The Summer That Came to an Abrupt End

On the day of the College Entrance Exam pledge rally, Xia Mian shouted her goal at the sky.

"This year, I'm definitely getting into Keio!"

That summer, after the exams, she slipped into an empty classroom at dusk and wrote down the secret she'd kept hidden for years.

"This year, I'm definitely going to win Zhou Jiashu over!"

-

As luck would have it, Zhou Jiashu returned to school that day to drop off some materials.

The sunset dyed the sky a deep crimson, its rich colors like a brilliant oil painting, paired with the girl's clear eyes and bright smile.

Zhou Jiashu leaned against the railing, resting on his arms. He narrowed his eyes at the blackboard. He knew her name was Xia Mian.

But he didn't know she liked him.

(They are each other's first love. Happy ending.)

*

Coming next: Please add my new stories First Snow, Make a Wish and The Rainy Season to your reading list. The blurb for First Snow follows.

A confession letter was accidentally delivered to the wrong person. Uneasy, Wen Zhirong stood under the eaves, trying to find out who had received it.

She waited a long time, but her friend never came out. Instead, she saw a group of people slowly make their way past the classroom's back door.

Liang Fuye was surrounded by them, wearing a playful smile, with her pink confession letter unmistakably held between his fingers.

Wen Zhirong remembered him: a dangerously handsome face, a careless manner, and a rebellious streak.

She instinctively tried to run, but someone reached out and pinned her against the wall.

In the half-lit shadows, Liang Fuye slipped one hand into his pocket and glanced at her with a faintly mocking smile.

"Have a crush on me?"

*

No one expected Liang Fuye, supposedly the hardest guy at X University to approach, to be so easy to win over.

Wen Zhirong wanted to cry. Yeah, he was so easy to win over. One confession letter, and she had him.

During their first week together, she tried again and again to tell him the truth.

But the moment their eyes met, Liang Fuye kissed her without holding back.

He kissed her until she could barely breathe. By the time she was dizzy and slumped in his arms, she'd forgotten everything she meant to say.

Sometimes Wen Zhirong thought Liang Fuye must know she didn't really like him and was simply teasing her.

But at other times, she had the strange feeling that Liang Fuye might actually like her.

The day they broke up, things got ugly.

Wen Zhirong walked away without looking back, dragging her suitcase behind her.

She thought there would be no future for them.

*

They met again at a class reunion, when an unprecedented snowfall suddenly blanketed XX.

Snow covered the eaves, and a thick layer of mist formed on the glass windows.

Over the years, Wen Zhirong had often remembered that snowy day at X University. Full of a young girl's hopes, she had written her crush's name on the glass.

But it was also in that snowfall that Liang Fuye had bent down and kissed her.

After ten rounds of Truth or Dare, Wen Zhirong finally won.

The snow kept falling outside. She looked up at Liang Fuye, but her voice caught as she spoke.

"That year, you knew the letter had been delivered to the wrong person. Why did you still mess with me?"

Liang Fuye stood by the window, his expression cool. A cigarette rested between his fingers, its unsteady glow making everything hazy.

He suddenly tipped his head back and exhaled a heavy cloud of smoke. A name appeared in the fog on the glass.

It was the name he'd been longing for all these years.

For it, he had done many foolish things, become the butt of countless jokes, and childishly written her name over and over in the fog on windows during snowy days, hoping the gods would hear his earnest prayers.

But in the end, they had no happy ending. Love was gone, but the hatred remained.

Under the curious gazes of their classmates, Liang Fuye lowered his head and put out his cigarette. He said calmly:

"The letter wasn't delivered to the wrong person."

"I stole it."

Theme: Pursue what is beautiful.