**Xia Shi'an** is the top student in the class. She has a reserved personality and is used to using reason to cover up her inner sensitivity and fragility. Her family is not happy, and her parents have always been at odds with each other. She can only escape reality by studying hard. **Cheng Yunian** is the sports committee member of the next class. He is sunny and cheerful, like a fire, always igniting the enthusiasm of people around him. However, there is a secret hidden behind his sunshine - his father passed away due to illness, and his mother supported the family alone. He had to hide his inner pressure with a smile.
In junior high school, the two were good friends. Xia Shi'an envied Cheng Yunian's free and easy attitude, while Cheng Yunian was attracted by Xia Shi'an's tenacity. They study together, play ball, skip classes to go see the sea, and share each other's dreams and secrets. However, in the second year of junior high school, Cheng Yunian suddenly transferred schools due to his mother's job transfer. The two did not even have time to say goodbye properly, leaving only a vague "goodbye".
In high school, Xia Shian was admitted to the city's key entrance examination, trying to cover up the regrets of the past with a new life. On the first day of her second year of high school, she saw Cheng Yuonian in the classroom - he had transferred back to another school. The joy of reunion was quickly diluted by the estrangement of reality. Cheng Yunian has become a bit strange. He is no longer as sunny as before, but more indifferent and alienated. Xia Shi'an tried to get close to him, but found that he always seemed distant.
By chance, Xia Shi'an discovered that Cheng Yunian had been working part-time. In order to reduce the burden on his mother, he almost gave up his studies. She finally understood that his indifference was because he was afraid of dragging her down. The two began to get close again. From testing each other to falling in love and killing each other, they faced the confusion and pressure of youth together. However, tests of reality followed one after another: Xia Shi'an's parents decided to divorce, and she fell into self-doubt; Cheng Yuannian's mother suddenly fell ill, and he had to consider giving up his studies and working to support the family.
In the most difficult moment, Xia Shi'an said to Cheng Yunian: "You were once the brightest light in my youth, and now it's me who lights up you." The two decided to face reality together and no longer escape. They supported each other and eventually entered the same university. At the end of the story, the two stood on the beach, and Cheng Yunian said with a smile: "That summer, we lost to time, but now, we have won the future."
Concept: Youth is a game with time, regret is the price of growth, and love is the ultimate answer
