I've Waited for You All These Years

My next book, I Just Want to Love You, has its blurb at the end. Please add it to your favorites, everyone!

The year her father passed away, Ye Mei was sent to live in a small town. Overnight, the pampered heiress fell from her pedestal.

That year, Zhou Shiyu was a notorious troublemaker in town, cold and violent, with almost always a new scar on him.

Like everyone else in town, Ye Mei didn't go out of her way to get close to him.

But she noticed that he seemed to like watching her. Whenever she caught his gaze, he would casually look away.

One day, someone snatched her jade pendant, and Ye Mei sat on the stone steps and cried for a long time.

A shadow slowly fell over her. When she looked up, she met Zhou Shiyu's dark eyes.

There was a new scar by his eyebrow. He turned his head and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

Ye Mei instinctively edged backward.

The boy held out his hand. The jade pendant that had been stolen from her lay in his palm.

Later, she heard that he had been punished by the principal for fighting that night and had stood in the rain for hours.

*

She met Zhou Shiyu again in the winter, seven years later.

At the confession party thrown by one of her suitors, Zhou Shiyu remained indifferent throughout, never once letting his gaze linger on her.

Ye Mei thought their relationship had ended there.

Then, that night, she returned to the party to retrieve something and discovered Zhou Shiyu hadn't left.

The vast bar was empty except for him, with a number of empty bottles by his side.

As she turned to leave, Zhou Shiyu suddenly hugged her from behind.

"Am I really that bad? Is it so hard to like me just once?"

The smell of alcohol enveloped her. Ye Mei's heart gave a little flutter.

"Zhou Shiyu, you're drunk."

He held her even tighter, burying his forehead in the crook of her neck, his hair trembling slightly.

"Then take pity on me and like me just once, okay?"

P.S. There are a few crime investigation scenes in the story to support the romance. I looked up the details online, so please forgive any inaccuracies!

--- I Just Want to Love You ---

The year her parents sent her to the Gu family to repay a debt, Li Shu was ten.

The housekeeper told her that her job was to be the study companion of the moody young master.

That was the first time she met Gu Yanbai. The boy was pale and sickly, and he sat in a wheelchair.

His dark eyes looked at her coldly, as if she were a toy.

For the ten years she stayed by his side, Li Shu fully lived up to her role as his "toy."

She went to school and came home with him, accompanied him as he traveled around for leg rehabilitation, drove away anyone who bullied him, and gave him all the security he needed.

The gloomy, solitary Gu Yanbai was willing to rely only on her.

The day his debt was paid off, Li Shu had just packed her bags and was preparing to leave when Gu Yanbai suddenly rushed upstairs and snatched them away.

His hand trembled slightly on the suitcase handle. Gu Yanbai was losing control of his emotions, staring at her with restrained fury.

"You dare abandon me?"

Li Shu didn't dare meet his eyes. She lowered her head and spoke softly.

"I'll come back to visit you."

"That's not allowed either."

Gu Yanbai pulled her into his arms and ruffled her hair roughly, his voice low and pleading.

"Li Shu, don't leave me. I'll die if you go."

P.S. 1. Both leads have only ever been with each other, and they're each other's first love.

2. The male lead's legs will recover. It's a miracle of Jinjiang medicine.

3. The male lead is a little crazy and completely lovesick. If the female lead leaves, he really will die.

4. The male lead is not a good person!

Theme: Faith