The Girl Next Door

Both leads are reborn, the heroine first and the hero later + a groveling pursuit + a little forced romance

[Blurb One]

Gan Li's pursuit of Wei Yan'an ended with her being murdered and her parents, caught up in her troubles, dying in poverty.

Reborn at fifteen, she swore to herself that from now on, she and the Wei family would go their separate ways and live in peace.

But her restraint and distance did not bring the peace she had hoped for.

Wei Yan'an, contrary to her memories of him, was no longer cold. He insisted she explain herself, but Gan Li didn't want to repeat her old mistakes and turned him away with a frosty expression.

Later, he reclaimed his birthright as the son of a prominent family, and the people of Nantang County mocked Gan Li behind her back for letting a good match slip away.

But they didn't know that on the night of Gan Li's wedding, Wei Yan'an had barged in to steal her away, heedless of all propriety. With red-rimmed eyes, he knelt outside the door and begged her to give him one more chance.

[Blurb: The Hero]

Wei Yan'an was handsome and graceful, like a jade mountain bathed in sunlight. He was renowned throughout Nantang County for his good looks. But even the finest jade has flaws. Everyone knew the Wei family was dirt poor.

After Wei Yan'an's father died unexpectedly, the family fell into even greater hardship, and Wei Yan'an had to do backbreaking labor just to keep food on the table.

In the springtime of youth, how could Wei Yan'an not love a bright, lovely girl like Gan Li?

But he knew he was no more than a weed by the roadside. Why should he drag a girl who had been cherished since childhood into a life of hardship with him?

He coldly rejected her affection, hoping to drive away the passionate Gan Li.

But at night, when no one could see, he shamelessly enjoyed her every approach and her daily smiles.

Then, overnight, Gan Li was no longer the same. She treated him like a stranger and no longer gave him even a fraction of the attention she once had.

When they crossed paths, she merely brushed past him with an indifferent look.

Hearing that the Gan family was arranging a match for her, he hid in the shadows of an alley and heard her casually tell another man, in a flat voice, "Childhood sweethearts? I only pitied him."

Pitied him?

Ha! So all the devotion he'd thought he'd seen was just his imagination. Gan Li had merely looked down on him from above, teasing him for her own amusement!

He suddenly felt hatred. Why should she be able to come and go as she pleased after one chance encounter?

Consumed by the fire of betrayal, he lost all reason. Though she wanted to be left in peace, Wei Yan'an insisted on dragging her down into his own misery.

After scheming against her, he and Gan Li ended up trapped in an abandoned temple.

His eyes gleamed with vengeful delight and madness. No matter how many times she begged, he refused to let her go. "You pitied me, didn't you? From now on, pity me for the rest of your life."

He thought he was happy.

But when he awoke from a dream, he discovered it had all been a misunderstanding. From beginning to end, she had only ever loved him.

And what had he done? In both their lives, all he'd given her was betrayal and pain.

Overwhelmed by regret and ashamed to face her, he slipped away in disgrace before anyone noticed.

They parted then, and didn't meet again until a year later.

He was no longer the son of a poor family, but the long-lost son of the prefect.

Just as everyone in Nantang lamented Gan Li's bad luck in missing her chance to marry into a prominent family, the prefect's son knelt before her, his eyes red. "Now I'm worthy of you. Please, look at me once more."

Gan Li yanked her sleeve free. "Now I'm the one who's not good enough for you. Go."

The Wei family made its living as tea merchants. At first, they did little business and were content as long as the family had enough to eat and wear.

Who could have guessed their daughter would be born under a lucky star? With a few clever words from her, their business grew and grew. Within a few years, they became the richest family in Nantang.

Their lucky daughter was also a woman of great resource. She won the heart of a prefect's son who had been living among the common people, and he would rather refuse to acknowledge his family than marry into hers.

#CommonerLife #FamilyLife #MarriageAndMatchmaking

A sweet, slow-burn romance about the everyday life of a small family.

Reader's Guide:

* Both leads are reborn + forced romance (no rape scenes). The forced romance in the blurb means he blocks the door and won't let the heroine leave. The hero is obsessive and a little crazy, lovesick from beginning to end, and falls for her first but is too insecure to confess. He has flaws.

* The hero married someone else in his previous life, though they never consummated the marriage. He did wrong the heroine, so please don't read if that bothers you.

* Little court politics or intrigue. A slice-of-life setting with neighbors, local customs, and lots of food.

* Any similarities to other works are coincidental. Please don't conflate the characters with the author. Keep comments friendly. Comments are rarely locked. Please don't mention other works.

My dear readers, if you're in my bed, please love only me!!

There are completed works in my author profile. Feel free to check them out.

Theme: Though we met only yesterday, our bond feels old. May love never be betrayed.