In the Heart of a Burning Summer

In the sweltering, humid summer of the south, a girl named Ming Xia transferred to a struggling high school in a small county town.

She was strikingly beautiful, bold and vibrant like a rose in full bloom. In her very first weekly exam, she scored fifty points higher than the student in second place, sending shock waves through a school as dull as a pond without a ripple.

Rumors about Ming Xia's transfer ran wild. Some said she was the principal's illegitimate daughter; others said she was a fallen heiress hiding out in the county town.

The rumors grew more vicious until they became widespread personal attacks and a campaign of collective ostracism.

Ming Xia stopped smiling. From then on, she was quiet and withdrawn, as cold and aloof as the rumors said.

-

One summer afternoon, Chen Chi skipped class with his buddies and climbed a tree to escape the heat.

Ming Xia walked by with her books. One of the guys nudged Chen Chi with his elbow, grinning. “There she is. See her? The one who transferred from the big city.”

Dappled shadows fell around them. Chen Chi lowered his eyes and replied casually, “Yeah.”

“Interested?”

Chen Chi didn't answer.

Just as Ming Xia passed beneath the tree, he suddenly leaped down, sending a shower of leaves fluttering to the ground.

Chen Chi stood up and looked at Ming Xia's face, pale with fright. His tone was cocky. “Not interested.”

-

Later, Chen Chi got into trouble for Ming Xia time and time again.

He beat up everyone who spread rumors about her, grabbing them by the collar and forcing them to apologize to her.

“Stop fighting for me.” Ming Xia held Chen Chi by the chin, tenderly dabbing medicine onto the cuts on his face with a cotton swab. “I don't care how they bully me.”

Chen Chi grabbed her hand, his gaze unwavering. “But I care.”

-In the passionate storm of that summer when we were seventeen, we grew up together.

[A bittersweet, literary coming-of-age story about saving each other. The blurb and character profiles may change.]

[The proud, confident, dazzling girl from the big city × the rebellious wild boy from a small county town]

[Blurb screenshot dated June 27, 2022]

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