Ten Years in His Heart

Shang Ran had been well-behaved and sensible since childhood, always following the rules. The most outrageous thing she'd ever done was slip a letter into the desk of the boy she liked on the day the college entrance exams ended.

As luck would have it, Cheng Jin saw her do it.

Cheng Jin was a famous figure at No. 1 High School: unruly and arrogant, and a top student to boot. In their three years as classmates, Shang Ran had said so little to him that you could count their conversations on one hand.

The careless young man stood by the window with his bag slung over one shoulder, watching her silently, his expression unreadable.

His gaze made Shang Ran's face burn with embarrassment. She retrieved the letter she'd just tossed into the desk and fled. After that, she disappeared from the class group chat.

*

Years later, Cheng Jin, who had won every major award in the film and television industry, was asked in an interview what the darkest day of his life had been.

Cheng Jin said, "The day the college entrance exams ended, I wanted to tell her how I felt, but I saw her putting a letter into another boy's desk..."

As soon as he said it, #FilmEmperorCheng'sSecretSchoolCrush shot to the top of the trending topics.

The whole internet was searching for the person who had made that day so dark for Film Emperor Cheng.

At that moment, Shang Ran had just gotten off a plane and knew nothing about it. She only felt that the internet back home seemed worse than abroad. She couldn't even log into Weibo.

*

A man and a dog showed up at Shang Ran's veterinary clinic.

The dog looked like the stray she'd often fed during the second half of her senior year.

The man seemed familiar too...

Under the dim lights, the man wore a baseball cap. Beneath its brim, his dark eyes gleamed like polished obsidian, fixed intensely on her.

In a gentle voice, he said softly, "Classmate Shang, my Da Huang seems to have lost his appetite lately. Could you take a look at him?"

Those words, "Classmate Shang," brought the memory rushing back.

The mortifying feeling of being caught delivering a love letter returned all over again.

Shang Ran thought this would be nothing more than a simple doctor-patient relationship.

But before long, he appeared smelling of alcohol and held her close, almost pleading as he said, "Ranran, please give me a chance."

His burning breath enveloped her. In her panic, Shang Ran heard herself say, "Okay."

Theme: Live earnestly and keep looking on the bright side