A heartwarming childhood-friends romance. This is something of an alternate storyline for another novel in the author's collection.
When Shen Songyi was leaving to study abroad, she had a huge fight with him. It was so explosive that they nearly fell out for good.
Though she was the only one who thought they had fallen out.
Later, on a rainy night in a foreign land, he knocked on her door and told her about the secret crush he had never dared to confess.
Rain poured outside. The man's suit was soaked through, but his arms felt scorching hot as he held her tight. His searing tears burned the skin at the side of her neck. He covered her eyes with one hand and kissed the corner of her mouth, utterly at a loss.
The rose vines covering the courtyard walls bore witness to his long-hidden love amid the torrential rain.
The next day, they both came down with high fevers.
Luckily, their family doctor arrived in time. Otherwise, their first love might have ended before it even began, with both of them nearly dying of illness.
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From the heroine's perspective:
As a child, she thought the boy next door was all-powerful. Whenever she needed him, he would appear at once and solve all her problems.
Her girlish affection gradually blossomed into a secret crush. She filled one diary after another, calculating the odds of her confession being accepted countless times.
Every time, it came down to five words: "the family friend's little sister."
Life is always full of ups and downs.
Later, she decided that a life this colorful, with both its hardships and its sweetness, wasn't so bad after all.
At least the person by her side had never changed.
Content warning: Written in first person.
Theme: Growing into a tree that thrives freely
