A genuinely laid-back, aloof guy vs. a girl pretending to be wild
Youthful campus romance | Boarding school | She falls for him first
In her second year of high school, after her family fell on hard times, Wen Jinyu had barely flown from overseas to China when Xie Sinan cornered her on her very first day.
He wore a black graphic T-shirt and ripped jeans. A white, cigarette-shaped thing was between his teeth, and he had so many piercings in his ears they could've been ripped open along a dotted line.
He looked like trouble.
Xie Sinan crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “Hey, up ahead...”
Wen Jinyu knew the rules. She tossed him the only coin left in her pocket.
Xie Sinan stared at the one-yuan coin that had appeared in his hand for no reason, swallowed the rest of his words, and looked conflicted.
Wen Jinyu said in somewhat halting Chinese, “Not enough? I don't have any more.”
Then she hurried past him as if avoiding a demon.
Watching her go, Xie Sinan took the real White Rabbit candy out of his mouth, utterly baffled.
Did he look like a beggar?
-
Xie Sinan was especially intrigued by the new guest who was temporarily staying with his family.
Because Wen Jinyu spoke such clumsy Chinese, he took it upon himself to teach her.
Pointing at a line in her textbook, Xie Sinan drawled lazily:
“Come on, repeat after me: Big Brother Xie Sinan is the most handsome.”
Wen Jinyu said with a straight face, “Xie Sinan stinky. You bad.”
“…”
-
At sunset, Wen Jinyu leaned against the railing by the river. The water lapped against the embankment, and a damp breeze brushed her face.
Something cold pressed against her cheek.
Xie Sinan lowered his head and asked, “Where do you want to go after the college entrance exams? Stay in China, or... go back overseas?”
Wen Jinyu took a bite of her popsicle but didn't answer.
That night, a sticky note slipped under the door. Xie Sinan bent down to pick it up. Written on it, carefully and seriously, was:
"I'm not leaving. I like you."
■Reading Guide
1. Study hard and aim high. No dating until they're adults.
2. The heroine is mixed-race and foreign, but she can communicate normally.
Theme: Long live youth
