Day After Day on Jiataixiang Lane

Top student girl vs. swimming prodigy

Slow-to-catch-on sweetheart vs. sharp-tongued cool guy

Unrequited love from the male lead | Childhood sweethearts | Everyday life in an alley | Ensemble coming-of-age story | Healing, growth, and nostalgia

Blurb:

On the day Cheng Che won gold in the 800-meter freestyle, the national flag was raised and the national anthem rang out. Reporters swarmed him for interviews.

The questions were routine. He answered them one by one as he walked toward the stands.

As he was about to leave, a reporter from a sports website suddenly asked, "You said before the competition that if you won gold, there was one thing you wanted most to do. May we ask what it is?"

The coach tried to stop the reporter, saying personal questions were inappropriate, but Cheng Che didn't mind.

He wiped the water from his face and said, "It's nothing special. I just want to go back to Jiaotai Alley and have a bowl of noodles."

Chen Zhiliu and the others were watching the live broadcast on TV. When they heard his answer, they pointed at his enlarged face on the screen and laughed so hard they nearly toppled over.

Friend A: "Could Cheng Che be any more pathetic? He wins a gold medal and all he wants is a bowl of noodles. How hard is training with the national team? Hahahaha!"

Friend B: "Actually, I think Uncle Chen's noodles have been a little too soft lately."

Friend C: "Mm, I'm hungry. I'm going home to eat."

After laughing, Chen Zhiliu bit down on her watermelon spoon and kicked her legs up on the bamboo mat.

Wait a minute. She'd made that last bowl of noodles. It had been salty as hell. Why was he reminiscing about it? Did he have such an intense palate?

On the day Cheng Che confessed, Chen Zhiliu was so startled she fled in a panic, losing a high heel in the swimming pool. She looked both awkward and ridiculous. She didn't even have time to finish her favorite orange-flavored bubble tea.

She was sure it had to be a dream, an absurd, ridiculous, completely impossible dream.

How could Cheng Che like her? They'd grown up together. She even knew the exact arrangement of the seven moles on his butt. How could he like her?

Cheng Che thought Chen Zhiliu was so stupid.

What was there to be so shocked or surprised about?

They were born and raised together. She kept him company while he swam, listened to his worries, took pictures just for him, and helped him chase off people he couldn't stand.

To him, falling in love with her was as natural and happy as breathing, drinking water, eating, taking a walk, or watching the sunset.

What Cheng Che didn't know was that in Chen Zhiliu's mind, these things meant: checking out a handsome guy's abs, looking after her withdrawn neighbor, posting pictures on a forum to level up, and ridding the people of evil.

If you asked Cheng Che exactly when his heart first stirred, he wouldn't be able to say.

Maybe it was when his fingertips brushed her hair, when he surfaced from the pool to see her laughing so hard she was rolling around, when he stayed up until his phone died waiting for her at the mouth of the alley, or when he was completely at a loss watching her feel sad.

There was no precise moment, not even any need for a formal declaration.

Cheng Che had never held back when it came to showing his love. For more than a decade, he had done these things for her again and again. If she weren't so stupid, how could she still doubt him?

Much later, Chen Zhiliu found someone's elementary school diary.

The final line was written in pencil:

Chen Zhiliu, you can have the toy cards from instant noodles, the new MP3 player, the out-of-print cassette tapes, and the world's best trophy. You can have me, too. Do you want me?

She laughed so hard, then picked up a pen and wrote three words in reply: I'll take everything.

The person beside her scooped her up off the floor with one arm and held her tightly. His voice was hoarse with sleep.

"Stop fooling around. I trained until midnight yesterday. Stay and sleep with me a little longer."

#HappyFamilyBackground #TheBeautyOfAnEconomicBoom #TheMaleLeadIsAGeniusButNotBasedOnAnyone #SlowBurn

#Jiaotai Alley is ordinary, but each passing day shines

A screenshot of the blurb was saved on April 2, 2026.

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