"I bet you can catch up with Lu Ziyu who is always in the corner of the library within three months."
When the news about Leo's bet with his friends spread throughout the second grade of high school, Lu Ziyu happened to be organizing the returned books behind the bookshelf. Her fingers rested on the spine for three seconds, then as if she heard nothing, she continued to insert "The Outsider" back into its rightful place.
This is the seventh time Lu Ziyu has "accidentally" heard rumors about her and Li Ao. It was also the seventh time she silently denied in her heart: "I don't like him."
Leo, the sunshine model on campus, the main player of the basketball team, a boy whose smile can light up the entire corridor. And Lu Ziyu, a library volunteer and a victorious general on the report card, is always as quiet as a closed book.
After the bet started, Leo's "accidental encounters" became frequent: he "happened" to need help finding books in the library, he "happened" to sit at the next table in the cafeteria, and he "accidentally" traveled together after school. Everyone is waiting to see how this obviously unequal game ends.
Lu Ziyu would seriously correct the friend he was trying to match up with every time: "We are just classmates." - The first, second, third time... Until the tenth time he denied it.
No one knows that Li Ao's name has appeared in Lu Ziyu's diary for three years. From the day when he helped her find the classroom when she was lost in the first year of high school; from the first time he shared half an umbrella in the rain; from the time he remembered that she was allergic to mangoes... Every detail was treasured, and was repeatedly covered up by her as an "ordinary classmate relationship".
No one knew that every time she denied it, she would write the same sentence in her diary: "I lied again today."
When Leo's bet deadline was approaching, he suddenly discovered that those carefully designed "coincidences" had already turned into real expectations, and the corner of the library became his most desired place of the day. And when he finally wanted to express his feelings sincerely, he heard Lu Ziyu's eleventh denial - this time, in front of the whole school.
"Classmate Leo and I? No, we are just ordinary friends." Her voice was clear and steady, without any waves.
At that moment, Leo realized that some games started too lightly, and some people concealed things too deeply.
Secret love is a war between oneself and oneself, and denial is the most skilled survival skill that Lu Ziyu has developed. But when denial becomes a habit, can we still distinguish truth from lies? When the eleventh denial comes out, is it the end or the beginning of another kind?
"I denied liking you until I even believed the lie."
Intention: The eleventh attempt at self-persuasion
