Chapter Summaries

After three months abroad, Yan Heqing reunited with Lu Lin, who welcomed him home with a flower-covered balcony and a birthday celebration. Yan Heqing revealed his real birthday was November 8, but asked Lu Lin to celebrate this day with him every year, and Lu Lin agreed.

• Yan Heqing rushed through the airport and discovered Lu Lin had come to meet him; they embraced and flew home together.
• Yan Heqing slept on the flight while Lu Lin watched over him, and they returned to their apartment after landing.
• Yan Heqing saw the flower window Lu Lin had made on the balcony, and they kissed after entering the apartment.
• Lu Lin surprised Yan Heqing with nineteen gifts and a nineteen-tier cake, celebrating all the birthdays he had missed.
• Yan Heqing told Lu Lin that his real birthday was November 8 and asked him to celebrate this day every year; Lu Lin agreed.
• After waking at noon, Yan Heqing cut the cake into more than two hundred portions and went with Lu Lin to Rainbow Bridge Welfare Home.

Yan Heqing and Lu Lin visited Rainbow Bridge Welfare Home, where a child gave Lu Lin a cake to thank him for the elevator. On Yan Heqing’s birthday, his friends gathered for lunch and gifts before Lu Lin took him to Ice Lake Valley, where they had first truly met.

• Yan Heqing and Lu Lin delivered cake, books, and stationery to the children at Rainbow Bridge Welfare Home, where Yan Heqing noticed the old building had been demolished for a new one.
• A little girl gave Yan Heqing her cake to pass to Lu Lin as thanks for installing the elevator, and Lu Lin invited Yan Heqing’s friends to lunch on his birthday.
• On November 8, Yan Heqing came home to find Chu Ziyu, Ge Tongyuan, Qiao Yixi, Xie Yunjie, Fang Che, and Lu Lin preparing his birthday lunch.
• Yan Heqing received a parcel containing his teacher’s study notes, then celebrated with his friends, who gave him gifts and a birthday cake.
• After his friends left, Lu Lin took Yan Heqing out toward Ice Lake Valley, and Yan Heqing recognized it as the place where they had first truly met.

Lu Lin gave Yan Heqing a secluded lakeside camping trip for his nineteenth birthday, complete with a drone show and a portable Cube of Light. Later, Yan Heqing returned to his busy second-year routine, and after finally getting a weekend off, he received a call from Teacher Shen.

• Lu Lin and Yan Heqing fished at the lake, caught a camouflage backpack, and shared noodles, beef, sweet potatoes, cocktails, and strawberries.
• Lu Lin surprised Yan Heqing with a drone display that formed a whale, plum blossoms, and a meteor shower, and Yan Heqing made three wishes.
• Lu Lin gave Yan Heqing a portable Cube of Light shaped like a tiny Whale of Light and wished him a happy nineteenth birthday before midnight.
• Yan Heqing spent the first semester of his second year immersed in lab work and coursework, seeing little of Lu Lin until one course ended in late November.
• Yan Heqing prepared for dinner with Lu Lin at a French restaurant, then answered an unfamiliar call and recognized Teacher Shen's voice.

Yan Heqing and Lu Lin went out for dinner and a movie, where Yan Heqing fell asleep from exhaustion. Lu Lin carried him home through the snow, and Yan Heqing woke after they had returned.

• Yan Heqing agreed to guide Professor Shen around Beijing after Professor Shen rented a place near Beijing University.
• Yan Heqing and Lu Lin had dinner, and Lu Lin questioned whether Professor Shen was attracted to Yan Heqing; Yan Heqing pointed out that he wore his wedding ring and Professor Shen knew he was married.
• Yan Heqing and Lu Lin went to a crowded theater to watch a school romance, and Yan Heqing described surviving on leftovers and cafeteria food during his school years.
• Lu Lin noticed Yan Heqing had fallen asleep during the movie and reflected on how hard Yan Heqing worked, choosing to support his career.
• Lu Lin carried Yan Heqing out of the theater and drove him home in Yan Heqing's car as light snow fell; Yan Heqing woke after they had arrived.

Chu Ziyu drove through sleet to join Yan Heqing, Lu Lin, and Shen Huaiyu for hot pot, passing through a neighborhood tied to his memories. He arrived at the restaurant and went with Yan Heqing toward the private room.

• After Shen Huaiyu invited him, Chu Ziyu loaded his seafood into the car and entered the restaurant’s address into his navigation system.
• Chu Ziyu recognized a familiar street on the route and saw that the area had been demolished and replaced with high-rises.
• As sleet slowed traffic, Chu Ziyu called Yan Heqing, who told him to drive carefully and said the beef was delayed too.
• Chu Ziyu arrived at the restaurant, where Yan Heqing met him with an umbrella, and handed his seafood to the staff to prepare.
• Yan Heqing told Chu Ziyu that Shen Huaiyu, his advisor, was also dining with them, then led him toward the private room.

Chu Ziyu unexpectedly reunited with Shen Huaiyu, Yan Heqing’s academic advisor, and their tense dinner stirred memories of how they first met. The chapter ended in a flashback with Chu Ziyu waiting outside No. 2 Middle School to confront Shen Huaiyu over his ex-girlfriend.

• Chu Ziyu entered the private room with Yan Heqing and recognized Shen Huaiyu, though both acted as if they were meeting for the first time.
• Yan Heqing noticed the tension and took Chu Ziyu’s wet jacket as Shen Huaiyu invited him to sit.
• Shen Huaiyu warned Chu Ziyu against ordering bullfrog, and Chu Ziyu chose spicy cartilage instead.
• As Chu Ziyu struggled to eat, he remembered his ex-girlfriend breaking up with him and learning that Shen Huaiyu was the boy she liked.
• Chu Ziyu traveled to No. 2 Middle School to confront Shen Huaiyu and waited outside, searching the departing students for him.

Chu Ziyu spotted Shen Huaiyu after school and followed him into an alley, where Shen rejected a boy’s confession. Chu Ziyu returned too late to help and secretly followed the injured Shen to a small park, where he watched him settle on a bench.

• Chu Ziyu waited outside No. 2 High for Shen Huaiyu, then spotted him leaving with a group and followed them into an alley.
• Chu Ziyu overheard a boy demand to know whether Shen Huaiyu would date him, and Shen answered no.
• Chu Ziyu left the alley but turned back, deciding it was wrong to let Shen Huaiyu face a possible beating alone.
• Chu Ziyu reached the alley after Shen Huaiyu had already come out with scrapes on his face, then followed him along the road.
• Shen Huaiyu bought something at a pharmacy and went to a small park, where Chu Ziyu watched him sit on a bench and take off his uniform jacket.

Chu Ziyu remembered following Shen Huaiyu to a convenience store and discovering that he worked there with an injured arm. After seeing Shen Huaiyu again at dinner, Chu Ziyu walked with Yan Heqing to the site of an old hot pot restaurant and opened up about his memories there.

• Shen Huaiyu treated his bloody right arm and went to work part-time at a convenience store, where Chu Ziyu followed and bought snacks from him.
• At dinner, Chu Ziyu became flustered when Shen Huaiyu spoke to him, and Shen Huaiyu left after politely saying goodbye to Mr. Chu.
• Yan Heqing accompanied Chu Ziyu downstairs, and Chu Ziyu asked him to take a walk.
• Chu Ziyu told Yan Heqing about the hot pot restaurant that used to stand where a shopping mall now was and how he had ended up in the hospital after eating there.
• Chu Ziyu cried while talking with Yan Heqing, then invited him to an arcade and offered to pay.

Chu Ziyu recalled sneaking into No. 2 Middle School to see Shen Huaiyu, stealing his photograph, and later listening to him read aloud. Months later, Chu Ziyu joined Lu Lin for a Christmas Eve dinner at his home.

• After spending the day at an arcade, Chu Ziyu went home and looked at a stolen photograph of Shen Huaiyu.
• Two weeks after his first visit, Chu Ziyu faked a stomachache, skipped school, and entered No. 2 Middle School in a borrowed uniform.
• Chu Ziyu spotted Shen Huaiyu's photograph on the honor roll and secretly tore it down to keep.
• Chu Ziyu found Shen Huaiyu's classroom and listened to him read an English passage, becoming captivated by his voice.
• Over the following months, Chu Ziyu visited the convenience store where Shen Huaiyu worked and heard his brief greetings.
• On Christmas Eve, Chu Ziyu joined Lu Lin's family for dinner and praised Grandma's cooking.

Lu Lin told Chu Ziyu that he could love someone regardless of gender, prompting Chu Ziyu to start studying in hopes of improving his grades. Later, Yan Heqing returned home to share wontons and cake with Lu Lin, and they planned to go out for dinner the next day.

• Chu Ziyu asked Lu Lin what kind of person he would like, and Lu Lin said that good grades mattered and gender did not.
• Chu Ziyu hired tutors, stopped skipping class and gaming, and studied diligently for a month, but his final score rose only two points.
• Chu Ziyu looked at a photograph, shut the album away, and went to shower.
• Yan Heqing came home to find Lu Lin’s freshly made wontons waiting, then gave Lu Lin a slice of cream cake he had bought.
• Lu Lin and Yan Heqing shared the cake and wontons, agreed to go out for dinner the next day, and Yan Heqing’s phone rang as he ate a strawberry.

Chu Ziyu grew irritated by his family’s matchmaking plans and fled home, then visited the convenience store in Antler Alley. Snow reminded him of the Christmas eleven years earlier when he first came to the shop carrying candy for Shen Huaiyu, and the memory ended as he saw Shen Huaiyu being berated beside an overturned display cart.

• Chu Ziyu argued with his older brother, refused to marry or attend another matchmaking date, and left home.
• Chu Ziyu drove to Antler Alley, bought snacks at the renovated convenience store, and noticed the falling snow.
• Chu Ziyu remembered sneaking out of school eleven years earlier to bring Shen Huaiyu candy and an apple for Christmas.
• Chu Ziyu pushed through a crowd and saw Shen Huaiyu in a Christmas apron as a middle-aged man berated him beside an overturned display cart.

Chu Ziyu remembered the Christmas night when he first spoke with Shen Huaiyu, then learned that Shen’s birthday party would be at the Mirror Bar. After debating whether to go, Chu Ziyu organized a party there and waited by the window, searching for Shen.

• Chu Ziyu kicked the man harassing Shen Huaiyu, led Shen away, and shared a cheap hot pot meal with him.
• Chu Ziyu offered Shen Huaiyu a bag of Christmas presents, and Shen chose white chocolate; Chu Ziyu later went to the hospital with acute enteritis.
• Chu Ziyu visited Yan Heqing and learned that Shen Huaiyu’s birthday party would be held at the Mirror Bar the next night.
• Chu Ziyu debated attending Shen’s party, then created a group chat and invited a dozen celebrities to a party at the Mirror Bar.
• At seven in the evening, Chu Ziyu searched through the Mirror Bar’s window while Qin Chengcheng approached him.

Chu Ziyu found Shen Huaiyu at the venue after drinking, and Shen Huaiyu brought him into a dark private room. The encounter recalled Chu Ziyu’s eighteenth birthday, when Shen Huaiyu pinned him in a rain-soaked passage and asked whether he was pursuing him because he liked him.

• Chu Ziyu drank until he was dizzy and left Qin Chengcheng’s private room to find the restroom.
• Shen Huaiyu caught Chu Ziyu as he stumbled, then brought him into a neighboring private room when Qin Chengcheng’s voice sounded nearby.
• On his eighteenth birthday, Chu Ziyu took cake and a fruit basket to visit Shen Huaiyu, then joined him in the rain to buy sugar.
• Shen Huaiyu dragged Chu Ziyu into a narrow passage, pinned him against the wall, and asked if he was pursuing him because he liked him.

In his memories, Chu Ziyu confessed his feelings to Shen Huaiyu, who kissed him before refusing his pursuit. Years later, Shen Huaiyu reunited with him, and the group began a wager game of Bluff that left Chu Ziyu challenging Lu Lin’s play.

• Chu Ziyu admitted he liked Shen Huaiyu, who kissed him and then said he refused Chu Ziyu’s pursuit.
• Years later, Shen Huaiyu greeted Chu Ziyu in a dark private room, and Chu Ziyu nervously asked whether he was married.
• In another room, Lu Lin invited Yan Heqing to play cards, and Yan Heqing agreed to play Bluff with him.
• Shen Huaiyu and Chu Ziyu joined the group, and Lu Lin proposed betting drinks on each round.
• The man with glasses lost three rounds to Lu Lin, drank three bottles, and fell asleep.
• In the fourth round, Chu Ziyu gambled that Lu Lin had no more twos.

During a card game, Lu Lin and Yan Heqing maneuvered Chu Ziyu into making Shen Huaiyu drink, prompting Shen Huaiyu to remember how Chu Ziyu once cared for him during a fever. The memory ended with Shen Huaiyu asking whether Chu Ziyu feared catching his illness.

• Lu Lin called Chu Ziyu’s bluff, and Yan Heqing realized Lu Lin was targeting Shen Huaiyu rather than Chu Ziyu.
• After Chu Ziyu was drawn into another trap, Shen Huaiyu revealed the cards himself to spare him from drinking.
• Shen Huaiyu recalled how Chu Ziyu visited him during a snowy night when he was sick and brought nutritional supplements.
• Chu Ziyu found Shen Huaiyu home alone while his mother worked the night shift, then decided to stay and look after him.
• Chu Ziyu arranged with Lu Lin and his mother to stay overnight, and Shen Huaiyu woke to ask who Lu Lin was.
• Chu Ziyu tucked Shen Huaiyu back into bed, and Shen Huaiyu asked if he was afraid of catching the illness.

The chapter recalls how Shen Huaiyu comforted Chu Ziyu during a night at his home, then returns to the present, where a drunken Chu Ziyu is cared for by Shen Huaiyu. Yan Heqing reflects on Shen Huaiyu’s growing attachment to him and asks whether he should leave.

• Shen Huaiyu asked Chu Ziyu about Lu Lin, then told him in the darkness that he shone brighter than anyone.
• When Shen Huaiyu’s uncle arrived and insulted him and his mother, Shen Huaiyu put earphones in Chu Ziyu’s ears to shield him from the abuse.
• The next day, Shen Huaiyu’s uncle treated Chu Ziyu warmly after noticing his watch, and Shen Huaiyu led Chu Ziyu away.
• At a drinking game, Chu Ziyu got drunk, and Shen Huaiyu and Yan Heqing helped him upstairs; Shen Huaiyu gently put him to bed and wiped his face.
• Yan Heqing recalled how his relationship with Shen Huaiyu had grown closer after he mentioned his partner, Lu Lin, then asked Shen Huaiyu if he should go downstairs.

Shen Huaiyu recalled watching Chu Ziyu stay with Lu Lin after the college entrance exams and the painful decision that led him to reject Chu Ziyu. As Chu Ziyu cried and accused him of bullying him, Shen Huaiyu confessed he was unmarried and asked for another chance, and Chu Ziyu kissed him.

• Shen Huaiyu carried the drunk Chu Ziyu, who refused to bathe, into the bathroom wrapped in a quilt.
• Shen Huaiyu remembered following Chu Ziyu to Lu Lin's home after the exams and watching over him for a week.
• Shen Huaiyu recalled seeing Lu Lin arrive at the Chu residence with expensive gifts, which made him feel ashamed of his own poverty.
• Shen Huaiyu remembered deciding to kiss Chu Ziyu once before leaving, then pulling away and claiming Chu Ziyu did not like men.
• Chu Ziyu cried and asked Shen Huaiyu why he always bullied him, and Shen Huaiyu admitted he was unmarried and asked for another chance.
• Chu Ziyu said he had pursued Shen Huaiyu for a year and kissed him, and Shen Huaiyu returned the kiss.

Chu Ziyu and Shen Huaiyu gave in to their mutual attraction while Lu Lin told Yan Heqing how Shen Huaiyu had once watched Chu Ziyu after their breakup. Lu Lin and Yan Heqing went home together, and the next morning Chu Ziyu called Yan Heqing urgently about Shen Huaiyu.

• Chu Ziyu insisted he was not drunk and urged Shen Huaiyu to act on their desire.
• Lu Lin recalled that Chu Ziyu had stayed with him for a week after a man dumped him, while Shen Huaiyu waited outside Lu Lin's home.
• Lu Lin explained that Shen Huaiyu had admitted approaching Yan Heqing because of Chu Ziyu, so Lu Lin had arranged to go boxing with him.
• Lu Lin and Yan Heqing bought white plum blossoms, returned home, and kissed before heading to the bathroom together.
• The next morning, Chu Ziyu called Yan Heqing urgently and began asking about Shen Huaiyu.

Yan Heqing and Lu Lin spent New Year’s Day together at the Lu Group’s amusement park, where Yan Heqing planned a surprise for after the fireworks. Their ride on Cave Rafting stopped in darkness, leaving them waiting with another couple for staff to arrive.

• Yan Heqing received notices for his scholarship and lab stipend, then suggested that he and Lu Lin visit the amusement park.
• On New Year’s Day, Yan Heqing and Lu Lin spent the day exploring the crowded park and waiting for the fireworks show.
• As the park emptied before the fireworks, Yan Heqing asked Lu Lin to ride Cave Rafting with him.
• Their boat stopped in the cave forest, the lights went out, and an announcement told visitors to wait for staff.
• Lu Lin took Yan Heqing’s hand as they heard the young couple ahead of them in the darkness.

After escaping the firefly cave, Yan Heqing and Lu Lin shared a sky lantern and wrote matching wishes to watch the sunrise together on March 4. On the plane to their special sunrise destination, Yan Heqing fell asleep from exhaustion.

• Yan Heqing remembered the dark places he had endured and realized Lu Lin had been the first person to lead him out of darkness.
• Lu Lin helped Yan Heqing leave the cave, and they accepted matching whale charms from the staff.
• As fireworks lit the amusement park, Yan Heqing guided Lu Lin with his eyes closed and promised to hold on to him for life.
• Yan Heqing revealed a handmade sky lantern, and he and Lu Lin wrote matching wishes to watch the sunrise together on March 4 next year.
• After the plane took off, Yan Heqing fell asleep; Lu Lin had arranged a special sunrise trip for them.