Drowning in the Blue

[The novel is complete. A simplified Chinese edition has been signed, with updates available on Weibo @Yi Zhi Ling Ge Jiu] [Next up: A Letter in the Winter Night. Visit the author's page to pre-save it.] First-rate manners, second-rate looks, third-rate background. The year Zhuo Qing married Ji Siyu, rumors spread across Shanghai. The news left countless people dumbfounded and inspired many girls dreaming of turning from sparrows into phoenixes to eagerly take their shot. When her name had become so widely known, she left without a backward glance, carrying nothing but an 18-inch suitcase and walking away with carefree ease over the shattered dreams of countless young women. Ji Siyu watched from a distance as she left in the rain. After a long while, the umbrella clutched tightly in his hand suddenly crashed to the ground, its ribs shattered. * Seven years later, it was the same rain and the same two people. She was still composed and unruffled, concealing the whereabouts of the young son at home without leaving a single trace. The Ji family's one and only heir, raised to be a perfect gentleman, looked as if he'd been soaked through. His bangs hung limp, raindrops ran down from their tips, and his white shirt was streaked with wet patches. He was utterly bedraggled. He said, "I never looked for you." She said, "I know." An aloof, noble, cold-blooded wolf with a long tail X an ordinary, kindhearted girl with a taste for luxury A melodramatic love story about a little Cinderella and a dark knight. -Lonely star, cold moon. She simply loved the world one night longer for him.- The 1v1 pairing stays the same. Weibo @Yi Zhi Ling Ge Jiu * Please pre-save A Letter in the Winter Night~=W=, here's the synopsis: When graduation season comes around, autograph books are always bestsellers. So, the year he graduated from high school, Xie Linyi bought one at the urging of his underlings and casually handed it out for people to fill in. After lunch, he quickly got back a stack of books full of messages. Among all the love notes penned by smitten girls, though, one stood out for its utter lack of tact. In the message section, it read: "Xie Lin, I wish you academic success and a bright future." The wording was so earnest it was almost laughable. He immediately pulled that autograph book out of the pile, crumpled it up, and threw it into the trash. The student on duty responsible for taking out the trash was Chi Xue. That day, she cleaned the garbage up especially thoroughly. * Heaven heard his wish. He lived up to everyone's expectations, and his future truly wasn't bright. Instead, he stumbled into a quagmire. After twenty years of a life that proved to be an empty dream, he resigned from the police force and moved into a rundown public housing block. One night, an old injury flared up, forcing him to brave the heavy snow and seek help at the shabby little clinic across the street. The desk lamp inside flickered on and off. The doctor filling out a medical record looked up, her face plain and delicate. He felt as if he'd seen her somewhere before. "Name?" she asked. "...Xie Lin." The room soon fell silent, with only the scratch of a pen against paper breaking the quiet. Suddenly, he said, "You actually knew which Xie it was." Her hand paused. She suddenly stared at him in a daze. But Xie Lin's expression remained impassive, his brow slightly furrowed. Ten years had passed, and she still felt small under his gaze. * "His eyes suddenly fell on the blue vase on the desk in front of him. It was empty. For the first time in all these years, the vase was empty on his birthday. There were no flowers in it. He shuddered: it was as if an invisible door had suddenly opened, and a cold draft from another world had blown into his silent room. He felt death. He felt immortal love." Stefan Zweig, Letter from an Unknown Woman Theme: Love makes us better people.