In early autumn of 2007, in a small northern town, the sweet and well-behaved Su Nian, newly arrived from the city, mistook Jiang Yi, the aloof and unruly problem boy from Class Seven, for someone else.
A mix-up in dorm assignments brought the two together, and their paths, which should have run parallel, began to cross more and more often.
A song they shared at an internet cafe, "You're the One for Me," held feelings neither dared to express. A frantic phone call when he was nowhere to be found shattered all their unspoken ambiguity.
He sent her messages with Green Arrow gum, tapped replies through the wall, wrote her name on his uniform, and tucked his love into five notebooks. A little pig charm held their whole youth together.
There was no grand confession, only a boy's awkward protection and a girl's shy flutter of first love.
He smiled and promised to stay by her side to the end, while quietly starting a countdown to the end of their love.
Later, he disappeared into the winds of deep winter, leaving only an old dream behind.
The distance between Classes Seven and Eight, the walks side by side in the evening breeze across the sports field: that year's youth was neither long nor short. It was just right. You were the one for me.
