While He Can Still Hear

[This novel is on hiatus. I will rewrite it from scratch. The plot will stay the same, but the male lead's characterization will change.]

[Happy ending / male lead has loved her secretly for twelve years / older sister and puppy-like younger man romance / reborn ensemble cast]

"You'll never know how much Luo Qianheng loves you unless you see him for yourself in the past timeline."

Blurb: (school life - city life - all-girls' school becomes a boys' school)

In her previous life, Ruan Yu was dealt one devastating blow after another: her boyfriend betrayed her, her career hit a wall, and she was buried in debt. Exhausted in body and mind, she returned to her hometown, but the label of failure followed her everywhere, along with endless gossip.

Only Luo Qianheng stayed by her side. He never left.

As children, Ruan Yu led Luo Qianheng running through the streets and alleys of their little city. They would eat candy and grin foolishly together. Those were warm childhood memories that belonged only to the two of them.

Luo Qianheng was bright and clever from a young age, with excellent grades. But this wonderful younger brother had the misfortune to be seriously injured in an accident. When he woke up, he was deaf and mute.

In Ruan Yu's life, Luo Qianheng, who could neither speak nor hear, was the deepest and most helpless source of grief in her heart.

In and around the house, Ruan Yu once thought they were no different from real siblings.

Until one day, she saw his eight-pack abs, visible beneath his swim trunks.

She woke from a midnight dream, breathing heavily, and stared at the moonlight on the ceiling as realization dawned.

Things like that in a dream... weren't something siblings could do.

And it wasn't that Qianheng didn't want to. He just didn't dare.

That day, after running away from a matchmaking dinner, Luo Qianheng led her by the hand down two streets. He couldn't speak, but she saw his lips move slightly. The shape of his mouth clearly said, "Hold on tight. Don't let go..."

Reborn, Ruan Yu makes a decisive choice just before graduation: she returns to her hometown to start a business and rides the wave of the times, making a roaring success of her online media work.

At this point, Luo Qianheng is still a healthy young man, unharmed.

That rainy night, Ruan Yu runs through the crowd in tears and throws her arms around Luo Qianheng, silently swearing: This time, I'll protect you!

After that, she tells everyone she likes Luo Qianheng, while he can still hear her and while time is still awake.

-

On the day the college entrance exams end, she says at the dinner table, "The exams are over. Our Qianheng will be a college student soon, so he can start dating."

He says nothing.

That night, deep in an alley, Luo Qianheng presses her against the wall. His hand touches the smooth skin at the slit of the skirt he had watched her wear at dinner.

She pushes him. "What are you doing?"

"Didn't you say just now that we could date after the exams?"

Ruan Yu holds down his wandering hand. "Who dates... with their hands?"

"Then tell me how." He lowers his eyes, his gaze suddenly turning predatory. Gripping her neck, he kisses her. "With our mouths?"

Reader's guide:

★ The rebirth comes first; the story of the previous life is revealed later. The man secretly loves the woman, while the woman openly loves the man. Before rebirth, the male lead had no sexual experience and the female lead did; after rebirth, both are inexperienced. Older woman-younger man romance / ensemble cast / three romantic storylines for the heroine, with multiple men competing for her.

★ Before the heroine was reborn, she was the chief operating officer of a well-known domestic MCN agency, then started her own business. After being reborn, she becomes a self-media entrepreneur. Before the heroine was reborn, the male lead was a graduating master's student with 17 university patents who bravely went to work in a factory. After her rebirth, the male lead is a high school student, but he is already eighteen, so he's free to date after the college entrance exams.

★ The title "While He Can Still Hear" was written on July 14, 2023, and the blurb was revised on October 4, 2023. Screenshots have been saved. Plagiarism will be pursued.

Blurb for "Berlin Girl":

Staying with relatives / five-year age gap / both leads are inexperienced / second-chance romance after a breakup

The first half takes place at school, the second in the city.

1.

When Su Jingyi was sixteen, a car accident took both her parents.

As her father lay dying, he entrusted her to his wife, Fang Yumei. Only then did she learn that her existence, and her mother's, had always been kept in the dark.

Fang Yumei's nephew came from their hometown to attend university in Shanghai and stayed at his aunt's house.

Su Jingyi followed Fang Chengyi in calling Fang Yumei Aunt.

She thought life from then on would be bitter as poison, but Fang Chengyi gave her sweetness.

The girl was timid, but she held a grand secret in her heart.

That night, Fang Yumei's flight for a business trip was canceled, and she had to leave the next day instead. When she returned home, she saw that Jingyi's room on the second floor was pitch black.

Jingyi never went out at night. Studying in her room until the early hours was her usual routine.

Fang Yumei knocked on Fang Chengyi's door and asked where Jingyi was.

For a long while, no one answered.

At last Jingyi replied, trembling, "Auntie, Brother... is helping me with my homework."

Later, as they made love in the cluttered storage room in a corner of the hallway where no one would notice, Fang Chengyi covered her body in homework.

Fang Yumei's footsteps came and went outside the door. Fang Chengyi covered Jingyi's mouth and murmured gently, "You can keep your voice down, but from now on, don't hide the fact that you love me."

2.

In his third year as a professional motorcycle racer, Fang Chengyi signs with a top German team and heads to Berlin.

The team's only Chinese racer, he wins the rookie championship at his very first competition, making an impressive showing.

Foreign media describe him as: "A Chinese daredevil racer invades Germany and claims the crown."

Fans keep cheering after the race, while countless reporters wait outside for interviews.

One racer after another comes out of the changing room, but the sport's rising star is nowhere to be seen.

Su Jingyi pulls herself out of Fang Chengyi's arms and checks her smeared lipstick in the mirror, adjusting the clothes on her shoulders.

The man pins her chin with an expressionless face. "You hid from me for years, but I still found you. Su Jingyi, that's the best you can do."

Much later, Fang Chengyi appears before the media with his arm around Su Jingyi's shoulders and smiles. "It's not that I don't care about my life. I'm afraid that if I don't reach high enough, she won't see me."

"Su Jingyi, people who aren't willing to risk everything will never win. That's true of racing, and it's true of loving you."

Theme: Love faces every obstacle and overcomes them all.