Finding the Sun in the Rain

The pampered heiress VS the stray dog from the slums Blurb 1: At 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, Wall Street's opening bell rang. A young man at the center of it all became the subject of headlines around the world. On camera, he was impeccably dressed in a suit, his expression composed, every movement radiating the calm confidence of a seasoned entrepreneur. His alma mater, Yuncheng High School, was quick to publish a congratulatory message: “Congratulations! Our outstanding alumnus Jiang Xu rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange!” The announcement set the alumni group chat ablaze. “Unless I'm mistaken, our class valedictorian was also named Jiang Xu. Is it the same person?” “There can't be another Jiang Xu from our school, can there?” “Oh my god, I was classmates with the CEO of a listed company for three years. Is it too late to go back and cozy up to him?” Hundreds of lively messages flew back and forth, but sooner or later, the conversation always came back around to another name: Jiang Youning. The only daughter of the Jiang family, born at the very top of the pyramid. Her eighteenth-birthday celebration made the front page of the local news. The headline read: “Heiress Celebrates Her Birthday Quietly, Donates Ten Million to Education.” After all, back then, the title that outshone even Yuncheng's top student was “the Jiang heiress's live-in son-in-law.” Amusingly, both titles belonged to the same person. At the time, the comments had split into two camps. One marveled at her family background and beauty, while the other pointedly brought up the boy who had gone from top student at Yuncheng High to the Jiang family's live-in son-in-law. Before anyone could dig deeper, a set of photos hit the trending charts the next day. In the photos, the girl turned to look at him, holding a candied hawthorn skewer and smiling with crescent-shaped eyes. One shot caught him taking a bite. The man who had looked completely unruffled at the bell-ringing ceremony now had nothing but a soft smile in his eyes, as obedient as a big dog rewarded with a treat by its owner. “Damn, that heiress is so gorgeous. What a waste not to join show business.” “Wake up, the Jiangyuan Group heiress has a trust fund bigger than my life expectancy.” “For the record, Jiangyuan Group is worth hundreds of billions, and she's the only child. Get it?” As the photos went viral, #JiangXuGoesPublic and #JiangYouningsLiveInSonInLaw took turns trending, and the comments went completely off the rails. “Does the heiress need someone to carry her bags? I'm applying!” “Get in line. I was here first.” The frenzy lasted all day. Media outlets and marketing accounts jumped on the story, churning out jokes and supposed scoops. But no one expected the joke from some obscure corner of the internet to get a personal reply from the man himself: “No need. My wife has every position she could want by her side.” The comments erupted like fireworks: “Oh my god, he called her his wife!!!” “He won't even let anyone apply to carry her bags. I'm crying.” Blurb 2: Everyone at Yuncheng High knew that Jiang Youning was the moon in the sky, while Jiang Xu was dirt beneath their feet. Jiang Xu had seen her surrounded by admirers, and knew they belonged to two different worlds. Yet this moon insisted on falling into the dirt. On a summer night in Yuncheng, under an ink-black sky, Jiang Youning edged closer without thinking. The girl's breath was within reach. Jiang Xu's ears burned red, but he met her gaze stubbornly. She blinked, teasing him mischievously. “Jiang Xu, do you want to kiss me?” “But your first kiss should be saved for the person you'll spend your whole life with.” Jiang Youning thought Jiang Xu was a truly strange person. Through him, she finally understood that a person could really have two sides. It was precisely the side of him that seemed most wretched that drew her in. So one of them desperately tried to hide, while the other watched in secret. She thought he was a sun shining through the dust. Only when she got close did she discover he was a rain-soaked blade. He hid the sharpest tenderness and the fiercest restraint. The rain fell over Yuncheng through their entire youth. Only her umbrella opened over him, giving him a whole sunny day. “I won't be caught in the rain forever. I have my sun.” She carried her umbrella into his rain, and from then on, his rainy days never left him soaked again. Blurb 3: If one phrase could describe Jiang Xu at seventeen, it would be “sunshower.” A bright sun was rising in the sky, and yet a gentle rain was falling. Everyone felt sorry for him and gave him a wide berth. Until one girl came bouncing over with an umbrella. “The rain isn't too heavy. Want to share my umbrella?” Summer in Yuncheng was always rainy. Just as Jiang Xu thought his life was about to grow moldy, the sun shone on him without warning. Every rainy season in life, it turns out, is a reminder that a change of season is coming... Theme: After the rain comes the sunshine and a rainbow.