A Breeze Blows By

[My next novel, Willing to Take the Bait, is updating now. Feel free to add it to your collection!]

Blurb:

Everyone in their circle knew that the young master of the Zhu family was famous for his terrible temper and his lack of seriousness.

Zhu He never expected that the day after returning home from college, his grandfather would drag him to an exhibition.

The exhibition was being held in a private garden, apparently put on by one of his grandfather's friends.

Mountain ranges layered upon mountain ranges, a masterpiece of craftsmanship, so lifelike they seemed real.

But if he wasn't interested, he wasn't interested.

After just a few minutes, Zhu He made up an excuse and slipped out of the exhibition hall.

"What's so interesting about these rotten pieces of wood? This garden is much more worth exploring."

He looked up at the tree in the courtyard and casually pulled a half-pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

Just as he put a cigarette between his lips, he heard a cool female voice behind him: "No smoking here."

Zhu He's hand shook as he tried to light it.

It didn't catch...

He turned around irritably. "What business is it of..."

The profanity he was about to let fly died on his lips.

"And these aren't rotten pieces of wood."

After saying that, she walked straight past Zhu He without sparing him another glance.

A gust of wind blew, scattering wisteria blossoms and enveloping her slender figure.

He blankly raised his left hand and pressed down...

"Ow!"

The lighter flew away and shattered into pieces.

Looks like he really wasn't going to get to smoke that cigarette...

Bonus scene:

At Zhu He's first gathering with his friends after they started dating, Heng Yi successfully became everyone's sounding board.

Everyone wanted to come over and complain.

"Zhu He has had a terrible temper since he was little!"

"You have no idea, he's famous for his bad temper..."

"Whenever someone's kid won't behave, just saying Zhu He is coming always works!"

Heng Yi turned to look at Zhu He, who was holding her hand and playing with it intently. She smiled faintly. "Really? He's very well-behaved."

Everyone: ??? Let's pretend I never said anything...

Blurb tentative (2023.2.2)

Young master of a wealthy family X inheritor of woodcarving traditions

-- Snow Falls on the Grasslands Tonight --

Gu Ruyi was born in the south and grew up in the south, but her life had never been as smooth as her name suggested.

After her fifth failed suicide attempt, she decided to quit her job and go see the world.

She'd heard that the grasslands stretched as far as the eye could see, and the clouds overhead looked like three-dimensional cotton candy, a sight never seen in her little southern city.

She left on a whim, quit her job, and set off with what little savings she had, but overlooked one crucial detail: it was winter.

In winter, the grasslands had no endless fields of green, only dark clouds weighing overhead.

There wasn't a single home for dozens of miles.

Snow began to fall. The wind cut her face like a knife. Gu Ruyi wrapped her coat tightly around herself and struggled onward.

The snow quickly rose above her ankles, and Gu Ruyi was about to lose all feeling in her limbs. She sank to the ground and looked up at the oppressive sky, thinking that dying here might not be so bad. At least she'd feed the eagles and do some good.

In a daze, she saw someone riding toward her from afar. In heavily accented Mandarin, he held out a hand. "Come to my home."

The liquor on the grasslands was exceptionally strong, and so were the people.

After six months, Gu Ruyi had grown darker and fatter, and her wallet had grown thinner. She packed her things, ready to hurry back and find a job.

On the night before she left, the two of them sat side by side beneath a sky full of stars. After a long silence, the man spoke in that same heavily accented Mandarin, his voice hoarse. "Will you come back?"

-- Please add my campus romance about a secret crush, A Bird on a Lonely Island, to your collection! --

1. When Song Yu was in her second year of high school, it was the liveliest year this seaside town had ever seen.

A transfer student joined her class. She swore she'd never seen anyone so beautiful.

Even years later, she would often think of him.

That summer, Song Yu's favorite thing was sitting on a rock by the sea at dusk and listening to him sing.

Whenever the bright and cheerful girl sensed his sadness, she would pull him into a wild dash along the shore, chattering excitedly about her dreams.

2. The year Yu Xiao was in his second year of high school was the only happy time of his life. Back then, his name was Lu Siyuan.

That enchanting girl, as lovely as a fairy,

would pull him into carefree runs along the beach, take him tide-pooling before dawn, and tell him that the sea was the closest place to heaven.

He thought their parting would last forever, never realizing that some things had long been fated in secret.

When they met again, he vowed he would never let her go this time.

Reunited after years apart, companionship is where love begins

A sweet story of healing

Theme: Cultural heritage