Everyone at school knew that Li Suihan, a teacher at Shudong No. 1 High School, was an untouchable beauty: gentle and refined, disciplined and proper, always keeping just the right distance from the girls.
Everyone also knew that Qian Lingxing from Class 3, Year 11, had a crush on him. From tutoring her in history during holiday classes to watching him stand tall at the lectern, she spent three years filling an entire diary with one person’s name.
But when the diary was accidentally exposed and rumors swept through the school, he was the first one pushed to the edge.
“To avoid any suspicion, I’ll resign as homeroom teacher.” He stood straight-backed and faced every accusation without flinching. “But I will not leave the classroom, and I will never give up on my students.”
That day, in front of the whole class, Qian Lingxing promised him, “Mr. Li, I’ll put these feelings aside and focus on my studies. See you at university.”
She cut off the long hair she had so carefully grown and poured all her energy into her books.
The year she graduated, she was admitted to a top 985 university with one of the top three scores in the school. On the day she left, she stood before him and declared without hesitation:
“Mr. Li, can I pursue you now?”
For two years, she gently won him over under the guise of friendship. Through a thousand sleepless nights, he asked himself over and over: Was he resisting her, or the roles they had once occupied in each other’s lives?
At the awards ceremony that night, she held up a light-up sign and waved to him from the back of the crowd.
At last, he made his way through the crowd and stopped in front of her, his voice trembling slightly:
“Qian Lingxing, may I get to know you again, as your equal?”
She smiled through her tears and held out her hand:
“Hello, my name is Qian Lingxing. It’s nice to meet you.”
