[Modern city + nostalgic school memories · Second male lead gets the girl]
1.
It was practically an open secret that Gu Li liked Gu Fusheng.
A single "Touch her and see what happens" when she was surrounded by bullies became the catchphrase of her girlish crush.
No one knew how hard she'd worked to go from secretly liking him to standing by his side.
On Gu Li's twenty-fourth birthday, he booked the most romantic garden restaurant to celebrate with her.
Her best friend said she'd finally made it through the hard times and would get what she wanted.
Gu Li said they were only going out for a meal, but in her heart, she secretly hoped and longed for more.
Her hopes shattered when Gu Fusheng arrived in an elegant black suit, with a pretty woman in a matching spaghetti-strap dress by his side. The identical silver bands on their index fingers gleamed painfully bright.
Less than half a month later, news that Gu Li was marrying the man from the Qi family spread through their circle of friends.
Someone was curious about how the eldest son of the Gu family would react and asked him to his face.
Gu Fusheng smiled faintly. "As long as she's happy."
But in private, the usually composed, gentle young gentleman was disheveled, a glass ashtray piled high with cigarette ash in front of him. Eyes red and hands trembling, he dialed the number he'd memorized by heart. "A Li, you..."
After the call connected, fabric rustled, then a man's breathless voice said irritably, "Who is this? Just because you don't have a nightlife doesn't mean other people don't."
2. The day Gu Li decided to give up on Gu Fusheng, she walked home holding a can of beer.
She felt as if she had become her sixteen-year-old self again, careful and timid.
The summer wind swept across the pedestrian overpass as she climbed the steps, reaching for the dimmest star in the sky.
But no matter what, she couldn't reach it.
She rose onto her tiptoes and leaned over the railing, but suddenly a powerful force wrapped around her waist and pulled her away.
The tall man had broad shoulders and several buttons undone at his collarbone. His sharp eyes and brows drew close to her face as he gritted his teeth and said, "It's just one man."
"Is this really necessary, Miss Gu?"
Pain flared at her waist. His large hand was still gripping her there, squeezing hard.
Gu Li's eyes reddened from the pain. She swiped at him, tipped her chin up, and said between sobs, "Then find me someone better than him."
The man gave a cold laugh. "Eight years apart, and your eyesight's gotten that bad?"
"Can't you see me right in front of you?"
3.
When Gu Li was sixteen, she was a dull, dusty little star.
She hid in an inconspicuous corner, gazing up at the sun.
Gu Fusheng, the top scorer in the province, whose name appeared across the honor rolls, was that sun.
The young man was slender and refined, graceful and courteous.
Every girl admired him, but he was beyond their reach.
Their homeroom teacher had asked them to write down their dreams, reminding them to choose something attainable and not to indulge in wishful thinking.
She secretly wrote down Gu Fusheng's name.
Afterward, she felt a pang of sadness. How could that be wishful thinking? It was clearly a hopeless fantasy.
She was wiping away tears beneath a jujube tree when
her head suddenly hurt.
A crooked little jujube bounced off the top of her head and rolled unsteadily to the ground.
Rubbing her head, she looked up.
A flamboyant boy with red hair was crouched on a branch, tossing jujubes down one by one.
When their eyes met, the culprit looked utterly carefree, not the least bit guilty. Instead, he grinned without a care and agilely leaped down from the tree.
The red-haired boy dusted off his pants and started to leave.
But a tear that had fallen to the ground stopped him.
The boy feared nothing in the world, except girls crying. His face stiffened.
A moment later, he walked over to the girl.
"Here."
The red-haired boy shoved a big handful of jujubes into Gu Li's hands.
When Gu Li looked up at him in confusion, unsure how to respond,
he rubbed his nose, frowned, and hesitantly pulled a few more from his other pocket.
"That's all I've got."
"You can look all you want, but there aren't any more."
"So could you..."
"Stop crying?"
[It turned out that, in a place no one knew about, someone was looking up at her too.]
Blurb screenshotted on 2023.1.13
Theme: Healing those who are all twisted up inside
