Luring Tenderness

[THE END]

Please add my next book, Spring Night's Heartbeat, to your favorites~ The blurb is at the bottom.

Story blurb:

1.

Xuan Qing has loved Ji Heng for years, but on the day she graduates from college, she watches him chase after the fiancee he never got to marry as she leaves the country.

When they unexpectedly meet again, she's become a rising star in the entertainment industry.

The man lazily raises his eyes and unhurriedly tells her why he came back:

His parents ordered him to return and get married.

She forces herself to smile calmly and raises her glass from afar, wishing him an early happy wedding, but can't even bring herself to ask the bride's name. She nearly flees.

When they meet for the third time, the man stands with his back to the millions of lights outside the car window, his profile hidden in shadow. He still looks as aloof and distinguished as ever, with deep-set eyes and a low voice that seems to cast a spell.

He asks her, "Xuan Qing, will you marry me?"

A contract, with a term of two years.

2.

Xuan Qing has always thought the purpose of this contract is to let her hold on to the position of Mrs. Ji and keep his parents from interfering. Once Ji Heng's unattainable first love returns to the country, the position will go back to its rightful owner and everything will be over.

So she tacitly keeps their marriage low-key. For example:

She sticks to their confidentiality agreement and never announces it publicly;

To give Ji Heng time to adjust, she only moves into his home right before leaving to film on location;

When she runs into Ji Heng on set, or when other people ask, she says he's a friend she knows, but they're not close;

She doesn't wear her wedding ring on variety shows and gives vague answers when asked about her relationship status...

Xuan Qing works hard to keep her feelings in check, trying to be the perfect partner, but the man's gaze grows increasingly dark and unreadable.

When the rumored first love returns to the country, she starts making preparations for a divorce. Ji Heng, usually so aloof and distinguished, suddenly changes expression.

He practically grits his teeth as he finds the diamond ring Xuan Qing has kept at the bottom of a cabinet. He roughly slides it onto her finger, his large hand clamping around her slender waist and yanking her against him. His voice is hoarse with emotion:

"I won't agree. You are not allowed to divorce me!"

Gentle actress × aloof, distinguished business tycoon

[I've been plotting to make you mine for a long time.]

[Reading Guide]

1. Not a conventional entertainment-industry story

2. A fake "chasing his wife after she leaves" trope; at heart, it's a sweet romance

3. The first love is fake. The male lead has only ever loved the female lead

4. One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's first, happy ending

Blurb for the upcoming book next door, Spring Night's Heartbeat

I.

Song Mingshu first met Jiang Yu in Pinghe Town a year ago.

That night was the Lantern Festival. Without warning, the dusty streetlights in the alley went out, and darkness and fear surged toward her like a flood, nearly swallowing her whole.

A brightly decorated rabbit lantern suddenly caught Song Mingshu's eye. Like a drowning person spotting a piece of driftwood, she ran, her face deathly pale, to the person holding it.

The person holding the lantern was startled. A moment later, a lazy, cool voice came from above her head. "Afraid of the dark?"

The unfamiliar, tall boy glanced at her through half-lidded eyes, as if asking but not really expecting an answer. He casually put the rabbit lantern in her hands. "Then take it."

By the lantern's faint glow, Song Mingshu saw his face.

Beautiful features that were impossible to forget.

II.

In her second year of high school, Song Mingshu transfers from Pinghe Town to Beijiang No. 1 High School and moves in with Uncle Jiang, who has been sponsoring her education.

As she steps into the Jiang home with her small suitcase, a tall, slender boy walks down the stairs. He ignores Uncle Jiang's introduction and gives Song Mingshu a cool, indifferent glance before walking past her without pausing.

Uncle Jiang says that the boy is his son, Jiang Yu. He's a year older than her and a senior at Beijiang No. 1 High School.

That night, beneath the cool white light of her desk lamp, she writes his name in her diary, stroke by stroke:

Jiang Yu.

She has always remembered what he looked like, but he has no recollection of her.

III.

Jiang Yu is the pride of Beijiang No. 1 High School, wild and arrogant, admired by everyone. No one can make him lower his head.

Not long after school begins, his friend is the first to notice that a quiet, well-behaved girl has appeared in Jiang Yu's home. When asked about her, the boy leans against the railing with his eyes half-closed and answers coolly, "A kid my family sponsors. We're not close."

Later, on a stormy night of howling wind and driving rain, the power goes out in the neighborhood, leaving everything in darkness.

Jiang Yu frowns and shoves open the locked bedroom door. He scoops the little girl, huddled in the corner with icy hands and feet and cold sweat covering her, into his arms. With relief, he lowers his head and rests his forehead against her soft hair:

"I'm back. Don't be afraid."

*

Unrequited love | Healing | School life | Both leads are each other's first | Happy ending

* The heroine's fear of the dark is a psychological illness: a stress-related trauma disorder caused by an upsetting childhood experience. She recovers later in the story.

* No dating as minors, and no intimate scenes before they reach adulthood

Theme: Strive to grow into a better person