Reaching for the Stars, Plucking the Moon

[Complete. The next novel, Miss Jiang Can't Take Hardship, is now open for preorders, launching on the 20th of this month!] Zhao Qingyan first met Sheng Mingyue during the Mid-Autumn Festival, after getting into a prestigious high school at fifteen. It was his first visit to the Sheng residence, where he was going to see Mr. Sheng, who had sponsored him for years. Back then, he was an orphan of unknown parentage from an orphanage, with nothing to his name. She, on the other hand, was a pampered young lady who had grown up in luxury, wearing her hair in a princess style and knowing nothing of life's hardships. She leaned over the second-floor railing, looking down at him with innocent curiosity. "You're Zhao Qingyan? Hey, did you know I picked your name?" That day, she gave him a moon-shaped lantern for the festival. The lantern accompanied him as he left the orphanage and set out to study medicine. Years later, it returned to her hands. When they met again, he had become a leading figure in thoracic surgery, renowned for both his skills and his looks. Young and successful, with a bright future, he was known as "Zhao One-Slice." She stood at the lectern in a medical school, teaching and nurturing students. Composed and unruffled, she was called "the prettiest lecturer at the School of Basic Medical Sciences." They met at a pork stall early one morning. "I'm buying some fatty pork for them to practice suturing on. What about you?" "We ran short on pig hearts for the anatomy lab. I'm here to buy a few more." "I climbed up from the depths, covered in mud, so I could stand shoulder to shoulder with Mingyue." - Zhao Qingyan #PoorBoy x RichBeauty# #Thoracic Surgery's Leading Star, The Best Scalpel x The Prettiest Lecturer at the School of Basic Medical Sciences# 2022.02.24 Reading notes: 1. This story is entirely fictional. Please don't associate it with real-life details. There are countless personal interpretations, and every setting serves the plot. If that's not to your taste, feel free to leave. There are so many great novels on Jinjiang, and there's bound to be one for you! 2. References include Systematic Anatomy (9th Edition), A Compendium of Diagnosis and Treatment for Difficult Cases in Thoracic Surgery, Two Hundred Years of Surgery, and related websites. Please point out any errors politely. You don't need to tell me if you drop the novel, and please don't attack me personally =_= 3. Other completed novels in the same series include Every Year Has Pines and Bamboo and Winter Is Best. See my author page for more. 4. This novel will be available for purchase tomorrow, October 21. Thank you for your support! The Next Novel: Miss Jiang Can't Take Hardship Blurb: Jiang Sihuai was out delivering takeout when she ran into Liang Huaijing downstairs in the hospital's inpatient building. Years after graduation, Jiang Sihuai had forgotten most of what she learned, but she still remembered Liang Huaijing scolding her back then: "Your clinical reasoning is an absolute mess. Why are you even trying to be a doctor? You might as well go home and farm!" Farming was too hard, so Jiang Sihuai didn't dare try it and plunged into the food service industry instead. She puts little extras in Liang Huaijing's takeout bag that are different from what she gives other customers, and quietly thinks to herself: "Sure, I can't take hardship, and sure, I lack clinical reasoning, but I'm a good junior colleague!" When Liang Huaijing learned that Jiang Sihuai had never become a doctor, he felt quite uneasy. He thought she'd given up on herself after being discouraged by him, and wanted to make it up to her but didn't know how. He apologized to her: "As your clinical instructor, I should have helped you instead of criticizing you. If I hadn't been at fault, you would already be an excellent doctor." Jiang Sihuai stammered, "Actually, it's just... I don't think I can handle the hardships of clinical work..." Liang Huaijing: "? Is working in food service not hard?" Jiang Sihuai said smugly, "Look at my sales figures. I really am not suited to a career in medicine!" Liang Huaijing: "...Are you sure it's not because your heart isn't in it?" #A Stern Senior Student Who Holds Himself and Others to High Standards x A Sunny Junior Student Who Thinks Good Enough Is Good Enough# #Their Impressions of Each Other: But He Loves Sweets x She Can Do Anything Except Treat Patients# Premise: Hard work pays off.