[At Mingyuan Temple, the morning and evening bells ring once at dawn and once at dusk. Their deep, lingering tones are like her secret love, spanning the hours from dawn to dusk without ever stopping.]
*
At Jing University, Qin Zezhou is the brightest star. Born into a prominent family, aloof and proud, he made waves in the industry with a sculpture in a newly developed municipal park. He's a distinguished young gentleman coveted by people of every social class.
Jiang Tiao, meanwhile, is an impoverished student sponsored by the Qin family. Quiet and unassuming, she goes unnoticed by everyone. No one knows that she has secretly loved Qin Zezhou for three years, and worked herself to the bone in high school just to get into the same university as him.
At Qin Zezhou's birthday banquet, Jiang Tiao attends with a friend. Nervously, she takes out a prayer plaque she obtained at Mingyuan Temple. Qin Zezhou's friend asks in confusion, “You know her?”
The young man glances at the gift in her hands and shakes his head without expression.
Someone jokes that Young Master Qin is so charming that all sorts of people are deliberately trying to get close to him. Qin Zezhou leans lazily against the sofa and gives them a cold, stern look. They fall silent.
Later, on the first snowy day of winter, Qin Zezhou drives to Jiang Tiao's dormitory. She rushes downstairs without a scarf, the tip of her nose red from the cold. A passing student sees the usually aloof Qin Zezhou tenderly brush the snow from her eyelashes with a kiss.
Everyone says Jiang Tiao is just a passing fancy for Qin Zezhou, something to play with. Even Jiang Tiao silently agrees.
Their breakup is indeed brutal, but no one knows that Qin Zezhou spent an entire night calling Jiang Tiao, begging her to come back, without a single call being answered.
*
After graduation, Jiang Tiao returns to her hometown on an extended business trip and runs into her childhood friend. She posts a photo of them together on her social media, and her landlord, who is far away overseas, suddenly shows up, claiming to have lost his key and telling Jiang Tiao to hurry home.
Rain suddenly falls on a summer night. Jiang Tiao leaves her umbrella in the hallway and climbs the stairs, her footsteps pattering. The motion-activated light suddenly comes on, and she finds herself face-to-face with Qin Zezhou's unreadable gaze.
Jiang Tiao doesn't ask why. She treats Qin Zezhou like a roommate, but everything falls apart on a stormy night when the power goes out, and the two struggle to keep their precarious relationship afloat.
At a class reunion, Qin Zezhou waits until late into the night, but Jiang Tiao still hasn't come home. His burning phone dials her for the seventeenth time.
Jiang Tiao answers with a soft, breathless voice, her tone distant. “Mr. Qin, is something the matter this late?”
Reading Guide
Aloof, proud young master x Sensitive, resilient, sweet girl
Genius architect x Magazine editor-in-chief
The male lead is two years older than the female lead
First love for both, both have only had each other, happy ending
Thesis: Set sail together
