Times of Our Lives

❤️ Main Relationship

Ji Qinyang (季钦扬) × Xie Meng (谢孟) Fandom ship name: Unknown

✨ Introduction

Times of Our Lives (岁月间) is a completed JJWXC novel by Jing Shui Bian, serialized from April 2015 (extras followed through 2020), at 49 chapters plus 1 extra per NovelUpdates. Top student Xie Meng does badly in the high school entrance examinations and enrolls in W High, where he meets Ji Qinyang — a boy with a completely opposite character, sunny, gorgeous, and music-obsessed, who greets him with a grin: "I'm Ji Qinyang!" Arm-wrestling settles their disputes; a snowy-day photograph by their friend Zhang Ganggang opens the album of their youth, the album that gives the story its name. In the spring of their lives the two youths gradually fall in love, and both are accepted to universities in the same city; through the experiences of their youth, their dreams, and their realities, their bond deepens — eventually, they spend the rest of their lives hand in hand. "That's the youth I love, that accompanied me through my spring and my prime."

🌏 Background

Rooted in the soft water-town atmosphere of Suzhou — New Year flower markets, black-tiled roofs under snow — before shifting to the grind and possibility of Beijing, where Qinyang writes songs for a band and Xie Meng tutors to keep them afloat, later entering the banking system. Xie Meng, orphaned young and raised by his grandmother, loses her before the gaokao; Qinyang gives him a home. The novel shares a universe with the author's other works (on NovelUpdates: Salad Days, Silent Hearts, Rainbow Amber, The Flowers Blooming Over The Years), whose leads appear in its extras.

🎭 Themes & Tone

First love carried faithfully into adulthood
Found family: giving an orphan a home
Youth, dreams, and the price of the big city
Mutual support and mutual achievement
Ordinary years as the grandest romance Tone: tender, nostalgic, sunlit slice-of-life

👥 Main Characters

Ji Qinyang (季钦扬) — sunny musical genius and campus heartthrob; clingy, devoted, writes Xie Meng his own song
Xie Meng (谢孟) — gentle, resilient honor student and sanda practitioner; orphaned young, quietly warm
Zhang Ganggang (张杠杠) — photography-loving friend who documents their youth; Han Dong (韩冬), the Zhuo siblings, and others round out the school-days cast; Shen Luo (沈落) and Xia Yiyang (夏一洋) from the shared-universe works appear in extras

✨ Iconic Quote

Ji Qinyang（季钦扬）："我爱死你咯，宝贝儿。" / "I love you to death, baby."
Ji Qinyang（季钦扬）："那能活多久就爱多久呗，就算下一秒死了，这一秒我还是爱你。" / "Then I'll love you for as long as I live — even if I die the next second, in this second I still love you."
Ji Qinyang（季钦扬）："不努力怎么行？我可是你男人。" / "How could I not work hard? I'm your man."
Ji Qinyang（季钦扬）："要结婚吗？等攒够了钱我们就出国结婚怎么样？" / "Want to get married? Once we've saved up enough, how about we go abroad and do it?"
Xie Meng（谢孟）："不能放水，不会后悔。" / "No going easy. No regrets."
Song lyric / narration（文中歌词）："你的笑容像沙雪，落在我的心里面，渐渐渐渐，掩盖在岁月间。" / "Your smile is like drifting snow, falling into my heart — little by little, buried away amid the years."

🎬 Adaptations

Audio Drama: Released — full single season (18 episodes) on Missevan/猫耳FM, produced by Zhenzhuo Wenchuang

🔥 Why It's Popular

A rare "fifteen to forever" love story spanning school, career, and old age
Iconic soft-Suzhou atmosphere and quotable tender lines
Cornerstone of a beloved shared universe with crossover extras
Suits readers who want gentle, grown-up slice-of-life romance

📚 Reader Notes

Beginner-friendly: ★★★★★

Angst level: ★★☆☆☆

Plot complexity: Low

Romance visibility: High

Mystery focus: Low

Recommended for readers who enjoy childhood-to-adulthood devotion and warm everyday detail.

✍️ Author

Jing Shui Bian (静水边) JJWXC author of gentle modern danmei slice-of-life; also writes under the pen name Mu Geng Mu Geng (木更木更) at Changpei.

Song & Fan audio drama

Song: https://www.missevan.com/sound/player?id=1303499

Fan audio drama: https://www.missevan.com/sound/player?id=1302657

Fan audio drama by

🌌 Similar IPs

If you like Times of Our Lives, you may also enjoy:

A Certain Someone (Mou Mou)
Run Wild (Sa Ye)
Salad Days / Silent Hearts / Rainbow Amber / The Flowers Blooming Over The Years (shared universe, same author)

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