Summer 2018, Changsha.
Qi You, 20, a prodigy who skipped grades and the prettiest girl in her sophomore-year journalism program, makes a bet in the cafeteria: win over the hardest person on campus to pursue. Xi Yan, 22, is a sophomore physics major known as an icy mountain. He barely speaks, is cold and distant, and has no interest in people. The bet brings Qi You into Xi Yan's life. She tries every way she can to get close, only to be pushed away again and again. But gradually, she realizes Xi Yan isn't as indifferent as he seems. He frowns, turns his face away, and replies to her late-night messages with a simple "Good night." Xi Yan, meanwhile, discovers that this girl in a cropped top has thrown his peaceful life into chaos. He can smell the citrus scent on her, and he remembers the dark green butterfly tattoo on her waist.
One pursues, the other runs. One is unabashed, the other hides a surging tide beneath the surface. Until one late night, Xi Yan stands on the balcony of Courtyard No. 9, Osmanthus Alley, gazing at the light across the way on the fourth floor, still glowing past midnight, and finally realizes: it's not that he feels nothing. He's been holding back all along.
This is a story of pursuit and retreat, testing the waters and falling hard. In two utterly different worlds, they'll discover that some people come into your life like a light, and once they're there, they can never be driven away.
