The Sleeping Equation

[Next book: the second-chance romance Lost Star. Please add it to your bookshelf!] In everyone’s eyes, Gu Yuan is cool and composed, keeping others at arm’s length, an untouchable beauty on a high peak. At the negotiating table, where there may be no smoke but the stakes are high, he is calm, rational, and perceptive, never losing ground. And yet, for all that, he has fallen hard for one person. Three times, in fact. A restrained crisis negotiator × a wily lawyer goddess Years after they last saw each other, someone asks, “Do you still remember Gu Yuan?” Fang Cheng: “I don’t.” In the blink of an eye, in a hidden corner where no one can see, Gu Yuan makes every sound she makes disappear beneath… He leans closer, his voice low. “Do you remember now?” Of all the countless people in the world, you alone are the answer to me. Always and forever. [Bonus Scene] They first met at a school debate competition. The boy stood there in his uniform, with handsome, refined features, and was a sight to behold all on his own. “Fellow debater, have you heard of the Esterman theory in psychology?” Though she had never heard of it, Fang Cheng stayed calm. “I have, but that actually proves the opposite, ” Gu Yuan: “Oh, sorry. I just made that up.” Fang Cheng: “???” “So we can conclude that what you just said…” Fang Cheng raised an eyebrow and brought out her finishing move. “Fellow debater, by your logic, would I make a suitable girlfriend for you?” The whole room erupted. The boy’s eyes darkened, and the tips of his ears turned red. * They met again at a negotiation where lives hung in the balance. Gu Yuan’s voice was cold as ice. “The first rule of hostage negotiation, ” “Never sympathize with the hostage-taker.” Fang Cheng looked up, her eyes still luminous. No one knew that three times in his life, he had been utterly defeated, each time because of the person standing before him. “Fang Cheng, this time, you’re the one who gets to decide.” The final chapter of crisis negotiation “When love is the hostage-taker, I willingly surrender.” -- One-on-one romance, focused on crisis negotiations, a sweet love story [Coming soon: Lost Star, a contemporary second-chance romance] 1. Fu Jinghang, a relaxed and easygoing special training instructor at a marine rescue center, is always cool and distant whenever he’s around Shen Xingwan, the newly transferred marine conservation officer. His teammates have speculated about it in private time and again, but never figured out why. During a team-building trip out at sea, everyone unexpectedly learns that the two graduated from the same school. A teammate teases them. “Wow, you’re schoolmates? Have you met before?” Shen Xingwan remains composed. “I don’t really remember.” Fu Jinghang leans against the rail. His rugged features fall in and out of the moonlight, his gaze deep and unreadable. After the trip, in the cramped space at the stern, Fu Jinghang backs Shen Xingwan against the cabin wall and gives her a half-smile. “You don’t really remember?” His voice carries the salty tang of the sea breeze, with a hint of domineering insistence. “Dare to look me in the eye and say that again?” 2. The college entrance exams are over. The teachers’ farewell banquet is filled with laughter and chatter, soda bottles clink together, and the noise is loud enough to lift the roof. During Truth or Dare, Fu Jinghang gets picked. “Jinghang, what do you hate most?” Fu Jinghang toys with the lighter in his hand, its flame flickering on and off. He curls his lips and coolly replies, “Probably the sea.” Everyone falls silent. They all know that the sea is what his former girlfriend, who disappeared without a word, loved most. Many years later. Shen Xingwan is at sea conducting an ecological survey when a rare storm strikes, leaving her stranded. A rescue boat races toward her, its brilliant bow lights cutting straight through the dense darkness. Backlit, the drenched man pulls her into a life jacket, his body heat reaching across seven years. “Hold on tight. Don’t look at the sea anymore. Look at me.” When they meet again, he is protecting the sea she loves most. “I’ll be a beacon on the sea, guiding you home. I’ll protect the ocean, and keep watch over you.” [Completed contemporary romances] The Function of Early Summer: Mutual pining, in the same series as The Equation The Reversed Inequality: A roguishly handsome, proud bomb disposal expert × a gentle, radiant traditional Chinese medicine doctor, a second-chance romance, in the same series as The Equation The Sweetness You Gave Me: A refined yet ruthless investor × an adorable event planner. The domineering CEO is always scheming to win me over. A sweet secret-marriage romance Roses for the Vulture: A thorny rose × a sinister tycoon. The days spent pretending to be a couple with the CEO Non-Litigation Partners: A down-on-her-luck fake heiress + a fake-bankrupt, scheming CEO = non-litigation partners! Theme: Resolving conflicts through negotiation, and protecting others in times of crisis.