Please Don't Send Me Flowers

[Next up: Don't Cry, now serializing!]

As a phenomenon-level online celebrity renowned in mainstream media, Jiang Miao has drawn controversy for her "beauty" and "attention-seeking."

She has a sweet, girlish face but a cold, aloof personality. As an outdoor adventure blogger, she has tens of millions of followers.

"She could be a beauty streamer, but instead she climbs mountains with a cold expression!"

"The places Xiao Jiang goes are getting more and more remote. I worry about her every time she stops updating..."

"She's just attention-seeking. Is there something wrong with her for going to dangerous places looking for death? Something's bound to happen sooner or later."

Whenever Dai Yingshi is interviewed on camera, he smiles and says he respects his wife's personal interests.

They have been married for three years and treat each other with courtesy. This world-renowned, award-winning music producer has never cared about how the public judges him, but he fiercely stands up for his wife and cannot bear to hear anyone say a bad word about her.

He fell in love with Jiang Miao at first sight and pursued her relentlessly until she finally accepted him. After their marriage, he cherished her all the more. He knew that her supposed coldness and aloofness were merely a shell protecting her heart.

Unfortunately, his love came too late to erase the darkness that colored her life. Before meeting the person she loved, she had already endured far too much pain, and it kept eating away at her will to live.

Until she fell off a cliff in a mountaineering accident.

After being reborn by an unexpected twist of fate, Dai Yingshi returned to the year his wife was seventeen.

There was still time.

This time, he would protect her completely before any of the suffering could begin.

*

Jiang Miao had a troubled background. When she was in high school, her stepfather ran up enormous gambling debts, and the creditors came after him.

She and her frail mother lived in constant fear and poverty. Just as they were on the brink of losing everything, she suddenly received word that a philanthropist was willing to pay off her family's debts and fund her education through college.

She heard that the kind benefactor was coming to her school to discuss the donation, so Jiang Miao decided to sneak a peek. On the way, she ran into Dai Yingshi, who was nervously trying to keep his cool.

He was about to see the girl he loved as a teenager, and his feelings were complicated and unsettled.

According to Jiang Miao, she had been a rebellious loner in high school. He was probably in for a tough one.

"Sir, could you please not smoke in the classroom?"

A girl suddenly appeared outside the window and interrupted his thoughts. In a gentle voice, she said, "Otherwise, I'll have to call security to come get you."

Dai Yingshi: "..."

What a soft tough nut.

*

Tough on the outside, soft on the inside, with a molten chocolate heart x obsessive, love-addled man

The male lead is reborn. The main story is still told from the female lead's perspective.

Ten-year age gap.

*

Next up: the upcoming novel Don't Cry

When Ji Wei was seven, she moved in with her mother to Uncle Cheng's house and gained an older brother.

On the first day after moving in, a new friend warned her: Your brother is the scariest. Everyone here knows it.

He's definitely going to pull your braids every day, steal your pocket money, and yell at you whenever he's in a bad mood.

Living under the same roof, Ji Wei was nervous and cautious. She behaved herself and tried her best not to make mistakes, for fear her brother would yell until she cried.

Who knew that Cheng Mufeng would be the one to braid her hair and give her pocket money? Whenever she couldn't stop herself from crying, Cheng Mufeng would wipe away her tears.

It was only natural that she fell in love with him.

Her silent crush lasted through her teenage years and all the way through college. Far from home, she thought she could gradually change how she felt and just be a well-behaved little sister.

Then, after two years of overworking herself, she returned to her hometown for a short rest. Cheng Mufeng had also reached the age when everyone was constantly urging him to get married and setting him up on dates.

Following the example of her friends and relatives, she jokingly asked Cheng Mufeng when he was going to put some effort into finding her a sister-in-law.

"Even if we take the most cautious approach," he said, "why couldn't you be that sister-in-law?"

*

When Cheng Mufeng was in middle school, the widow of one of his father's comrades came to stay with them, bringing along a little crybaby who was a burden to boot.

The girl was quiet and reserved, and a little undernourished, like a scrawny kitten. Even her voice was light and soft like a kitten's. Timidly, she tugged on his finger and called him "big brother."

He thought he would find her annoying, but when he came to his senses, he realized he had already taken her tiny hand in his.

He would never be able to let go of it for the rest of his life.

*

Gentle on the outside, strong on the inside x doting big brother

Five-year age gap

Theme: Believe that you can be loved.