In the spring of 1979, Weng Youyi went to the agricultural college to see her father and ran into a strange, sharp-tongued, yet handsome young man.
She had never seen him before, and hadn't spotted him among her father's research team.
When she barged into the office, the man turned around and coldly drove her out. "This is a research facility. No unauthorized visitors."
Weng Youyi was furious, but the man's icy stare stopped her in her tracks. All she could do was back away.
Back home, Weng Youyi complained to her father: "Dad, why is that intern so awful? He looks perfectly respectable, but his temper is the worst..."
Weng's father laughed for a long while before finally explaining. "He's no ordinary intern. He's a top student from Beijing, just back from studying in America, and a rare talent at the agricultural college."
"Youyi, weren't you worrying about finding someone to write about? You could try talking to him."
Weng Youyi haughtily refused. "I'm not going near someone so arrogant."
Only later did Weng Youyi learn that Fu Younian was not only a top student prized by the local authorities, but also came from a distinguished family.
One day, Weng Youyi nestled in the man's arms and gazed at the newly cultivated field of experimental crops before them. Turning her head, she asked, "Fu Younian, are you going back to Beijing?"
The man gently brushed her temple and asked in a husky voice, "Weng Youyi, would you come back to Beijing with me?"
Weng Youyi shoved him away and stood up. "I won't."
Later, Weng Youyi won an award for her new book, and the media hailed her as "a rising author with real talent."
On the day she went to Beijing to accept the award, she stepped out of the train station and saw Fu Younian waiting there with a bouquet of flowers.
Weng Youyi marched up to him, fuming, and demanded, "Weren't you getting married? What is this supposed to mean?"
Fu Younian stared at her for a moment, then laughed. "Who would I marry?"
"I don't care who. Just not me."
"Then I'll have to spend the rest of my life alone."
*The story takes place in Beijing in the 1970s.
*Beijing's well-born playboy x second-generation family of Xinjiang aid workers, agricultural college prodigy x self-taught young writer.
*Pride and Prejudice
Theme: Freedom
