Cicadas Singing Through Midsummer

On Xiao Ningchan’s eighteenth birthday, she meets Ye Yanxia, who is enjoying the air conditioning in her family’s teahouse. Having only recently finished the college entrance exams and not having paid much attention to her appearance, she immediately regrets it. Fidgeting nervously, she steps forward and asks, “Hello, what would you like to drink?”

Their first two fleeting glimpses of each other hadn’t left much of an impression on him, but looking at the girl in front of him, who clearly hadn’t bothered much with her appearance, he can’t help raising an eyebrow. In a low voice, he says, “A pot of pu’er tea and a plate of osmanthus cakes.”

After two weeks of military training at university, Xiao Ningchan is as black as a coal ball. At the freshman welcome party, she watches everyone chatting in pairs and groups while hiding in a corner, stuffing herself. Then Ye Yanxia, who was dragged to the party against his will, catches sight of her. They look at each other: one struggles not to laugh, while the other is so embarrassed she wants to dig a hole and bury herself in it.

We didn’t meet when you were at your most beautiful, but that first encounter in the height of summer, accompanied by the chirping of cicadas, was destined to be the beginning of our story.