An Unbearable Heartbeat

Jiang Banxia fell in love at first sight with a cheerful, curly-haired guy at work. It was only thanks to his good friend Pei Yan setting them up that she managed to add him on WeChat.

But her good luck didn't last. Jiang Banxia soon discovered two things:

First, the curly-haired guy on WeChat was as cold as ice and nearly impossible to flirt with.

Second, for some inexplicable reason, Pei Yan had become the biggest obstacle in her pursuit of the curly-haired guy.

She invited the guy to a movie, and Pei Yan announced a team-building event.

She pretended to have period cramps, and Pei Yan handed her a heat pack.

She even tried to get the curly-haired guy to go out for a meal, but before she could see him, she somehow ended up sitting in a newly opened underwater restaurant with Pei Yan.

Deep blue water rippled quietly around them as colorful fish swam by.

Jiang Banxia was completely confused. "Where's the curly-haired guy?"

Pei Yan: "Taking care of his gravely ill great-uncle."

Jiang Banxia: "???"

-

Later, after Jiang Banxia and Pei Yan got together.

At a group dinner with colleagues, everyone split the bill. Jiang Banxia joined the group chat to pay and noticed the curly-haired guy had a strange profile picture. She asked casually, "Did you change your WeChat account?"

The curly-haired guy looked confused. "No? I've always used this one."

Jiang Banxia: "?"

"So who was that block of wood I tried to flirt with for months without getting anywhere?" "I'm going to video-call you on WeChat. Do you dare answer?" "What is Teacher Pei plotting now?" "Great-uncle has been lying in the ICU for two months." "Hope he's okay.jpg"

-----Coming soon: "I Love You, Even If I'm Biased". A secret crush comes true. Please add it to your reading list!-----

Shen Beitan was born a favorite of the heavens and never lacked admirers, yet no one could ever figure him out.

A friend joked with Yu Chao, "Good thing our A Chao is rational and independent. She won't fall for him easily."

Yu Chao nodded, discreetly touching the pearl earring in her right ear.

It was proof that she had secretly loved Shen Beitan for thirteen years.

Everyone who knew Yu Chao thought she was quiet and aloof, like a cold spotlight in a secluded corner of a theater.

Nobody knew.

She was the one who punctured Shen Beitan's tires so he would stay in Beishi one more night.

She was the one who changed the phone number on Shen Beitan's business card so other women couldn't contact him.

She was the one who took cold showers until she got a high fever, then found excuses to brush against Shen Beitan while handing him things.

Later, when the truth came out, Yu Chao forced herself to remain calm under Shen Beitan's inscrutable gaze.

The man asked with a faint, amused smile, "When you did all that, didn't you think about the consequences?"

After hearing that, she simply looked at him quietly.

"Are you going to punish me?"

Shen Beitan was silent for a long moment, then chuckled softly.

Everyone thought Shen Beitan was born to be loved, and would never fall for anyone in his life. Until one day...

Yu Chao had been away on a business trip for several days without coming home. Her friend watched as Shen Beitan called her over a hundred times.

He complained in an offhand tone, "You got what you wanted, and now you're neglecting her. A Chao, that's not fair."

Cool and obsessive x beloved of the heavens

A secret crush comes true

-----A recommendation for my friend Xu Zhi's novel, "Whispers in the Moonlight," currently updating! It's especially good! Go read it!-----

"Whispers in the Moonlight" by Xu Zhi

"Ill-tempered, world-weary girl vs. sickly, volatile scoundrel"

Ni Nan had a gambling, alcoholic father. To pay off his debts and afford her expensive art tuition, she unexpectedly became the live-in assistant to the crippled, disowned son of the Shi family.

They ate and lived together, spending every day in each other's company. Everyone said the new girl would be thrown out by Shi Qing within a month, just like all the assistants before her.

But Ni Nan stayed in that villa month after month, year after year.

Shi Qing, crippled in both legs, was despondent and depressed, with a violent temper.

One night, he smashed a vase in a fit of rage. No one dared approach him, but Ni Nan picked up the shards from the floor and walked toward him. She stood before his wheelchair, her gaze hollow and lifeless. Even when the glass cut into her palm, she didn't seem to notice.

Then, in the midst of his miserable life as a cripple, he heard that his white moonlight was engaged to someone else.

Everyone thought Shi Qing was destined for a life of sorrow.

But to everyone's shock, after years of silence, the Shi family changed hands.

Even that "white moonlight" returned to Shi Qing's side, a perfect match for him.

And the despondent girl disappeared from the villa for good.

When they met again, Shi Qing's legs had been healed, and he had become a business magnate watched by the entire industry.

Seeing the girl who made her living drawing portraits on the street, Shi Qing nearly trembled as he asked in a cold voice, "Ni Nan, did you leave me back then just to end up living like this?"

The young woman looked even colder than before. She didn't even look at Shi Qing as she said, "Get lost. I like it this way."

Only Ni Nan knew that when she left alone all those years ago, she hadn't left empty-handed. She'd taken a painting with her.

It showed a man sitting in a wheelchair.

When Shi Qing saw the painting, his heart ached with suffocating pain. He struggled to restrain his violent temper and said hoarsely, "Nan Nan, will you come back?"

"If you want, I can spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair."

No one knew how hard Shi Qing had fought to get out of that wheelchair.

But now, for Ni Nan, he was willing to return to the way things had been.

Years of melancholy cannot compare to having you whisper in my ear.

Reader's guide:

1. Heterosexual romance, both leads have only ever been with each other, one-on-one, happy ending.

2. They save each other; a gradual healing process. The white moonlight is a fake-out, and the leads dote on each other later on. A sweet romance with an old-school feel.

3. The female lead is an adult when she and the male lead live together; there is an eight-year age gap.

Theme: Be brave in pursuing love and dreams.