Xu Ningqing was sucking on a mint when she witnessed a confession.
The girl wore a white dress and clutched a love letter, too nervous to look the other person in the eye.
"Yan, I've liked you for a long time. Would you be my boyfriend?"
The young man was tall and straight-backed, standing in a casual slouch. Beneath his tousled hair, his long, dark eyes showed no emotion.
"I don't like girls who are too pretty. They make me feel insecure."
Everyone at Jiang University knew Yan Jingchen's name. The girl knew this was a gentle way of turning her down, and left with tears held back.
Yan Jingchen remained where he was and said coolly over his shoulder, "Enjoying the show?"
Xu Ningqing stepped out from behind a eucommia tree and crunched the candy in her mouth. "It was pretty good." Then she added, "So was the guy."
A gentle breeze swept over the sea of pink muhly grass, and the hem of the girl's dress fluttered.
"Senior Yan, can I pursue you?"
People at Jiangzhou University were amazed to see a pretty freshman, Xu Ningqing, appear beside Yan Jingchen, who was said to have no female students within three meters of him. She had just started school and was already openly pursuing the campus heartthrob.
No one thought she could win him over. Yan Jingchen was famously difficult to deal with.
Yet a photo of the two of them embracing surfaced.
The love in Yan Jingchen's eyes filled the screen.
Just as everyone was marveling at how perfect they looked together, news of their breakup came out of nowhere.
Their story ended with one leaving the country and the other becoming even more taciturn.
Everyone assumed Yan Jingchen had been the one to end things. After all, given the way Xu Ningqing had pursued him, she would never have broken up with him.
But no one knew that under the dim lights at night, Yan Jingchen sat slumped in despair, dialing the number he knew by heart again and again.
Outside, all was silent. Inside, the same message echoed over and over.
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is switched off..."
They met again at a temple.
Yan Jingchen had become a rising star in the business world, surrounded by admirers even more than before.
In the temple's secluded courtyard, amid the curling incense smoke, he raised his eyes, his words edged with sarcasm.
"Xu Ningqing, now that you're back, how long are you planning to toy with me this time?"
Bamboo leaves rustled around them, and silence mingled with the crisp air.
His voice was cold and hard. "Let me tell you, give up."
Later, it was just like that hot, damp night the year they parted.
Stars glittered across the sky, and cicadas sang in waves.
He gripped her hand as his scorching breath enveloped her.
"Xu Ningqing, do you want to be with me?"
"This time, can you toy with me a little longer?"
Theme: Study hard.
