Name: The Moon Never Lies
Author: Cen Jiang

Synopsis

[I've decided to end the novel here. I'm not in a good state and can't keep writing, and I don't want to keep stringing you all along. Sorry.]

Girl secretly in love / playboy turns over a new leaf / bad-boy heartthrob x clear-headed girl

-

Back in school, nobody would ever have guessed that Bian Che and Gu Sinong would get involved with each other.

After all, Bian Che was unquestionably the golden boy: arrogant and carefree, with one girl after another by his side. Gu Sinong came from a poor family, wore bargain-basement clothes, and buried herself in her studies. She was practically invisible.

So invisible that nobody noticed her feelings for him growing like weeds.

At a class gathering, everyone played Truth or Dare. Gu Sinong lost, and the others shoved her in front of Bian Che to confess her feelings.

Bian Che leaned back on the sofa, propping his face on one arm as he watched her embarrassment with cool indifference. But when the party was over, he pulled her into a little alley, his lips brushing her ear as he drawled flirtatiously, "Good girl, dare to give me a try?"

She knew she shouldn't hope a playboy would settle down, but Gu Sinong still nodded.

They began with a bang and ended in a mess.

-

Years later, when they met again, Bian Che was still as unruly and carefree as ever, even more so than in school. He openly flirted with a female colleague in the break room.

Gu Sinong walked in on them, smiled in acceptance, and even closed the door for them.

She never expected this kind gesture to make Bian Che start closing in on her, step by step.

At a team dinner, he cornered her against the wall, his warm breath brushing her face as he murmured, "Sinong, take me in hand again."

Gu Sinong replied, "We broke up ages ago."

"Do you know," Bian Che said, the arrogance and recklessness fading from his eyes, "that for 1,278 days, I've thought about you every single day?"

One-on-one, both with no prior partners. First a university campus romance, then an urban romance.

"Coming soon: Little Sweet Peach"

Golden boy x prickly girl / secret crush comes true

-

After the math teacher got married, the kids in Class 2, Grade 3 started worrying about Chinese teacher Xia Tao's love life and introducing her to eligible men.

Ding Yiyi said, "Teacher Xiaotao, my uncle is still single."

Xia Tao turned him down at once. "Teachers aren't allowed to date their students' parents."

Many days later, at the parent-teacher meeting, Xia Tao ran into her high school crush in her classroom.

Song Weizhi stood by the window in a black suit, his expression distant. He didn't sit down.

They hadn't seen each other in years. Xia Tao couldn't imagine that a golden boy like him had married so young. Fighting back her heartache, she walked over and greeted him politely. "Sir, please take a seat once you find one."

Song Weizhi looked at her coolly. "I'm not a parent."

Xia Tao: "?"

"I heard you don't date parents," Song Weizhi said, spreading his hands with a shameless air. "So Ding Yiyi has disowned me as his uncle."

Xia Tao: "..."

-

Ding Yiyi couldn't accept or understand Teacher Xiaotao rejecting his uncle, and he fell seriously ill.

For the sake of the nation's future flowers, Xia Tao and Song Weizhi decided to pretend to date until Ding Yiyi reached fourth grade, then break up.

Everything went very smoothly. On the day of Ding Yiyi's final exams, Xia Tao decided to delete all of Song Weizhi's contact information immediately and call off the act.

But before she could hit delete, the man himself appeared at her door.

His figure was hidden in the darkness, and only his voice reached her, hoarse as if he were drunk. "Xia Tao, are you going to delete me a second time?"

Xia Tao's mind blanked for a moment. "Then how about you delete me this time?"

"No." He pressed one large hand against the doorframe and leaned toward her, his tone a little aggrieved. "I just want to hold you."

"Coming soon: Stop Kissing Me"

-

Everyone knew that star athlete Jiang Ye was handsome and refined, with a rebellious air. He excelled on the court, came from an enviable family, and was born to be loved by women.

The only catch was that not even his fans could dig up a single scrap of gossip about him throughout his career.

Halfway through the regular season, sharp-eyed fans noticed that he'd gotten a little girl tattooed on his forearm. In a post-game interview, a reporter asked nosily, "Are you dating someone lately?"

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow, scanned the court, then grabbed the little team doctor who had wandered into frame and said something completely off the wall. "Yeah, her. We're betrothed."

The little team doctor was flustered. "???"

Reporter: "..."

If you're going to brush us off, don't use a young girl as a shield. That's despicable!

-

Just as everyone thought Jiang Ye would stay single until retirement, a gossip account released a video...

On an empty road at night, Jiang Ye had the little team doctor nestled in his arms, bending down to cover her lips with his.

The little team doctor's cheeks were flushed as she kept trying to back away. "We agreed on one kiss a day!"

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow, utterly unconcerned. His big hand gripped her waist and he kissed her again. "I don't keep promises."

His fans exploded: Have you forgotten your little betrothed? You scumbag! Hmph!

The internet was full of people condemning him.

That night, the little team doctor came out to set the record straight herself: [Um, I'm the girl he was betrothed to.]

Jiang Ye reposted it: [The girl I cherish and protect.]