Pastoral Smoke Does Not Cross [Marriage Before Love]

◎Coming soon: His Long, Long Night [Marriage Before Love]. Please add it to your collection! It opens next month. See the blurb below~ ◎This story: A tale of a young man who failed to take what he wanted by force in his youth, but was lucky enough to succeed at Marriage Before Love. ◎A powerful Beijing socialite x a gentle tombstone designer She saw Ji Yanlin again on the day the first snow fell in Beijing. She had brought her fiancé to visit her grandparents' graves. From afar, she saw a man in a black coat, holding an umbrella in his right hand, place a bouquet of white tulips before their headstones. Her fiancé took her hand and greeted him with obsequious enthusiasm, joining her in calling him "Second Brother." Through the snowy haze, Mu Nianhe watched the man's long, indifferent eyes casually sweep over her fiancé before settling directly on her face. Seven years had passed. Second Master Ji looked even more noble and aloof, with an air of distance that made him seem unapproachable. "Getting married?" she heard him ask. His voice was deep and resonant, like a dark pool, and his eyes held an inscrutable glint. Mu Nianhe instinctively looked away and gave a soft "Mm." * Later, she really was going to get married, just not to the same person. The night she caught her fiancé cheating, the winter night was silent. Her parents were next door making preparations for her wedding, completely unaware. In a cramped corner of the bedroom, Mu Nianhe was held in someone's arms and kissed until she could barely breathe. The domineering scent of cold sandalwood enveloped her. Ji Yanlin's breath was scorching, making her ears burn as he said: "Since you're getting married anyway, how about marrying me?" * People in their circle openly and privately praised Mu Nianhe for being "clever." How had a bankrupt heiress managed to land Beijing's crown prince? What trick had she used? It wasn't until the Ji Group released a magazine photo that they found out. The international magazine MESTER photographed a collection celebrating the world's top young entrepreneurs. Ji Yanlin was the only Asian on the cover. Beside him was a youthful, candid photo of the two of them together. The MESTER art director personally wrote the caption: "He reunited with the girl he fell in love with at nineteen. Together, they started over, molted, and transformed. His love still burns fiercely." The inspiration for the last line comes from The Metamorphosis of Birds: "We will start again together, we will molt, and you will find new words." Blurb revised 2023.12.28 Reader's Guide: 1. A story about stealing someone's partner 2. Sweet romance 3. Both leads have only ever been with each other, happy ending Coming soon: His Long, Long Night [Marriage Before Love] Older man pines for her and gets his wish | Marriage Before Love The day she broke up with her first love, the one she'd adored above all others, Lin Youshu came home dead drunk. Her grandfather happened to have a guest over, and took the opportunity to urge her to get married. With her head pounding, Lin Youshu pointed at random and said, "Him, then. If he's willing to marry me, I'll do it." The guest, Zhou Bingshan, was inexplicably the one she pointed to. His shirt was white as snow, his features refined and handsome. He held a cup of tea, his emotions impossible to read. The people with him laughed awkwardly and were about to brush off the joke, but Zhou Bingshan simply nodded and said, "All right, Youshu." Among all the sons and nephews of her grandfather's old friends, Zhou Bingshan was the last person Lin Youshu wanted to marry. The Zhou family was strict and had many rules. The eldest son, Zhou Bingshan, was composed and reserved, upright in his ways, and kept people at a distance. But none of that mattered. What mattered was that when Lin Youshu had been passionately in love with her first love, the one she adored above all others, she'd asked this eldest Zhou brother to deliver her confession letter. Once they were engaged, Lin Youshu came clean, hoping he wouldn't take her joke to heart. "It's hard for me to forget him. I'm sorry." "That's all right. When would you like to get the marriage license?" [Little Scene] After the wedding, Lin Youshu thought of it as nothing more than a marriage of convenience, a sham union meant to mend old ties between their families. Especially since before the wedding, Zhou Bingshan was always traveling abroad for work and would be gone for months at a time. It suited her perfectly. Who could have guessed that after the wedding, he would come home frequently and make one request after another? "Youshu, may I hug you?" "You can touch me wherever you like. Anywhere." "Bite harder." "Look at me. Feel me." Lin Youshu: ? Zhou Bingshan had spent decades living like a gentleman, but everything fell apart after he secretly opened a letter. Line after line of a young girl's innermost thoughts, ideals, and reckless ambitions had all been shared with someone else. They had fallen passionately in love as teenagers, their souls touching. He, meanwhile, clung to what little remained and suffered through one long night after another. He knew she didn't love him, but that was all right. "If our souls can't touch, then touching bodies counts too, doesn't it, Youshu?" Reader's Guide: 1. A cozy, healing winter story about eating, drinking, and intimacy, featuring delicious food, scenery from the northwest, and the leads' careers. 2. Both leads have only ever been with each other, happy ending 3. A pure-hearted, scheming older man whose unrequited love comes true, and a fiery little pepper from the northwest who falls for him physically before falling for him emotionally Written 2024.10.19. A screenshot has been reposted to Weibo for safekeeping. Road-trip novel coming soon: Running Through the Night at Chicheng ◎Road-trip novel | She pursues him | Half the manuscript is complete ◎Bold, cool-headed charter driver x refined, celibate documentary director Three years after her mother's death, Qiao Wei decided to return to her hometown grasslands and sleep there forever. She drifted through life, wrapped in a faint sense of doom, never expecting to meet a man. The orange-red sunset fell over the gray-yellow grasslands, blazing a destructive path for more than ten miles. The man had broad shoulders, long legs, and a tall, straight figure. He held a DSLR with a telephoto lens in his right hand, as if walking into the flames. He was as beautiful as a painting. After one reckless night, Qiao Wei got what she wanted. The man held her close, his voice tender and lingering, and asked where she was going next, saying he could go with her. But the young woman pushed away the sinewy arm around her waist, smiled as she adjusted her skirt, and said: "Mr. Liang, we'll never see each other again." / Qiao Wei truly thought she would never run into Mr. Liang again. Who knew that while driving through the northern grasslands of Hinggan League, she would accidentally enter a documentary filming site and get chased by wolves? Just as she thought she was bound to die in their jaws, someone saved her from above, holding a torch. In her panic, she looked out the window and met the rescuer's cool, handsome eyes. They were no kinder than the wolves' eyes. Someone asked him, "Director Liang, do you know her?" With filming equipment on his back and a torch in hand, his lips and the backs of his hands cracked and bled in the grassland wind and snow. He stared at her coldly. "Never seen her." / But from Chicheng to Arxan, from one stretch of grassland to another, Liang Zhongshan still fell for her. That night, after escaping the wolves, she fell asleep with a high fever. The production coordinator and producer wanted to contact the police and have her taken away. In her hazy state, she heard a familiar voice, low and restrained: "No need. She's with me." "I thought she came here to find me." Theme: May you have love, believe in love, and love yourself.