It's Not Too Late

[Cool, aloof, refined male doctor x warm, cheerful dance teacher | Reunited after a breakup]

Zhao Wanqiao first met Lin Yi on a scorching afternoon. The young man was playing basketball on the court in a white shirt, sunlight spilling over him as if he were glowing.

During the break, she hurried over to Lin Yi with a bottle of mineral water and said softly, "Here, this is for you."

But Lin Yi only gave her a cold glance, walked right past her, and didn't take the bottle.

Zhao Wanqiao wasn't discouraged by his coldness. She'd had her eye on the handsome star of the medical department for a long time, and secretly resolved that no matter how aloof Lin Yi was, she would make him hers.

From that day on, rain or shine, Zhao Wanqiao showed up right on time to bring him water. Every time, Lin Yi greeted her with the same sour expression, but she persisted without hesitation. After Zhao Wanqiao's fifty-fifth attempt to bring him water, Lin Yi finally agreed to be with her.

Lin Yi, cool and noble, adored by everyone, and Zhao Wanqiao, fair-skinned, beautiful, and sweet, became a celebrated couple on campus. Everyone thought their relationship was stable enough to take them all the way to marriage, but then Zhao Wanqiao suddenly left without a word. No one knew why. All they knew was that from that day on, Lin Yi stood in the stairwell every day, with a pile of crushed cigarette butts at his feet.

They met again for the first time at a bar. The moment Zhao Wanqiao saw Lin Yi, she wanted to run, but the man merely glanced at her indifferently, as if they had never known each other.

Zhao Wanqiao lowered her head and walked past him. The youthful brightness she had shown when they first met was gone, leaving only the loneliness she kept buried in her heart.

Let's just pretend we don't know each other. That's for the best.

But for several days afterward, Lin Yi kept showing up at the bar, downing glass after glass of hard liquor until he was dead drunk. His friend couldn't stand watching him anymore and called Zhao Wanqiao.

She rushed to the bar and grabbed his arm, quietly urging him, "You have to stop drinking."

But Lin Yi suddenly looked up and pinched her face with one hand, the corners of his eyes red. "Zhao Wanqiao, are you playing me?"

Zhao Wanqiao stared at him, startled, but still slowly shook her head.

Their youthful love could only be buried in their hearts. Zhao Wanqiao didn't want to look back on the past. She only wanted to escape the swamp of memories.

But someone refused to let her go. He cornered her in a dark alley, the dim light falling across his face and revealing only his cold indifference.

Lin Yi gripped her wrist until it reddened, his voice low and angry. "Zhao Wanqiao, you're trying to run away again! You'll spend the rest of your life making up for what you owe me!"

[On that sun-drenched afternoon, I was dazzled when I first saw you. Ever since, no one has ever been like you.]

Highlights:

Reunited after a breakup

Both leads are each other's only partners, first love, happy ending

Bittersweet and sweet

Coming soon: Tonight, the Moon Is Full

Foster-care romance / age gap / powerful man bows to love / pseudo uncle and niece

Possessive, scheming, steady, fatherly man x pure-hearted, kind, sweet girl

Duan Yueman lost her last remaining family member overnight. As she knelt before the coffin, sobbing in silence, she looked up and saw a pair of black leather shoes standing before her.

Meeting those deep-set eyes through her tears, she called out in a hoarse, trembling whisper, "Uncle?"

Her mother had remarried years ago, and her father was an adopted son of the Duan family who was never taken seriously. On the day he died in a car accident, there was no one else mourning at the funeral besides her.

Those people arrived late. They didn't come to pay their respects. They came to discuss what to do with Duan Yueman, the burden they'd been left with.

The snowy winter was bitterly cold, but no chill could compare to the coldness in her heart.

Then the uncle she had only met a few times stood before her. His low voice sounded almost heartless, but he declared firmly to everyone, "I'll raise Duan Yueman."

Everyone fell silent, and Duan Yueman went home with him.

She had rarely seen this uncle, and had only heard a few things about him from her father. He was young and successful, skilled at getting what he wanted, and cold-hearted. It was best not to cross him.

She walked on eggshells, afraid that she might anger him and get thrown out. She became a little shadow, following Duan Yao everywhere, and gradually grew deeply dependent on him.

Then, on her eighteenth birthday, Duan Yao gave her the first pair of high heels she'd ever owned, and she began to feel something more for him.

With her still-uncertain feelings in her heart, she confessed to him on a dark, snowy night.

But Duan Yao only gave her a cold look. His words struck her heart like melting snow. "Leave my house. Don't let me see you again."

Duan Yueman had been abandoned once more. She was forced to bury her feelings deep inside and study hard, hoping only to get through her four years at university in peace.

But it seemed she was seeing her uncle more and more often.

He traveled a great distance to her university just to have a meal with her. On stormy nights, he would suddenly appear outside her dorm. He even took her along on his work trips...

Duan Yueman kept his words from that night in mind. She maintained their relationship as it was, treating him only as her respected uncle.

Until the day they went camping in the mountains. That morning, she received a confession from a male classmate on WeChat.

That night, someone suddenly opened her tent. She stared in alarm at the man before her, visibly drunk. The look in his eyes was unlike anything she'd ever seen.

She held her breath and nervously clutched her blanket, scooting back several inches. Trembling, she looked at Duan Yao and called out anxiously, "Uncle?"

Duan Yao suddenly came forward and pinned her beneath him. His fingers traced her cheek, making her breath catch. His warm breath made her earlobes flush uncontrollably.

The wind howled through the mountains, sharp and terrifying. He lifted a hand to grip her chin and whispered gently in her ear, "Little niece, you can only ever love me."

[The moon waxes and wanes. Even a full moon only appears a few times a year. I only hope that no matter what the future holds, you can find your own sense of fulfillment.]

Highlights:

Pseudo uncle and niece, with no blood relation whatsoever.

Eight-year age gap

Theme: Face life with optimism and positivity