After the Snow Clears, We Meet in a Fine Year

Male unrequited love / stealing someone else's girl and winning her over

The day Qi Yi decided to win Tong Jiayue back, he called Fang Jiming to ask how his ex-girlfriend was doing.

Fang Jiming replied calmly, "She's doing well."

"That's good," Qi Yi said. "You're like an older brother to all of us. Thanks for taking care of her for me."

"Of course."

Fang Jiming's hair was still damp at the ends, and the steam from his shower clung to him. His quiet gaze rested on the woman in the distance, wearing his shirt and leaning over the round table to practice a line in a mock-angry voice, her cheeks puffed up in a pout.

A smile flickered in his eyes. Holding his phone, he stepped closer and leaned down to poke her puffed cheek.

Tong Jiayue looked up and glared at him. She lunged at him and protested indistinctly, "Poke me one more time and, "

Just try it.

A warm palm immediately covered her mouth. Fang Jiming reminded her calmly, "Don't make a sound."

The next moment, Tong Jiayue heard a familiar male voice coming through his phone: "Oh, right, Jiming-ge, I'm here."

At the same time, the doorbell rang.

*

Everyone around them thought Tong Jiayue and Qi Yi were made for each other.

But only Tong Jiayue knew that Qi Yi was a flighty bird that never landed, unwilling to be tied down and incapable of staying for anyone.

He had an impenetrable world of his own. Tong Jiayue had never found the key to enter it or knock on the door to his heart.

At last, Tong Jiayue decided to cut off this love that had kept her forever anxious and uncertain.

She broke up, quit her job, and bought a plane ticket to Shencheng, flying there alone. Later, Fang Jiming offered shelter to the disheveled, miserable her.

"Is it all right if I stay here?" Once she arrived at his place, Tong Jiayue belatedly asked.

Fang Jiming looked at her quietly. "The choice is yours."

Tong Jiayue pondered for a long time, then made up her mind and nodded.

Back in high school, Fang Jiming had once stayed at her house. They had lived under the same roof before. She didn't need to be wary of an older brother who was practically family.

That was what Tong Jiayue told herself. She would stay for a little while, then move out once she found a place.

Fang Jiming had woven a net and waited quietly for her to fall into it. He had fought for this chance, and he was determined to make her stay of her own free will.

Tong Jiayue never expected that she wouldn't move out after all. They had been living together until the day Qi Yi arrived and the doorbell rang

Their breaths were close. Fang Jiming covered her mouth and lowered his eyes to ask softly, "Should I open the door?"

*

In a dim, lightless corner, Fang Jiming watched it all as a silent spectator. The countless glances he cast her were dark and restrained, their depth known to no one.

Then one day, she turned her head without thinking, and her gaze met his.

He looked back at her quietly, no longer willing to hide his feelings.

* Female lead is not a virgin; male lead is. Happy ending. Five-year age gap. Smiling, sweet girl x cool guy with a poker face

* The female lead has a fairly complete character growth arc. It may be a slow burn, so read with care if that's not your thing.

* Voice actor x game company owner

Next novel: Watermelon, Long Live Me:

By a twist of fate, Meng Xi saved Mu Qingze, a hugely popular star. He found her to repay the favor.

His expression seemed to say he didn't want to owe anyone, as if he were waiting for her to name her price so they could settle the debt.

Meng Xi joked, "Then can I sleep with you?"

Mu Qingze was stunned for just a moment, then replied listlessly, "Sure."

*

Perhaps to Mu Qingze, Meng Xi was merely the niece of his family's former nanny, a washed-up actress from the eighteenth tier who had left the industry.

At most, she was a casual acquaintance he barely knew.

But to Meng Xi, Mu Qingze was the secret crush of her entire adolescence.

A friend in the know teased them, asking what exactly their relationship was.

Meng Xi laughed it off. "It's simple. He's repaying a favor, and I'm taking advantage of it."

Mu Qingze neither confirmed nor denied it.

The friend whispered again, "What about the person you've liked for so many years?"

Meng Xi paused, then smiled lightly. "I still like him, of course. He's my one true love."

Mu Qingze watched her with dark, still eyes, a hint of self-mockery at his lips.

That night, he had known there was someone in her heart, and that she only wanted his body.

*

Her ambiguous relationship with Mu Qingze was like a secret, humid dream.

The night before he was due to start filming, Mu Qingze said they should end things. Meng Xi smiled and agreed.

It was nice to let the dream remain frozen in its most beautiful, brilliant moment.

Meng Xi wisely vanished from his world.

She walked away so freely and gracefully, so cleanly and decisively.

It took Mu Qingze very little time to realize how addicted he had become, how he'd gone back on his word, and how little his pride mattered. He lowered his head and went back to find her, willing to be the tool she used to forget her one true love.

* Their casual arrangement becomes a real relationship. Female unrequited love, male pursues female. Bittersweet push and pull. 1v1, both leads are virgins, happy ending.

* Small-town romance, urban fairy tale. The entertainment industry plays only a minor role as a backdrop.

* A slow-burn healing story about learning self-acceptance, then learning to love each other. A simple story.

Theme: Love yourself