We Met Too Soon

Blurb:

Wen Jiangran never imagined that he and Lin Nianchu would ever part ways.

Ever since Lin Nianchu moved in next door to the Wen family when they were six, they had never been apart. To stay with Lin Nianchu, Wen Jiangran, who used to rank near the bottom of his class, forced himself to get into a prestigious high school, then into a university in the same city as Lin Nianchu.

But after they finally got together, Wen Jiangran realized that, without noticing, they had grown farther and farther apart. At some point, Lin Nianchu had become increasingly jealous and possessive. He wouldn’t let Wen Jiangran walk female classmates home, have dinner with female coworkers, or spend time alone with female friends, even if that friend was a respected senior colleague at the hospital, more than ten years his senior.

During the last winter break before Wen Jiangran graduated from graduate school, he was invited to a high school reunion. Over the course of a mere two-hour dinner, Lin Nianchu called him more than twenty times and sent over fifty messages. Looking at the bright red missed-call notifications, Wen Jiangran felt like he could barely breathe.

Wen Jiangran deliberately stalled until midnight. The lights were off at home, but he still immediately saw Lin Nianchu sitting upright in the dark. Once again, Wen Jiangran felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Lin Nianchu, we’re both adults.”

“Lin Nianchu, dating and getting married are two different things.”

“Lin Nianchu, we need to take some time apart and cool off.”

Lin Nianchu said nothing and got up to go to the bedroom. When Wen Jiangran woke up the next day, there was no one beside him.

Wen Jiangran successfully started working at the provincial hospital and received countless congratulations from relatives, friends, and classmates. The only person who didn’t send any was Lin Nianchu.

Wen Jiangran thought things would get better after a while. A week passed, and he still hadn’t heard from Lin Nianchu. Unable to wait any longer, Wen Jiangran sent him his job offer, only to find that Lin Nianchu had blocked him.

Only then did Wen Jiangran realize he might have lost Lin Nianchu forever.

That night, Wen Jiangran couldn’t sleep. Early the next morning, he went to the school where Lin Nianchu worked, but the school wouldn’t give him any information. He took leave and returned to their hometown, only to find the Lin family home empty. Wen Jiangran hated himself for speaking impulsively, for blurting out nonsense in a fit of pique, but he could no longer find Lin Nianchu.

Until the hospital director handed Wen Jiangran an extremely difficult patient: a hereditary genetic disorder with a zero percent chance of recovery. Wen Jiangran wasn’t the lead surgeon and didn’t want to take on such a hot potato. Then he saw the name of the friend accompanying the patient.

Wen Jiangran: I’ll take the case!

It’s just that we fell in love too young

And knew so little about happiness

Zhou Hui, “We Met Too Soon”

Highly intelligent, aloof, beautiful, tragic gong Lin Nianchu (history professor) × sunny, talkative, clever shou Wen Jiangran (surgeon)

The shou is clever only in comparison to the gong’s high intelligence. He’s somewhat smart, but not particularly so.

Theme: The past matters, and so does the future. Make the most of the present.