This Moment in Winter

Xu Jianing was born in winter. On her sixteenth birthday, with snow falling all around, she wanted to make a wish that Chen Hezhen would like her too.

But after hesitating again and again, she still didn't dare.

Chen Hezhen was simply too dazzling. He was a born star, always at the top of his class, someone everyone could admire but never reach.

She was as ordinary as a shadow, so ordinary that she didn't even dare let him into her birthday wish.

/

Xu Jianing had secretly loved Chen Hezhen for twelve years. To get closer to him, she volunteered for every assignment that sent her to his city.

But Chen Hezhen remained unmoved.

The last time she saw him, weariness filled his eyes. "Xu Jianing, don't come back again."

On the flight home, Xu Jianing's eyes reddened.

By chance, the airline's magazine was accepting submissions, so she took out her pen and wrote down the secret feelings of her youth.

When she started high school, she was bullied and ostracized. Back then, she didn't know Chen Hezhen yet. A group of young thugs pressured her into confessing to him.

The boy leaned against the wall and glanced down at her indifferently.

She could barely get the words out when he suddenly asked:

"Is someone bullying you?"

Twelve years later, Xu Jianing typed out their ending, one word at a time, in her phone's notes app.

"Chen Hezhen, I finally don't like you anymore.

If I write it down, then I can forget you."

/

Xu Jianing deleted all of Chen Hezhen's contact information, thinking their paths had finally diverged. But a few months later, her submission became a viral post that winter.

People used the details in the piece to figure out that its male lead was Chen Hezhen, a renowned algorithm engineer in the industry. Xu Jianing's heart was calm. After all, even if he saw it, he wouldn't care.

To her surprise, the next evening, after work, she saw Chen Hezhen, who should have been two thousand kilometers away.

She tried to pretend she hadn't seen him and slip away, but he cornered her beneath a streetlight.

The man asked in a low voice, "Xu Jianing, do you like me?"

Xu Jianing stiffly looked away. "I don't."

Chen Hezhen's breath was hot as he trapped her in his arms. "Then could you like me one more time?"

His voice was low and hoarse. "You've let go. What am I supposed to do?"

"The wish she didn't dare make at sixteen came true here and now, in the heart of this winter."

A nonfiction feature journalist heroine x an embodied intelligence algorithm engineer hero

The blurb was first published on April 2, 2026, and last revised on August 2, 2026. Screenshots have been taken.

Theme: Become a better version of yourself.