Roguish, lazy bad boy vs. slow-to-warm, gentle sweetheart
The first time Wen Tingxia saw Xie Linjian was on a summer night when rain came down in torrents.
Wen Tingxia was stranded in the school building, agonizing over whether to brave the downpour, when an umbrella was suddenly pressed into her hand. A low, cool voice followed:
"Take it. The rain's too heavy."
Wen Tingxia accepted it instinctively. Before she could react, a tall, broad-shouldered figure strode straight into the rain and quickly vanished from sight.
Only later did Wen Tingxia learn that the boy's name was Xie Linjian. He was popular and had plenty of friends. He was always flashing a devil-may-care smile, then handling every problem with effortless ease.
He illuminated Wen Tingxia's entire youth.
Wen Tingxia knew how far apart they were, and understood that her secret crush was destined to come to nothing.
At graduation, she secretly gave him a birthday present. Inside was a card.
It read:
May your life be open and free, like the wind. May you sleep well and have sweet dreams.
Signed: Summer
That was the bravest thing she had ever done.
When they met again, it was another rainy day.
Beneath a drenched bus stop, Wen Tingxia stood with her suitcase, rain soaking the hem of her skirt. A black Mercedes G-Class slowly pulled up in front of her.
She glanced up without thinking and met the driver's deep, pitch-black eyes through the thin veil of rain.
Wen Tingxia pressed her lips together. She hadn't expected him to be the one who came.
The man raised an eyebrow and drawled in his familiar lazy tone, "You getting in or not? Do you like standing in the rain?"
Later, at a class reunion, in the dim hallway of a KTV, Wen Tingxia had just turned down a male classmate's confession.
As she was about to turn the corner, someone suddenly grabbed her. Xie Linjian leaned against the wall, a faint, unreadable smile on his lips. He showed none of the awkwardness of someone caught eavesdropping, instead drawling,
"That cold, huh?"
Wen Tingxia's heart stirred. For a moment, she didn't know how to answer. Uncomfortably, she tried to pull her wrist free, but before she could, his dizzying question came crashing down:
"Wen Tingxia, are you really this slow on the uptake, or are you pretending?"
Can't you tell I'm pursuing you?
Secret crush / slow burn / a girl's secret feelings
The stirrings of youth are like a summer night's sudden downpour, rushing in and soaking everything, yet never daring to let you see even a trace.
Theme: Growing up and finding the courage to be brave
