A Pure, Sensual Breeze

[Blurb] In the first year after her suspension, Ming Qing gave up and stopped trying. After all, her reputation was already in ruins. She'd been kicked off the national team, and the local teams were so terrified of her they avoided her like the plague. Any reporter could take a swing at her and pile on the criticism. So she simply left the sports world and returned to her hometown, where she found a school and settled in as a carefree little teacher. Ah, all she wanted was to give up properly! But before long, Teacher Xiao Ming met a man. Supposedly, he had come here to give up, too. He had the air of a pampered young master and often smiled like a fox spirit. One look was enough to tell that he was deeply calculating. Rumor had it he was holed up in this godforsaken little place teaching Chinese just to cultivate his character. "Teacher Ming?" Young Master Zhou sat by the windowsill and reached out a long, pale finger to poke Ming Qing's dimple. Ming Qing: ? Are you crazy? Zhou Heng smiled casually. "You wore my clothes, slept in my bed, then just walked away without a second thought. You heartless little thing." * The Olympics were drawing near. Watching the national team get absolutely battered in competition, Teacher Ming, who cared deeply about short-track speed skating, could no longer hold back the fury inside her. She returned to the national team in a blaze of speed, ready to fight her way back to the top. But when it came to sorting out her tangled, unresolved relationship with Zhou Heng, she found herself at a loss. She only wanted to focus on her career, not fall in love. Seeing Zhou Heng's rare, genuinely angry expression, Ming Qing thought it over and realized that perhaps she really had been the one to start things and then walk away. Scratching her head, she ventured, "How about... when I win four titles and take home four gold medals, I get down on one knee and propose to you?" The Winter Olympics ended. Ming Qing stood on the podium and finished singing the national anthem. Looking down at the three gold medals in her hands, she let out a sigh of relief. One short, and now she had an excuse to break things off for good. She never expected a commotion to suddenly break out at the medal ceremony. The small-town "fox spirit" Chinese teacher had transformed into Zhou Heng, the young master and head of H City's most prominent family. Holding flowers and a diamond ring, he glided across the gleaming ice toward her. Ming Qing: "...I only won three." "Sorry, Zhou Heng. I can't propose to you after all." Young Master Zhou only smiled faintly. In the arena, under the eyes of tens of thousands, he suddenly dropped to one knee. He slipped the diamond ring onto Ming Qing's ring finger. "That's all right." "Then I'll be the one to propose to you." "Miss Ming, will you take your three gold medals, wear my diamond ring, and marry into the Zhou family?" That year, alongside the Chinese short-track speed skating team's Grand Slam at the Winter Olympics, and the earth-shaking, tear-jerking spectacle of domestic and international media being flooded with their public displays of affection, a sparkling diamond ring appeared beside the most dazzling medal tally. Straightforward and resilient short-track speed skating Olympic champion x refined and scholarly on the surface, a smiling knife-wielder and powerful figure underneath Carefree x deeply devoted Note: - The female lead is based on Wang Meng, former captain of China's national short-track speed skating team, 500-meter gold medalist at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, and winner of the 500-meter, 1,000-meter, and 3,000-meter relay at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. The author has been her fan for 13 years. Reality has been so cruel, so I hope to make my idol's dream come true in this novel! 1. The first competition takes place in chapters 17-20. 2. One-on-one romance, with a single-couple relationship and a happy ending. The romance is sweet throughout. There is very little about teaching, and the female lead will soon return to competition. Romance and career each get half the focus. 3. [Important!!!] The female lead is extremely strong, the ceiling of short-track speed skating and the undisputed queen of the sport. There will be no plot where she makes a mistake and loses an honor. The only person who can beat her is herself. Yes, I love the thrill of a max-level expert returning to crush the whole world. The male lead is strong, too, but this is not a case of the woman being strong while the man is stronger. He wholeheartedly supports the female lead's career. 4. If anything is inaccurate in the short-track speed skating details, please feel free to point it out. The author really loves this sport and hopes to meet more like-minded people through writing this story =w=! A new contemporary romance, Desire, is now open for advance readers. Please add it to your reading list! [Blurb] When Ruan Mo was fifteen, her father went bankrupt. She was forced into the Zhou family's custody. No one in the Zhou family treated her well, and Ruan Mo lived as if she were walking on thin ice. Only one man was kind to her: Zhou Ziheng, the Zhou family's young master and rumored next head of the family. She called him "Brother," and he sheltered her behind him. During the three years Ruan Mo spent in the Zhou family, that was her only source of warmth. But when she turned eighteen, Ruan Mo finally had the chance to escape the Zhou family. She packed everything, applied to a university in the far south, and was about to leave the suffocating cage behind. On the day she was supposed to leave, someone forcibly stopped her plane. Ruan Mo stood in the airport waiting area, looking at the man sitting in one of the chairs. He was elegant and poised, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a faint smile. He looked like nothing more than an ordinary passenger, her kindest brother. Zhou Ziheng took off his glasses and gently breathed on them before smiling warmly. But there wasn't a trace of warmth in his eyes. He was like a cold, venomous snake, slowly flicking its tongue. "Little Jasmine." "Is this how you repay me?" * After being tormented until she wished she were dead, Ruan Mo cried and begged Zhou Ziheng to let her go. Ruan Mo: "Brother... you weren't like this before." Zhou Ziheng smiled at Ruan Mo and gently raised her chin. "Oh? Then what was I like before, little sister?" Ruan Mo: "Gentle and warm, like a ray of light." "Not like you are now... so utterly cold." "..." Zhou Ziheng: "Then I'm sorry, Little Jasmine." "Your brother has always been just like this." Unhinged x long-suffering Note: 1. One-on-one romance, happy ending, with a single-couple relationship. 2. The male lead is completely unhinged and intensely possessive. He'll do anything for the female lead. 3. Old-school tropes. The author is letting loose. Theme: Peace, love, and growing together