Stepping Into the Light

Reunion after years apart | Youthful campus life | Slow-burn romance | Mutual healing | Ensemble friendship

Blurb:

At the end of a summer in their second year of high school, the sky was blue and the wind was dry.

A genius student, Chen Shu, suddenly appeared in Zhang Qiqi's class. Like a pine or cypress, the boy strode straight into her heart.

In her naive youth, she had the courage and determination to charge into battle for love. No matter how sharp or inscrutable he was, she never wavered.

She truly thought they would be together forever. But later, she realized that her love could not be a kite string holding him back, nor a shackle around him. He deserved to be free.

And so, they parted for nine years.

-

Chen Shu, a top lawyer in Jingzhao City, is refined and handsome, reserved and distant. His life is always about work. He's a calm, dull man with no connection to romance, love, or hate.

Yet only his closest friends know that, for nine whole years, he searched again and again through the streets of Jingzhao City and abroad for his first love, the woman who had vanished without a trace.

Scene:

Nine years after their breakup, Zhang Qiqi was in trouble.

In her most helpless and disheveled moment, she looked up and saw Chen Shu, tall and upright, with his handsome face.

At the time, he was a young benefactor funding education and elder-care services in the town, with the town head smiling obsequiously beside him.

Compared to him, all Zhang Qiqi wanted to do was run.

When she became embroiled in a property inheritance dispute, Chen Shu stepped in to help.

But he said, "I'm helping you only because your grandmother once paid for my education. It has nothing to do with you."

Once the crisis was resolved and Chen Shu was about to leave, he asked, "Is there anything else you want to say to me?"

Zhang Qiqi lowered her eyes and said softly, "I'm... I'm sorry."

Chen Shu looked at her sharply, his face dark and his eyes cold.

"Sorry isn't enough. Zhang Qiqi, you'd have to suffer as much as I did for your apology to count."

Scene

Chen Shu brought Zhang Qiqi to his close friend's wedding.

When the bride tossed the bouquet, Zhang Qiqi reached out and snatched it.

At that moment, everyone gleefully looked toward Chen Shu, whose eyes were full of affection.

They all knew that no matter how many years passed, Chen Shu would marry Zhang Qiqi. He would have no one but her. She was his white moonlight and the cinnabar mark in his heart.

After nine years, their love finally stepped into the light.

Reading notes:

1. The high school arc takes up a large portion of the book, making up two-thirds of the story.

2. The school arc has a light ensemble-cast feel and focuses on everyday life.

Coming soon: Heart Skipping the Line

Blurb:

"Pseudo-siblings | Marriage first, love later" | Starts November 5

When Lin Xu was six, her father remarried, and she was about to move into the home of his new wife.

On the way there, Lin Xu saw her father, who had been exhausted and distracted by her illness, smiling with relief. She made up her mind.

Even if her father's new wife and that woman's son were as difficult to get along with as Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters, she would endure it. She was prepared to be mistreated.

But the moment the door opened, she saw Zhou Jiaxian, five years older than her. The boy was going through puberty, his voice hoarse and unpleasant, but his gaze was clear and gentle. "Uncle, is she my little sister from now on?"

Later, that boy perfectly embodied the role of an older brother. But she changed her mind. She didn't want to be just his little sister anymore.

*

Zhou Jiaxian never expected that the biggest fall of his life would come from Lin Xu, the little sister he had treasured and protected since childhood.

He was on his knees while his parents took turns beating him, and she sat on his bed hugging a quilt. Though she was the instigator, she acted every bit the victim.

His heart gradually turned cold. He spoke to her harshly. "You're underhanded and twisted. I don't have a sister like you."

Zhou Jiaxian got the reaction he wanted: her face suddenly went deathly pale. Later, under pressure from their parents, they got married.

After marriage:

"I'm the one who's underhanded and twisted. It's all me. Can I come into your room tonight?"

"Lin Xu, don't push it. I'm your husband, not your brother. You want me to play both roles? You're going to give me a split personality..."

Note: No romantic feelings are depicted while they are still legally related.

Theme: True love always involves responsibility and restraint.