Listen, Summer. No Latecomers

My next upcoming novel: The Captive Maid

My next upcoming novel, a city romance interwoven with school-day memories: She Isn't Bossy Anymore. The swaggering school queen Bai Chuchu x the cold-faced student council president Fang Ziqi

Add it to your collection and follow my author page: Mo Wanqing

The blurb was updated with the male lead's name: 2025.12.18

[Severely hearing-impaired Xu Zhixia x the favored son of heaven, Xia Chixu]

As it turned out, Xia Chixu had never truly understood Xu Zhixia's voice.

"Hello... my name is Xu Zhixia."

The first time, she mustered all her courage, her voice trembling like a mosquito's buzz.

The bulky hearing aid pressed against her ear, reminding her of her disability like a burden.

It was the first time in her life she dared to look up at the tall, handsome boy.

In the darkness, he held out a hand and led her out of it, toward the light that belonged to her.

"Xu Zhixia." The boy's clear, pleasant voice spoke her name, the corners of his eyes curving into a faint smile.

After that, he became Xu Zhixia's deskmate, like a guardian guiding her through a voyage.

Xia Chixu told Xu Zhixia, "She won't bully you anymore. Don't worry!"

Xu Zhixia quietly memorized every word he said. The sound coming through her hearing aid was fuzzy with static, and she couldn't make it out clearly.

She deliberately ignored that imperfection. She only wanted to hold on to the warmth flowing into her heart, letting the heat he brought melt the cold surrounding her.

As graduation approached, Xu Zhixia worked and worked, trying harder with every step, until she finally got into a second-tier university in the same city as Xia Zhixu.

Who could have guessed that when Xu Zhixia arrived in his city as promised, Xia Chixu would miss the admissions cutoff and end up going to university in Nancheng instead?

Years later, Xia Chixu, the boy she'd had a crush on for seven years, flooded her social media with wedding photos.

His bride was radiant. She was the same bully who had thrown Xu Zhixia's hearing aid into the toilet.

Xu Zhixia spent the whole night opening envelopes, each containing a letter she'd written to him but never dared to send.

At the end of one letter: [If my voice ever finds its way back to you, I'll wait for you to say you love me.]

She waited, with no end in sight. His protection had rusted away, reduced to a useless pile of scrap metal.

Four more years passed before Xia Chixu finally turned back and came looking for Xu Zhixia.

He handed her the old exam paper she'd quietly slipped into his schoolbag all those years ago. In the blank space were her faded words: "I really want to confess to you. I hope you won't mind my imperfect hearing. Could we give this a try?"

He wanted to tell her the secret he'd kept hidden in his heart for years.

That was, Xia Chixu had once truly liked Xu Zhixia too. But because Xu Zhixia was profoundly hearing-impaired, Xia Zhixu hadn't dared to confess. He was afraid she would become a burden on his life and family.

Xia Chixu: I really, really liked you once. Did you know?

Xu Zhixia smiled gently. I know, but you're too late.

At the moment she turned away, the bells in the chapel rang, and she ran toward another man.

His silhouette looked so much like Xia Chixu at sixteen, but he was willing to crouch down in front of everyone and adjust the frequency of her hearing aid's external unit.

The train of her wedding dress brushed Xia Zhixu's fingertips, like the chalk dust wiped from the blackboard all those years ago, vanishing at the slightest touch.

[Content warning: 1. The ending shifts from a bad ending to a happy ending. 2. Don't complain about the bad ending. The 20% mentioned above was inspired by things that happened in real life. If you think this school life is unrealistic, then you've encountered these things in your own life but never took them to heart. That's great; being carefree is best.]

Theme: Let go of a love you can't have