That was back when she was repeating her final year of high school.

Yun Mingxin had scoured the graduation photos from their alma mater but found no trace of Su Xiaoyue.

Her name was absent from the honor roll announcing admissions to top universities too.

He guessed she must be retaking the year.

Back then, Yun Mingxin was just an ordinary teenager who barely knew Su Xiaoyue.

He’d assumed she was a perfectly normal girl aside from her beauty—and worried deeply about her mental state.

Repeating senior year meant crushing pressure for any student.

Many felt like they’d snap under the strain.

His concern left him restless.

Though his fledgling writing career had earned him barely over a thousand yuan that first month—his very first earnings—he wanted to buy her something encouraging.

Yet he feared she’d refuse it.

After much thought, he found an excuse.

They’d attended the same middle and high school.

Su Xiaoyue had once done him a huge favor.

Beyond the time she’d helped him break up a middle school fight, it was their high school encounter that truly moved him.

During his first year of high school, his grades had plummeted. Desperate to recover, he’d stayed alone in the classroom studying late into the night—a not-uncommon sight, as others had done the same. Security patrols had long passed, so no one shooed him away.

Suddenly dizzy from low blood sugar, he tried standing to head to the restroom. The abrupt movement made him collapse, his head slamming toward the floor.

Metal table legs jutted up like jagged teeth.

An ordinary boy like him split his scalp wide open.

Su Xiaoyue appeared out of nowhere. She rushed him to the clinic and covered his medical fees.

Truth was, she’d been watching him.

She recognized the stubborn boy from middle school—and wouldn’t let him come to harm.

Using this as justification, Yun Mingxin bought a piece of natural glow-in-the-dark stone. He spent three days learning to carve and polish it.

The stone wasn’t top-grade—far too coarse to match the value of his meager writing income.

Still, he painstakingly shaped three smooth, round beads. He engraved characters onto them, strung them on a red cord.

By what he thought was sheer coincidence, Yun Mingxin had obtained Su Xiaoyue’s contact number.

He sent her the gift.

Su Xiaoyue’s cram school was strict—no phones allowed, only half a day home every two weeks.

Naturally, Yun Mingxin assumed she’d be unreachable except during those brief visits.

After tentative messages, he grew bolder.

He typed "I like you," flooded the screen with rose emojis, then instantly recalled it.

Later, he joked to himself that he often mass-texted by accident and hoped she wouldn’t mind.

What he didn’t know: that cram school belonged to the Su family.

Su Xiaoyue never parted with her phone.

She never replied. Had she responded within those few seconds after his recall…

Yun Mingxin might have died of embarrassment on the spot—and they’d never have become a couple.

Weeks after receiving the gift, perhaps moved by inspiration or emotion, he sent her a long message.

He recalled it after just thirty seconds.

But Su Xiaoyue remembered every word.

Glow stones absorb sunlight by day and emit light by night.

He’d written: *May these three stones keep you company under the sun by day, and light your darkness at night.*

The engraved characters were his own handiwork—a homophone for "pass with flying colors" (gāo zhòng).

He wished her academic triumph.

The heart carved between them symbolized his hope she’d attend her dream university.

But Yun Mingxin had hidden another meaning—easy to guess.

"Gāo zhòng" also meant their shared high school—the happiest time of his life.

Every morning during calisthenics, seeing Su Xiaoyue’s silhouette in the sunlight warmed his heart.

That light still gave him strength when he was alone.

The central heart represented the feelings he’d realized in high school.

The seed of his crush might have been planted in middle school,

but it truly took root during those high school years.

Maybe Yun Mingxin had been cringey. Naive. Possibly delusional.

But for a boy with little to offer beyond grades, it was the best gesture he could muster.

He’d mustered every ounce of courage.

Su Xiaoyue saw it all. She said nothing.

She slipped the bracelet onto her right wrist—and never took it off.

Later, when he confessed, she accepted.

Yet she always wore long sleeves, never shorts—the bracelet forever hidden.

She never explained. Yun Mingxin never knew.

His boldest move had been hugging her, nuzzling her face and lips like a kid devouring a watermelon.

But Su Xiaoyue remained unresponsive as stone, halting any further intimacy.

Now, tracing the engraved characters on the bracelet, Su Xiaoyue felt the old flutter of emotion.

She reflected on her life from birth to the present—but found no answers.

Only one certainty had shifted within her.

"Xiaoyue!"

"Hmm?"

"What’s wrong?"

Lu Wei, who’d been about to press Su Xiaoyue for the unanswered question moments earlier, now forgot her intent after the interruption.

"I think—I don’t want him to leave."

"*Hssss—*"

Lu Wei sucked in a breath sharp enough to accelerate global warming.

*Good grief.*

*Was this really Su Xiaoyue?*

*Since when did she speak so bluntly?*

"Xiaoyue… are you serious?"

"I don’t know what’s come over me," Su Xiaoyue said, each word deliberate as she met Lu Wei’s eyes. "But I’m certain: I don’t want him far from me. I want to be closer. I want to know more about him."

This was the longest string of sentences she’d ever spoken at once.

"So you mean…"

"Help me find a way. I want him back."

"*This*…" Lu Wei winced.

Ask her to run marathons, throw shot puts, or leap hurdles—fine.

Pretty as she was, she’d never touched a guy.

How could she help chase a boyfriend?

Those jerks called her "bro." "Big sis."

Kidnapping Yun Mingxin would be easier.

*This is too much for me, Panghu.*

*Guess I’m the sidekick now.*