Too Well-Behaved

Next up for pre-order: Marriage Before Love, "Roses of Harbor City." You're welcome to add it to your collection!

Blurb:

On the night of her high school graduation, He Yue glimpsed Liang Che on the sports field through the window.

He leaned against the basketball hoop, lazily and casually dribbling the ball.

The moonlight flowed over his handsome, unruly face like water. He was so captivating.

He Yue's heart raced again. The feelings she had suppressed for so long surged out in that instant. She could hold back no longer and ran toward him...

When they meet again, he is a tech mogul of untouchable status, seated at the head table. She is a tabloid reporter, battered and broken, sitting below.

During the tea break, he stops her somewhere private and unconsciously brushes the stray hair from her forehead. "You still look the same as before. So obedient."

He Yue lowers her eyes and smiles faintly, but her gaze is ice-cold.

As soon as he leaves, someone splashes wine on her.

The woman is outrageously brazen and alluring. "Don't you dare imitate those shameless women!"

Under everyone's watchful eyes, He Yue wipes her face and quietly walks away.

*

The upper crust of J City is abuzz with the news: Liang Che, heir to the notoriously womanizing Liang conglomerate, has fallen out with his family over a greedy little reporter.

Even more outrageous, the little reporter took the money and vanished without a trace, and Liang Che is searching for her like a madman.

In a secluded street corner at sunset, Liang Che grips He Yue's slender waist and pins her against the wall. "You climbed into my bed and now you want to run? You think it'll be that easy?"

The love and pain in his eyes remind her of that moonlit night. He had gently brushed the hair from her forehead, only to tell her flippantly:

"You're too obedient. I'm afraid you can't handle playing around!"

So she loops her arms around his neck, the corners of her trembling mouth lifting slightly. "What, can't you handle it?"

Liang Che's throat shifts. He presses against her and bites her lips hard.

#It's true. Because it's you, I can't handle it#

He Yue only knows that she fell in love with Liang Che at first sight back then.

What she doesn't know is how many times Liang Che rode around aimlessly on his bicycle on weekends, and whenever he passed her grandmother's house, he would see He Yue sitting in the little courtyard, absorbed in a book.

Every time, he would lean outside and quietly keep her company for a while.

Through spring, summer, fall, and winter, the changing light fell across her profile, tormenting him throughout his youth...

Falsely obedient heroine x falsely rakish hero

Reading notes: One-on-one romance, secret crush, happy ending, neither lead is perfect

Next up: "Roses of Harbor City [Marriage Before Love]"

When Jiang Yiyu was four, wearing a padded jacket with big flowers and a runny nose, her elders led her up to Xie Zining. He was only a few years older than her, but wore a little suit and leather shoes, his face tense.

"This is Granny Fang's youngest son. Hurry and call him Uncle." Her grandmother pushed her forward excitedly.

"U-Uncle." Little Yiyu stammered.

"Mm. I hope your studies go well." Little Zining handed her a red envelope with a solemn air.

They met for the second time when Jiang Yiyu was about to graduate from college. She went alone to Harbor City to register her marriage to Xie Zining.

After getting their documents, they hurried to the hospital. In front of his mother, Xie Zining promised, "Don't worry. I'll treat her well."

Xie's mother clasped their hands together, tears in her eyes. "Good, good!"

After the funeral, Xie Zining handed her a bank card. "Thank you. This is your payment. I'll let you know to come file for divorce in a year."

Yiyu took the card, looking uneasy. "Think of it as a loan. I'll pay you back someday."

Xie Zining smiled faintly. "Whatever works!"

The third time they met.

At a luxurious restaurant in Shencheng, Jiang Yiyu, a junior assistant, accompanied her boss to a business dinner.

As soon as she entered, she spotted the handsome, aloof man, who stood out among the greasy businessmen.

With everyone's eyes on them, the man said nothing. Yiyu wouldn't dare acknowledge him even if her life depended on it, so she could only steel herself and make the rounds, raising her glass to each person.

"Mr. Li, Mr. Zhang, Mr. Chen, Mr. Xie..."

After dinner, her boss signaled for her to sing with Mr. Zhang, who also smiled and beckoned her over.

Then Xie Zining, who had not said a word until then, suddenly said coldly, "Come over here!"

Everyone present was shocked. Wasn't investor Xie Zining famously uninterested in women?

Had this iron tree finally blossomed?

One day six months later, Jiang Yiyu was pinned onto the sofa in Xie Zining's private lounge.

"Mr. Xie? That rolls off your tongue pretty easily. Say it again."

Yiyu trembled. "Mr. X..."

"Hmm?"

"U-Uncle..."

"Do you not want to leave this room today?"

Jiang Yiyu blushed and spoke in a soft voice. "Hubby~"

Yesterday someone said your name loudly beside me. To me, it was like a rose thrown in through an open window.

Wisława Szymborska, "I Have Lived Like This"

Theme: Every little thing longs to be loved