in a summer breeze.
When it came time to choose teams for a physics competition, she took the initiative and pulled the boy rumored to be “last in the class” into her orbit. The half-hidden silver chain at his collar, the physics formulas scrawled across his paper, and the broken half of a gear pendant all quietly found their way into her heart. She realized he wasn’t simply a troublemaker: he was hiding an intense love of physics and a past involving his father. He, in turn, saw that beneath her seemingly cold exterior, she was searching for her own sense of worth.
The summer breeze swept through the library corridor, and patches of light from the diamond-shaped windows fell on their intertwined fingertips. At dusk on the rooftop, he placed his treasured programming watch in her palm and said, “Keep it safe for me.” From instant coffee to freshly ground lattes, from competition problems to late-night chats, the gears of youth meshed in their imperfect yet complete way, every touch carrying a lingering warmth.
Lin Lizhen had already chosen a name for their future in her heart: Xie Qingzheng. Like a mountain beneath a clear sky, it would bear witness to their meeting at ZH No. 1 High School, and be the gentlest echo of fate for two young people whose youth intertwined science and romance.
