Make Him Cry

[Print edition published and available on all major platforms.]

On her first day transferring schools, Jiang Wanju needed a favor from her jerk of a brother at the same school.

Her brother had no intention of helping. Pointing at a handsome guy downstairs, he said, "See that guy? Make him cry, and I'll be your dog for the whole year."

Jiang Wanju studied that familiar face and narrowed her eyes.

Her deskmate, thoroughly corrupted by romance dramas, offered Jiang Wanju a plan:

Date him first, then leave him and give him a youth he'll never forget, complete with heartbreak.

It'll definitely work.

Jiang Wanju: That's kind of mean.

Xiao Yan, listening from the corner: Interesting.

-

They met again years after parting.

By the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Beibeng Township, Medog, rain poured down. The expedition team sent to protect rare plants had gotten separated. Looking at her injured leg, Jiang Wanju made the best of things and filmed the scenery, adding the caption: "Isn't my kingdom beautiful?"

A familiar account sent her a private message. She opened it and found a photo.

It showed her from behind, with two words underneath: "Beautiful."

Jiang Wanju turned around. He was standing behind her.

Dusty from the road, he had come through years of hardship.

Some say a proper ex should be as good as dead.

But the coffin opened, and the coffin came.

The coffin said he would put on a show and cry for her.

-

"I am a green-skinned beast born in spring, secretly swallowing ten petals of the moon on an autumn night." - Tangerines, by Gao Heming

From youthful to mature, from sour to sweet.

1. Plant conservation expert x business magnate

2. A secret crush during their school days, but no dating as teenagers.

3. Everything is made up; expect melodrama and a writing exercise.

Theme: Twisted trees, wildflowers in bloom.