Song of the Night Rain

[Complete! Thank you all for your support and companionship along the way, and thank you for supporting the official release!]

The new story, Damp Green Veins, is now underway. Welcome!

Blurb:

She first met Meng Xuyan at the welcome banquet held in her honor.

In the vast garden, Lin Yunchu lost her way. Just as she stood there, at a loss, she met a pair of deep, shadowy eyes, indifferent and aloof, with a refined air.

Gathering her courage, she went up to ask for directions. His only response was an irrelevant question: "Which family's daughter are you?"

For no reason she could understand, all her wariness had vanished that night. She answered earnestly, one word at a time: "My name is Lin Yunchu."

-

That night, Meng Xuyan showed her the way.

With everyone's eyes on them, he escorted her into the banquet hall. Filled with gratitude, she looked up and thanked him solemnly: "Thank you for bringing me back, big brother."

The elders nearby all laughed softly at the same time.

Lin Yunchu was bewildered by their laughter, not knowing what she had done wrong.

Meng Xuyan's lips curled in a faint smile, and he raised an eyebrow. "You're welcome."

Uncle Meng chided him for being improper, then put an arm around her shoulder and patiently corrected her. "Yunchu, that's not right. You've got the generation wrong. You should call him Uncle."

-

Lin Yunchu called him Uncle for many years, and from then on her feelings were confined to the moral high ground, forbidden to cross the line.

She knew she shouldn't, but she fell for him anyway.

-

Not long after Lin Yunchu returned to the capital, plenty of well-meaning elders tried to set her up.

To get some peace, she had no choice but to claim she already had a boyfriend.

That night, the first snow fell in the capital, and someone came through the snow.

Lin Yunchu met those shadowy eyes and stopped in her tracks. Suppressing the flutter in her heart, she dutifully called him Uncle.

In the swirling smoke, a red ember flared and dimmed. Meng Xuyan's expression darkened as he asked, "Yunchu, hasn't your uncle treated you well?"

"He's been very good to me." Lin Yunchu lowered her eyes, her manner humble. "From now on, I'll respect you as an elder, too."

Meng Xuyan laughed in anger, stubbed out his cigarette, and closed in on her step by step. "Is that so? Do I need another good niece like you?"

Lin Yunchu lowered her eyes to his gleaming leather shoes, so close to hers. She held her breath, her heart pounding, and struggled to force out a warning with no real force behind it: "Uncle, please behave yourself."

"Behave myself?" Meng Xuyan gripped her chin, his breath hot. "You've let me hold you and kiss you, and now you want to talk about behaving myself?"

A few reading tips:

1. Slow burn | The leads are not blood-related | All romantic interactions take place after they are adults

2. Both leads are sexually inexperienced

3. Nine-year age gap | Foster-family romance | The powerful one gives in

Theme: Sway freely, and thrive without end