Making Do

[Complete. Thank you for being here.] A bittersweet high school and college unrequited-love story. From high school through college, Liang Qiyun has a crush on Zhou Mingzheng for seven years. In the eighth year, she starts dating someone. It isn't him. Zhou Mingzheng is handsome and gets good grades. He always seems to have a group of friends around him. Wearing a blue basketball jersey, he stands with his back to the sunlight, his long arms lifting the ball high as he sinks a three-pointer. When he smiles, he's like a ray of light. The whole world turns to look. One day in class, her deskmate Zhou Mingzheng points at a picture in the book and asks with a carefree smile, "Do you know what white bellflowers symbolize?" "Pure and sincere love." From then on, white bellflowers become Liang Qiyun's favorite flowers. Later, when a boy whose profile looks a lot like Zhou Mingzheng's pursues her, he gives her one bouquet of white bellflowers after another. Even her wedding dress is embroidered with white bellflowers. * One year, a popular online topic asked: Would you choose the person you love or the person who loves you? Liang Qiyun used to be certain she'd choose the former. But in the end, she chooses the latter. Please add my upcoming novel, Chasing the Light, to your reading list Qin Yue has had social anxiety since childhood. Introverted and solitary, she enters college without a single person she can talk to. At a chance university competition event, she meets Su Qingze, a third-year senior in the computer science department. He smiles like the warm winter sun, facing the light. "I'm a senior in computer science. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me." He thoughtfully looks after her at club gatherings and steps in when her classmates try to rope her into a friendly game of truth or dare. At Christmas, he brings her a cup of hot milk. "It's cold out. Drink something warm and keep yourself cozy." His gentle, thoughtful care gradually eases Qin Yue's anxiety. She thinks Su Qingze is a ray of light, one that warms her. She's willing to leave her comfort zone to get closer to him and chase that light. But later, she realizes that Su Qingze is just as kind to every girl. He tells other girls in the club to come to him if they need anything. He politely offers the only chair to a female classmate and stands off to the side himself. Qin Yue finally understands that he's only been kind to her because it's his duty as her senior. The turtle retreats into its shell once more. The heart that had begun to open a little closes up again. * At first, Su Qingze is kind to Qin Yue only because it's his duty as her senior. He thinks the girl is rather shy and wants to look out for her. She's wary of everything around her, like a little fawn, but when she's with him, her eyes shine. But little by little, that light fades. The girl no longer wants to talk to him. "Qin Yue, I think I might... have fallen for you." As Su Qingze says this, the tips of his ears turn red and he awkwardly scratches the back of his head. He's always been socially savvy and gets along well with both men and women. But in front of the girl he loves, he suddenly seems like an awkward eighteen-year-old boy. "Sorry, Senior, I have a boyfriend." Qin Yue turns him down, then smiles brightly and runs over to his roommate behind him, taking his hand of her own accord. There's light in her eyes again, just not for him anymore. No one expected the story to begin with a girl with social anxiety trying to step out of her shell for a ray of light. It ends with the girl finding another ray of light to warm her life. Theme: Amid life's ups and downs, keep a light in your heart.