Begonia by the Returning Tide

My other novel, "In the Cold Mountains," is now available! Please add "Don't Fall for Me" and "Replica Butterfly" to your collections too, OvO~

---- Blurb for "Begonia Across the Tides" ----

★ Love at first sight / Mutual pining / Reunion after years apart

Everyone has to cross a river at least once in their life.

In countless dreams, she stands in water up to her knees, her feet sinking deep into the mud. With her back to the person on the shore, she cries, "Don't come over here."

But he says, "Yu Cheng, turn around."

On the night of her eighteenth birthday, Yu Cheng receives a floppy-eared rabbit keychain.

She slips the ordinary keychain under her pillow, tucks it into a compartment in her schoolbag, and packs it in her luggage for Lin'an.

Years later, beneath the green mountains atop Mount Tai, the man before her takes a plain silver band from it.

So that muffled bell had rung all those years ago because a boy was praying in the dead of night for his wish to come true.

At a press conference announcing the research results, reporters press Yue Qian: "Mr. Yue, would you say your collaboration with the Jiutian Research Institute has been mutually beneficial?"

Under the glare of countless flashes, the man, usually so stern at important events, suddenly softens. Smiling, he glances toward a corner some distance away.

His voice is clear and gentle. "Of course. It's because of this collaboration that she has returned to my side."

At the same time, two posts appear on the verified Weibo account of the Shengnan Group's president.

"She is not a mysterious woman, a nightlife beauty, or a secret lover who can only be described with suggestive euphemisms.

She is one of the lead researchers on this new energy project, and the finest researcher in my eyes: Yu Cheng."

"Before the Xifu begonias bloom, the garden welcomes its true owner."

The second post also includes a screen recording.

The video shows a plain black profile picture on WeChat being saved. Then the user returns to the home screen and opens the photo album.

As the image settings are adjusted, the real picture gradually comes into view.

Pale golden sunlight falls across a basketball court in early autumn, and a gentle breeze blows.

A boy stands there, quietly watching a girl walk away.

It is their first photo together.

[He loved her in silence for twelve years.]

[Reader's Guide]

1. Half school life, half city life; a reunion after years apart. I personally don't think it's overly dramatic.

2. Both leads are each other's first and endgame; they are the same age, with the male lead six months older.

3. A healing story: the male lead saves the female lead.

4. Before they parted, both hesitated and waited for the other to speak first. After they reunite, the male lead is proud but direct, while the female lead uses a few little tricks in love, all in an effort to make up.

5. The female lead's personality varies a little depending on who she's with.

6. The few terms and facts mentioned are all taken from textbooks, books, or Baidu Baike.

7. The author is on Weibo under the same name: @Dong Yi Ye.

---- Blurb for "In the Cold Mountains" ----

■ A dazzling, bold orphan from a mountain city × a powerful Beijing big shot

■ Love at first sight | Marriage first, love after | Long-planned pursuit | Interest above all

"1"

Mai Sui first meets Xie Fengsheng in a remote, underdeveloped mountain city.

Before then, she had never truly seen the difference between heaven and earth.

He stands there, eyes lowered in careless amusement as he toys with a folding knife. He seems utterly untouchable.

If she wants to leave the mountains, she has to seize every opportunity she can use.

A roof collapsing in a rainstorm, a conveniently timed bout of feigned illness...

Just as the visitors from far away are about to head back, Xie Fengsheng says exactly what she wants to hear: "Mai Sui, come with me."

Their relationship is a trade of mutual interests.

They come together for profit and part when the profit is gone. Perhaps that would have been the best ending.

But after the play "Thunderstorm" ends that night, Mai Sui turns her back to him and feels only how fierce the storm is.

They meet again on the eve of her twenty-sixth birthday. A Maybach with a familiar license plate pulls up in front of a flower shop.

A few sunflowers blooming in the depths of winter are handed to her, along with a confidential agreement.

He says, "Mai Sui, marry me."

She agrees.

"2"

As head of the Xie family, Xie Fengsheng is disciplined and courteous, with a ruthless way of doing things. He wears a benevolent expression in public and in private; no one has ever seen him abandon his principles.

Until one day, Xie Fengsheng sits across from his friend Cen Huisong, his face calm as he says something astonishing: "Draw up the prenuptial agreement as we just discussed. The sooner the better. I need it urgently."

Cen Huisong taps the table with a bent finger. "As your friend and your lawyer, I have to remind you: once you sign this agreement, if you two fall out and end up in court, no one will be confident they can win the case for you."

Xie Fengsheng suddenly smiles. "That won't happen. I'm giving it to her willingly."

"3"

After they marry, Mai Sui diligently plays the role of the perfect trophy wife. She doesn't ask about his schedule or talk about their feelings.

Until one night, with rain pouring down, she is hospitalized for acute gastritis, and Xie Fengsheng drives back from a neighboring city.

She asks in surprise, "How did you know I was here?"

Xie Fengsheng asks in return, "Why didn't you call me?"

Mai Sui falls silent for a long while, then lowers her eyes and murmurs, "Aren't we in a contract marriage?"

"At three thirty in the morning, you noticed my WeChat step count had jumped by two thousand five hundred.

We never say 'I love you.' We only draw closer and hold each other in the dark."

"4"

Later, on the second-floor garden terrace of a villa outside Beijing,

Mai Sui leans against the wall and looks up at the man standing before her. "I learned a line in German. I want to say it to you."

When she stalls and says she can't remember it, Xie Fengsheng smiles at her, love surging in his deep eyes. "I'm not in a hurry. Take your time."

Only when she hears the long, distant bells of Hanshan Temple does Mai Sui gaze into his eyes.

"Alles gute zum geburtstag, mein messias."

Happy birthday, my savior.

Core theme: Dreams come true, and wishes are fulfilled.