The Scepter in My Palm

* Golden boy x insecure girl / mutual salvation

Qiao Sui's father died in the line of duty when she was five.

From then on, she grew up in the residential compound as the orphan of a fallen hero.

There were many prominent people there, and plenty of children her age, too.

Qiao Sui had a purple birthmark on her face, covering almost half of it.

Children's cruelty is often shamelessly unchecked, and almost everyone called her an "ugly freak with no dad."

Her early childhood was filled with senseless bullying.

That was until Meng Tangming appeared.

In Qiao Sui's young mind, he was the "leader of the kids," and all the other children listened to him.

Meng Tangming wouldn't let anyone bully her. He would play with her, give her tasty treats, and defend her whenever someone called her ugly...

Qiao Sui didn't know what the gods of the Western world were like, but in her eyes, Meng Tangming was extraordinarily handsome, holding a scepter in his hand like a god.

He governed almost all the joys and sorrows of her childhood.

She became the boy's little shadow and followed him for five whole years.

Everyone teased Meng Tangming about where he'd found such an ugly little sister.

But in Qiao Sui's memories, he always taught those sneering people a lesson.

Then, in the final year of middle school, something happened to the Meng family, and Meng Tangming moved to another province with his family.

After that, she lost all contact with him.

Some people said he'd had an accident and died.

Qiao Sui didn't believe them. She carried on with her life, going to class every day and waiting for Meng Tangming.

In the tenth year, Meng Tangming finally came back.

Compared to the golden boy he'd once been, he had grown much quieter.

The radiant confidence he'd once worn so openly had withdrawn, leaving him inexplicably low-key and dangerous.

But when he saw her, he still smiled lazily. "Xiao Qiao? You've grown pretty."

When Meng Tangming was at the lowest point of his life, Qiao Sui gave him a card she'd written ten years earlier.

It had only one sentence on it:

[Your spirited, brilliant self is the faith I will hold for all my life.]

-

Later, Qiao Sui finally realized that she had become the one holding the scepter.

* Both are each other's only one; her unrequited love becomes mutual

* Two-year age gap

* The female lead grows up to become beautiful

* "Your spirited, brilliant self is the faith I will hold for all my life" is a quote from the internet

Theme: Uphold socialist core values