Mint Rice Wine

Reunion after a long separation / He has a secret crush on her

My childhood rival has had a crush on me for ten years!

Zhou Qingyi never imagined that, in her lifetime, she would work with her archenemy, Jiang Qingyan, on a documentary.

Thinking back to when she briefly stayed at his house, he was still called Jiang Qingyan.

The young man was handsome and carefree, rebellious to the core, and a firm believer in gods and Buddhas. He went through a lot just to get a fortune told.

The fortune-teller said he lacked water in his destiny, so he changed his name to Jiang Qingyan.

She found the whole thing baffling, and even the Buddhist beads on his wrist annoyed her.

The two of them kept their distance on set with perfect understanding.

-

At a crew dinner, Zhou Qingyi heard that Jiang Qingyan firmly believed in the fortune that had prompted him to change his name. Curious, she asked, "Was the fortune about changing your name accurate?"

Jiang Qingyan's eyes were unreadable. "Absolutely."

She offered a polite compliment. "So your success as a director now is thanks to the name change bringing you good luck?"

He swirled the wine in his glass and neither confirmed nor denied it. "Back then, I wasn't seeking success in my career."

She was confused. "Then what were you seeking?"

A smile played on Jiang Qingyan's lips. "Love."

The water missing from his destiny was the three water strokes in Zhou Qingyi's name.

*Sharp-tongued little mint x tipsy sweet rice wine

*Gentle, cool-headed cultural relic restorer x devoted, persistent, ridiculously cool documentary director

2022.04.13 / Archived on Weibo

Next book: Scripted Secret Crush

"Reunion after a long separation / Childhood rivals marry first and fall in love later!"

Jiang Yining never expected that the first patient she would operate on for a neutering procedure would be the dog of Zhou Xun, her childhood friend and rival, whom she hadn't seen in years.

Zhou Xun was exactly as she remembered him, just as arrogant and irritating, acting like he owned the place.

As luck would have it, after that she kept running into him at the veterinary clinic with his dog.

As the dog's primary veterinarian, she witnessed countless humiliating moments for the poor pup:

Stomachache: It had eaten too much dog food and was stuffed.

Limping: It had broken a vase and was pretending to be injured so it wouldn't get punished.

Just as petty as its owner, the dog started holding a grudge against her after a few visits.

They nearly caused a "doctor-patient dispute" that crossed species lines.

-

Unable to escape her family's constant pressure to get married, Jiang Yining weighed her options and accepted Zhou Xun's proposal that they get married for convenience.

They were childhood friends who knew each other inside and out, and both families were pleased with the match.

She was still a little hesitant, though. "Do we really look like we have a foundation of love?"

Holding back his snarling, struggling dog, he answered without batting an eye:

"Of course. Look how much my dog likes you. I'm only fond of you because I love what I love."

"..."

*Turns out I'm the dog

*First-marriage-then-love from the heroine's perspective, secret crush come true from the hero's

*Usually sweet and mild, occasionally prickly, the girl of his dreams x a man whose mouth is even harder than a dead duck's

*Veterinarian x railway engineer

Theme: Treasure the person in front of you