Winter Meets Midsummer

Mutual Secret Crush | Rekindling an Old Flame

My next books: Wild Strawberries and Sakura Sugar

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Xia Xing first met Duan Lingshan on a summer night in a remote border town. The cicadas shrilled as a drunken street thug blocked her way.

The man had a stern, cold face and deep black eyes. As he passed by, the girl grabbed his sleeve.

Duan Lingshan reached out, gripped the girl by the collar, and lifted her off him. Ignoring her pleading gaze, he said impatiently, his expression icy, "Get lost. Don't block my way."

Later, someone saw the usually unruly man pull her into his arms in the dark and coax her tenderly, over and over.

On the eve of Xia Xing's return home, the usually detached, nonchalant man lost control, stopping her and pinning her against a wall. "Can't you stay?"

-

When she met Duan Lingshan again, he was the all-powerful chief operating officer of a corporate group.

At a banquet, Duan Lingshan arrived in a sharp suit, refined and distinguished, only to see Xia Xing chatting and laughing with another man.

After the banquet, someone saw the chaste, refined man lose control for the first time. He picked up the struggling, kicking girl and stuffed her into a car. The easy conversation and polite distance of the past collapsed completely, and all his composure vanished.

-

After being kept offstage for years, Xia Xing, the goddess of classical dance, finally performed at a national theater. Her graceful figure and flowing robes made her look like a celestial being, leaving the audience in awe.

After the performance, the media unexpectedly caught the goddess holding her arms out to a man. "I'm tired."

The usually aloof man, who kept women at a distance, bent down and gathered Xia Xing into his arms, his voice indulgent. "Would you like me to carry you on my back or in my arms?"

Content warnings:

1. Happy ending

Both are each other's first love and have remained chaste

"Midsummer and a young man, forever blazing and fierce, never drawing to a close."

"Deep winter and midsummer are actually separated by only one autumn."

Synopsis for Wild Strawberries:

Roguish and wild x gentle and soft

Secret crush | Reunion after years apart

In their youth, the gulf between Xie Tingchuan and Yan Zhiyu was wider than heaven and earth.

One was like the sun, dazzling and blazing, carefree and unrestrained; the other was an inconspicuous wild strawberry growing in a corner, quiet and reserved, sensible and cool.

Yan Zhiyu had heard countless stories about Xie Tingchuan, from the scandalous rumors about his ever-changing string of flirtatious girlfriends to his glorious record of winning the championship year after year.

None of it could conceal the fact that she had fallen for him ten thousand times over.

A girl's secret crush was like a wild strawberry vine in a corner, quietly growing beneath the moon.

Later, at a gathering, a handwritten love letter from Yan Zhiyu, tucked inside her diary, was accidentally exposed to everyone.

Xie Tingchuan held the thin letter between his fingers. It fluttered down from his fingertips like a cicada's wing. The smile at the corner of his lips was carefree and roguish, wicked to the core. "Sorry, good student."

-

Years passed. Xie Tingchuan had long since reached the very top, beyond anyone's reach, admired by all.

They reunited at a dinner. Yan Zhiyu had been deliberately plied with several drinks by the investors. The man remained calm throughout, leaning lazily in his seat of honor as others bent over backward to offer him drinks.

As Yan Zhiyu excused herself to go to the restroom, the man lurking in the shadows forcefully pulled her into his arms.

Xie Tingchuan braced one hand beside her ear, blocking her way. The corner of his lips curled lazily. "You really don't recognize me anymore? Why don't you say hello?"

-

Later, through a series of twists of fate, they ran into each other again and again.

Yan Zhiyu couldn't avoid him. Her eyes red, she was locked inside a car and glared at the man before her in despair. "What are you doing, Mr. Xie?"

Xie Tingchuan's eyes were dark and deep. He wrapped one arm around her waist and drew her close, his voice falling beside her ear. "Didn't you write in your letter that you'd only ever love me?"

Reading guide:

1. Both are virgins and have only been with each other

2. Happy ending

Synopsis for Sakura Sugar:

The most outrageous thing Chu Ying had ever done was agree to a whirlwind marriage with a man she had never met.

At the time, Shi Yubai was the all-powerful chief operating officer of a business group, refined and distinguished, with an illustrious family background. Chu Ying was just an ordinary young woman fresh out of college, with no work experience whatsoever.

When they went to register their marriage, Chu Ying met Duan Lingshan once.

That day, rain poured down in sheets. The man looked detached, as if he were merely going through the motions. When it was over, he turned and got into his car, while his assistant held a black umbrella and closed the door for him.

The car sped away, splashing mud all over Chu Ying. She went home soaked and miserable.

It felt as if countless worlds lay between them.

-

Chu Ying hit a dead end when she went to take an employment exam, having been sabotaged behind the scenes.

The recent college graduate knew nothing about such things. Burning with indignation, she stormed into the company to confront the manager, only to walk in on Shi Yubai during an inspection. He mistook her for an ordinary subordinate trying to use connections to get into the company.

The man was calm and composed. He glanced at her coolly. "Junsheng has no need for people without ability."

-

Everyone in Beijing's elite circles knew that Shi Yubai was famous for keeping women at a distance, cold as water. He had married a young woman to fulfill his grandmother's wish.

Everyone around them assumed the girl would certainly suffer, doomed to a lifetime of loneliness, or that Third Master Shi would soon abandon her.

But after an auction, someone saw the man bend down and put the priceless pink crystal necklace he had won around the neck of the girl in his car.

Chu Ying sniffed and looked at the delicate crystal around her neck. "Was it expensive?"

The usually chaste and aloof Shi Yubai had such tenderness and indulgence in his eyes that it almost spilled over.

He leaned down and pointed to his lips, coaxing her. "If you like it,"

"then kiss me here."

Reading guide:

1. Marriage first, love later

2. Happy ending

Theme: Pursue your dreams