The Sun

偷马头Feb 2023

3.3

Word count: 143K words
Chapters: 16

Summary

A sunny, carefree soon-to-be high school girl, Chi Qingji, falls in love at first sight with Song Boyan, a gifted boy who comes to take lessons from her father, and pursues him ardently. When they meet again eight years later, everything has changed; she is no longer the naive girl who made love her whole world. She rises to every challenge and presses on without hesitation—until the day Chi Qingji tells him she wants to break up, and Song Boyan realizes he has lost his sun.

Editor's review

This book spans eight years to tell a love story that moves from love at first sight to everything changed. Chi Qingji grows from a girl who made love her whole world into someone who rises to every challenge and presses on without hesitation, while Song Boyan only realizes on the day of the breakup what he has lost. Toumatou focuses on the shifts in the characters' inner lives; the bright, lively opening contrasts with the later quiet, making the image of the "sun" both the other person and the self. It is suited to being read in sections on quiet nights, following the timeline to feel the two characters' mismatched feelings; at each approach after their reunion, watch for subtle changes in the heroine's attitude. The story is not driven by strong conflict but values emotional accumulation and the arc of growth. Readers who enjoy coming-of-age and bittersweet love stories may want to give it a try.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy coming-of-age love stories spanning years
Readers who prefer a heroine's growth arc from innocence to independence
Readers who can accept regret and mismatched feelings and do not require sweetness throughout
Readers who want to quietly finish a delicate emotional story at night

Not a good fit for

Readers looking only for light, smooth, sweet romance
Readers impatient with slow-burn emotional accumulation and a lack of strong conflict
Readers who do not accept a male lead who realizes things only afterward or a setup of mismatched feelings

Reading tips

Read in sections along the eight-year timeline, pausing at the reunion to compare the heroine's inner state before and after.
Pay attention to how the image of the "sun" shifts within their relationship; after finishing, look back at the opening for a new impression.
Do not rush to judge who is right or wrong; follow the heroine's growth arc, and the emotional accumulation will feel more complete.
Best read one or two chapters before bed, giving the delicate emotions room to settle.

版权信息
第一章清霁
第二章枯叶
第三章单薄
第四章残缺
第五章太阳
第六章贱吗
第七章慰藉
第八章难圆
第九章恨过
第十章患失
第十一章真好
第十二章恶毒
第十三章触动
第十四章汹涌
完结番外克制系大狗

FAQ

Does the story end tragically?

The information only goes as far as Chi Qingji proposing a breakup and Song Boyan realizing he has lost his sun; the final ending is not stated. Readers can treat this as the emotional turning point and follow the main text to experience the choices and directions that follow.

Does the heroine's pursuit in the early part seem too forward?

At the opening, Chi Qingji is a sunny, lively soon-to-be high school student who makes love her whole world; actively pursuing him fits her personality at that time. The story then uses eight years to show her changes, and the contrast between the early and later parts is part of understanding her growth.

Is the book fast-paced or slow-paced?

Judging from the description, the story emphasizes emotional accumulation and changes in the characters' inner lives rather than strong conflict, and overall it is slow-burn. It suits readers willing to follow the timeline slowly and feel the two characters' mismatched feelings; readers eager for dense plot may find it gentle.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

偷马头 Author · Chinese

Tou Matou is a contemporary Chinese writer of romance fiction and a popular author on online literature platforms who describes herself as an unnoticed wordsmith. Her work centers on modern romance and youth literature, spanning sweet-pet and marriage-first tropes, with bold and inventive premises and delicate, moving prose. Representative titles include Qiang Niu De Gua Zhen Tian, Ren Qian Ren Hou, Tai Yang, Xian Hun (Fully Revised Edition), Fu Yu, and The CEO Has Something Wrong with His Brain, along with the three-volume collection of her high-sugar sweet romance stories. Several of these, including Fu Yu, Tai Yang, Xian Hun, and The CEO Has Something Wrong with His Brain, have been formally published by Guangdong Tourism Publishing House and Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House, with the latter appearing under the title Romantic Allergy. Public information about her birth and death dates and education is limited, but her published works show a lively, accessible style in writing urban romance, earning her considerable popularity among readers as an author active in both online literature and print publishing.