I Heard You Like Me

[The advance sign-up for my next novel, Thump Thump, is open! The blurb is at the very end. If you're interested, you can add it to your reading list and wait for it to launch!]

The bravest thing Tang Shengsheng ever did was declare in her sophomore year of high school that she had a crush on He Zhiyu.

Not only did He Zhiyu himself hear her, the news spread throughout the entire school.

Later, the rumor made its way through every class in the school before circling back to Tang Shengsheng.

With a perfectly serious expression, she said, "Xunzi once said that rumors stop with the wise. Our duty as high school students isn't just to study. We should also focus on developing ourselves in every way: morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and through labor."

Her classmates: "..."

Years later.

He Zhiyu posted a photo in their high school class chat.

In it, a pair of hands were clasped together, fingers intertwined, unmistakably intimate.

The classmates who had been lurking all popped up to ask who it was.

He Zhiyu: The one who developed herself most fully in every way.

His classmates: "..."

Straight-faced nonsense-talker x You think you can out-talk me? I'll outdo you

Clearheaded little bunny x Easygoing big bad wolf

*Both are each other's first love, and neither has been with anyone else.

Weibo: @Xun Huan Zuo E

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Blurb for my next novel, Thump Thump:

1.

The year after the college entrance exams, Qian Jiayan followed an older fellow student to an unfamiliar city.

That's where he met Peng Yibai, who stuck to him like glue.

Honestly, among all the girls who had pursued him, Peng Yibai was one of the most skillful.

Stargazing, bringing him milk tea, checking in on him with warmth and care: every gesture seemed carefully aimed at something he liked.

His senior said he was going to fall for her. Qian Jiayan didn't take it seriously. "No way. She's not my type."

2.

In his senior year of college, Qian Jiayan won gold at the International Chopin Piano Competition, becoming the first Chinese champion since 1997.

As soon as the competition ended, interviews came pouring in. Countless cameras and microphones turned toward the tall, handsome young man from the East, waiting for his winner's speech.

"As expected of the Chopin Competition."

Facing the cameras, he looked calm, as if he had just come from practicing in the piano room. "The judges really know their stuff."

The media were in an uproar.

A day later, his cocky, punchable face was splashed across the front pages of music websites around the world.

Two days later, Peng Yibai was woken from a nap at home by someone knocking at her door.

The man outside braced one hand against the doorframe and thrust his phone screen toward her with the other, gritting his teeth as if he had conclusive proof. "Fine, Peng Yibai. Now that you've got what you wanted, you don't care anymore? You couldn't even reply to my messages while I was competing, huh?"

"..."

Wooden, flirtatious heartthrob x Arrogant, boastful love-struck fool

Theme: Develop yourself in every way: morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and through labor.