Taiyuan Street

[The print edition with the same title is now available, including a new bonus story. On sale across major platforms.]

Blurb:

Wen Jingyu has many words to describe Liang Xiaohan.

A carefree, unrestrained playboy who answers to no one.

They had crossed so many boundaries since high school that their relationship had long gone beyond friendship. Yet somehow, they were always one step short of becoming lovers.

He never said anything, so she pretended not to notice.

At a dinner party, people teased Liang Xiaohan about his wild exploits, and everyone laughed until they were bent over. Only Wen Jingyu sat quietly to one side.

Liang Xiaohan put an arm around her shoulders and laughingly scolded the person who’d run their mouth. “She’s the only close friend I have. If you scare her off, are you going to make it up to me?”

His closest friend. That was how he defined her.

Until one day, Wen Jingyu finally saw things clearly. She decided she didn’t even want the title of friend anymore.

At last, Liang Xiaohan panicked.

The young master Liang, who had never lowered his head, choked up on the phone. “Wenwen, come back. Let’s start over.”

-

Wen Jingyu went to Hong Kong, a city with no Liang Xiaohan and nothing to do with him.

There, she met Zhou Rongye.

Wen Jingyu remembered him. At that silent dinner party, he had sat across from her, mysterious and distinguished, someone everyone treated with deference.

She had left halfway through the meal, thinking she would be left to face the torrential rain and her misery alone. In the end, it was Zhou Rongye who took her home.

In the back of the Bentley, Wen Jingyu focused quietly on wiping the water off her instrument case, unaware of the meaningful look in the young man’s eyes.

“You play the viola.”

He wasn’t asking. He was stating a fact.

Wen Jingyu looked up at him in surprise. “How did you know?”

Because she never said so, people always assumed she played the violin.

It was only one-seventh larger. Who would notice?

Zhou Rongye only smiled and said nothing.

Much later, in an apartment at No. 33 Taiyuan Street in Hong Kong, Wen Jingyu found a note Zhou Rongye had left for her.

“Just turn around, and you’ll see me.”

“Somewhere on the other side of the sky, someone is waiting for you, too.”, Eason Chan, “When the Grapes Are Ripe”

Reader’s guide:

* The second male lead takes the lead; Zhou Rongye is the real male lead.

* Cool, reserved viola player x mysterious Hong Kong tycoon. The heroine is younger; they have a three-year age gap. He has a secret crush on her. Both are each other’s first, happy ending.

* A groveling chase that comes too late, a long-planned romance, secret love made real.

* All characters and the setting are fictional, with no real-life inspirations. Please don’t read real people into them.

* The characters’ values do not necessarily represent the author’s.

P.S. Taiyuan Street is actually called Tai Yuen Street in Hong Kong. Since it shares its name with streets in other cities, the novel uses the old name, Taiyuan.

Blurb posted on December 14, 2022 (screenshot saved).

Coming soon: More Than Just Romance. Blurb:

Xu Shufan made two decisions that were hard for outsiders to understand.

She took in her late friend’s daughter and resigned from the best top-tier public hospital in the city.

Life went on as usual, and Xu Shufan transitioned smoothly to her new job.

The private hospital she joined was grand and luxurious. Even the air conditioning in the interview room seemed to be running without regard for the cost.

Xu Shufan answered every question carefully, but the man sitting across from her tapped his fountain pen on the table and asked in a suggestive tone, “Unmarried, with a child?”

Jiang Yicheng’s probing gaze seemed to see right through Xu Shufan. She was confused.

“May I ask what this has to do with my job?”

They were strangers, with no history or ill will between them. Xu Shufan simply assumed that this major behind-the-scenes investor in the hospital was picking a fight out of boredom.

Until she accidentally heard what Jiang Yicheng thought of her.

One word: fake.

-

Jiang Yicheng had never cared much about marriage or starting a family.

It took every trick in the book for Madam Jiang, desperate for grandchildren, to get her son to add a matchmaking prospect on WeChat.

The woman said her surname was Xu. She had graduated from a prestigious university and was a dentist. After a brief encounter, Jiang Yicheng quickly reached a conclusion.

A pretty face, but nothing between the ears: a bona fide “vase.”

But Jiang Yicheng hadn’t expected the “vase” he looked down on to become the hospital’s shining star, all while acting as if they’d never met, a startling contrast to her warm manner on WeChat.

Most outrageous of all, she had a child.

“Mr. Jiang, we haven’t met before, have we?”

“Are you sure?”

“Do you have a problem with me?”

He didn’t just have a problem with her. He was becoming interested in her.

-

One late night, just as the man’s shadow fell over her, Xu Shufan slapped him without hesitation.

“Fake.”

“Mm. I am.”

Theme: Love yourself before you love someone else.