Light Rain in Midsummer

On Sunday afternoon, Lu Miao was filling in for her cousin as a supermarket cashier when Song Jianian came in and said, “A pack of Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes.”

As soon as he saw who was behind the register, he changed his tune. “They're for a friend.”

In their senior year of high school, on a snowy, windy night, Lu Miao's thoughts were in turmoil. She hadn't read his message, and her phone had run out of battery and shut off.

A blizzard howled that day. The snow was knee-deep, and the roads were blocked.

Song Jianian walked thirteen kilometers into the storm just to check that Lu Miao was safe at school.

He hadn't even had time to put on a warm coat.

Years later, when he told his friends about it, one of them laughed. “You became henpecked before you even managed to win your wife over.”

Another friend asked, “So what happened after that? Did you two get together?”

Amid the fragrant steam rising from his tea, he replied, “Of course we did.”

He showed them the wedding ring on the ring finger of his left hand.

Reader's guide:

High school setting, with students divided into science and humanities tracks

A healing story about growing up, with a touch of redemption

Both each other's first love / Secret crushes / Reunion after years apart / Happy ending

Theme: Growing up.