And Then I Fell for You

[Original title: Heartbeats After the Deed] [Follow publication updates on Weibo: @Li Wu] [Sweet, charming girl x gentlemanly wolf in sheep's clothing, ten-year age gap, neither has a former lover] Jiang Jiami once won the heart of her ideal man: a handsome gentleman with a fantastic physique. They parted on good terms, and she thought they'd never see each other again. But one day, when she went downstairs to meet one of her father's friends, the man in the living room looked strangely familiar. In private, he was anything but a gentleman. In public, he wore the polished air of a perfect gentleman. "Jiami, this is a friend of your father's," her father said with a smile. "He's also the investor behind your school's scholarship program." "Zhou Xushen." The man held out his hand and smiled, his gaze filled with meaning. "Hello, Jiami." She took his hand with a stiff smile, her mind turning to fantasies as his warmth seeped into her palm. Jiang Jiami thought things with Zhou Xushen should have ended that night, when they were still strangers. But he seduced her until she lost her head, and she kept secretly falling into his arms without her father's knowledge. At a lecture, Zhou Xushen was one of the guest speakers. During the break, a crowd of students gathered around him. Jiang Jiami's friends pulled her over. The man turned as if by chance, and his smiling gaze found her at once through the crowd. In public, he was impeccably dressed. In private, he led her backstage, where no one else was around, and kissed her against the door, its thin panels unable to keep out the roar of the cheering crowd. One day, Jiang's father remarked, "It seems Xushen has a woman in his life. That's rare. I should meet this sister-in-law of mine sometime." "Sister-in-law?!" Jiang Jiami forced a laugh. "Dad, isn't that a little inappropriate...?" "Xushen and I are friends despite our age difference. What's wrong with calling her my sister-in-law?" But when he turned around, Zhou Xushen looked perfectly composed and smiled. "Dad." Jiang's father: "…" Jiang's father: "????????" I thought of you as my little brother, and you want to become my son-in-law?! [Note: Both leads are adults. They grew up in different environments and have different values, but everything they do is consensual. They will use protection! There will be no accidental pregnancy!] *Blurb written on October 16, 2020.* 1. Age-gap romance with feelings sparked on set, upcoming novel: "The Desire to Act [Entertainment Industry]" [1] Du Songni is a woman of captivating beauty. Her first time playing a movie lead is opposite the acclaimed actor Yu Erzhi, who is twelve years older than her. Onscreen, she seduces a reserved piano teacher and leads him step by step into the abyss, only to be killed by the man when he goes completely mad. Offscreen, she gets so flustered and clumsy during an intimate scene that the director berates her until she cries. "Come sit here." During their rehearsal, Yu Erzhi smiles gently and rests a long, clean hand on his thigh, gesturing for her to sit. Patiently, he tells her, "Touch my eyelashes and it'll tickle. Touch my chin and I'll want to kiss you. Touch my wrist and I won't be able to stop myself from grabbing you." Like a good teacher, he shows her step by step how to seduce him. He even tells her that his most sensitive spot is his lower back. So, during a kissing scene, she slips her hand beneath his coat, with only his shirt between her palm and his skin. For the first time, Yu Erzhi loses his composure. He tries to get up, but Du Songni catches him by the wrist. Smiling brightly, she says in an innocent tone, "Teacher, come catch me." The passion in his performance is hard to distinguish from the real thing. On set, he looks at her as if deeply in love, but once filming wraps, he withdraws cleanly and decisively, as cool as if he'd never been immersed in the role. [2] People say Teacher Yu is quick to get out of character. Du Songni is young and sincere in her reactions, so she may have fallen too deeply into her role and could end up suffering for it. But no one knows that Yu Erzhi's greatest regret, and greatest relief, is that during that scene, which was both real and make-believe, he told her every one of his weaknesses. Late at night, he watches the film over and over, unable to escape the character's bizarre emotions. Meanwhile, she smiles sweetly at another actor, just as she once smiled at him. "Songni's being naughty again." He props up his chin and smiles faintly, his expression almost sick with obsession. He murmurs to himself, "Come back to your teacher." Restraint and abandon, darkness and innocence. The first person to mistake acting for real life is the one who loses. 2. Age-gap marriage-first, love-later romance, upcoming novel: "The Crime of Being Unromantic" A year into her marriage, Wen Baizhi faces a marital crisis, beset by troubles at home and outside. At home, her husband, twelve years older, has no idea how to be romantic. Outside, a younger guy keeps flirting with her, adding her on WeChat and pulling out all the stops to woo her. By comparison, her husband, Mo Tinghuai, seems even more quiet and reserved, gentlemanly and proper. She leaves a light on while she waits for him to come home from business dinners, but he politely tells her there's no need to wait. She prepares a birthday surprise for him, only to get a fond, indulgent look, as if he's watching a child play. Worst of all, he's so disciplined and gentlemanly that he even schedules their sex life and sticks to the plan. "Is he..." Her friend hesitates. "Since it's only a marriage of convenience, why not see other people?" Wen Baizhi turns down the suggestion. That very night, she lies that her period came early, then finds another excuse to move out of the master bedroom. Mo Tinghuai accepts sleeping in separate rooms, but his behavior grows more and more mysterious. He keeps checking messages on his phone, and Wen Baizhi suspects he's cheating. She thinks their marriage has finally reached its end. Then one day, the younger guy texts her, "I'm not coming home for dinner tonight," and immediately unsends it. It looks exactly like a message sent from the wrong account to the wrong person. Thinking back on her suspicions, Wen Baizhi opens Mo Tinghuai's phone and finds a WeChat account with the younger guy's profile picture and only one contact: her. Overnight, the younger guy turns into an older guy, and Wen Baizhi is dumbfounded. Mo Tinghuai knows perfectly well that Wen Baizhi liked his gentlemanly, restrained side when they first met. After they married, he carefully maintained that image, but the two of them gradually drifted apart. So he invents a new identity to get close to her and understand her, hoping to win back his young wife. Instead, he accidentally makes her think he's a homewrecker. He enjoys getting to know the side of her that no one else sees, but he can't help feeling jealous. He's only relieved that she keeps turning the homewrecker down and doesn't fall for him. Until one day, using his other account, he messages her: You don't seem to love your husband. Have you considered leaving him? This time, she replies: I'm thinking about it. Once I'm divorced, would you consider dating me? With a crash, the cup in his hand hits the floor and shatters. // ·A sweet story about a man who makes himself jealous, then learns how to love. ·No cheating, no groveling-for-forgiveness arc. · The title is taken from the song