Thirty Seconds

- 6:00 p.m.

A group of friends dragged Xu Jianian into a milk tea shop. The girls by the window immediately turned to look. Someone clapped him on the shoulder. "Jianian, the rich girl from the class next door is looking at you again."

Xu Jianian curled his lip, nonchalant. "What does that have to do with me?"

- 6:05 p.m.

Egged on by her friends, the rich girl shyly pushed another girl forward. "Go ask him for his WeChat." Everyone in the shop heard her.

The girl in a faded school uniform silently stood up.

- 6:07 p.m.

Amid the crowd's amused stares, Lin Chu slowly walked over to Xu Jianian's table and lowered her eyes to meet the gaze of the boy lounging back in his chair.

He spoke first. "No."

Lin Chu said, "She likes you."

"So?"

Lin Chu said nothing.

Xu Jianian watched her with an amused half-smile, a straw between his fingers as he tapped it lightly against the table.

Click, click, click.

Thirty seconds later.

"So," Lin Chu said calmly, "will you go out with me?"

*

The biggest piece of gossip at Nanzhou Private High that year: Xu Jianian, the arrogant rebel, was won over in just thirty seconds by the new, introverted transfer student. The rich girl with a crush on him burst into tears and stormed out, without getting so much as a glance from him.

The second-biggest piece of gossip at Nanzhou Private High that year: not long after, Xu Jianian and Lin Chu became complete strangers and stopped speaking. Clearly, they had broken up.

No one found it strange.

Xu Jianian was a rule-breaking, carefree playboy. He and Lin Chu had only gotten together on a whim, just to have a little fun.

What nobody knew was this.

That evening, after everyone else had left, Lin Chu wore an expressionless face as she used every bit of strength she had to slowly pull her hand from Xu Jianian's palm.

"Let's break up."

Red marks from his tight grip showed on the back of her hand. "Right now."

*

The night after the college entrance exam.

Lin Chu received a text from Xu Jianian.

"A Chu,

Your thirty seconds, my ten thousand years."

* One-on-one romance

* No romance before age eighteen

* Happy ending

Coming next: Clear Lies / My First Love Was the School Hunk at Seventy

Clear Lies

At the post-exam class reunion, the usually quiet and introverted Cheng Wei draws a truth question: "Do you have a crush on anyone right now?"

"No," she answers at once.

The game continues, and Ji Shichuan, lounging against the bar, draws the same question again.

Everyone turns to look. Amid their curious stares, his proud childhood friend, the school's beauty, actually blushes for once and approaches with her glass in hand.

Ji Shichuan gets up and heads straight for the door.

"I used to."

He glances in a certain direction and curls his lips. "And of course, I still do."

*

The reunion ends in disarray. Ji Shichuan grips Cheng Wei's wrist and corners her in the hallway.

"Do you really enjoy lying all the time?"

"Tell me, when are you finally going to make it public?"

In the dim, hazy light, Cheng Wei lets out a deep breath. "Ji Shichuan."

"Have you ever thought about it?"

She closes her eyes and says softly, "What if I was lying when I said I loved you back then?"

- You are the most innocent lie of my life -

My First Love Was the School Hunk at Seventy

Seventeen-year-old Xie Minmin says to Cheng Miao, "My mom says I'm still too young. I'm not going to date you this early. Bye!"

Seventy-year-old Xie Minmin says to Cheng Miao, "What do you mean? You're not coming square dancing with me just because you have a physics test to write?"

Cheng Miao: "...No, I was just thinking about which jersey to wear tonight so I can beat all the old men at the square."

- Life is full of regrets, but you have always been my happy ending -

* The male lead is always seventeen

* Apart from the blurb, the female lead is seventy throughout the story

* Should be a heartwarming story blending romance, family, and friendship

* Happy ending

Theme: Everyone deserves the most sincere love