Green Plums and Sour Plums

In the height of summer during my sophomore year, cicadas droned incessantly. In that vibrant season, I met the boy who would change my entire youth.

Back then, I was consumed by insecurity and timidity, burying all my feelings deep inside and letting my only chance to confess slip away. After we parted, I felt a quiet ache, thinking that perhaps we would never meet again for the rest of our lives.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye.

Under the stage name Mu Yao, I made my mark in the entertainment industry, rising all the way to the top and winning an Academy Award. I became an internationally acclaimed actress, known in every household. Everyone expected me to build on that success, continue excelling in film and television, and reach even greater heights in my career. Instead, I announced on Weibo that I had decided to take a break and step away for a while.

The news set the whole internet abuzz, followed by one outrageous speculation after another.

Rumors ran wild. Some people claimed I was retiring to prepare for marriage, while malicious voices spread lies that I had offended powerful interests in the industry and was about to be blacklisted.

Amid all the uproar and speculation, only my best friend Song Wan knew the truth. Away from the dazzling celebrity image of Mu Yao, I, whose real name was Yan Xi, had traveled alone to the desolate northwest to take part in desert control and reforestation work, a cause rarely undertaken by female stars.

On a Gobi swept by rolling yellow sand, fate brought us together again.

When we met again three years later, our lives had changed completely. He was stationed in the desert, a resolute officer in military uniform. I had shed the glamour of the spotlight and buried myself in the sand, planting trees to restore the land.

A fellow volunteer casually filmed the scene and posted footage of Mu Yao working in the desert online. The topic quickly went viral, briefly crashing the platform.

Public opinion took a complete turn. Netizens marveled that stepping away from the screen had not been an act of surrender or an attempt to escape the world