Mountain Mists and Rime

In her thirty years, Cen Yueli had only gradually come to understand a few things.

The wounds inflicted by one's family of origin are never a debt that can be neatly settled. Her grandparents raised her, hiding all their favoritism in the words, "You're the older sister." Her parents loved her, but that love was always confined to the other end of a phone call, reduced to repeated reminders to "be good." She had hated her younger brother, and had even used him without showing it. Only much later did she realize that she had become an abuser of her brother, just like their grandparents and parents had been to her. They had all grown up crammed beneath the same roof, yet each built a towering fortress in their heart, its gates locked tight, keeping everyone else out.

When she first fell in love, she brought that fortress along, unchanged. Zhao Shang asked why she didn't want to make their relationship public. She said she was afraid her family would find out. Zhao Shang looked at her and said, "Do you not love me enough?" In her heart, she quietly replied: Of course I don't.

He was the one who ended things. She was unwilling to accept it, and refused to admit defeat.

Later, she learned how to love, not through romance but through friendship. At last, she understood that friends were there to accompany you through the different seasons of life. She no longer expected one person to understand every part of her, nor did she stake her entire heart on a single relationship.

She was used to swallowing every grievance alone, hiding every longing deep inside. In other people's eyes, she was proud, cold, and invulnerable, like rime standing tall and solitary in the wilderness, cloaked in frost and snow, as if nothing could ever hurt her.

But only she knew the truth

Touch that rime gently, and it will melt without a trace.

Also known as Fragile Moon: Seen from far away, the moon is bright, cold, and perfect. Come closer, and you find it covered in craters and cracks. It is fragile, too. Apply too much pressure, and it will shatter.

They were only teenagers when they were together.

They were secretly dating, always sneaking around. They even had to avoid people when they held hands. She said, "Don't tell anyone," and he really didn't tell a soul.

Later, when he broke up with her, she slapped him and walked away without looking back.

Thirteen years later, they met again. He had a girlfriend; she was single. He smiled and called her "Dr. Cen." She politely replied, "Mr. Zhao."

Everyone thought they were just ordinary classmates.

Until

The night he got drunk, he woke up in her bed, holding her and calling out another person's name.

He took the coat she'd left at a bar and stashed it in a private lounge only he could enter.

He stood in the pouring rain, draped his own windbreaker over her, and leaned down to kiss her.

She turned her head away.

He saw Zhang Xu standing behind her.

"Why did you break up with me back then?"

"Because I thought you didn't care about me, and at the time, I had nothing to offer you."

"What about now?"

Cen Yueli has never been the type to bow her head for love.

She is clear-eyed, proud, and always puts herself first.

It's just that, she needs him...

Sharp-tongued, proud female dentist specializing in oral medicine x Medical device CEO / restrained, chaste male dental PhD

Neither lead is a virgin. It can be one-on-one or one-on-two.

Women's growth | Youthful heartbreak | Rekindled romance | Mutual push and pull | Love triangle drama

The romance is the main focus. I know absolutely nothing about the technical side of the work; most of it was researched online, so please bear with me, and corrections are welcome.

Theme: Know yourself and cherish the people in your life