You and I Are Different

Happy ending. Upcoming book: "Good Girl [Beijing Circle]". A similar Republican-era novel: "Dark Chrysalis"

*

Du Yaoyue is a traditional woman in a small Republican-era town who strictly follows the virtues expected of women. Her only wish is to marry a good husband.

But on the second day after their wedding, her new husband runs away.

Overnight, she becomes the laughingstock of Faling.

Du Yaoyue thinks she hates Zhou Yunwen. She can't help hating him, and there's no way to stop.

But the Three Obediences and Four Virtues she'd believed in for years never taught her how to hate someone.

So she has no choice but to throw all that useless trash into the fire, grit her teeth, and break herself apart, then rebuild herself. She learns to read and write... At last, Yaoyue levels up through one challenge after another and rises to a height few can reach.

The renowned female geologist Du Yaoyue comes to a realization:

Compared with the joy and fulfillment of achieving her dreams, men have no chance at all.

Years later, an interview in her study is nearly over when the reporter asks one final question.

"Professor Du, I've heard you're still single. Do you have any firm requirements for a partner?"

Yaoyue glances back over the railing, seeming to consider the question. "...Someone young!"

"?"

Nearby, a man making tea tightens his grip, nearly crushing the teacup.

Then, deep in the night, her newly ordered qipao is ripped to her waist.

The hand Zhou Yunwen has pressed to her waist burns like a branding iron:

"...Does he really have to be young?"

His fingertips brush the faint redness on her neck. His eyes glimmer as he teases her with a half-smile:

"Professor Du, please be gentle with me."

*

As a young man of an aristocratic family in a powerful clan, Zhou Yunwen is born rebellious.

When he first learns of the country's domestic troubles and foreign threats, he passes the exams to study abroad on a government scholarship, determined to serve his country through Western learning.

But halfway through, he is dragged back home and forced into an arranged marriage.

Later, he devotes himself to education, trying to spread the word that this ancient country is not a sick man or a nation of weaklings.

But fate takes a cruel turn. He abandons his pen for the army, while the illiterate young wife he had feared and fled transforms into a leading geologist.

The tide of the times rolls on without end, leaving him no chance to catch his breath or clear his name.

Perhaps people are meant to have their dreams broken.

But at some point, he begins to treasure Du Yaoyue's dream even more than his own.

Even years later, though Zhou Yunwen has saved many lives with a smile, he is still content to stay by her side without a name or status, quietly protecting her dream.

After all, seeing her dream come true could perhaps count as one good deed of his own.

Zhou Yunwen loves Du Yaoyue. He can't help loving her, and there's no way to stop.

*

Upcoming book: "Good Girl [Beijing Circle]"

Self-disciplined zoologist x beautiful, strong, tragic big shot

*

No one who met Li Shoutan would believe she was a wildlife biologist.

After all, she has fair skin, a beautiful face, a slender waist, and long, seaweed-like hair down to her waist. She looks just like a mermaid stranded far from the sea.

Li Shoutan doesn't care what other people say. That is, until she meets Meng Yu, a big shot whose name is known throughout Beijing's elite circles. Only then does she realize how unpleasant it is to have someone watching her.

The man responsible for her predicament sits innocently in a courtyard house in the western part of the city, surrounded by ginkgo trees. Unhurriedly, he uses a warm towel handed to him by a servant to wipe each of his slender fingers.

When he lifts his chin, his scornful gaze falls with the sunlight, making Li Shoutan suddenly feel exposed.

"Forcing someone to be yours? That's so tacky, Miss Li. I never do things like that."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want you to be willing."

Before the words have even left his mouth, Meng Yu smiles. He looks just like an African lion that has driven its prey to the edge of a trap and is quietly waiting for it to walk in.

He's ready to feast.

*

Li Shoutan is a very good girl.

She was a good child when she was young, and grew up to be a good adult.

The only way she ever fought back against the world was to slap herself again and again while sobbing uncontrollably.

Until one day, she meets someone.

That person lifts her face and tells her:

"Shoutan, good girl, please let yourself be honest and unguarded."

Then Li Shoutan thinks that perhaps she should let herself feel a little better first.

*

"When the breeze stirs the petals on a branch, that trembling is how I felt when I met you."

Theme: True love never dies. There will always be a time to meet again.