1
After Lin Han's mother's business fails, Lin Han transfers from an international high school in a big city to a top high school in a small northern town and moves in with her uncle's family.
The old Lin Han had been spoiled and couldn't bear hardship, but it was as if she had grown up overnight. Beneath her quiet, gentle exterior, she seemed able to swallow any grievance.
Jiang Yiling is the celebrated academic genius at No. 1 High School. He's handsome and popular, but cold and arrogant at heart. Warm on the outside and cold within, he's impossible to read.
One day in the classroom, Lin Han asks, astonished, "He charges for explaining problems? Why?"
The people around her hurry to stop her. "Please, don't ask."
But it's too late. Jiang Yiling leans back and says, "A mother who ran away, a father with a gambling problem, a family with nothing, and a broken boy!"
He points at himself.
Lin Han is momentarily stunned. He states the painful truth so frankly, with a teasing air.
So she obediently picks up the joke: "Other people sell their bodies, and you sell solutions?"
The room erupts in laughter.
The boy's gaze sweeps over her, dark and unreadable. "So which one do you want to buy?"
Only afterward does the girl realize what he meant. Blushing, she turns away.
2
In elementary school, someone once mocked Jiang Yiling: "You were calcium-deficient as a kid, and you'll be love-deficient when you grow up."
Little Jiang Yiling fought them like a wolf cub.
Looking back as an adult, Jiang Yiling thinks perhaps it stung because it was true.
He really was a little starved for love.
Then she appeared, and he experienced a love and warmth he'd never known before,
like a beam of light illuminating the dark, cold first half of his life.
The deep bond he formed with another person frightened him, yet he couldn't stop himself from both fearing it and sinking into it.
Whatever he had, he gave her without reservation.
He was even willing to give up the future he cared about most.
In the early summer of that year, a storm was brewing.
The boy's eyes were bloodshot, and he looked haggard beyond recognition.
The girl had blossomed into a graceful young woman. She had been invited to the United States, and their families had once promised them to each other before they were born.
"I'm used to a life of comfort. I can't bear hardship."
Jiang Yiling said bitterly, "Lin Han, you're lying!"
The girl gave a cold laugh and asked, "Jiang Yiling, what can you give me?
Can you give me back my old life?
Can you be my safety net?"
"I only wanted you to help me get into a good university before. I don't need you anymore."
The boy fell silent as the rain came down, but it couldn't wash away the pride on his face.
As he passed a trash can, he threw away the rare, collectible jersey of her favorite basketball star that she'd given him, without a moment's hesitation.
Lin Han, we've got plenty of time. Just you wait!
3
Ten years later, Jiang Yiling is a co-founder of a renowned tech company and the very picture of an eligible bachelor.
Lin Han has paid off the massive debt her mother left behind, stepped down as the dance troupe's principal dancer, and become a dance teacher for young children.
When they meet again by chance, Jiang Yiling realizes he has never gotten over that relationship.
He returns to his old, vindictive self, piling on the sarcasm. "All these years, I thought you'd be living in unimaginable luxury, surrounded by gold. How did you end up looking so miserable?"
She's still as beautiful as ever, even more so than when she was young, but a trace of panic flashes in her eyes.
Jiang Yiling is instantly transported back to his second year of high school. When he accidentally revealed that she'd scored just over forty points on a physics test, she'd worn that same look, as if her pride lay shattered at her feet.
He gives in, angry with himself for being so weak.
He'd hated her for years! Resented her for years! But seeing her like this, he still can't bear to be cruel.
That easygoing, haughty new money is famous in their social circle for holding a grudge. If anyone offends him, he'll remember it even eight hundred years later.
But the moment he encounters Lin Han, every one of his principles crumbles.
Lin Han, you once asked me a question. Here's my answer.
I can give you your old life back!
I have the means to be your safety net!
I'm not a lost cause anymore!
I can forget those seven years. Come back to me.
But Lin Han never went abroad. Back then, she was simply shattered and didn't want to drag anyone else down.
Years later, she finally opens her heart. "Jiang Yiling, Heaven has already punished me. I've truly had a hard life! When things were difficult and I thought I couldn't go on, I'd think back on the moments we shared. Those sweet memories are what kept me alive until now."
After a hurried farewell, ten years pass like flowing water.
I've returned, and I still love only your broken soul!
Theme: Rekindled romance
