Sparking Desire

[Weibo: June Watches the Sea]

[Next book: Starry Radiance, Everlasting Light. Please add it to your collection! Blurb at the bottom.]

Blurb

A heroine whose plans to enjoy life are derailed before they even begin, and a passionate, carefree male lead.

Lin Yi first meets Ye Jingcheng at a racetrack.

He sits inside a wrecked sports car, his eyes impossible to read.

She watches Ye Jingcheng manipulate people, and can't say what she feels: curiosity, excitement, fear…

They meet again at C University. He brings her the necklace she left behind after dancing, delivering it on behalf of a friend. His eyes are full of amusement. "Leaving in such a hurry. Was that necklace a gift from your boyfriend?"

Lin Yi takes it and gives him the same kind of smile.

"Can't someone without a boyfriend buy a necklace?"

Then she realizes again just how dangerous he is, and deletes all his contact information right in front of him.

The reason is that she doesn't want to marry. She only wants to treat romance as a game, and she knows perfectly well she can't beat him at it.

Later, at the school anniversary celebration, he leans against a tree in the grove behind the auditorium, smoking. His eyes are deep and restrained. "Be with me, and I'll let you win."

-

A friend hears that Lin Yi doesn't want to marry and warns Ye Jingcheng. "Even her heart is cold. Isn't that like having someone block the entrance to the only road?"

"So what?" His expression is indifferent, his tone arrogant. "If her heart is cold, I'll warm it up."

-

Ye Jingcheng has been proud and imperious since childhood. He's never been brought low and doesn't know what it feels like to bow his head.

Yet this is the very man who buries his feelings deep inside and willingly plays at love with Lin Yi.

She says she'll be fine with living to forty-five, so Ye Jingcheng makes a bet with her.

"When you're forty-six, a bastard named Ye Jingcheng will be there to watch the sea with you."

Later, he wins.

Little scene:

On New Year's Eve, Lin Yi travels a thousand miles to prepare drone fireworks for Ye Jingcheng. He suppresses his thumping heart and jokes, "Aren't you afraid I'll fall for you?"

Lin Yi's eyes sparkle with a challenging smile. "Then you'll lose."

Ye Jingcheng says nothing, only holding her tighter.

But you know what? I lost from the very beginning.

1. The male lead has a crush on the female lead. After learning she doesn't want to marry, he first gets her to be with him, then slowly pampers her as he waits for her to fall in love with him.

2. This is not a gentle, cozy campus romance. The male lead is no good guy.

3. Each other's first love, both virgins

Upcoming novel blurb: Starry Radiance, Everlasting Light

A sweet-on-the-outside, dark-on-the-inside heroine x a chaotic, unhinged male lead

Reunited after a breakup / bittersweet push and pull / aloof beauty becomes the third party for love / scumbag's redemption arc

1. Ruan Xing is the least remarkable member of a wealthy family in the capital. She's meek and obedient, an easy target for anyone. The most outrageous thing she's ever done is brave a downpour to pray for a marriage.

Everyone in their circle thinks Ruan Xing is madly in love with Xu Jinci. Even after their engagement, when women constantly flock to Xu Jinci and one even openly provokes her, Ruan Xing continues to endure it and back down.

Lu Yanzhou was born into one of the most powerful families in the capital. He's at the heart of the elite circle, unruly and flamboyant, and always the center of attention wherever he goes.

Their personalities are worlds apart, and hardly anyone would ever connect them.

Years later, they meet again by the swimming pool at a private club. Through the lush trees, Ruan Xing hears a friend tease Lu Yanzhou.

"Why are you so nervous when you hear I like her? Don't tell me you're interested in her?"

He lowers his eyes and gives a quiet scoff, his profile cold and weary in the harsh light.

"I'm not that pathetic. I'm not the least bit interested in someone else's fiancee."

Ruan Xing leaves without a word, snuffing out the secret spark of her unspoken crush.

They meet again in Washington. After taking a call from her fiance, Ruan Xing turns to the man beside her.

The curtains are half open. The wind lifts her skirt and brushes it lightly against his trouser leg.

Lu Yanzhou pins her with his heated gaze, his voice low. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

Ruan Xing is about to answer when he pins her against the wall and kisses her hard and deep.

"Then you've succeeded."

2. Ruan Xing thinks her two years with Lu Yanzhou in Washington were an unspoken fling.

When the time is up, they part ways. Ruan Xing returns to China to prepare for her wedding, while Lu Yanzhou sees her off at the airport as if he couldn't care less.

At a gathering one day, a group of friends play a kissing game with a deck of cards. When it's Ruan Xing and Xu Jinci's turn, the card slips, and their lips touch. Across from them, the man casually flicks ash from his cigarette, his profile distant and indifferent.

After several rounds of drinks, Ruan Xing comes out of the restroom and is suddenly dragged into a room. The door locks behind them, and Lu Yanzhou pins her against the cold door.

His eyes are dark and heavy. Again and again, he ruthlessly makes the tears at the corners of her eyes fall.

"You want to marry him? Go ahead and try. Every time you marry him, I'll ruin it."

Ruan Xing has cut Lu Yanzhou off five times. If she does it a sixth, he has no doubt that all she has to do is beckon, and he'll come crawling back like a dog.

3. Xu Jinci has always thought his fiancee bland and boring. He's used to a carefree, wild lifestyle, and simply can't work up any interest in such a dull woman.

In the fourth year of their engagement, Ruan Xing goes abroad to study. As she prepares to leave, Xu Jinci looks at the gentle woman in front of him and says something whose sincerity is impossible to judge.

"Let's live our own lives for another two years. When you come back, we'll get married."

Though he says they can each do as they please, Xu Jinci knows Ruan Xing wouldn't do anything outrageous.

Until one day, he discovers that during those two years in Washington, she spent her days and nights tangled up with his sworn enemy.

The panic he's kept buried for so long can no longer be contained. Forcing himself to maintain his cold demeanor, he says, "Cut off contact with him. I'll pretend nothing happened. We'll get our marriage license this afternoon, and I'll treat you right from now on."

She smiles, her eyes clear and gentle, but her words are merciless. "Xu Jinci, don't you understand? I've been using you from the very beginning."

Theme: May everyone find light in the darkness.