The niece of a calligraphy teacher, a model student in the traditional sense.
The straight back and neat ponytail were the dream that haunted Xu Jinan throughout her girlhood.
A confession after the college entrance exams, a mistaken kiss, and a hasty departure became Yu Yinglin's belated growing pains.
"From childhood until now, I've never really had anything that belonged to me. I've always lived with restraint, never asking for too much and never treating myself harshly. I never saw you as a lifeline, because I could live perfectly well on my own. But you came into my life. You were an oblivious outsider, barging around me when I wasn't paying attention, gradually blurring the boundaries I had drawn around friendship. I couldn't stop myself from letting you into my world, a world that shut everyone else out. It was unexpected, but somehow it made sense. You always call me Big Sister Xiaoyu, but you're the one who's like rain. Not the torrential downpour of summer, nor the biting, desolate rain of autumn, but the soft drizzle of early spring, silently nourishing everything. I can't resist you. I really can't, whether you're fifteen or twenty-three. The kiss on my cheek was selfish of me, because long before that, I had stolen a kiss from you. Back then, I thought every improper thought I would ever have in this life would end there. Later, I kissed you again without permission. Only then did I realize that gentle, nourishing spring rain had already seeped into my whole life. That's why I'm so afraid, because if I hold on to you, I won't let go."
"Now, at twenty-three, I'm an adult stepping into the world. I've seen all the dazzling lights outside, and they only seem noisy to me. So you have to hold on to me, hold me tight, and let me land by your side. Let me be yours alone."
"You're not that much older than me. Don't always treat me like a child, and don't always put yourself in the role of my teacher. I can grow up on my own. Neither of us needs to give way to the other, or give more than the other. We're equals, and we're in love. Just be my girlfriend."
After she finished speaking, Xu Jinan received what she had wanted most during the growing pains of her teenage years: Yu Yinglin's embrace and a kiss touched with tears.
"The secret traces of a heart in love had already become the unforgettable growing pains of my youth by the time my slow self realized them."
Designer x math teacher
Straightforward, patient younger woman x beautiful, strong, tragic, gentle big sister
Childhood friends, three-year age gap, same-sex marriage and pregnancy are legal in this setting
Both switch; after their reunion, the present-day story runs alongside the school days. The bonus chapters will include the older sister Yu's perspective.
Theme: Love helps you grow
