Sugar-Coated

My new novel, Peach Blossom Snow, is now out. It's a story about the Sichuan-Tibet Highway (though it's actually a sweet romance). Please add it to your favorites! ---Blurb--- [Important: This story was revised midway through, so the pacing is a little uneven.] In high school, Yi Nian's crush came to nothing, but she never quite gave up. On the first day of college, her feelings flared up again. They didn't last long before fizzling out. She ran away on her own. Later, Yi Nian deliberately avoided him. Years afterward, she took a vacation to the highlands, only to be proposed to in public. A viral-marketing account quickly uploaded the video online. The next day, the ex-boyfriend she'd avoided for five years appeared before her. Zhou Zhiyi began pretending from the very first day they reunited, all to win Yi Nian back. First he pretended to be sick, then drunk. His once-proud image as the favored son of heaven was gone without a trace. It didn't work very well, until he got a cat. Yi Nian could avoid Zhou Zhiyi, but she couldn't avoid a cat. Later, Zhou Zhiyi, a rising star in the industry who had won the gold medal in the global photography competition for three years in a row, was interviewed by the media. A reporter asked why he had chosen a small company to organize his first exhibition in China. The owner of the small company, unexpectedly brought up, thought this was a chance to get some publicity from the interview. Zhou Zhiyi replied, "If I didn't choose this company, how else could I win my wife back?" From that day on, the small company played a daily game of guessing who his wife was. One-on-one, both each other's first love [Upcoming novel: Cherish. Please add it to your favorites!] A month before Qin Xi returned to China, she spotted Song Zhaoyue at a cafe near her school. He was a man whose face alone could boost the cafe's sales several times over. She thought he was an impoverished international student. Qin Xi used every trick in the book, relying on her beauty, but couldn't win him over. She decided she didn't care anymore. When they met again, Song Zhaoyue was standing outside a restaurant. Qin Xi idly played with her hands. The unfamiliar man sitting across from her had plump cheeks that trembled as he smiled, looking at her ingratiatingly. She clearly saw Song Zhaoyue standing outside the restaurant, but casually glanced away. The warmth she once showed him was nowhere to be seen. Not long after, during a break in a project meeting, Song Zhaoyue scrolled through his phone and asked in surprise, "Isn't this your blind date?" The post showed several chat screenshots: My boyfriend of six years might be cheating on me. What should I do? As it happened, Qin Xi's profile picture was right there. Qin Xi scoffed. "What does that have to do with you?" Song Zhaoyue's expression changed. Then he leaned forward, resting his elbow beside Qin Xi. He smiled meaningfully. "I mean, if three's not a crowd, how about adding me?" What Qin Xi didn't know was that when she first told Song Zhaoyue at the cafe, "Can't you tell? I'm pursuing you," he had already made up his mind to have her. After Song Zhaoyue coolly rejected her and walked away, a determined glint had flashed in his eyes. It took Qin Xi a long time to realize that the prey she had set her sights on had been waiting for her in the trap for ages. Little extra Later, when the two got together, Song Zhaoyue insisted on going with Qin Xi to her high school reunion. A refined, top student who had gotten into Q University raised a glass and joked, "Qin Xi came to borrow my notes every day for two weeks straight back then. Too bad I only cared about studying. Now it's too late to regret it." Qin Xi glanced at the person beside her and pouted. "He misunderstood. I really did want to study hard, so I could meet you properly in the future." Song Zhaoyue scoffed, then dragged her straight out of there. That night, Qin Xi was forced to reenact all kinds of things she'd done back then: bringing breakfast to the most popular boy in school, borrowing notes from the top student, and bringing water to the basketball team captain. She suffered terribly. One-on-one. #Two rich and good-looking people playing hard to get# Theme: Harmony and friendship