School life | Unrequited love from the male lead | Puppy-like younger girl |
1:
Six-year-old Yuan Xitong is uneasy when her mother brings home the child of her best friend. She worries that this older girl will steal her family’s affection.
But the older girl seems to care for her even more than her family does.
In the midst of an intense internal struggle, Yuan Xitong’s planned war comes to an end before it even begins.
One night in the country, as they sit in the courtyard to enjoy the cool air and watch the stars, Yuan Xitong overhears her mother and Auntie chatting nearby about changing Zhao Zhaodi’s name. She takes a bite of watermelon and says, "How about Xiang Shang? Always striving upward!"
2:
"Sis, who’s Cheng Youzheng?" Yuan Xitong listens as the names of competition winners are read from the stage. Math, English, geography, chemistry... After all nine subjects, there’s even a programming award? Cheng Youzheng has won every single one, trading first and second place back and forth with Xiang Shang, who’s held the top spot for years.
"Someone I can’t stand." Xiang Shang presses her lips together. The gold medal in one competition comes with a thousand-yuan prize, and because of this guy, she’s lost at least three thousand yuan.
3:
The first time Zhao Zhaodi felt happy after her mother died was when little sister from Auntie Li’s family climbed into her bed with a teddy bear after she woke from a nightmare.
She vowed to do everything she could to repay the family that gave her a second life. That’s why she can’t help worrying about her silly little sister, who wants to be with someone with a disability.
4:
After the college entrance exam, Yuan Xitong gazes at a lighthouse on the distant shore. Beer has gone to her head, and she’s red all over, like a cooked shrimp.
Cheng Youzheng takes the beer from her hand. "You’re allergic to alcohol."
Yuan Xitong smiles, clearly too drunk to think straight. "Cheng Youzheng, one day my books will fill an entire revolving book tower in a bookstore."
Cheng Youzheng turns his wheelchair, helplessly drawn toward the lively, adorable drunk in the night. "That would be wonderful."
"What about you?"
"I’ll read every book in that whole revolving tower."
"I mean your dream!"
"My dream is to read every book you write."
"A youth full of small regrets and a perfect ending, written for me. - Yuan Xitong"
[Content warnings:]
1. The heroine is not a strong, independent heroine. She’s an ordinary person.
2. The hero’s spinal cord injury is permanent. He is genuinely disabled, with no medical miracle.
3. The leads don’t date before adulthood.
4. There are no villains or melodramatic twists. Everyone is an ordinary, everyday person you could meet anywhere, with both strengths and flaws.
Theme: Disability is only the visible part of human imperfection
