Day and Night, Like Gardenias [Rekindled Romance]

Updated at 10 p.m. Next book: *Late-Night Passion*. Please add it to your reading list. Second chance romance | Bittersweet push and pull | A proud, sharp-tongued man’s everyday pursuit of his wife Cold, aloof golden boy x cool, seemingly sweet and obedient girl The most outrageous thing Lin Qingzhi has ever done was fall in love with Gu Chengye. The golden boy of No. 17 High School, blessed with a face made for the heavens, looked down on everyone and thought the world of himself. Yet somehow, he fell for a well-behaved girl like her, who always followed the rules. At times, Gu Chengye could be far too forceful. When she could only weakly shake her head, he would lean close to her ear and coax her again and again: “Just one last time... I promise, really, the last time.” They did not part on good terms. In Gu Chengye’s words, she had given him the silent treatment and dumped him out of the blue. They met again at a dinner six years later. When her colleagues started fishing for gossip, she kept a straight face. “We’re not close.” Gu Chengye, sitting beside her, was so angry he laughed. That night, he blocked her way and trapped her between his chest and the wall. “Not close?” “Am I really so embarrassing as an ex-boyfriend?” Later, her family arranged a blind date. She mistook him for someone else and earnestly briefed him on her finances and social life over the past few years. After hearing her out, the man slowly raised his eyes. “Lin Qingzhi, are you really in such a hurry to get married?” She said nothing. The blind date failed, and she was getting ready to try again with someone else. Gu Chengye showed up once more, his tone casual. “I’m getting nagged about marriage too. How about we make do with each other and get a marriage certificate to keep them off our backs?” Lin Qingzhi thought they were just getting a marriage certificate. Gu Chengye was quietly making his way into her life with the title of husband. One day after they were married, Lin Qingzhi was tidying the study when she happened upon a stack of old plane tickets. Hundreds of tickets, dating back six years, all with the same destination: the city where she lived. Stunned, she took them to Gu Chengye. He was smoking on the balcony. When he saw what she was holding, he paused, then casually stubbed out his cigarette. “You found those too?” “Gu Chengye,” she asked, her voice trembling a little, “why did you keep going to Jiangcheng?” He was quiet for a moment, then suddenly laughed, wild and roguish. “Do you really want to know?” He walked toward her, step by step, backing her into a corner. His large hand caught her around the waist and pulled her against him. He lowered his head to her ear, his voice so husky it was almost unrecognizable. “For six years, every time I flew there, I kept thinking: how can I lure you back?” “Then I figured it out. Thinking about it wasn’t enough. I had to do something.” His gaze darkened. “So the day you returned to Jingcheng, I followed you back.” “Luckily... I succeeded.” Set mainly in the city, with a little school life woven in. Blurb saved on 2026/1/14. Next book: *Late-Night Passion*. Please add it to your reading list. When Xu Qingwan and her blind date hit it off and pretended to humor their parents, they ran into her ex-boyfriend at a gathering with friends. They had not seen each other in seven years. At the time, she did not know her blind date knew him. Later, she heard her date ask, “You know Qingwan?” The man slowly picked up the glass in front of him and downed it, then gave a wry laugh. “Know her? She dumped me back in the day!” Xu Qingwan heard every word. “...” On the day Xu Qingyi transferred to Linzhou No. 7 High School, her deskmate pointed out the golden boy on the basketball court, turning down a sweet, well-behaved girl’s confession, and warned her about him. “Stay away from guys like Young Master Zhou. He never dates anyone for more than three months. Once the time’s up, all he’ll do is pay you a breakup fee and leave you crying somewhere.” Zhou Yuhuai was gorgeous, a golden boy, and a notorious playboy. Even if he was bad news, his face alone was enough to keep admirers coming after him. Xu Qingwan took the warning to heart, but only the second half: breaking up with Zhou Yuhuai came with a huge payout. Zhou Yuhuai liked smart, well-behaved girls, so Xu Qingyi hid her claws. She got together with him as she had hoped: he wanted to have fun, and she wanted the money. When three months passed and they still had not broken up, everyone was stunned. Just when everyone thought Zhou Yuhuai had finally changed his ways, they broke up without warning. She had crushed every last bit of the young man’s pride. Later, Zhou Yuhuai somehow found out that she and her blind date had hit it off only to appease their parents. She thought he would mock her, but instead he trapped her in a corner. “Xu Qingwan, you just need someone to play the part, right? Wouldn’t using me be better than using him?” Theme: Know your heart, and keep moving toward the light.