In an era before terms like "dominatrix queen" became popular, strong-willed women were often treated with teasing or mockery.
Take Du Yu, for example—her nickname in middle school was "Tomboy Flower."
Back then, she absolutely despised the name, but few kids at that age knew how to put themselves in others' shoes. Most just joined in for fun, and Du Yu didn’t want anyone to see how much it bothered her, so she pretended not to care.
And so, the nickname stuck to her like glue, following her for three whole years.
If not for reuniting with Li Qinglan, she might have completely forgotten about it.
Back in middle school, Li Qinglan was the kind of student who faded into the background—neither top of the class nor a troublemaker, his presence was practically zero.
Even when handing in homework, he’d quietly place it on Du Yu’s desk as soon as he arrived in class. She never had to ask for it, and naturally, she hardly remembered him.
The day everything changed was during a long afternoon break. Since the previous class had been P.E., most students were still squeezing in extra time on the basketball court, leaving only a few in the classroom.
Suddenly, a group of boys stormed in, demanding to see Li Qinglan.
Their tone was hostile, clearly looking for trouble. With most of the class being girls, everyone exchanged uneasy glances—confrontations like this were rare, and no one knew how to react.
Du Yu had been chatting with her desk mate at the time. The sight of these boys barging into their classroom with an accusatory air disgusted her, so without hesitation, she said, "He’s not here."
They didn’t leave. Instead, they lingered at the door, scanning the room.
Annoyed, Du Yu added, "Can you stop blocking our classroom door?"
That was like poking a hornet’s nest. The boys immediately turned on her, hurling insults her way.
Du Yu wasn’t one to take that lying down. She slammed her hands on the desk and fired back—so what if they were boys? She wasn’t scared.
Once she took the lead, the other girls quickly rallied behind her, joining in to scold the intruders.
Outnumbered, the boys had no choice but to slink away in defeat.
Once the commotion died down, Du Yu went right back to chatting as if nothing had happened.
"What were you saying earlier?"
Her desk mate looked at her with admiration. "Du Yu, you’re amazing."
"It’s no big deal. They were the ones causing trouble. So annoying."
To Du Yu, it was just a trivial incident. No matter who those boys had come for, she would’ve stood up for any of her classmates.
So when Li Qinglan thanked her the next day while handing in homework, she just brushed it off with a smile and kindly reminded him to tell a teacher or parent if he ever ran into trouble again.
After that, the two of them seemed to drift apart, their paths never crossing again.
After replying to Zhou Zhuofei’s message, Du Yu noticed another unread notification. She tapped it open—it was from Li Qinglan. He’d asked if she was free for lunch, wanting to treat her.
But alas, Du Yu had slept like a log, and by the time she woke up, lunchtime was long over.
[Sorry, I just woke up. Guess I missed it.]
[I figured when you didn’t reply. You must’ve stayed up late last night.]
[Yeah, a bit. Are you already at the airport?]
[No, I don’t have any plans today, so I pushed it back to rest. If you’re free tonight, we could do dinner instead?]
[Sure, what time?]
Li Qinglan asked about her food preferences and later sent her a few restaurant options to choose from.
Since this was just a reunion between old classmates, the food didn’t matter much. Du Yu picked a place convenient for both of them, and just like that, dinner was settled.
Originally, she’d planned to spend the day lounging at home. Now, with an outing added to her schedule, she had to drag herself out of bed to wash her hair and put on makeup.
As she rinsed the shampoo from her hair, a thought struck her—was it really necessary to go all out just for dinner?
But then she remembered—this was Li Qinglan, the now-famous "Lancang." Suddenly, it made perfect sense.
Yet when she arrived at the restaurant and saw him, she was surprised to find he wasn’t wearing any makeup. His bare face held a faint trace of familiarity, but Du Yu still couldn’t quite reconcile it with the quiet boy from her memories.
As they sat down and chatted, she said, "After talking to you yesterday, I ended up reminiscing about a lot of middle school stuff."
"Same here."
"What surprised me most was finding out you’re into cosplay. Never would’ve guessed—you never mentioned it back then."
Back in the day, anime was still a niche interest. Only a handful of kids in class were into it, and they naturally stuck together. Du Yu remembered clearly—Li Qinglan hadn’t been one of them.
"I didn’t watch any back then. I think it was after graduation when you posted about an anime in your updates. I was bored at home, so I checked it out. Ended up liking it, so I watched all the ones you’d recommended."
"Wait, really?" Du Yu was stunned. Back then, her social media had been a constant stream of updates—daily life, anime news, interactions with classmates and online friends alike.
"Yeah. At first, I didn’t get why you posted about it so much. But after watching, I understood the appeal."
"So, I’m basically your gateway into the fandom? What an honor." She grinned. "Mind if I brag about this to everyone?"
"Go ahead. It’s the truth."
"Then I’ll make sure the whole world knows. Who knew I indirectly created a legend?"
Dinner flew by as they swapped stories about recent anime and fandom gossip. Even after the meal ended, Du Yu found herself reluctant to leave.
Luckily, there was a night market nearby, so they decided to walk there together.
The moment they stepped outside, an icy wind hit Du Yu, making her shrink into her coat. It hadn’t been this cold when she’d arrived, but with the sun gone, the temperature had plummeted.
"Cold?" Li Qinglan immediately unwrapped his scarf and handed it to her.
She hesitated at first, but the chill was too much to bear—especially since she’d chosen a low-cut outfit for style over warmth.
As she wrapped the scarf around her neck, its lingering warmth sent a strange flutter through her chest. The sensation made her glance up at Li Qinglan again, curiosity flickering in her eyes.
When she looked up, she noticed the other person quickly averted their gaze, as if afraid their actions would be discovered.
This made the situation feel even stranger.
Suppressing the odd thoughts, Du Yu adjusted her scarf and gestured, "Let's go."
Since they were just taking a post-dinner stroll, they mostly browsed through the night market, chatting and looking around until they had explored every corner. They shared a bowl of red bean soup before parting ways.
Standing by the roadside waiting for a taxi, Du Yu took off the scarf to return it to Li Qinglan.
He refused, "It's fine, keep it. You still have to get home."
"Really, it’s too much trouble. How would I return it? This is a branded scarf—if it gets damaged at my place, I can’t afford to replace it."
"Don’t worry about it. I might stay a couple more days. Maybe we can grab another meal?"
"Sure, but I’m about to start work soon, so my schedule’s unpredictable."
"I’ll check in with you beforehand?"
"Alright."
Just then, an empty cab pulled up. Li Qinglan flagged it down and motioned for Du Yu to get in.
"Get some rest. It’s late."
They waved through the window. After seeing Du Yu off, Li Qinglan hailed another taxi for himself.
The car’s heater was strong, and within minutes, Du Yu felt too warm, especially around her neck, still wrapped snugly in the scarf. She untied it, folded it neatly, and held onto it tightly, afraid she might leave it behind.
Even when she got home, the scarf remained clutched in her hand.
Everything had happened so naturally—so naturally that it felt strange.
Was it because they were old classmates that she subconsciously let her guard down around Li Qinglan? Or was it because she’d been single for so long that she was too quick to develop feelings for him?
Du Yu couldn’t figure it out. The moment she finished showering, she called Zhou Zhuofei, determined to dissect the situation.
Though her friend didn’t have much dating experience, her longest relationship still outlasted Du Yu’s.
After listening to her recap, Zhou Zhuofei concluded:
"So you’re saying you feel weird because you two got along too well?"
"Basically, yeah."
A brief silence followed on the other end. "Sorry, but I don’t see what’s weird about that?"
"Doesn’t it feel awkward? We were just indifferent classmates before, and now just because he’s gotten handsome, I suddenly have feelings? Isn’t that just shallow attraction?"
Zhou Zhuofei sounded even more puzzled. "Since when do you overthink this stuff? Don’t you usually just go with your gut?"
Du Yu didn’t want to admit she’d been influenced by Zhou Zhuofei’s approach, so she mumbled vaguely, "Well, he’s an old classmate. I can’t help but overanalyze."
"Then just follow your feelings," Zhou Zhuofei said. "I think relationships are all about intuition."
"Mm… Is Xiao Wang there?"
"Yeah, right next to me. Want his input?"
"If he doesn’t mind. I’m really out of practice—it’s been too long since I dated."
Zhou Zhuofei chuckled and switched the phone to speaker, nudging Xiao Wang.
"She’s asking for your wisdom. Spit it out."
After a moment’s thought, Xiao Wang said, "I don’t have much experience either, but I think the older you get, the less time you waste on people who don’t matter."
Zhou Zhuofei agreed. "Exactly. Just take it easy. Meet up if you’re free, skip it if you’re not."
"Got it."
Du Yu still couldn’t bring herself to say that what she truly wanted now was stability—it all felt too far away.
Li Qinglan stayed in town for two more days. When their coworkers found out Du Yu and "Lan Cang" (Li Qinglan’s nickname) were middle school classmates, they were shocked. Their boss even approved time off for her to show him around.
With a connection like this, securing future collaborations would be a breeze.
On the day Li Qinglan was leaving, Du Yu went to his hotel to see him off. Suddenly, he said,
"I messaged you in high school, but you weren’t using that account anymore."
"Huh? Why didn’t you ask someone else for my number? Lu Dantong definitely had it."
"Guess I didn’t think that far ahead." Li Qinglan smiled. "I’m heading to Japan soon. Want me to bring back any merch for you?"
Du Yu lit up. "Now that’s what I call a real classmate!"
Maybe something would happen between them in the future. Maybe not.
But who knew?
