You Call That Devotion

A cold, abstinent jerk x a strong yet sensitive girl / amnesia / rekindled love / the man chases his wife into the crematorium

Blurb:

When they were young, everyone knew Shen Mian was pursuing Gu Tingyu.

But hardly anyone thought they stood a chance. For a while, it was little more than a trivial joke.

Shen Mian was gentle-tempered and came from a poor family. The only thing she had going for her was her face, but beauty was hardly rare. Besides, Gu Tingyu, heir to the Gu family, was handsome and refined, aloof and self-possessed. Countless pretty girls at school admired him.

A winter night at the basketball court. The young man didn't even look at the scarf she'd knitted. His dark lashes couldn't hide his cold weariness. "Stop clinging to me."

Shen Mian should have listened, but she didn't want to give up just like that. She was hopelessly in love with him, mired in it so deeply she couldn't even understand where her stubborn devotion came from.

At last, one day, a ray of light appeared.

Gu Tingyu became her boyfriend, and after graduation they moved in together as a matter of course. From strangers who barely spoke to lovers who couldn't keep their hands off each other, Shen Mian seemed to have gotten everything she wished for.

But deep down, she knew what Gu Tingyu was like when he truly loved someone. Just hearing that person's name could leave him lost in thought. If they fell ill, he would fly back to them no matter what. He wouldn't be so composed, so used to controlling everything. He would be careful and treat them with tenderness.

Later, on a quiet night, the car was stiflingly enclosed.

Shen Mian's face was deathly pale. Her breathing gradually slowed, but she still forced a smile. "Is being with me pretty boring?"

Gu Tingyu rolled down the window. A cool breeze drifted in, but he remained unmoved.

"That's enough, Mianmian."

In an instant, Shen Mian bit her lip and silently blinked back tears.

*

Later, Shen Mian had an accident and temporarily lost her memory.

They met again in a hospital washed in cold white light. The man wore a medical mask, his nose bridge high, his dark eyes suppressing emotions she couldn't place. He leaned over and gripped her hand, his voice hoarse in a way she'd never heard before. "Mianmian, I'm sorry. I'm late."

Shen Mian knitted her brows in bewilderment and coolly, warily pulled her hand away.

"Sir, please behave yourself."

Her friends told her she remembered everything, except for one person.

She thought that if that was the case, then she might as well forget him. It seemed like the best possible outcome for everyone.

But later, at a party, the man pulled her away from her male companion in front of everyone. When she couldn't break free, he pinned her in a cramped corner, her chest heaving. "What are you doing?"

Gu Tingyu lowered his eyes, his reason gone. He bit fiercely at her lips, his voice hoarse. "My girlfriend is going to dance with someone else. What do you think I should do?"

Shen Mian used every last bit of her strength to shove him away.

But after only a few steps, he wrapped his arms tightly around her from behind. His eyes held an anguish and struggle she couldn't see, and he begged in a low voice, "Mianmian, don't go. I miss you so much."

"I'm the one who can't live without you."

You thought it was devotion, a love that would never waver.

Reading notes:

1. Both leads are each other's first love, and neither has been in a relationship before. The story will explain and clarify that the male lead never had an ex-girlfriend.

2. Contemporary urban setting, not a school story. Flashbacks are interspersed early on; the male lead chases his wife into the crematorium.

3. Neither lead is perfect. The writing is angsty, overwrought, and melodramatic.

4. Rekindled love, same male lead, and a happy ending is guaranteed.

5. The female lead is prone to emotional overthinking early on. Later, she has her own character-growth arc.

6. I rarely check comments while serializing, so please excuse me if I don't respond promptly.

Please add my upcoming story to your reading list! Childhood friends + the male lead chases his wife into the crematorium

Blurb:

Childhood friends / gifted, privileged man x resilient, clear-headed woman / mutual pining comes true / the man chases his wife into the crematorium

Blurb:

Jian Jia watched three sunsets with Zhou Yan.

There was nothing romantic or alluring about them. She just happened to be there.

She was the daughter of one of his father's friends, and his childhood friend.

At a gathering with friends, during a game,

Zhou Yan leaned back in his chair, eyelids drooping lazily as he said offhandedly, "We're so close that I could never have any feelings for her."

Amid the crowd's rowdy laughter, delighted to see drama unfold, Jian Jia curled her lips into a smile. "What a coincidence. Neither could I."

But when she lowered her head to drink, her eyes reddened in secret.

The third sunset.

She stood still without a word, the evening breeze brushing her face as she watched his tall figure recede into the distance. Her years of unrequited love drifted away with the wind. It had begun in quiet loneliness, and now, unseen by anyone, it came to a complete end.

Letting go and finding peace can happen in an instant.

Later, Jian Jia prepared to leave Beicheng, with no fixed return date.

Zhou Yan rushed over when he heard the news. "Jiajia, can't you stay?"

Jian Jia calmly shook her head and smiled at him. "Goodbye, Zhou Yan."

-

Zhou Yan came from a wealthy family. He was privileged and carefree, and having seen his fill of dull romances, he held love in contempt.

When they were children, a friend once teased him, "You always order Jian Jia around. Aren't you afraid she'll hate you and stop playing with you?"

Back then, he propped his chin on his hand, unconcerned.

"She won't hate me, and she'll never leave me."

Until, one day

Reality gave him a brutal slap in the face.

Jian Jia left for good and never looked back.

Only after it was too late did he realize his feelings and pour his whole heart into trying to win her back. But she only stood behind an umbrella, gazing at him through the curtain of rain.

"Go home, Zhou Yan. I don't like you."

Her voice was calm, blending coldly into the patter of rain by his ear, like a gentle knife. "We're the kind of people who could never have feelings for each other."

/ "You loved me deeply, but your love came at the wrong time."

-

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