Scenery of Yuncheng

[Quiet, gentle sweetheart x sharp-tongued, reserved hottie]

Blurb One:

A transfer student arrives at Yuncheng No. 1 High School one day. She's a classic sweet, well-behaved girl from the south, but the teacher seats her right behind Su Jue.

Everyone feels sorry for her and says mysteriously:

"Half the names on the honor roll and half the names on the disciplinary list belong to him."

"He's the one giving speeches as an outstanding student representative, and he's also the one reading his self-criticism onstage."

"Su Jue is famous for his terrible temper..."

Jiang Yiyu shakes her head. "I'll keep my distance from him. I won't provoke him."

Standing behind her, Su Jue raises an eyebrow when he hears this.

At the annual sports meet, Jiang Yiyu carries the hopes of her whole class and pushes herself through the 800-meter race. When it's over, her blood sugar drops and she sinks to the ground.

The drone filming the whole event turns its camera on her just then. On the big screen, nearly half the school sees the supposedly cold and aloof top student Su Jue pull a packet of Wangzai steamed buns from his pocket, crouch beside her, and feed them to her.

Everyone's gossip centers on two questions.

"Su Jue likes Wangzai steamed buns???"

"What's going on between those two???"

They think they've uncovered a secret. Instead, everyone in their class starts saying the two of them are always competing for first place on the exam rankings. They're just academic rivals, and the story spreads like wildfire.

After the Gaokao, the class plans to go out for a meal. That night, someone spots them from a distance.

Su Jue is under a tree, quietly kissing the girl in his arms.

Blurb Two:

Jiang Yiyu has understood since childhood that she'll never truly own anything. Only by being obedient can she avoid being abandoned.

Her father says, "Your little brother wants your paintbrush. Let him play with it for now, and I'll buy you another one next time."

Of course, that next time never comes.

On her brother's birthday, Jiang Yiyu puts on her new pink coat.

Her stepmother says, "Your cousin looks better in this. She likes it too, so give it to her."

Jiang Yiyu changes back into her bulky, plain down jacket.

That same day, her beautiful, accomplished cousin becomes infatuated with a boy. He's sitting on a private room sofa, looking at his phone, dressed all in black and giving off a stay-away-from-me vibe.

Confident in her looks, the cousin goes over to ask for his contact information. Jiang Yiyu follows with her head down, looking bored.

Su Jue doesn't respond to the cousin's attempt to talk to him. He just turns his head, as if annoyed that she's blocking his view, and says ambiguously, "Jiang Yiyu, you told me you were working on problems."

Jiang Yiyu jolts and bolts.

Her cousin asks, "You know him? Give me his contact."

For once, well-behaved Jiang Yiyu refuses. "No."

Even when her stepmother demands an explanation, she still doesn't give it to her.

Later, Jiang Yiyu presses both hands to his face to cool herself down. "Su Jue, you're mine."

"Mm." He smiles.

At New Year's, their relatives see the always-obedient Jiang Yiyu storming ahead. "Stay away from me."

The boy, who looks like trouble, grabs her hand and gently coaxes her. "Don't be mad..."

P.S. There are no romantic or intimate scenes before they become adults.

Here's an upcoming story: "Yingying Isn't a Coward"

[Troublemaker x stubborn one]

He Tingyun is just like his name: from the day he was born, he's never had to endure any hardships. He's carefree and willful, until he transfers to a small town in his second year of high school. The facilities there are outdated, the desks and chairs are rusty and old, and even the water dispenser is ten years out of date.

Still, he adapts easily, acting as if he's lived there for seventeen years. His new deskmate is just not very talkative. He tries asking her several times but gets no response, so he teases her, "Are you a little fairy or a little mute?"

Deng Ying is beautiful and refined, like a pearl beneath the gray sky. But what people pass around isn't her always-first-place grades, but the mutism she developed in her first year of high school after her friend transferred away.

She thinks she'll spend her student years studying and saving money, trapped in an endless, quiet, heavy night, day after day, until a transfer student arrives in her class in her second year.

She hates him: his so-called talent, his tireless optimism, the fact that his parents are always there for him, how close they are becoming, how he forces her to speak, and how he leaves without a word.

Yes, he leaves again, suddenly and silently, just as he'd arrived. All he leaves behind are unfinished exam papers and books she hasn't finished memorizing. Deng Ying's life finally returns to its quiet routine. She's delighted. No one can compete with her for first place anymore.

But the good times don't last. They meet again, this time while she's at university. The student who needs a tutor suddenly turns out to be someone else. Deng Ying's face is expressionless, without a trace of surprise, as if he's a stranger.

He Tingyun leans against a piano, his gaze fixed on her. "What? You don't recognize me?"

"I don't." She's just as calm as ever.

A light rain falls outside. Even this bustling city has a gray sky. The piano keys sound twice as he casually presses them, barely audible over the rain. Under his gaze, Deng Ying looks away and turns to leave.

He Tingyun laughs and steps in front of her. "That's so cruel. I listen every day to the song you hummed to help me fall asleep."

"Stay away from me."

"So bossy."

Deng Ying struggles to raise her right hand, which he's holding tightly, and lifts an eyebrow. "Who?"

He only curls his lips into a smile.

P.S. It's more or less a story about two people who hate each other gradually realizing their feelings as they grow up. Yep (^∇^)

Theme: Study hard and keep striving.