She Shines Brighter Than a Thousand Suns

If Yu Xiang had to describe her past relationship with Chu Yuan, she'd say there was far more war than peace.

Through those sweltering summers, at competition camps where the motto was "First place in the competition, friendship second," they stayed up late together, solved problems, and cursed the question writers...

They pushed each other relentlessly, neither willing to give an inch.

Looking back, a classmate sighed, "You two were both so perfect. How did you end up as nothing but friends?"

Yu Xiang smiled without answering, thinking of the love letter she had treasured: "I met you, and I remember you. This city was born for romance, and you were born for my soul."

Only she and he knew that the bright, blazing light within them was both the most wounding and the most irresistible thing about each other.

When Chu Yuan's name came up again, Yu Xiang said with certainty, "He won't forget me."

Though she later left the country without a word, she had always believed that the years of youth and glory they shared would continue to shine in their lives, no matter how much time passed.

Then one day, in a torrential downpour, she got into a ride-hailing car, and a man leaned in through the window.

Raindrops slid down the sharp line of his jaw. His damp eyebrows looked especially long and defined, and his nose was straight and handsome. His expression was composed.

Perhaps the darkness inside the car took him by surprise. The moment he looked in, his eyelids flickered almost imperceptibly. A drop of water slipped from the tip of his lashes and vanished silently inside the car.

"Do I know you?"

Polite. Distant. Like strangers.

All of Yu Xiang's composure shattered in an instant. She didn't see the raindrop falling from his lashes, silently disappearing into the endless curtain of rain.

A genius's love is always too clever and too proud. They hide how much they care so perfectly that even as they strike a precise blow to each other's hearts, they can read every drop of blood in the other's wounds.

Reading Guide:

1. In their professional field, the heroine is the strongest. The hero excels in other areas.

2. The competition rules and admissions policies are fictional and exist to serve the plot.

3. Two proud geniuses, a bittersweet push and pull, each other's one and only. The heroine has a character-growth arc.

*

Coming Soon: The Merman's Aftereffects

Lin Chuan is widely known at No. 1 High School as the "campus heartbreaker": an unbeatable king on the basketball court who can charm a foreign exchange student with a single smile. Unfortunately, he started dating as soon as he enrolled, and even cheated on two girlfriends at once.

During a major exam, he wrote an essay titled "The Gardenia-Like Girl." It was widely circulated, and he admitted himself that the girl, pure and flawless yet hiding a sharp, cunning edge, was like sunlight piercing a stuffy examination hall. She was modeled on the top student in the grade, Zhuang Liyan.

The playboy who only loves hot girls had actually fallen for that emotionless exam machine.

Everyone thought: No way. Is Zhuang Liyan going to be his next victim?

Only Zhuang Liyan knew that her interest in Lin Chuan began with her roommate's hopeless crush.

This seduction had been planned for a long time. It had nothing to do with love.

*

No one believed Lin Chuan was serious about Zhuang Liyan. Everyone thought they wouldn't make it to the end of the term.

The day Zhuang Liyan was expelled, Lin Chuan picked up a gardenia from the mud, shielded her behind him, and took all the blame upon himself.

In the heady passion of youth, the prodigal turned over a new leaf, and the boy offered her his heart, piece by piece.

Countless people were moved and offered their congratulations, but Zhuang Liyan only said,

"This is pretty boring, Lin Chuan."

"...What?"

"I mean what I said. Dating you is pretty boring." She turned away. "I'm done playing."

Zhuang Liyan had known since childhood that she wasn't a gardenia. She was a poisonous herb.

The most innocent trample on love the most, while the most heartless give their hearts most freely.

*

Later, Zhuang Liyan met many better people. To her, being sixteen was just a dream.

Until the night of a devastating rainstorm and flood, when she was trapped and saw Lin Chuan again, now grown. "Do you hate me?"

"How could I? I know that now you're invulnerable and unstoppable, with countless people willing to risk everything for you." The man pulled her out of the muddy water with professional detachment. His voice was deep, but his words were casual. "But have any of them ever seen sixteen-year-old Zhuang Liyan? Wiped away her tears?"

"Zhuang Liyan, you didn't have the courage to hold on to sixteen-year-old Lin Chuan. You hate yourself more than I do."

A grown king is invincible. The warmth of childhood is her only weakness.

Theme: A disillusioned young woman rediscovers her dreams and love.