How to Read the Sun

Tough sweetheart × Cool on the outside, flirtatious underneath

Hardworking actress vs. genius actor

1.

The day new students checked in at Beijing Film Academy.

Summer’s heat still lingered, and the campus buzzed with crowds. Media crews carrying cameras of every size were all waiting for the same person.

Ji Xingzhou: a gifted actor with a perfectly sculpted face. A child star since his debut, he already had more hit roles than anyone could count on both hands. Rumor had it he was backed by the top director in Beijing’s elite circle.

Even if you didn’t spend much time online, it was hard not to have heard the phrase that had gone viral about him:

Bad temper, arrogant personality, cool-faced heartthrob who never smiles.

Even though everyone wanted to get on this living legend’s good side, Cen Yi had no intention of trying to get a piece of the action.

- -

Keeping a low profile amid the crowd, Cen Yi hid at the back of the line, planning to take a shortcut out of the celebrity’s arrival scene. But she accidentally tripped in the rush.

Just before she hit the ground, a strong arm suddenly caught her by the waist.

No one saw when Ji Xingzhou appeared, quick as lightning.

With a lazy smile, he drawled at the shoving reporters, “Easy there. Don’t make me fall out with my classmates on the first day.”

Then he turned back, slowly withdrew his hand, and smiled at Cen Yi. “And you, classmate...”

“You fell right into my arms.”

2.

Cen Yi had no desire to provoke this mercurial young master, but they ended up in the same group for their major classes.

When she grew frustrated with her stiff acting, Ji Xingzhou, who had always been proud of his own talent, patiently coached her again and again.

He demonstrated a seduction scene himself.

A warm breeze stirred the air. In the shifting light and shadows, close enough to touch, their hair brushed and intertwined.

Caught in the illusion that he would kiss her at any moment, Cen Yi’s cheeks flushed and her heart suddenly raced.

Who could have guessed that their “kissing photo” would spread all over the internet?

But just as the paparazzi began digging deeper, the two seemed to “break up,” and from then on they were never seen together again.

3.

Years later, Ji Xingzhou returned to China, and the two worked together for the first time.

During a media interview, the host asked if he had been nervous about his first on-screen kiss.

Ji Xingzhou shook his head and denied it. “It wasn’t my first kiss.”

His gaze drifted leisurely to the person beside him. His voice carried clearly and slowly to every corner of the venue. “The last time was with Teacher Cen, too.”

The audience erupted. Some remembered the scandal from years ago.

Dumbfounded, Cen Yi was a beat slow to realize what Ji Xingzhou meant. Her face heated, and she immediately clarified, “That time, we didn’t...” kiss, did we?

She caught her manager’s warning gesture out of the corner of her eye and abruptly fell silent.

But Ji Xingzhou immediately continued, “I didn’t mean that time.”

His smile faded, and his eyes narrowed. “But...”

“You still don’t know.”

-

Later, Ji Xingzhou’s secret account was exposed.

For more than a thousand days since Cen Yi’s debut, he hadn’t missed a single sign-in.

“The secret of longing quietly took root, drifting through the years across the ocean.”

“When he opened his eyes again, the world had returned before him.”

2026.07.24

Message: Happiness is the aftertaste of courage.