- Spanning the years 1996, when the heroine is six, to 2014, when she passes away. It captures the look and feel of the late 1990s countryside and cities, school life around the millennium, and changes at the grassroots level after 2008, all steeped in nostalgia.
- Male lead Gao Wanyi: strikingly handsome, with refined features, a commanding gaze, and a tall, graceful build. He has the aloof air of a privileged young heir and is widely considered the most handsome boy on campus. As an adult, he is elegant and charismatic, with the presence of a doctor. Exceptionally gifted, he wins math Olympiad championships, ranks first in his year, and becomes a medical prodigy whose expertise surpasses everyone else's. Stubborn and devoted, he fights with everything he has to escape the life imposed on him.
- Female lead Lin Youqing: gentle and graceful, with soft, clear features and a scholarly air. She seems delicate, but is strong at heart. A top student, she places first in the entire township to enter a prestigious school and excels at teacher's college. She writes beautifully, has neat handwriting on the blackboard, and teaches with great patience. She is the kindest teacher in her students' eyes, pure-hearted and perceptive, with a reassuring charm.
- Core themes: two exceptional people deeply in love with each other, yet unable to be together. Both are outstanding, but class differences, the cruelty of their families, and the twists of fate drive them from youthful love to separation by death. The story is tragic throughout, with no chance of a happy ending. Every chapter expands on the details to deepen their love and regret.
