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Childhood Friends / Adorkable, Feisty Childhood Friend vs. Scheming, Tsundere Childhood Friend
"Childhood friend or newcomer: which would you choose?"
In 2018, Jiang Zao was sitting on the back of Shen Qingyue's bicycle as he rode her home from school when she came across a hugely popular Zhihu post. A gentle breeze lifted the hem of her white skirt, like a pure white jasmine flower blooming in the air. The next second, the boy in front deliberately jolted and swerved the bike.
Teenage Jiang Zao answered without a second thought: She would rather date a dog than get together with her childhood friend Shen Qingyue.
What's it like to have a childhood friend who's been with you your whole life?
Jiang Zao knew all about it.
There were no romantic encounters like in novels or idol dramas; no heart-fluttering moment sheltering from the rain beneath the eaves and gazing into a pair of deep eyes; and certainly no heartbeats drawing close in the sunset, followed by sharing earphones, one in each ear.
Instead, there was the photo she took as a child of Shen Qingyue in split-crotch pants, which she used to blackmail him; Shen Qingyue scampering off to tell their parents she hadn't passed her test and had forged their signature; him tearing up the love letter from the handsome boy next door that she had a crush on; and him deliberately jolting the bicycle as he gave her a ride home from school.
Jiang Zao and Shen Qingyue had been at each other's throats since childhood, completely at odds, caught up in a tangled love-hate relationship.
Even though everyone around them automatically assumed they would end up together, Jiang Zao denied it completely.
They'd been at war with each other since childhood, all the way through college. Even if every man and woman in the world went extinct, Jiang Zao still wouldn't get together with Shen Qingyue.
Until one day in college, a friend they shared came out of a movie theater and saw the two of them kissing in a corner.
Under the intense, laser-like stares of everyone around them, the pair sensed something was off and slowly turned around, only to meet their friend's dumbfounded expression.
"Didn't you say only someone blind would fall for Shen Qingyue?"
"Didn't you say only someone missing a few screws would fall for Jiang Zao?"
(Also known as the love story of a blind person and an idiot.)
"A tentative crush in your youth is like an unripe mint leaf: a strange yet enchanting story of youth." (Note left on 2025.10.2)
Xiaohan's Reading Guide:
· Mostly set at school, with some urban scenes. The early stages feature plenty of bickering and romantic tension.
· Both are each other's first love, and neither has been with anyone else.
· A bittersweet romance. The two will have conflicts and grow as they come to understand their feelings. This isn't pure fluff.
Theme: Growing together and becoming braver together
