If one day, I must leave you, then that would certainly be the most cowardly thing I did in my entire life.
Wen Ran’s father comes from a family of illustrious military accomplishments, but he himself was passionate about archaeology. However, his clinical depression caused his death in a motor vehicle accident. Because her mother came from a family of ordinary background, after her father’s death, her mother was banished from the Wen household. Before Wen Ran met that person in her life, she had always been reluctant to enter into a relationship. That is, until she met Ye Yizhen and she became one of the students he advised in an experimental project. Ye Yizhen graduated from an eminent university and was handsome in appearance, charming in his lectures, and well-loved amongst the students. He used his warmth, gentleness, and acceptance to, one step at a time, lead her into his world. However, because of his father’s prevention and disapproval, the two of them could not be together. She also finally realized the true reason behind her own father’s death, which caused her to clearly understand her own feelings. But at this time, Ye Yizhen suddenly disappeared…
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Wen Ran is a graduate student in business, and Ye Yizhen is one of the professors in her faculty. He becomes her advising professor for a project. Her first impression of him is not good, but slowly, she begins to appreciate him and their romance slowly develops.
Wen Ran:
Kind, gentle, but an insecure girl who is searching for love and protection. The loss of her father in her childhood and the rejection of her father’s family has left a deep emotional wound on her. After witnessing the stress on her mother caused by a marriage between people of two different societal classes,, she initially runs from Ye Yizhen’s love, for fear of repeating that same mistake. She eventually gives in to her own feelings, but searches within herself on whether her feelings for him are truly love or merely a longing for a father figure in her life who will give her comfort and warmth.
Ye Yizhen:
Witty, charming, sweet, understanding, confident in his love. Every girl wants a man like this to be her significant other. When he makes the decision that he wants to start a relationship with his student, he never looks back, willingly accepting the consequences it could bring, whether within the school or his family. He is not only highly successful in his career as a teaching professor, but he is also a very respected investment advisor at a large bank. He, too, comes from an accomplished military family, which in China, means high societal rank. However, he does not care what people would say about this relationship and never tries to hide it.
The book begins with Wen Ran, fresh out of university and working, encountering Ye Yizhen in a business meeting with a potential client. The author alludes to the fact that they knew each other, although Wen Ran adamantly refuses to have anything to do with him. And so, the story flashes back to ~ two years prior, when Wen Ran was just beginning her graduate studies and meets Ye Yizhen, a professor at her university.
Most of the story is set during the university years and tells about the development of their relationship. For those who have read Exclusive Memory, this part of the story evokes the same feel (with the greatest difference being that the teacher/student relationship is not much of an issue in their relationship.) I liked this part of the novel the most. Wen Ran works through the emotional wound of losing her father, and Ye Yizhen patiently waits for her to come to terms with and understand her feelings towards him. Very sweet and warm… You will love Ye Yizhen.
The last 20% or so of the novel suddenly fast forwards back to Wen Ran working in the business world, and we learn that Ye Yizhen had suddenly disappeared for several months and then reappears just as unexpectedly. Wen Ran is furious with him for vanishing without any explanation. The author uses multiple flashbacks here to try to fill in the gaps on what happened in those several months of disappearance. This part of the novel felt weaker in writing than the previous part. Too many flashbacks made the writing feel choppy, and honestly, with the whole build-up and mystery in the beginning regarding Ye Yizhen’s disappearance, when we find out what actually happened, my first response was, “That’s it?” I wish the author had wrote chronologically instead so I wouldn’t have let myself get excited by the mystery, only to be disappointed by the answer. However, since this is a relatively small part of the novel, it didn’t bother me too much.
Summary: I liked it, particularly the student years. It has lots of similarities to Exclusive Memory, so if you liked that one, do give this a try. Admittedly, the last bit of the novel was not as good a read, but the first 80% makes up for it with its sweet romance. If you could only choose one teacher-student novel to read, then I’d head over to Together Forever or Exclusive Memory instead because the writing quality in those two are, in my opinion, above this one. But this novel is a still a pleasant read if you’re looking to fill your time with something that is heart-warming.