On the first day of sophomore-year class assignments, Shen Nian rushed into the classroom and became deskmates with Lu Huaizhi, the top student in their grade. She thought he was a distant, untouchable academic ace, never knowing he arrived ten minutes early each day just to wipe down her desk. He thought she was a carefree ray of sunshine, never knowing she carved his name into the corner of her desk and kept it hidden in her MP3 player and a rusty tin box.
A college entrance exam mishap caused by insecurity and misunderstanding kept them apart for seven years. Seven years later, Shen Nian had become a moderately well-known young adult fiction writer, while Lu Huaizhi was an internationally renowned young architect. When she returned to her hometown for a book signing with a new novel filled with their story, he quietly bought up the stock of every bookstore in the city and wrote the same line on the title page of every copy.
On the last day of the signing, he held out a book to her, his voice slightly hoarse.
