The Equator Kisses the Arctic

[The story may be revised from time to time, with bonus chapters added. Thank you for respecting the author’s copyright and refusing to read pirated copies.] Deep in the rainforest, the relentless rainy season brought filming to a standstill. Song Yu, brimming with irritation, walked to the riverbank and openly stared at the handsome man in the water. She raised an eyebrow and gave a flirtatious whistle, mimicking the local tribe’s courtship call. The man narrowed his eyes, grabbed her ankle with one large hand, and pulled her into the water. In a place stripped of civilization, only the most primal desires remained. When filming wrapped, Song Yu put her reckless fling with the local man behind her and returned to the civilized city. - A year later, Song Yu joined an expedition team heading to the Arctic to scout locations. The team leader, Pei Zhi, was a professor of anthropology who specialized in studying endangered cultures by immersing himself in their communities. He was aloof and cold by nature, and particularly disliked Song Yu, the team’s director. After making landfall on the glacier, Song Yu was so exhausted she sat on the ground, unable to go on. “Any trash generated while crossing onto the glacier must be taken away,” Pei Zhi said expressionlessly. Song Yu caught the jab and chuckled. “Then what kind of trash am I? Captain Pei, why don’t you sort me out?” Pei Zhi’s eyes were dark. He thought of how unruly the woman had been deep in the rainforest, just as she was now. His voice was icy. “The kind that seduces someone, then abandons him.” - A blizzard caught the expedition team off guard, and Pei Zhi returned exhausted. Song Yu gently touched the wound on his brow. “Does it hurt?” Her fingertips were warm and soft, sending a tingling sensation through him. Pei Zhi’s breath caught, and his eyes darkened. When the polar night arrived, it was impossible to tell day from night. The air in the cramped cabin was damp and stifling. Song Yu learned what it meant to hurt, just like on that turbulent night in the rainforest. And Pei Zhi thought that if he had any backbone at all, he wouldn’t have fallen for the same woman twice. *A bewitchingly beautiful director x a cool, refined anthropologist* New novel: *You and the Sea, Everlasting* Su Yunxie is the youngest principal performer at her theater. Naturally cool and aloof, she has a graceful figure and a body as supple and sinuous as a snake, unwittingly inspiring men to all sorts of fantasies. Sadly, this beauty is indifferent to love, with eyes only for the art of theater. Su Yunxie struggled to act naturally with male actors, so her teacher suggested that a little romantic experience might help her become a better performer. She picked a handsome man. She drew him in with ease, then walked away, never realizing that the man she had provoked was the real hunter. After a flawless performance, Su Yunxie and her male costar moved the audience, seeming like the most deeply in-love couple in the world. But no one knew that after the curtain call, the man had trapped Su Yunxie in a shadowy corner, kissing her passionately until she could barely breathe, leaving his mark on her inch by inch. Shang Ji leaned close to her ear, his breath scorching. “What were you thinking when you kissed him? You used the tricks I taught you on someone else?” Su Yunxie’s lips were flushed. The black velvet curtain could not conceal the glimpse of her fair skin, and the beads of sweat on her neck were about to fall. She was thinking If she could do it all over again, she would never have provoked Shang Ji. *A theater artist devoted to her career x a navigator who fights tooth and nail to claim his place* Theme: Living in harmony with nature.