The first half is warm, healing, lively, and childlike; the second half is tender, tearjerking, and tinged with the regrets of growing up. At its heart, it is the story of a group of young people.
Groups of boys and girls journey through the long years together, growing from innocence to awkward youth, then from awkward youth to maturity. Some drift apart and reunite, yet never truly lose touch. Some share a steady, lasting love and the same goals in life, making their way together from school into the workplace. Some love someone they know they can never be with, but their fixation doesn't make them miss the right person. Some cross time and distance, yet still lose the one they love to death just as they approach happiness. Some love without being loved in return, but under the name of friendship...
Told as a coming-of-age memoir from the first-person perspective of the heroine, Xia Yanyan, the story follows a group of childhood friends from Jinxijiang Residential Complex in Jinxi Town, who grew up inseparable. From carefree childhood, they reach middle school and become kindred spirits with Xiaoran, Duoduo, Zhu Chengyu, and others.
-Xia Yanyan: The heroine. Gentle, sensitive, and sensible, she has always been an average student and grew up surrounded by the love of her older sister, older brother, and family.
I thought we would go on being happy. I thought that if I came to your city, we could be happy together. I often wonder: if I hadn't returned to Yunxi that day, and had stayed in Chengshi to celebrate the New Year with you and visit Auntie together, would things have been different?
May every year bring peace and joy.
May the best of us all get what we wish for and find our dreams fulfilled.
May we never part, and may nothing unforeseen happen.
