Wang Yang stood tall before her.
His face was firm, his gaze sharp yet faintly veiled with uncertainty.
The more Zhuzhu looked at him, the faster her heart beat, wildly out of control.
He was even more handsome than the image she had carried in her memory all these eight years.
Slowly, the mist of the past began to lift… 🔄 FLASHBACK — EIGHT YEARS AGO, AGE 17 Zhuzhu remembered herself clearly back then.
A quiet, innocent girl, always wearing thick-rimmed glasses, her black hair tied neatly back.
She was nobody special — just a diligent student who felt more at home with books than in crowded gatherings.
Her only real friend was Shuang-shuang.
One afternoon in the library, while searching for books to prepare for her semester exams, she caught sight of him: Wang Yang.
He was the most popular boy in school.
Wherever he walked, admiring eyes followed him everywhere.
Yet Wang Yang never seemed to care.
He was cold, as hard as ice, rejecting every girl who approached him as if their attention meant nothing at all.
Zhuzhu always kept her distance, never daring to greet or get close — for she knew exactly what he was like.
But that day, her feet carried her unconsciously toward the basketball court.
There, Wang Yang seemed to shine.
Sweat glistened on his forehead as he leaped and sank the ball perfectly.
Cheers erupted from the crowd of girls, yet his eyes never strayed from the game.
Zhuzhu stood quietly in the shaded corner, letting her quiet admiration grow silently in her young heart.
The match ended.
The crowd pressed closer.
Many girls stepped forward — offering drinks, snacks, and sweet smiles he never returned — until a beautiful, very popular girl stepped forward holding a bouquet of flowers.
Before everyone’s eyes, she confessed her feelings openly and confidently.
And then, for the very first time, Wang Yang accepted what was offered.
Zhuzhu’s heart seemed to stop beating.
She clutched tightly the letter she had hidden between her books — a letter that would never reach him.
Her confidence crumbled.
She realized: no matter how deeply she felt, she would never be one of them.
Slowly, she stepped back, turned around, and walked away — wiping away tears that fell unseen.
In that moment she promised herself: Love isn’t for me yet.
I’ll study hard, chase my dreams, and build my own future.
From that day on, she buried her feelings deep within her heart and focused entirely on becoming a reporter.
🔄 BACK TO THE PRESENT Zhuzhu snapped back from her reverie of the past.
Her breath caught softly.
Wang Yang’s face was exactly as she remembered — yet now he stood tall and respected as a Police Captain.
Wang Yang continued to look at her intently, sensing something vaguely familiar about the woman before him, though he could not quite place what it was.
“Have we… met before?” he asked simply, his voice low and filled with curiosity.