The first time Cong Mian met Fu Xiyan, he was playing with a cigarette in a world of flashing lights, wine, and money, casually tapping ash off with his fingers.
Her friend told her he was the Fu family's rich young master, all polished on the outside and dark within, someone best left alone.
The second time was on a hazy, rainy night. He took a drink for her.
When the party ended, Cong Mian wanted to thank him, but he brushed past her, waving a gray coat draped over his arm. He couldn't even be bothered to spare her a glance.
Cong Mian didn't want to make a fool of herself, so she acted as if nothing had happened.
The third time, Cong Mian had fallen out with both her boyfriend and her landlord, and was stranded on the street in a sorry state.
At the same intersection, Fu Xiyan sat in his car with the window down, impatiently responding to a call.
He glanced out at her beneath the dim yellow streetlights. Their eyes met for a second, then Fu Xiyan suddenly called out to her in a cool voice.
"Get in. I'll give you a ride."
That night, the roads were icy, and an unexpected mishap led Cong Mian and Fu Xiyan through the same doorway.
-
In other people's eyes, Cong Mian was as mild and bland as plain water. No one expected her to dump her ex-boyfriend and marry Fu Xiyan.
Their loveless marriage attracted plenty of attention.
One night, while the mood was high, someone asked curiously, "A Yan, how are things with the one at home? Have you taken care of her yet?"
Fu Xiyan clicked his tongue and glanced down, idly rolling his ring between his fingers. After a long while, he replied without interest, "What's there to say? I just keep her around."
Cong Mian, passing by outside the door, paused, but said nothing.
Much later, on Fu Xiyan's birthday, a group of people set up a party for him as usual, but the guest of honor never showed.
Outside, a black car door stood half open. Cong Mian nestled against the man's neck, her face flushed and her eyes closed, murmuring something he couldn't make out. The famously aloof and difficult Fu stood gazing down at her for a long time, then finally placed a restrained, gentle kiss on her.
At last, he sighed in a low voice. "I've never liked anyone else."
"There's only you."
The odds of two people falling in love are 0.000049.
But the odds of Cong Mian being loved by Fu Xiyan are 100%.
A story that goes from not caring to falling hard, with some face-slapping along the way:
First draft of blurb: 2023.8.9
Theme: Being loved
