Name: Don’t Hide from Me
Author: Before the Embers Die

Synopsis

[Completed]

[Cool on the outside, adorably shy social-anxiety beauty x Steady, cunning old wolf]

Xu Weilian is the goddess of A University's music department. She has a gentle, clear first-love face, but she's also very shy and feels awkward around strangers.

She avoids events whenever she can. If the cafeteria is crowded, she'll get takeout rather than eat there. She turns down every confession she can.

One summer vacation, Xu Weilian's parents sent her to stay for a while with relatives in a small town. That was the day she met Zhou Helin.

Zhou Helin is also one of A University's campus heartthrobs, but he and Xu Weilian barely know each other. They have hardly even seen one another.

After exchanging a few brief glances, Xu Weilian looked away.

Zhou Helin's younger brother fell in love with Xu Weilian at first sight. But he was going to a summer camp organized by the school that summer, so he asked his brother to take good care of Xu Weilian and promised to confess when he got back!

Zhou Helin wasn't keen, but reluctantly agreed.

The first time he tried to talk to Xu Weilian, she was so startled she couldn't even meet his eyes. When they ran into each other in the hallway, she turned and fled.

Zhou Helin: "..."

After that, Zhou Helin's cat would occasionally wander over to Xu Weilian's doorway and meow, waiting to be fed.

Xu Weilian had originally planned to stay inside and not come out, but the cat's fur was so soft and it was so round and sweet that she couldn't resist reaching out to pet it.

Day after day, she grew closer to the cat.

Then she noticed its collar. It had been gone for so long that its owner must be worried, so Xu Weilian took the initiative to knock on the door and softly ask, "Hello, is this your cat?"

Later, Zhou Helin's younger brother came home after finishing summer camp early. Just as he was about to confess, Zhou Helin stopped him.

Zhou Helin: "She likes someone else."

His brother cried out in despair, "What? Who is it? Who's the girl I've been dreaming about?"

Then one day, his younger brother happened to see them in the courtyard. His usually proud and aloof older brother was smiling at the girl he liked. Whatever he said made her blush, and then he bent down and kissed her, as gently as a spring breeze.

His younger brother's eyes widened. He could only think, You really are a great big brother, huh!

#One-on-one romance. The younger brother and the heroine have no romantic connection. A sweet little story with some healing themes.#

#The cover uses the original title.#

#Weibo: @Jinjiang Wei Jinshi. Come say hi!#

Pre-registration blurb:

[Coming in August]

Jiang Yuelu, who grew up in a single-parent household, never imagined that she was actually a rich heiress, or that her seemingly simple and kind mother was the wife of a big shot.

Jiang Yuelu: Could that be true?!

Then one day, a man claiming to be Jiang Yuelu's biological father showed up in a luxury car and said he was taking her and her mother home.

Jiang Yuelu got into the car, half believing him and half worrying that someone might sell them.

But when they arrived...

The two guards at the villa entrance called out in perfect unison, "Hello, Mrs. Jiang!"

Jiang Yuelu: This is actually real!

-

That was the first time Jiang Yuelu met Shen Kuo.

He stood in a corner, holding a book. His skin was as pale as snow, as if he never saw daylight. His features were deep and hard, and his gaze was unfathomable.

Jiang Yuelu looked away. He scared her a little ΩДΩ

Her mother told her that Shen Kuo had suffered inhuman abuse as a child, which had twisted his personality and made him moody and unpredictable. She asked Jiang Yuelu to be understanding.

After entering the wealthy social circle, Jiang Yuelu was bullied by people her own age. Shen Kuo immediately stepped in, protected her, and carried her home, then bandaged her wounds without a change in expression.

Jiang Yuelu looked at Shen Kuo: He's kind of cute with that little serious face.

Compared with Jiang Yuelu's experience of being excluded, Shen Kuo's situation was even worse. Those people feared his recklessness and looked down on him at the same time.

After that day, Jiang Yuelu stood up for herself. While everyone looked at them with a mix of fear and contempt, she took his hand and pulled him close under her protection.

*

Jiang Yuelu herself was a little disarming. Shen Kuo quit smoking and drinking, but he couldn't quit her.

If he couldn't quit, then he'd want her with all his might.

As they grew up, that obsessive thought sank into his bones, like an addiction.

Shen Kuo held Jiang Yuelu close. His sharp teeth nearly pierced the pale, luminous skin of her neck. He glared at her, his voice low and threatening: "Be my girlfriend."

Jiang Yuelu: "Sure (* /▽/), just remember to make our relationship public on your social media."

Shen Kuo: "..."

After they got together, Shen Kuo wouldn't let her talk to anyone else.

Jiang Yuelu: "You can lock me up at home, then I won't have to interact with other guys. Just remember to help me write my proposal~"

Shen Kuo: "..."

Later, Shen Kuo realized that no matter what he asked of her, Jiang Yuelu would stay by his side and go along with all his unreasonable demands.

As their fingers intertwined, Jiang Yuelu held him close and said softly, "The world hasn't abandoned us. We're both still here, alive and well."

Shen Kuo's eyes suddenly filled with tears.

*

Shen Kuo loves Jiang Yuelu so much.

She is the ache in his heart, an ache that will never heal, the only star he can pluck from the sky.

#The male lead loves her dearly, and the heroine spoils him rotten. Their love is mutual.#