Melting the Moon

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Su Qingyao thought she and Lou Qi would never have anything to do with each other.

He was a beloved prodigy, while she was an insignificant nobody, low as dust.

There was never any shortage of girls around him. All she could do was watch him from a corner.

By chance, when they were alone, the two of them sat side by side and read.

He called her Little Cicada and gave her a book of poetry.

She thought it meant he cared.

Until one day, Su Qingyao overheard him denying it to a friend: "I don't know her. How could I possibly be interested in her?"

Their connection became a secret too painful to speak of.

Later, Su Qingyao ran away.

The autumn heat came on fiercely. It hadn't rained for a week, the sun blazed overhead, and cicadas sang out the last days of summer.

Lou Qi carried a cake to her house and knocked on the door. He kept knocking until the cake had melted into a puddle, but the door never opened.

Only then did he understand that what he'd lost was a secret treasure from his youth.

-

A dust storm swept across the Gobi.

Su Qingyao and Lou Qi reunited beside the highway.

She and her colleagues got out to help, and she unexpectedly fell into his line of sight.

She pretended not to know him, but he grabbed her hand.

His fingers tightened until they turned pale, clasped firmly around hers.

When she turned back, his eyes were already red, and his voice trembled as he called her, "Little Cicada."

He pursued her relentlessly, leaving her with nowhere to run.

Su Qingyao asked him why.

He laughed at himself. "I was an idiot back then."

"Now I want to get to know you again, with a new identity."

-

Later, from a plane, she saw little patches of green scattered across a vast, barren landscape.

Leaning against the window, she heard the man laugh softly in her ear. "Look. One day, even the desert will feel the spring breeze."

"Your wish will come true."

She knew that he alone would always believe in her ideals.

[Beloved Prodigy X Insecure and Sensitive]

[Secret Crush / Reconciliation After a Breakup / Power and Electrical Engineer X Desert Soil Researcher]

This is a story about love and ideals.

Ideals have no rank or value. Whether or not others understand them, the effort we make is what matters most.

May everyone with a dream see it come true.

Those who have flowers do not need gods., Fernando Pessoa

Weibo: @Chun Man Chizi

Blurb written on October 20, 2022

-

[Next up: Reluctant]

Meng Chuchu has been single for 22 years. She's timid and cautious, and has always worked hard at her studies. But on the first snowy day of her senior year, an accident led a stranger to propose to her.

Along with the proposal came a one-year marriage contract.

Her groom was Qin Zhi, a business tycoon in Jiang City and the powerful heir to a prominent family, a famously refined young gentleman.

Meng Chuchu, on the other hand, was a fresh college graduate who couldn't find a job after sending out more than a dozen resumes.

She'd never dared to imagine that one day she would live under the same roof as Qin Zhi, a shining prodigy beyond her reach.

So Meng Chuchu was constantly on edge.

During their first year of marriage, she and Qin Zhi only saw each other during the day. They never crossed paths at night and never got within half a meter of each other.

When the first snow fell the following year, they signed the agreement and went their separate ways.

They met again on another snowy day. Meng Chuchu followed the audit team into the conference room, and they looked at each other in silence across a mountain of financial statements and vouchers.

Meng Chuchu looked away first.

Late that night, Meng Chuchu was alone in a temporary office organizing her working papers when someone knocked on the door.

Qin Zhi wore the same seemingly gentle smile as always. His dark eyes fixed on her. "Being left out and working overtime alone?"

Meng Chuchu explained, "Your accounts are a mess. I suggest you hire a new accountant."

She paused, then added, "I want to finish early and go home for the New Year."

"Why are you in such a hurry to get home?" Qin Zhi asked, his dark eyes fixed on her.

"To go on a blind date."

Qin Zhi gave a low laugh. "Forget the blind date. How about we get married again?"

-

Qin Zhi had been in poor health for years, yet unexpectedly got married. Everyone thought he'd found true love.

But no one ever saw him attend an event with his new wife. He never showed off their relationship, and they were divorced after just one year.

Later, his health gradually improved. Even though beautiful women were always throwing themselves at him, he remained the same smiling, devilish man, never staying for anyone.

Years later, he married again. People thought this marriage might not last a year either.

But after that, he stopped showing up at drinking parties and dinners. Even his friends couldn't get him to come out.

One friend went to his house to look for him, only to find Qin Zhi's familiar ex-wife opening the door.

Wearing a loose bathrobe, Qin Zhi pulled her into his arms. As he closed the door, he replied, "I'm not going. I have to help my wife organize her working papers."

[Married First, Love Later / Marriage of Convenience / Slow Burn / Sweet Romance]

[The male lead falls first and pursues the female lead.]

[Refined, elegant, scheming male lead X Gentle, hardworking sweetheart / Rising tech tycoon X Auditor]

-I was only able to be free because you couldn't bear to let me go.

Theme: May the desert have a spring breeze every year.