[Healing from family-of-origin trauma | Slow burn | 1v1, both are each other's first and only | Happy ending]
In the eyes of others, Ruan Xingmian is a quiet, well-behaved girl.
But her maturity is a protective shell, worn smooth by one disappointment after another.
Her mother's love is full of contradictions. She says Ruan can express her needs, but most of her wishes are rejected. When it comes to what she wants, she can only accept the options her mother considers "useful."
She's used to being told, "Study hard and don't cause trouble." When she shares something she's happy about, she gets only a perfunctory response. When she's ostracized or framed at school, she doesn't dare go home and complain, knowing that in the end she'll be blamed for everything.
After repeated disappointment, she shuts herself away, speaks little, dares not hope for anything, and gets used to swallowing every grievance alone. Deep down, she feels unworthy, so her first instinct when faced with affection is to retreat.
That is, until she meets her upperclasswoman Wen Qihe at university.
Everyone else hopes she'll hurry up and get better. Only Wen Qihe sees how covered in scars she is. She doesn't rush or pressure her, but firmly takes her side, slowly giving her the affection she's been denied for so long.
The star that had been hiding finally finds the tenderness meant for her.
Content warning: The heroine is timid and sensitive early on, and the family storyline is quite heavy. The romance is a slow burn, with no melodramatic misunderstandings. Both are each other's first and only, with a happy ending. Read with care if these elements bother you.
