Evening Breeze on the Peninsula

[The neighboring novel Winter Fireflies is now available. Please add it to your favorites~]

One night, a peal of thunder tore open the sky. Yan Ran stood in the hospital corridor as rain poured down outside.

When his calls went unanswered, he finally left a voice message. It felt as if a sharp blade had carved a long wound in his heart, blood trickling from it.

Once, he had been so proud he thought himself invincible. Now, his hoarse voice held an indescribable grief and tenderness.

"I'll work hard to give you the future you want."

"Your man isn't a complete failure... Don't leave, okay?"

*

The evening breeze on the peninsula the year she left had been warm and restless, carrying a fine drizzle and a lingering tenderness that drifted through her heart and haunted her dreams.

From then on, it became a longing that would stay with her for the rest of her life.

*

Years later, at their class reunion, the lights swayed and glasses clinked. Dong Yao had a few too many drinks.

When she woke the next morning, her patchy memories were filled with Yan Ran's tall, straight figure.

Summoning her courage, she sent him a WeChat message: [Did you take me home last night?]

Yan Ran: [Yeah.]

Dong Yao had just typed "Thanks" when, before she could send it, a string of voice messages came in from Yan Ran.

"What did you mean by clinging to me like crazy and refusing to let go last night?"

His voice was languid, with a hint of casual teasing. "Have you really been missing me so much all these years that you've gone crazy?"

Reader's guide:

1. The heroine's name is pronounced Dong Yao.

2. The first half takes place at school; the second half is set in the city.

3. Yan Ran is a sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, free-spirited young man who seems broke but is actually very rich. Dong Yao is a cool, aloof, aspiring young woman who never holds back when she speaks.

[See the neighboring novel, Winter Fireflies]

In a foreign land that year, Yu Jia wore a filthy, ragged dress and sat down in a garbage heap, her face covered in dust.

She survived by scavenging every day, living a life as insignificant as an ant. She was an orphan abandoned by the world, a rat everyone wanted to chase away.

The day she tried to jump into the sea, Yu Jia met a man.

He had an air of lazy indifference about him. With his hands in his pockets, he squinted at her as if he were humoring a child with a learning disability.

During their standoff, he spoke first. "What are you doing?"

"I don't want to live anymore."

"Oh." He looked like he was enjoying the show, and lazily pointed into the distance. "Then go farther away. Don't do it here. I don't want to look at something dirty. I just want to quietly enjoy the sea."

"Do you own this sea?"

"No. But you can't do it right under my nose."

Later, Yu Jia said to Jiang Zeyan, "Take me with you."

Later still, Nanchuan City was hit by the heaviest blizzard of the year. Jiang Zeyan sat before a floor-to-ceiling window mottled with shadows of snow, his elbow resting on his knee, when his phone chimed with a bank transfer notification.

A moment later, it chimed again. A text had arrived from an unknown number.

Just three words, but they ended things with the swift finality of a clean cut.

We're even.

Theme: You want to chase your dreams? I'll support you. If you get tired and want to come home, I'll take care of you.