Orange Blossoms

The print edition is now available. @Xiao Qiexi Lu Jiayu first saw You Jinwei beneath a covered corridor. Under the pale walls and dark roof tiles, the woman's slender neck was bowed, her black hair loose, her skin fair as snow. She was like a rain of green plums. He watched with interest and said to his friend, "I want her." The Lu family was a century-old clan, renowned for its refined reputation across generations. Only in this generation did they produce Lu Jiayu, a good-for-nothing wastrel, domineering and tyrannical. Whatever caught his eye became his possession. - Sure enough, within a month, You Jinwei was his. Everyone placed bets on how long Lu Jiayu's interest would last: ten days, a month, three months. At the end of the betting, Lu Jiayu casually tossed down a watch and said with a teasing smile, "Half a year." When the six months were up, You Jinwei reminded him, "Lu Jiayu, it's time for you to move out." On the first day, he furrowed his brow. "My leg hurts." On the second day, he clutched his chest. "I feel tightness in my chest." On the third day, he... was bundled up and thrown out of the courtyard. Lu Jiayu squatted at the courtyard gate with a sign hanging around his neck: Lu Jiayu has wandered away from his owner's home. If you see me, please tell that heartless woman you saw me. Everyone watched for a laugh. Lu Jiayu had been dumped by a woman! -Upcoming- ○ Soft Moonlight Cheng Xueyi was twenty when she married Yu Zui. She had been caught after running away from her wedding and brought back to apologize. She insisted that she loved someone else and would marry no one but him. The person she had so adamantly declared her love for was Yu Zui, who had been visiting the Cheng family that day. Yu Zui took charge of the Yu family at eighteen. Twelve years later, he had everything in his hands. Yet he was scrupulously proper and never kept company with women. How could someone like him take a little girl's nonsense to heart? Cheng Xueyi was certain Yu Zui would never marry her. But that day, amid the silence of the entire room, Yu Zui set down his teacup. His eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses were clear as water, and he asked with a gentle smile, "What did Yiyi just say?" Cheng Xueyi steeled herself and replied, "...That I'll marry no one but you." Yu Zui thought for two seconds, then answered gently, "Every little girl's wish should come true." When she was thirty, forty, and finally gray-haired, every one of Cheng Xueyi's wishes came true. Theme: Life needs a spark of fireworks.