The boy was like fire,
igniting that gray-blue winter.
The year her mother died, Zhu Ling spent winter break in her hometown. Ever since her parents divorced when she was little, she had been a cold and distant person.
Zhu Ling had expected to spend a gray winter.
Instead, she met a boy who was dazzlingly bright. His arrival burned away the gray that had shrouded the winter.
On New Year's Eve,
the boy lit a sparkler and slipped the red string he'd prayed for at the temple around her wrist.
"Zhu Ling, peace and happiness."
Before winter break ended, she left without a word, leaving no trace behind.
A year later, Zhu Ling ran into this old friend at the high school she had just transferred to. They both pretended not to know each other as they passed in the hallway.
But on her birthday, the evening broadcast played "Happy Birthday." Someone in the hallway asked whose birthday it was today. A moment later, a voice came over the speakers. The young man's voice was low, full of youthful charm, and edged with a smile and a hint of hurt.
"How much longer are you going to ignore me?"
Theme: Love yourself.
