Rainy Day

[Serial novel in my column, Hot Wind. Please add it to your collection!]

The day Lin Yin met Hu Jiayi, it was raining. The day they became deskmates, it was raining. The day she saw him with someone else, it was raining too.

But on the day they parted, the weather was fine, with clear blue skies.

With the college entrance exams approaching, on the eve of their parting, Lin Yin stood at the school gate, facing the boy walking away from her.

She said, "Good luck on the exams! The weather will be nice tomorrow!"

The sea is wide enough for fish to leap, the sky high enough for birds to fly.

I hope that from now on, every important turning point in your life comes with good weather.

May your future shine bright, and may everything go smoothly.

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"The sea is wide enough for fish to leap, the sky high enough for birds to fly" is by the author Ruan Yue, quoted in volume 30 of the First Collection of The Complete Record of Poetry Discussions, citing Ancient and Modern Poetry Talks. The original line is, "The great sea lets fish leap, the vast sky lets birds fly."

New novel Hot Wind. Blurb:

[Quirky girl x sharp-tongued bad boy]

[School life first, then city life]

In high school, Zhou Huairang is cocky and sharp-tongued, and never takes anything seriously. His grades are poor, but he still stands out.

That is, until a transfer student arrives in the class next door. They are at odds from the start, and she keeps bringing up their grades.

The problem is, the transfer student is also at the bottom of the class.

*

Yun You thinks her three years of high school have gone pretty smoothly, aside from her poor grades.

So when she unexpectedly meets Zhou Huairang, whose grades are just as bad as hers,

Yun You is delighted: Great, someone to make me look better!

Yun You decides to get on good terms with him, pretending they can improve together while secretly pushing him to work harder. She is full of enthusiasm, but he won't play along at all.

They trade barbs back and forth until everyone knows about it.

*

Later, someone jokes that the bickering pair might as well get together.

It starts as a joke, but someone takes it seriously.

Yun You acts like she doesn't care, but beneath the surface, her feelings stir as she waits for his response.

Zhou Huairang, on the other hand, won't even spare her a glance, and his words are infuriating.

"Our grades are both terrible. If we got together, we'd ruin the gene pool."

Yun You finally understands.

They become friends, but that's as far as it goes.

*

When they meet again, Zhou Huairang sees someone confessing to Yun You. She smiles and laughs, and doesn't look like she's going to turn him down.

That night, Zhou Huairang corners her at her front door. The narrow stairwell traps her against the wall. The air is stifling, and breathing is hard.

For once, he swallows his pride. "How about giving me a chance?"

Yun You turns her head away and throws his own words right back at him.

Zhou Huairang freezes for a moment. His memory drags him back to that day, and guilt washes over him like a surging tide. After a moment of silence, he tries to save face.

"Haven't you heard that two negatives make a positive?"

[Give off even the smallest bit of warmth, and shine with even the faintest light!]

The title and blurb are both from Lu Xun's Hot Wind, Random Thoughts 41.

Reading Guide:

1. One-on-one romance, both leads are single. No intimate behavior before the main characters are adults.

2. There is a reason for what the male lead says in the blurb. See the main story for details.

3. Mostly set at school.

Blurb screenshot saved on August 26, 2022.

Premise: Love yourself well.