When I Look at You

* My next books are Springtime Romance and Gentle Night. Both are marriage-first, love-later stories. Their blurbs are below. Please add them to your collection! And, humbly, please follow me as an author too, sob!

At first: Good Girl x Devoted Bad Boy

Reunion: Gentle, Determined Princess x Scheming Internet Tycoon Who's Trying to Win Her Back

In high school, Chen Che was rebellious and insolent, while Qianyin was quiet and well-behaved. Their relationship was nothing more than that of ordinary classmates.

Who would have guessed that Chen Che would stand up for Qianyin when she was bullied, or take her to the mountains to watch the sunrise and to Haicheng to watch the sunset just to cheer her up?

On the eve of the college entrance exam, Chen Che took her to an amusement park. As the Ferris wheel slowly rose, Qianyin quietly watched Chen Che, whose lips were curled into a slight smile, and made her birthday wish.

She hoped to be part of his future.

-

Years later, Qianyin spent six years coming to terms with the truth.

She had only ever been a passing whim to Chen Che.

There had never been room for her in his future.

-

When they meet again, she is a hotel manager, while he is a rising internet tycoon at the top of his industry. As luck would have it, he's also a VVVVIP guest at her hotel, so it's her duty to look after him.

The man before her is relaxed and devastatingly handsome, still every bit as refined and distinguished as ever.

When she greets him coldly, Chen Che's lips curl with a hint of roguish charm. "Classmate, aren't you going to catch up with me?"

Qianyin keeps her feelings in check and replies politely, "Mr. Chen, we're not close."

-

Later on.

At the banquet, guests mingle over food and drink, each with their own agenda. Chen Che makes a rare appearance, and countless people eager to curry favor with him soon find that he's vanished.

In a secluded corner of the hotel's top-floor corridor, the light is dim and the air charged with ambiguity. Their conversation drifts faintly through the shadows.

Chen Che pins Qianyin's hands above her head and leans in close, repeatedly brushing his lips against her earlobe. "Still going to say we're not close?"

* Both first loves / Mutual pining / Reunion after years apart / A touch of rekindling an old romance / School days first, then city life

Even when you couldn't see me, I was always loving you.

The title was inspired by Li Ronghao's song "When I Look at You."

Reading Guide:

No real-life inspirations. The author isn't an expert on the professions depicted; most details came from Baidu.

The characters' values do not represent the author's!

* Upcoming book Springtime Romance:

"Elegant beauty with long, straight black hair x Secretly wealthy young heir"

"Marriage first, love later / Rekindled romance / Reunion after years apart / The story starts with their reunion"

* About being set up on a blind date with your own ex

The alumni circle for the 2016 class at Nanda has recently been talking about one thing.

Ruan Ci, the famously icy beauty from the philosophy department, and Yu Rangchen, the aloof campus heartthrob with a devilishly handsome face from computer science, are getting married after a blind date!

Everyone is baffled: Didn't these two spend all their time arguing? How did they end up arguing in the same bed?

When Ruan Ci first heard the gossip, she could only laugh helplessly.

Who knew? She and Yu Rangchen were just getting what they needed from each other. Aside from dealing with their parents, they were strangers sharing a roof.

But then, on a damp midnight in spring, something unexpected happened.

Ruan Ci was clearheaded as she gave in, but it all came to an abrupt halt.

When he kissed her, unable to hold himself back, Ruan Ci couldn't help remembering the past.

Back then, they had kept their relationship secret from everyone. In every dim, charged corner and in the dry midnight air outside campus, Yu Rangchen had held the back of her head just like this, kissing her passionately and whispering against her ear. Afterwards, he would smile, his lazy eyes half-lidded, and share a cigarette with her.

-

Ruan Ci had no expectations for this spur-of-the-moment marriage. After that night, she and Yu Rangchen grew even more distant, and she figured they were bound to divorce sooner or later.

But later, Ruan Ci stumbled upon a few things and finally understood: in this marriage, Yu Rangchen had never been the one acting on a whim.

He had wanted this for seven years.

Extra Scene:

The day Ruan Ci insisted they break up, spring rain fell without end. Yu Rangchen's hair was damp. He lit a cigarette and nodded nonchalantly. "Ruan Ci, you're really something. You were just playing me, weren't you?"

One day after they were married, Yu Rangchen came out of the bathroom after a shower, his defined abs showing through. He moved close to Ruan Ci and took her hand, shamelessly wicked. "Darling, feel free to have your way with me."

Blurb for Gentle Night:

"Spoiled heiress x Irreverent rich boy"

"Marriage first, love later / A side piece gets promoted to the real thing / Male substitute trope / Sweet all the way!"

Jian Mo has always lived by the principle of enjoying life while she can. When she first meets Chu Yiqing, he's wearing a well-tailored black shirt and leaning outside a bar, his eyes lazy as he casually smokes a cigarette.

That very night, the beauty-loving Jian Mo makes the first move and starts a no-strings relationship with him.

After a year of wild nights together, it's time to say goodbye.

Jian Mo leaves him a sum of money and they agree to stay out of each other's lives. Chu Yiqing raises an eyebrow and gives a noncommittal reply.

-

A week later, Jian Mo sees Chu Yiqing again at the blind date her parents arranged.

The man is in a suit, broad-shouldered and long-legged, looking every inch the refined young heir. He looks at her with an amused smile and suggests, "Want to give it a try?"

"What?" Jian Mo doesn't understand.

Chu Yiqing chuckles and explains, "I mean, why don't you marry me and keep things the way they were?"

-

Chu Yiqing had his eye on someone. He put in some effort to win her over, then kept her by his side in plain sight.

But after all that, he realizes her heart was never with him.

To her, he's just a ridiculous substitute.

Extra Scene:

The day they fell out, Chu Yiqing was unusually silent. He gathered all his belongings, including the divorce agreement Jian Mo had signed.

Later, after they made up, Jian Mo was exhausted and limp, nestled in his arms. She smiled and asked, "Why were you so angry, but still refused to sign?"

Chu Yiqing reached out and pinched her chin. After gazing into her eyes for a long moment, he finally gave in. He bent down and kissed her again, his expression reverent and devoted. "Because no matter how angry I was, I never wanted to leave you."

* Is the one who falls first always the loser?

* Even if that's true, so what?

* From the day he met her, all he wanted was her, not victory or defeat.

Theme: Hold on to hope.