Wind Eye Paradise

[This work has been published. For updates, see Weibo: @Dayu Literature]

When Qi Baihe was seventeen, her father led her into the Xin family villa. That was the first time she met Xin Qizhou.

The young man came down the stairs wearing a dark blue sweater. His deep-set eyes were framed by brows and a nose bridge like distant mountains. His features were refined, but his expression was utterly cold.

Because of something he said, Qi Baihe was able to move into the Xin home and begin her life under someone else's roof.

As a top student at Yuanjiang No. 2 High School, a favorite to become the province's highest-scoring student on the college entrance exam, Xin Qizhou had striking looks and a wealthy family. He was born to look down on the teeming masses.

At school, Qi Baihe and he never had any public connection. At home, their difference in status was always clear.

Things stayed that way for a long time, until one night she saw Xin Qizhou pin a young punk beneath his foot. A cocky, reckless smile played at the corner of his eye. The moon, so high above the world, seemed to turn into a ball of fire, burning all his refinement and otherworldly grace to ash.

The Xin family had a study filled with precious calligraphy and paintings. They guarded it against Qi Baihe as if she were a thief, explicitly forbidding her from entering.

Later, in that very room, Xin Qizhou held Qi Baihe close as they hid behind the door, their breaths mingling, not daring to make a sound.

When the people outside had left, he looked at her with clear eyes and a smile. "Looking at us now, what do you think we seem like?"

*Cool, aloof black-bellied guy x adorable beauty

*Mutual pining, rekindled romance, from campus to city life

*No romance or intimate scenes before adulthood

-

My next book is Clearly, I Like You. Visit my author page to pre-order it.

1.

Zhou Ken first met Li Ni during military training. The summer heat still lingered in early September. Wearing camouflage uniforms, he and a friend hid in the shade beneath a tree to smoke.

Li Ni came over with iced cola and popsicles to find someone. She made such a grand entrance that a crowd turned to look.

Zhou Ken noticed her too. The guy she was trying to impress happened to be his roommate. He was so annoyed with her that he threw all the things away, preferring to get a drink of tap water himself.

His friend sighed. "Why do beautiful girls always meet the wrong people?"

Zhou Ken glanced over again. Li Ni was crouched on the ground, picking up a popsicle that had been stepped on and smashed. Even bent as she was, her long legs were slender. A mandala flower tattoo on her fair ankle was glaringly red beneath the blazing sun.

2.

At Ling University, Zhou Ken was an undeniable campus celebrity. He came from a wealthy family, was handsome, and lived as he pleased. He changed girlfriends one after another, and no one had ever heard of him truly falling for anyone.

Li Ni first saw him during military training. The second time was downstairs from the boys' dormitory.

She watched with her own eyes as the carefully simmered pork rib soup was poured down the drain. Before she could even get angry, Zhou Ken appeared from nowhere and took her by the wrist. His voice was casual. "Don't go out with him anymore."

Through the wisps of rising smoke, Li Ni couldn't make out his expression. She furrowed her brows without a word.

"Can't stand the smell of smoke?" Zhou Ken took the cigarette away and casually stubbed it out on the nearby trash can. "Be with me. I can quit."

3.

No one at school believed the two of them would last. On the forum, people speculated about when Young Master Zhou would get bored and turn the beauty of the art department into yet another ex-girlfriend.

Li Ni came across the post just after the two of them had finished fooling around.

Zhou Ken had quit smoking. Now, in the afterglow, he felt empty and restless.

She kicked him and teased, "When are you planning to dump me?"

Zhou Ken took hold of her foot, his eyes dark and his voice hoarse from exertion. "Between cigarettes and you, I should at least hold on to one of them."

Theme: Believe in dreams, believe in love.