She saw Chen Gu again seven years later.
Nanfang was standing in a rainy alley in a small town, visiting her great-uncle on her parents' behalf. Chen Gu was across from her, fixing a computer for the child of her great-uncle's neighbor.
Raindrops fell steadily. The man stood amid the damp gray surroundings, holding a black umbrella, silent as a pine tree.
His clear, cool gaze pierced the rain, half-hidden beneath the umbrella's edge.
In high school, Chen Gu had been quiet and taciturn. He always wore a pair of sneakers scrubbed almost white, sitting in a corner of the classroom and reading in silence.
Though Nanfang and Chen Gu were classmates, they hardly ever spoke.
There was only one time, during an extended break between classes, when Nanfang did so badly on a math test that she skipped exercise period and hid at her desk to cry. Chen Gu, who was on duty that day, saw her.
Nanfang was mortified.
She was just trying to cover it up when the boy walked over.
The summer breeze carried a faint scent of jasmine. He stopped by her desk, lowered his head, and asked in a restrained voice, “Which problem don't you understand?”
Nanfang no longer remembered how Chen Gu had taught her back then.
She only remembered the neat, forceful strokes of his handwriting, and how she lost an eraser that day.
It was her precious eraser, scented like peach, with her name carved into it during an art class. Somehow, it had simply disappeared...
It wasn't until they met again that Nanfang found the eraser in Chen Gu's desk drawer.
And underneath it, a love letter addressed to: Nanfang.
*
[That summer, the wind came from the south.]
A few notes:
1. Sweet and gentle heroine x devoted, loyal hero.
2. He has a secret crush on her. They reunite after years apart. Both are virgins, and each other's first love. Happy ending.
(Original blurb dated September 18, 2022)
Theme: Give it your all, and your dreams will come true.
