A Gale's Kiss, a Stab's Sting

★ (At first) A jaded, idle rich boy reduced to working at his own little inn to pay the electricity bill × an optimistic, open-hearted ray of sunshine | (Later) A top photographer × a laid-back, cheerful actress

Redemption | Reunion after years apart | The ex-wife chase from hell. Updates regularly at 9:10 p.m. every night!

1

The final rainstorm of summer's end came pouring down, and Lin Zhaozhao missed the last bus out of Yuncheng.

"Please, just let me stay one night. Anywhere is fine."

"Anywhere, huh? There's only one room left, and it's mine. You staying or not?" Liang Jingci leaned casually against the glass counter, a bottle of orange soda dangling from his hand, the corner of his mouth raised in careless amusement.

The man looked the pitiful girl clinging to his front desk up and down, his eyes full of teasing.

Lin Zhaozhao glanced at the sky outside, which looked as if it had sprung a leak. At last, she gritted her teeth and managed to force out a single word.

"Fine."

She hadn't expected the rain to keep up its revelry for three days and three nights.

2

Lin Zhaozhao never would have guessed that her nearly nonexistent follower count would suddenly skyrocket the moment Liang Jingci accidentally appeared on camera.

"Why don't you stop working so hard and just be mine? That face of yours is so useful!" She happily cradled her phone, watching her earnings shoot up.

"Seriously? First time I've met someone who wants to use me as a cash cow and has the hots for me, too." Liang Jingci pinned her in a corner of the sofa and kissed her without another word.

3

On the final day of her trip, Liang Jingci's friend dragged him out for a late-night drinking session.

"I hear your little girlfriend's leaving tomorrow. What are you going to do?"

"Who told you I have a girlfriend?" Liang Jingci half-closed his eyes, still looking as casual and irreverent as ever.

No one expected Lin Zhaozhao to be standing outside the door that day, too.

4

For Liang Jingci, reuniting with her wasn't something he could face with ease. It was, instead, a little humiliating.

His viewfinder couldn't hold her alone. With a cigarette clenched between his teeth, he took one set of couple-magazine cover photos after another of her and another man.

In the end, Liang Jingci couldn't hold back any longer. The storm on the beach echoed the feverish downpour from that year. His voice was hoarse as Lin Zhaozhao watched him shed every last trace of pride.

"Who told you you had a girlfriend?"

"I regret it, okay?"

5

The young woman didn't seem particularly capable, but she always stubbornly put herself between Liang Jingci and the world, picking up the tiny scraps of dignity he'd long since stopped caring about.

Then she gently brushed the dust of humiliation from his shoulder and told him:

"Don't be an idiot, Liang Jingci."

"Zhaozhao, those three days of torrential rain were a gift from heaven to me."

'At sunset, the sea embraces the mountains; fireworks rise toward the stars.'

#The time period, setting, and background are fictional

#One-on-one, both leads' first love

Blurb written on November 14, 2022

★ This story's companion novel, The Moon Is Nowhere to Be Found, is on my profile. Feel free to check it out and add it to your favorites!

A distant, aloof firefighter × a quirky social affairs reporter

|Second chances after a breakup|

★

Wen Xian thought she would never see Chen Xu again in her life.

He was like the waves at midsummer, barging recklessly into her life before sweeping away everything and quietly disappearing.

And then, like the rising water after a glacier melts, he returned, covered in wounds, and stood beneath that brilliant sunshine from years ago.

"Wen Xian, how about we start over?"

★

Wen Xian's first meeting with Chen Xu wasn't the least bit romantic. In fact, it was downright embarrassing.

She was standing beneath the huge camphor tree in the fire station courtyard, staring into space with an iron railing stuck around her neck. When she looked up, she saw Chen Xu coming out with a toolbox.

Unlike everyone else, who first gathered around to laugh at her, he stood tall and composed, as if nothing in the world was worth caring about or missing.

He raised his hand and brought the tool down. The iron railing snapped, the cut made with astonishing precision.

Wen Xian hunched her shoulders and swallowed. At a wildly inappropriate moment, she blurted out, "Thanks. You're really handsome."

Chen Xu: ...

★

Wen Xian was just like her name: so idle she was practically going stir-crazy. This month alone, she'd ended up at the fire station more than ten times after getting stuck in all sorts of bizarre objects.

Chen Xu wasn't there every time, but whenever he was, Wen Xian had somehow managed to get herself stuck in the most ridiculous thing imaginable.

This time, it was a ring.

He pursed his lips, watching the young woman cry her heart out in front of him as she sobbed out her complaints about her scumbag ex-boyfriend.

Click!

The hydraulic cutters clamped down on the ring. He didn't hesitate for a second, and even the cut surfaces were shattered to pieces.

There was no putting it back together.

He said, "If it's over, it's over. Don't be so spineless."

The people nearby huddled together, laughing. "Brother Xu, you know what they say: it's better to tear down ten temples than break up one marriage. Doesn't it feel like a waste for the class valedictorian to come work a job like this?"

"It does. Make each of you run thirty laps around the courtyard, and then I won't feel that way anymore."

Everyone: ...All right, let's get out of here.

★

Chen Xu was like a block of ice that couldn't be warmed, but Wen Xian never seemed to mind. In fact, she'd even written the idea of barging into Chen Xu's life into her life plan.

She even imitated those hot-blooded college students and arranged red candles in a heart outside the fire station.

"I said you were the one who cut me free from my last relationship. How about you put a ring on me next time?"

Sss!

All ninety-nine candles went out.

"You've got some nerve, lighting an open flame right in front of the fire station."

Holding a watering can, Chen Xu looked rather helpless. He gripped the girl's chin and kissed her fiercely.

"Fine. I agree."

Theme: Love life.