Waves of Time

Waves of Time is a campus novel by Sun Guang Yi Zhi (real name Zhou Hongxiang), a writer born in the 1990s. Published by Modern Press in 2009, the roughly 220-page novel features a preface by critic Bai Ye. Opening with the arrival of new high-school students, the story centers on Yan Shu, a girl at Mingxiang Middle School admired for both her grades and her looks. Tang Xuejing, the boy next door who grew up with her, becomes her classmate after the liberal-arts/science divide in their second year, and he has long harbored a secret love for her. Jiang Jiyu, a taciturn transfer student with outstanding grades, initially competes with Yan Shu for the top rank out of sheer conviction, yet draws ever closer to her through their repeated contests. Beyond the emotional entanglements of youth, the narrative unfolds such real-world themes as conflicts among friends, parental expectations and pressure, divorce in the adult world, and the pain of losing loved ones. Seasons mark the passage of time, while senior-year life—art exams, an empty seat, teachers' reminders, and endless tests—sketches the texture of campus routine. With clean, lucid prose and meticulous psychological insight, the author captures how the post-90s generation, amid sudden upheavals, 'gained a bit more maturity and shed a bit of childishness,' and critics regard the book as 'the purest coming-of-age novel of the post-90s,' one that does justice to a generation and refuses to define it with labels like 'decadent' or 'brash.'