Duan Nian'an's nickname was An'an. The An meant peace and happiness. Her family all hoped she would live a safe and smooth life, but things did not go as they wished.
Sheng Fuhan never believed in Buddha. People worshipped Buddha, but what they were really worshipping was their own desires. He prided himself on being free of desire's control, rational and clear-headed. Yet during those years when Nian'an was on the verge of a mental breakdown, a young man could always be found at Qian'an Temple, kneeling devoutly before Buddha with his hands clasped, laying bare his desire: "May Duan Nian'an be safe and happy, year after year."
In the reckless years of Sheng Fuhan's youth, Duan Nian'an was the only desire that made him both rational and mad.
Duan Nian'an had always wondered what a person could do in ten seconds.
Before the summer of her second year of middle school, she had no answer. But in the height of that summer, she found one: ten seconds was enough to remember someone.
That summer, she didn't even know which characters made up his name, yet she secretly tucked the aloof young man she had glimpsed for an instant into her heart.
Cen Yiyi wasn't especially close to the older boy next door, but she knew he was proud and carefree, cool-headed and rational. No one had ever seen him lose his composure. But that summer, when her sister secretly went to Ancheng without telling him, she saw Sheng Fuhan lose control.
The young man, the corners of his eyes red, stopped her and asked in a nearly pleading voice, "Where is Duan Nian'an?"
**
This world is selfish and hypocritical, tangled and chaotic. He is the only clarity in her life.
Theme: Fear not the darkness; grow toward the sun
