South of the Moon

[Please add my next book, Do Not Disturb Tonight, to your favorites. Blurb at the end.]

Sunny, optimistic ray of sunshine vs. devoted, aloof top student

High school to college | Childhood friends | Bickering pair | He falls first | Both virgins | Lighthearted | Ensemble cast

Lu Lingyue has three childhood friends.

One is as cold as snow, one as carefree as the wind, and one as passionate as a flame.

All three are handsome, but each is more difficult to deal with than the last.

And the most "different from appearances" of them all is Gu Qingyue, the aloof beauty, as clear and bright as the moon.

In the eyes of their teachers, he's a flawless role model. In the hearts of his peers, he's a moon best admired from afar.

But in Lu Lingyue's heart, Gu Qingyue is firmly at the top of her "most hated people" list.

*

Their birth charts may not be compatible, but that doesn't stop Gu Qingyue from weaving himself into every corner of Lu Lingyue's life.

He tutors her, carries her backpack, cleans up her messes, spends money on her, and quietly raises the stray cat she brought home.

Gu Qingyue is perfect in every way, except that he lies.

In their first year of high school, Lu Lingyue asked if he had abs.

Gu Qingyue kept a straight face. "No, it's all fat."

Lu Lingyue didn't believe him and reached out to check. Six-pack, all there.

What a cheapskate! He lied just so she wouldn't touch him!

One rainy day in their second year of high school, Gu Qingyue came to pick up Lu Lingyue, who had forgotten her umbrella.

Sheltered beneath his jacket, Lu Lingyue brushed her nose against his collarbone. "Gu Qingyue, you smell like my favorite thing!"

Gu Qingyue glanced down. "It's just sweat. You have weird taste."

The next day, Lu Lingyue spotted her favorite body wash in Gu Qingyue's bathroom.

Gu Qingyue, lying again!

Spring arrives in their third year of high school, and everything begins to stir.

Unable to find the study materials she needed, Lu Lingyue messaged Gu Qingyue late at night: "Let me see."

Gu Qingyue caught on immediately and replied, "It's short and small. What's there to see?"

Lu Lingyue pouted at her screen. What a bad friend. And she'd thought of Gu Qingyue as one of the guys.

Too bad she couldn't verify this one.

*

Lu Lingyue once naively believed she and Gu Qingyue would be best friends for life.

That was until she belatedly realized she had fallen for him, and until Gu Qingyue vanished from her world without warning.

After Gu Qingyue left, everyone told Lu Lingyue, "He'll come back."

"How do you know?" Lu Lingyue asked.

"Everyone who knows Gu Qingyue knows he likes Lu Lingyue. The only person who doesn't know is Lu Lingyue, who's known him the longest."

*

Lu Lingyue never imagined that running into Gu Qingyue again would be so dramatic.

A perfectly built model was passionately pursuing her, and Lu Lingyue had grown so fed up with him that she blurted out, "I told you I'm not interested. I like guys with fat around their waists, short and small, got it?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, a low cough sounded beside her.

Lu Lingyue turned toward it and saw Gu Qingyue, who had been gone for three years.

* Roughly half the story takes place in high school and half in college

* He falls first; the heroine is slow to recognize her feelings; they spend three years apart and reunite in college

* An ensemble story. The male lead and some supporting characters come from troubled families, and they heal and grow together

Please add my next book, Do Not Disturb Tonight, to your favorites~

Marriage first, love later | Both virgins | Six-year age gap | Sweet romance

[Cool, calculating CEO who pretends to be an idiot vs. money-loving, goofy college student]

The Yue Group's CEO, Yue Xiao, is swamped with work and has two clueless younger brothers who know nothing about business.

The burden of the entire company weighs on him like a mountain, leaving him breathless.

Then a car accident lands Yue Xiao in the hospital, and a sense of long-lost relief washes over him.

Suddenly, he doesn't want to work anymore.

So Yue Xiao bribes his private doctor.

That afternoon, a diagnosis is delivered to the Yue family: "Mr. Yue has suffered brain damage. His IQ will permanently remain at eight years old."

He has successfully dumped the mess on someone else.

His second younger brother, Yue Feng, is thrown in at the deep end and spends every day weeping over financial reports.

Meanwhile, Yue Xiao eats and sleeps all day, as happy as a real idiot.

His family is so worried about him that they arrange a marriage for him, claiming they want to find someone caring to look after him.

The first time they meet, Yue Xiao hears his fiancee whispering from behind her parents, "Am I going to have to wash his big butt every night? He's really handsome, but I'm going to need extra pay!"

Yue Xiao: ...

*

After they marry, his wife takes the word "care" to a whole new level.

"Mr. Yue, experts say sleeping on the sofa is good for your spine. You're sleeping on the sofa tonight."

"Mr. Yue, eating fatty meat is good for you. Look at this lovely, glistening pork belly. It's all for you."

"Mr. Yue, children shouldn't play on their phones. Here, I'll keep yours safe."

"Mr. Yue, it's getting cold today. This pink bunny onesie is the warmest, so hurry up and put it on. Boys should wear pink."

Yue Xiao: ...

*

When Song Xi hears that the Yue family is arranging a marriage alliance, she signs up without hesitation.

A husband who's an idiot and money she can spend freely? It's the carefree life of leisure she's always dreamed of.

It's just too bad that Yue Xiao has a devastatingly handsome face and a perfect physique, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist.

Taking advantage of Yue Xiao's eight-year-old IQ, Song Xi bullies him every day without a hint of guilt.

But Yue Xiao is so handsome that she can't help her heart racing.

Unfortunately, the chains of morality weigh heavily: going after someone with the mind of an eight-year-old would be a crime.

Until one night, when the air is hazy, Song Xi can no longer hold back and corners him against the living room wall.

Her eyes sparkle as she coaxes him, her voice low and enticing: "Mr. Yue, could you call me Mommy?"

If she can't hear him call her wife, hearing him say Mommy might be even more exciting.

*

Yue Xiao recovers overnight, shocking the whole family.

Everyone weeps with joy. "It's all thanks to Xixi taking such good care of him!"

But Song Xi has already packed her bags and is preparing to run away that very night.

Because the night before Yue Xiao recovered, he pinned her to the sofa, his lips brushing her earlobe.

"Song Xi, I'm pretending to be an idiot. I'm not really an idiot."

"Over the past six months, you took three of my black cards, made me sleep on the sofa for 153 days, and forced me to wear 27 pink pajamas..."

"And now you want me to call you Mommy, hmm?"

At death's door, Song Xi actually claps her hands and applauds. "Mr. Yue, you pretended to be an idiot for six months just to avoid going to work. What a brilliant plan!"

Theme: Love life