A Romantic Escape

The dilapidated little town's stately home, abandoned ever since it was built, finally welcomed its owner after several years: a refined, aloof young master.

A luxury car and villa, fine clothes and food, and a driver whenever he went out.

Tu Manman first met him when, fleeing her mother's beating, she nearly ran into a luxury car with a B-shaped emblem.

The boy climbed out, still bleary-eyed. Long lashes couldn't hide the impatience in his eyes. Looking at the small-town girl in faded clothes, he decided she'd staged the whole thing for compensation, tossed out "two-fifty," and ended the farce.

The two were worlds apart: one lived in a bungalow, the other in a grand house. A paved road called Milky Way Road lay between their homes, and they faced each other from either side.

Just like their lives.

But love struck like a beast, tearing reason to shreds.

Tu Manman fell for someone impossible, keeping it secret from everyone.

Then a storm swept in, and Chen Yigui personally shattered her fantasies. His cool, indifferent voice concealed a chill as he said, "Don't flatter yourself."

It rained all night. She had never seen such a torrential downpour since the day she was born. It went on for days, just like her feelings: sudden and impossible to take back. She couldn't help falling for him, but there was nothing she could do.

The rumor that "Tu Manman likes Chen Yigui" spread through the school like a summer hurricane. Before long, everyone knew the sparrow's delusion of becoming a phoenix by marrying into wealth.

The midday sun was blinding. Beneath the lush branches, shadows were torn apart by the light, and hurt and shame finally gave way to despair.

At the awards ceremony, Tu Manman put an end to the rumor in the most emphatic, uncompromising way possible, drawing a line between herself and Chen Yigui.

"I've never tried to climb above my station by pursuing Chen Yigui. I didn't before, I don't now, and I never will."

When it comes to love, it's not about what cards you hold, but when you play them. The one who falls first has always been at a disadvantage.

Once the rumors died down, their names were no longer mentioned together. Only then did Chen Yigui understand: the button that could start something between them had always been in Tu Manman's hands.

He had never bent his back for anyone in his life, but now he couldn't stand as straight as usual.

In his peripheral vision was Tu Manman's silence. He knew how badly she wanted nothing to do with him.

So he pressed his lips into a thin line and deliberately cooled his voice, wanting only to give her what she wanted: "Don't flatter yourself."

A grand yet lonely unrequited love, like a mint candy soaked in bitter melon juice, its ache too painful to put into words.

Later, on the school's weathered confession wall, a declaration reading "My wish for my eighteenth year is to have her" bore Chen Yigui's name. Everyone knew it, through the endless summer.

And the sunflowers he planted for Tu Manman bloomed brilliantly, facing south, on a cloudless afternoon.

On the rooftop of the grand house, Chen Yigui looked down, his fists clenching and unclenching, veins standing out across his arms.

In the little courtyard opposite, childhood friends chatted away. Tu Manman's smile was brighter than the sunflowers blooming by the wall.

He trapped the woman he loved between his arms. In the surging darkness of night, his eyes burned as he spoke, his breath scorching: "The language of sunflowers is, 'No one else is in my sight; wherever I look, it's you.' So, Tu Manman, you can't look at anyone else. You can only look at me."

The boy's dazzling love lay bare in his blunt words. His frank gaze held an unmistakable possessiveness, and in losing control, he reveled in the thrill of going off course.

No one else was in his sight; wherever he looked, it was her. Everywhere his gaze fell, it always pointed to Tu Manman.

A youthful crush lasts longer than the cicadas' yearly songs.

The daytime is bustling, and no one is ever alone, even when caught in the height of summer.

Theme: You are where my journey began, and where I will finally return