Bright Traces Through the Tides

Lin Zhuo has always been someone else's child in every sense of the phrase.

In her teachers' eyes, she's an outstanding model student.

In her classmates' eyes, she's an all-capable team captain.

In her parents' eyes, she's the “Lin Zhuo” who meets their standards.

She carried these titles with pride, seeing them as her crown and scepter.

She never considered that they might be a little too heavy for her.

Until she was eight, when an intruder came along and turned everything upside down.

Jiang Chang'an, a sickly transfer student.

At first, Lin Zhuo was furious. She wouldn't let anyone challenge her throne, and the two of them clashed like fire and water.

But gradually, as her fire met Jiang Chang'an's pool of water, she somehow began to feel lighter on her feet.

Jiang Chang'an didn't seem so annoying after all.

Then he became her underling.

After that, he became her closest friend.

Then, one bright afternoon, Lin Zhuo decided to make a place for him in her future.

But...

Jiang Chang'an suddenly vanished without a trace or a word. Just as quietly as he had arrived, he left.

Lin Zhuo felt deeply betrayed. It was as if the most trusted subject in her kingdom had abandoned her.

But even without him, she carried on living, still being someone else's child in every way.

Only sometimes, in her dreams, late at night, or in the early hours before dawn, she would still think of him.

She just never admitted it.

She tried with all her might to forget him, but every time, she lost completely.

And yet...

At an ordinary banquet, he suddenly appeared again, just as he had when they first met and when they parted. He controlled it; he decided when it happened.

And he could still smile at her as if nothing had happened and say, “Long time no see, Lin Zhuo.”

That bastard.

Afterward, he stubbornly tried to repair their relationship. After all these years apart, his nerve had somehow grown several times over. Like a fly, he just wouldn't go away, no matter how often she shooed him.

Just as Lin Zhuo was about to be moved by his fly-like persistence, she accidentally heard the truth about why he had left all those years ago.

At that moment, countless complicated feelings surged through her: shock, heartache, anger, hurt, and self-reproach.

That day, Lin Zhuo made an exception and let herself get drunk. For the first time, she became the kind of person she despised, seeking comfort in alcohol.

Then that annoying man showed up in front of her again, as if he had never been through anything at all.

She told him to leave, but he stuck by her like a fly.

At last, she couldn't take it anymore.

When she saw him shrink back as she berated him,

she punched him hard.

Then she kissed him by force.

Before reading:

1. They have mutual crushes, but the female lead is slow to recognize her feelings.

2. Second-chance romance.

3. Both leads are sexually inexperienced and have only been with each other, but the female lead has had a few brief relationships.

4. The first half takes place at school, the second half in the city.

Theme: Exploring different ways of experiencing emotions.