Cen Qingmei is a high school senior whose summer vacation is marred by a fall from a second-floor window that leaves him with cracked ribs and a twenty-pound weight loss. Upon returning to school, he undergoes a dramatic physical transformation that draws the attention of his peers and the mockery of his rival, Zhong Chun. On his first day, he receives mysterious text messages from an unknown number warning him to avoid taking the bus, which he dismisses as a prank. However, the predictions begin to come true when his bike chain snaps, forcing him onto the bus he was warned to avoid. There, he is attacked by a thief wielding a razor blade, only to be saved by a tall, quiet transfer student named Shu Yang, who disarms the attacker with lethal precision before disappearing into the crowd. Shu Yang later reveals himself to be a top-scoring repeater who had already been admitted to a prestigious university but returned due to a head injury and family turmoil involving his parents' divorce. Despite his cold and detached demeanor, Shu Yang repeatedly intervenes in Cen Qingmei's life, from saving him from a confrontation with a delinquent at an internet cafe to resolving a bathroom dispute with a school jock. Cen Qingmei becomes increasingly aware of Shu Yang's protective presence, especially after receiving further cryptic warnings about avoiding online romance and physical altercations. These warnings prove accurate as Cen Qingmei's friends accidentally get him involved in a gaming dispute that leads to a dangerous encounter with Shu Yang's aggressive brother, Shu Jun. The narrative deepens with the introduction of a recurring nightmare in which Cen Qingmei is kidnapped and offered a choice between a controlling captor and a mysterious figure searching for him, a dream that mirrors the enigmatic paper rose left at his home. As Cen Qingmei navigates the social hierarchies of his senior year, he finds himself drawn into a complex web of relationships involving his childhood friend Xia Zhi, the aloof physics class representative He Bin, and the increasingly possessive Shu Yang, whose true intentions remain shrouded in mystery. The story establishes a tense atmosphere where Cen Qingmei's newfound popularity and physical transformation attract both admiration and danger, while Shu Yang's cryptic warnings suggest a larger, more sinister plot unfolding around him.
