The untouchable beauty vs. the wildflower girl
Mai He is a cheeky, unruly girl. She climbs mountains, wades through rivers, and chases after dogs. Her grades are a disaster, but she's adorable and full of life. Plenty of people like her, and plenty of people can't stand her.
Even though she doesn't want to work hard, Mai He still dreams of becoming a stylish, beautiful city woman like the ones on TV. She grew up in a village and went to school in a small town, never having seen much of the world. But then the world sent someone right into her path.
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The new transfer student is tall and handsome, cold as ice, with a face so perfect it could only belong in a comic book.
Mai He falls for him at first sight. Her girlish desire to conquer is wild and brazen: "Be my boyfriend, and I'll protect you."
After all the twists and turns between them, Yan Heng still ignores her, calling her boring, unruly, and vulgar, and saying she's only fit to be a pretty face.
Mai He beams. "So you're saying I'm pretty?"
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As they spend time together, Mai He slowly realizes how far apart they are. The fallen, exiled young master will return to his glamorous world sooner or later.
Yan Heng tells her that if she wants to leave, he'll help her.
Mai He props her chin on her hand. "You're done for. You've fallen for me!"
The young man's temple throbs. "That'll never happen in this lifetime."
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After Yan Heng leaves, Mai He gives it everything she's got and gets into university.
She leaves her hometown and discovers that the world isn't quite the way she imagined.
While working part-time at a convenience store, she sees a young man step out of a Cullinan on the other side of the glass. His face is both familiar and unfamiliar, and he still shines just as brightly.
She used to run after him wherever he went. Now she silently lowers her eyes, avoiding the gaze that might bring them together again.
She has the courage to walk through the night again, all the way from town to the docks, to settle the score with those thugs for his sake. But she'll never love him again.
P.S. A lightly ensemble-style story, written for the young men and women of rural China, a generation that is on the verge of disappearing. Absurdity, chaos, ideals, confusion. Life's paths branch north and south, but we all have a bright future, and a future where we can tell the hell with it.
Blurb screenshotted. 2026.03.10
Theme: Young women long to make their mark.
