A Date in the Locust Blossom Season

Needs revision, read at your own risk. (Bows.) Don't buy it, Orz.

"I willingly kneel at your side."

1.

When they were eighteen, during the rainy season of Huai Xu, a wall beneath the same roof was all that stood between them.

That year, Shen Tangyi received a guitar bought with the first paycheck Jin Xiangwan had ever earned from acting.

It was far more expensive than Shen Tangyi could have imagined.

The card bore neat, flowing handwriting: My dear little sister...

Those five words put a hundred thousand miles between them.

Shen Tangyi tore it up before she could finish reading. The guitar gathered dust at the bottom of a cabinet for ten years.

2.

The Pacific Ocean lay between them when they parted.

Shen Tangyi watched that familiar face on the screen.

He was an award-winning actor, an international superstar.

Shen Tangyi hid in the crowd and loved him in secret. She even wrote a book to preserve her memories.

But she alone knew that every word in the book was a lie.

3.

When they reunited, their standing in the industry was worlds apart.

The trending news about an international film star secretly giving up his identity and fame for love spread like wildfire.

Even Shen Tangyi thought her dream was about to come true.

But she regretted it.

"Maybe we should go back to being childhood friends," Shen Tangyi said, her face flushed as she tried to push Jin Xiangwan off her.

His eyes darkened, but his hands did not hesitate.

"Too late, Shen Tangyi."

His kiss branded her trembling shoulder.

Theme: Face adversity with optimism and break through it.