[Bittersweet: school life first, then city life + he has a crush on her + two academic stars + mutual first love + happy ending + slow burn + the heroine dislikes the hero at first]
A pessimistic, world-weary, well-behaved top student × a cool, alluring, possessive prodigy
Song Mi first encountered Si Lansheng at a math competition training camp.
Si Lansheng stood where light met shadow, his face cold and distant. He held a cigarette in one hand, the other tucked into his pocket. When he glanced her way, his gaze was so still it seemed to regard her as already dead.
Song Mi frowned and turned away, immediately deciding that since he smoked, he couldn’t be a good person.
In fact, that day Si Lansheng had only been holding a cigarette for a friend who’d gone to the bathroom.
-
They met again.
Si Lansheng’s father sent him to Qingshui Town to temper his arrogance.
With his handsome, refined looks and noble air, he stood out from everyone around him.
That didn’t stop him from being popular.
A friend dragged Song Mi to peek into his classroom.
Still annoyed that he’d taken her spot at the top of the grade, Song Mi sneered, “What good are good looks if he has no character?”
Her friend nudged her with an elbow.
Song Mi followed her strange gaze.
She met a pair of eyes that seemed to smile without smiling. The other boy drawled, “Oh, are you jealous?”
Song Mi turned away, her ears burning.
*
Only later did Song Mi realize that Si Lansheng had been coveting her ever since the training camp.
-
That summer, when he was twenty-six, the grapes finally ripened and lost their sourness.
[P.S. The leads do not date while underage.]
The setting is fictional, and the competitions and other details are entirely made up by the author.
