[So Much Angsty Drama, A Touch of Mary Sue, Romantic Push and Pull, Bittersweet Romance, A Little Snark, Mostly College Life]
Gentle, detached heroine vs. refined older elite, childhood friend reunited after years apart, frivolous and possessive playboy
Yu Qiuli considers herself an ordinary person and never imagined she'd find herself in a melodramatic romance.
She spent nearly twenty years living a quiet life, until fate dumped the first bucket of drama on her: at college, she reunited with Zhao Huaize, a boy who'd gone to her elementary school. There was an unspeakable secret between them. Driven by some inexplicable emotion, she pretended not to know him, and Zhao Huaize seemed to have forgotten her too...
During that time, she met the kind of man she'd dreamed of as a girl: handsome, gentle, and restrained, wearing a suit and glasses. She fell hopelessly in love. After a round of testing the waters and romantic back-and-forth, she and Zhao Yucheng quickly grew closer. Then Zhao Yucheng told her he had a younger brother, and Yu Qiuli couldn't help wondering if that brother might be Zhao Huaize. She soon dismissed the thought. There were so many people surnamed Zhao in the world; it didn't mean they were all related.
Little did she know fate was about to dump a second bucket of drama on her.
By chance, Yu Qiuli met He Jingxuan, who then clung to her like a shadow... Later, she discovered he was Zhao Huaize's friend, but one night, she still "eloped" with him... That was the third bucket of drama fate dumped on her.
P.S.
The heroine is flawed. She can be sharp-tongued, anxious, suspicious, and miserable. She's not a strong, all-conquering heroine.
The story is told almost entirely from the heroine's perspective and focuses on her growth. She gets more than 90% of the page time.
More than one person falls for the heroine, and she falls for more than one person.
In short, this is an emotionally intense romance that thrives on twisted, bittersweet love and an extraordinary amount of drama.
Theme: Love and life are equally great.
