You, Whom I Love Most of All

[My new book, Old Lanes of a Small Town, is now available. Please add it to your collection!]

Sheng Chi and Chang Ning were next-door neighbors for seventeen years, and childhood sweethearts in everyone else's eyes.

Whenever they ran into other neighbors in the complex, those neighbors loved to tease them about the mischief they'd gotten up to as kids.

“But what I remember most clearly is the year Xiao Chi set off firecrackers and blew up the fish pond. The little fish went flying everywhere.”

Every time this came up, Sheng Chi would laugh awkwardly. No one knew that it was Chang Ning who'd set off the firecrackers that year.

So, later on, scenes like this happened all the time:

“Chang Ning, go buy some drinks today.”

“No.”

“Who took the blame for you when you were seven and said I blew up the fish pond?”

“Fine, fine, fine.”

“Chang Ning, can I come over to your place for dinner today?”

“No.”

“Who took the blame for you when you were seven...”

“Come on in.”

“Chang Ning, will you be my girlfriend?”

This time, Chang Ning didn't answer right away. She just stared at Sheng Chi.

He grew a little flustered under her gaze, then tried again. “If you don't want to, forget it. And I went and helped you out when we were kids...”

She cut him off with an angry shout before he could finish. “Is this any way to confess to someone?!

On New Year's Day, Chang Ning called Sheng Chi up to the rooftop.

On a night filled with darkness and howling wind, Chang Ning closed her eyes, clenched her fists, and made a heartfelt wish: “May the new year be better than the last, and may Sheng Chi come first in the exams!”

When asked why, she stammered and could only say, “Then Uncle and Auntie won't be so strict with you.”

Thankfully, it was dark. Sheng Chi's eyes were full of feelings he couldn't hide, but she couldn't see them.

After a moment of silence, Chang Ning urged Sheng Chi to make a wish too. The lighter's feeble glow shone between them, illuminating the girl's expectant eyes.

Sheng Chi gazed at her for a while, said nothing, and blew out the flame.

Chang Ning complained, “Hey, what did you wish for?”

Without looking at her, Sheng Chi said, “I'm not telling you.”

No one knew that the boy's earnest wish that night was to stay with the person before him forever.

The male lead has a secret crush on her; the female lead loves him without realizing it.

Sharp-tongued, doting childhood friend x clever, lively childhood sweetheart

Coming next:

Old Lanes of a Small Town

Blurb:

Song Qike first met Li Cheng in Qinghe Alley.

He was aloof and proud, as if he wanted to keep the whole world at arm's length.

But from that moment on, he entered her newly blended family with his godmother.

They were in the same class and lived under the same roof. They saw each other for more than half of every day, yet rarely spoke. Only when school let out in the evening could Song Qike see his shadow on the ground, its steps almost touching hers, then drifting apart again.

Later, hidden feelings took root in every passing encounter and every shared smile. They promised each other they would fly together beyond this low-hanging sky.

Then one day, Song Qike suddenly couldn't find Li Cheng. He had left.

When Li Cheng returned, he saw a girl in a white dress running toward him without hesitation.

She was the figure he'd longed for every day and night, the reason he would go on living for the rest of his life.

*

Song Qike

Her father’s surname is Song, and her mother’s is Qi. Ke refers to a beautiful white stone like jade.

But after her parents divorced, this beautiful stone of hers shattered along with their marriage.

Li Cheng

Cheng refers to the sound of jade striking jade.

In the end, Li Cheng picked up Song Qike's fragments and struck them into the most beautiful sound in the world.

“The alley may be dilapidated, but life shines bright.”

*

A story of healing

Leans toward realism

A sort-of second-chance romance

Happy ending

Theme: Even love surging in the dark longs to be seen