Joy, Too

My upcoming novel, Mistaking My Older Brother for a Love Interest, is an age-gap sweet romance. Please add it to your favorites!

Blurb for Huan Ye ↓

The most painful thing isn't losing someone. It's entering your dreams again and again just to see them once more.

She confessed after the college entrance exams, and he accepted.

Everything was looking up.

Then came a phone call: "Huanhuan, Chen Jiayi died three years ago."

Only then did she realize that all of it was just a beautiful dream she'd made for herself.

Over and over again.

Dreams always end.

Content Warnings:

1. This is a short story, only 100,000 characters.

2. The writing isn't great. Read at your own risk.

3. The pacing is slow at first, then speeds up later. Sweet at the beginning, heartbreaking later, with no arguments.

4. Any similarities are purely coincidental.

Blurb for The Heartbeat That Carries On ↓

[Campus Romance] [Bad Ending]

He You and Tong Yan first met on the hospital rooftop.

She thought he was going to jump, so she hurriedly pulled him down.

Only after they'd talked it through did they realize it had all been a big misunderstanding.

After that, He You kept running into him at the hospital...

-

On the day He You died, not a single yuzu blossom could be found blooming in Chuanhui City. In the end, she never got to see the yuzu tree bear fruit.

"Tong Yan, go see the sunsets, the four seasons of this world, and its rivers stretching for thousands of miles on my behalf."

[Short Afterword for The Heartbeat That Carries On]

He You first met Tong Yan on the hospital rooftop.

At the time, she thought he was a boy about to take his own life.

She said, "He You. 'He' as in seedlings, 'You' as in yuzu."

You and You sound alike in Chinese. Her father had named her with the hope that she would grow up safe and sound under his protection.

There were so many illnesses in the world, and birth, aging, sickness, and death were part of life.

Later, they met again in the hospital ward, and their secrets came to light.

There was shock, anger, and fear at being known by someone else.

They avoided each other, reunited, and day after day, eventually came to terms with everything.

He liked calling her "Yuzu Classmate."

On the last day before the end of her second year of high school, He You left a letter and set off for the capital without hesitation to seek treatment.

She said, "Forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye."

She said, "Tong Yan, live well. I hope your surgery goes smoothly!"

Tong Yan showed no emotion then. He calmly put the letter in his pocket and said, "Yuzu Classmate, I'll wait for you to come back."

After a year of treatment, they met again. The boy swore he would never let go of Yuzu Classmate's hand again.

After the college entrance exams, he took her on a trip, introduced her to his friends, and declared to the world that He You was the love of his life.

At their wedding, their vows expressed how they felt about each other.

Their story should have gone that way.

But when Tong Yan woke on their wedding night, there was no one beside him, and a children's song he'd coaxed He You into singing back in their second year of high school played in his ears.

He clutched his chest. That was where He You had left something behind.

So many years had passed, and he was still in love with her.

Please add it to your favorites, please, please! I'm begging you!

Theme: Cherish the present.