Affogato

[Affogato]: A coffee drink made with espresso and ice cream.

Coffee is bitter yet piping hot, while ice cream is sweet yet cold.

Qian Lai, cool on the outside and warm within, vs. Chen Xi, growing wild and free

Working on an assembly line at an electronics factory, Chen Xi's heart is colder than a fishmonger's knife at a RT-Mart, until she meets Qian Lai, the aloof manager of a coffee shop.

Qian Lai shops at the supermarket, and Chen Xi works there as a promoter. Qian Lai orders takeout, and Chen Xi delivers it. Qian Lai books someone to come over and feed her dog, and Chen Xi is the pet sitter hired by the agency.

Chen Xi: This is fate bringing us together.

Qian Lai: You work so many jobs. I can't help but feel for you.

Qian Lai is independent, emotionally steady, elegant, and beautiful. In private, she's more fragile than the Princess and the Pea. To make sure no one gets the chance to hurt her, she turns down everyone's advances.

Chen Xi's sweet, innocent persona unexpectedly draws Qian Lai in. Like her name, Chen Xi is the warm light of dawn, the warmth Qian Lai has always been searching for.

To keep that warmth close, Qian Lai invites Chen Xi to live with her. Together, they watch the sunrise atop towering mountains and dusk by the vast sea. They share a fleeting kiss at the top of a Ferris wheel and flirt beneath a sky of fireworks.

At last, after learning that Chen Xi has also been secretly in love with her, Qian Lai takes the initiative and confesses. In the name of love, she keeps Chen Xi by her side forever.

Sweet and delicate on the outside, tough as a poplar within, Chen Xi rises from an assembly-line worker to a highly skilled engineer.

To cut costs, the manufacturing industry gradually moves its factories to Southeast Asia. Chen Xi becomes one of the technical specialists sent to help establish a new plant, but she doesn't want to leave Qian Lai.

Though Qian Lai is usually clingy, she supports Chen Xi going abroad on a business trip: "I want my little sun to shine even brighter."

But Qian Lai mistakes Chen Xi for the sun. Chen Xi is only a cool, distant moon, reflecting the light that comes from Qian Lai. When Qian Lai no longer shines, Chen Xi grows dim as well.

[Reader's Guide]

1. They heal each other. They meet when one is 16 and the other is 26.

2. Happy ending. A couple falling in love, plus a career storyline, mainly Chen Xi's.

3. Everything serves the plot. Please overlook any details that differ from reality~

My next work, Twenty-Twenty, Deep Love, is available in my author collection. The full manuscript is complete, so updates are guaranteed~

Theme: Hard work builds a strong nation