Kiss in Winter

On Zhou Li's first day working part-time at the bar, a customer got handsy with her.

She needed the money and was afraid of losing her job, so she endured it without daring to speak up, tears welling in her eyes.

Then a tall man grabbed the offender by the collar and threw him out.

The man stood in the doorway, his buzz cut sticking straight up.

His white tank top was damp with sweat, the fabric outlining his muscles. The neon lights of the summer night illuminated his rugged, powerful arms.

With a cigarette between his lips, he glanced at her. "You're so pretty. Why not be a little feistier? What are you cowering for? This is my turf. I don't allow that kind of filthy behavior here."

Only then did Zhou Li learn that he was the bar's owner, Zhao Fengdong.

Later, on New Year's Eve, the bar staff got together for dinner.

Someone asked the boss what kind of partner he liked.

Zhao Fengdong glanced at Zhou Li and grinned. "Me? I'm a rough guy. I like women who are feisty and don't cry, the kind who don't need comforting."

Zhou Li, who was neither feisty nor a stranger to tears, quietly lowered her head.

"What about you, Zhou Li?" the person asked again. "You've been working at the bar for half a year, and plenty of people have pursued you. You're always so cool and distant. Haven't you met anyone who makes your heart race?"

Zhou Li glanced at Zhao Fengdong, then looked away and said softly, "Things happened in my family, so I couldn't go to college... I'd like a boyfriend with more education than me. A college student would be fine."

Zhao Fengdong, who had only made it through middle school, tipped his head back and downed a glass of liquor.

One snowy evening, Zhou Li finally decided to quit.

She stood outside the door, hesitating for a long time, before finally going in.

Zhao Fengdong was looking down at the book in his hands, frowning deeply, his legs propped irreverently on a battered old desk.

Hearing footsteps, he didn't even look up. "I told you, I'm not playing mahjong."

His voice was laced with irritation and menace. "Get lost. Don't keep me from studying for the college entrance exam."

We fell in love in winter and kissed passionately in the cold wind.

Rugged, rough-edged bar owner x gentle, down-on-her-luck rich beauty

* Tired of writing elite men, I wanted to write an uneducated male lead. As the blurb suggests, both leads are ordinary people with flaws.

* Both leads are each other's first and only partners.

Theme: Hitting rock bottom isn't the end of life. No matter what circumstances you find yourself in, keep striving to live.