No. 28 Wutong Alley (Very Likely to Cut in Line)

Childhood Sweethearts | Lane Life | Cozy and Healing | Slow-Burning, Steady Love

Resilient, Pure-Hearted Sweetheart X Easygoing, Rebellious Bad Boy

Short Blurb

When Lu Wenshi was five, he moved to Wutong Lane and became Jiang Wensheng's neighbor.

They gave each other the cold shoulder and fought, but they never stayed apart.

Long Blurb

When Jiang Wensheng was five, a family moved in across the street from hers.

Little Lu Wenshi always wore a scowl, as if the whole world owed him five million.

In elementary school, Jiang Wensheng and Lu Wenshi became desk mates.

Jiang Wensheng drew a line down the middle of their desk and warned him, "Don't cross it."

Lu Wenshi just snorted.

In middle school, Jiang Wensheng got into idol fandom, and Lu Wenshi stepped on her cards and dirtied them.

An autographed card lay on the ground, with a shoe print on her idol's face.

At her breaking point, Jiang Wensheng snapped, "Lu Wenshi, if I ever talk to you again, I'm a dog."

He was also the one who found her after she ran away from home.

On a midsummer night, the evening breeze slipped through the leaves.

Leaning against a plane tree, Lu Wenshi smiled with carefree arrogance. "Found you again."

By high school, Lu Wenshi had grown past 180 centimeters, consistently ranked near the top of his class, and become the beloved golden boy everyone admired.

Only Jiang Wensheng had seen the young master's other side. "The school heartthrob? Him?"

Later, when the mock exam rankings came out, Jiang Wensheng missed the top ten and buried herself in studying, barely eating or sleeping.

Lu Wenshi brought her food. "Here."

Jiang Wensheng saw the name on the takeout bag. It was from her favorite place. "Did you climb over the wall again?"

The young master replied lazily, "Princess, eat first."

Later still, the romantic orange hues of the sunset spread across the sky.

Lu Wenshi kissed Jiang Wensheng on the cheek.

"Don't cross the line."

"I'm crossing this one, no matter what."

"An evening breeze down the lane, childhood sweethearts, and affection hidden beneath the shadows of plane trees."

Reading Guide:

1. This story follows them from childhood to adulthood. It's an extremely slow burn, with family, coming-of-age, friendship, and romance, all wrapped up in their bickering everyday lives.

2. The leads' names come from the line "Still drunk in the empty mountain, when the sound of cranes fills the air" in Sun Ti's Tang Dynasty poem, "Ge Shan Tan."

3. The plane trees in this story are Chinese parasol trees, not the London plane trees commonly seen today.

4. The setting is fictional, inspired by cities in southern China.

Theme: Study hard and keep striving every day.