No Snow in Harbor City

[New story in the Beijing elite circle, Floating Light in a Beijing Summer [Marriage Before Love], now underway. The ambitious, icy power broker x the gentle, clear-eyed student. Come give it a try!]

[Blunt, sweet, naturally flirtatious venture-capital princess x Refined, aloof, possessive Hong Kong financial magnate]

Bei Yi is a finance student at Peking University who became famous after appearing on a workplace reality show. Uninterested in the entertainment industry, she only hopes to land a full-time job at LE Capital, the prestigious venture capital firm sponsoring the show.

Li Chu is the newly appointed head of the powerful Li family, the most prominent clan in Hong Kong. Low-key in manner but formidable in his methods, he oversees many companies, of which LE Capital is just one.

No one expected the young intern and the major shareholder to cross paths.

Until a photograph made the rounds...

On a London street at sunset, a girl in a pleated skirt and princess hairstyle held an ice cream with its tip bitten off. Her clear, innocent doe eyes gazed up at a tall man in an expensive, crisply tailored trench coat. His broad hand held the back of her neck as he bent his head to kiss her in the golden light.

Hong Kong tabloids swarmed: "Hot public kiss! The Li family head's girlfriend revealed! She's just a little girl!"

Chinese netizens were stunned:

"Those legs and that profile look just like Princess Beibei... Is this what I think it is?"

"As a fan, let me say, the princess really was in London around then..."

#Bei Yi Li Chu# trends explosively!

*

Bei Yi first met Li Chu at a political and business summit. Working as a hostess, she watched him stride toward her through the crowd, bathed in light. Beneath the dazzling ceiling lights, his handsome features were striking, his natural air of nobility setting him apart like a god descended from the heavens. For the first time, she heard her own heart beat out of control.

But he was like the moon in the sky, beyond her reach.

Until her engagement became a trending topic. Under the dim corridor lights, Bei Yi realized the man was leaning against the white wall outside her door. Dust marked the creases of his sharply tailored suit, and his cold, solemn eyes betrayed a trace of obsessive despair.

"What's going on with the trending topic?"

His deep voice grew hoarser. "Didn't you say you liked me?"

The bright moon descended outside her window, hoping she would look its way.

*

Li Chu first met Bei Yi many years ago at the Bei family estate. A little girl in a princess dress blocked his path. "Big brother, you're so handsome. Will you be my prince?"

Back then, he couldn't have imagined that one day he would make it snow for her in Hong Kong, where snow never falls.

Atop Victoria Peak, crystalline snow adorned deep red, fragrant roses like icing sugar. Kneeling in the snow, he offered his princess the world's largest heart-shaped pink diamond ring, bought at auction for 600 million Hong Kong dollars.

He named it "A Princess's Wish."

"Let me make every wish of yours come true for the rest of your life."

"It never snows in Hong Kong. I'll make it snow for you."

Daddy type x sweet girl

Long-planned pursuit x love after years of secret affection

* One-on-one romance, both leads are virgins, each other's first love, eight-year age gap

* "Mou" is spelled "mao" in Mandarin pinyin and means "not" in Cantonese; in the story, it's pronounced "mou"

* To prevent excessive identification with the characters, the setting combines reality and fiction

* The Hong Kong tabloid headlines in my story are toned down. Readers seeking a wild, realistic style should think carefully before starting.

* The male lead's name is pronounced "Chu". Its meaning is explained in Chapter 2, and the reason comes later.

Blurb for Floating Light in a Beijing Summer [Marriage Before Love]:

[The ambitious, icy power broker x the gentle, clear-eyed student]

Beijing elite circle | Marriage Before Love | Six-year age gap | Investment banking workplace | Both leads are virgins

#A master who can read everyone's mind falls in love with a pawn#

#Daddy-type dom and soft, sweet girl#

-

The year Ye Qizhen got an internship offer at a top investment bank, she thought she was about to reach the pinnacle of a million-yuan annual salary.

Instead, she took a sharp turn off the beaten path and married a complete stranger on the day of her grandfather's funeral.

At the time, she was frazzled by her job hunt as she neared graduation, working as a corporate drudge who had to be available around the clock and was used to cramming onto the subway.

Her new husband, however, was the fourth young master of the Qin family, a man no one in the upper circles dared discuss lightly. He held the pieces in his hand and played his way to the top, high above everyone else.

In the vast, folded space of Beijing, their lives belonged to completely different worlds.

Their one connection was that both their names appeared on the same marriage certificate.

-

They met again unexpectedly, in the headquarters of CIN Securities.

Rumor had it that the managing director parachuted into their investment banking division had a Cambridge doctorate, had descended from Wall Street, was devastatingly handsome, and came from a mysterious background. Ye Qizhen paid little attention. But in the middle of the bustle, she looked up and met a pair of eyes as deep as an abyss

Her mind went blank.

What was she supposed to do when her new boss was her husband, a man she barely knew and could never hope to match?

Ye Qizhen silently held on to her job and worked even more diligently.

Until one day, she finished reporting the revisions to the prospectus to Qin Yingchen. A long silence followed, with no reply. In her lowered gaze, she saw only his long-fingered hand holding an antique fountain pen, tapping it against the rosewood desk, once, then again...

Just as Ye Qizhen was growing so anxious she was about to fall apart, he suddenly said in a calm voice:

"Tonight, you can sleep in the master bedroom."

Ye Qizhen: ...

-

But this was a transaction, each side getting what they needed. This absurd marriage would eventually come to an end.

Ye Qizhen had always been self-aware enough to know she was a pawn. Before she could lose herself completely in the powerful, tender shelter he offered, she tried to save herself and asked for a divorce.

There were several seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"All right." His steady voice was as calm as an ancient well.

Just as it had been the last time they met, when he had methodically given her the property he was leaving her...

He was so composed, as if the intimate feelings that had once presumptuously grown between them had never existed.

Ye Qizhen finally gave up hope.

-

Until one cool, moonlit night, after Ye Qizhen said goodbye to her childhood friend, who had walked her home, a tall figure suddenly pinned her against the wall and kissed her deeply.

In the darkness, his familiar scent closed in around her, meeting the sharp defenses she had raised. The wound at the corner of his lip burst open in the heat of their struggle. The metallic sweetness mingled with sweat or perhaps tears, filling their mouths as he pressed in again and again, assaulting her heartbeat.

She pushed him away with all her strength and let out a trembling, scornful laugh:

"Congratulations, Fourth Young Master Qin. You got what you wanted. What else do you want from me?"

Qin Yingchen slowly raised his hand and clasped her wrist again. His fingertips rested against her pulse. His heartbeat grew louder and louder, making his magnetic voice sound more shattered than ever:

"Zhenzhen... I want you to come back to me."

*

At first, to Qin Yingchen, Ye Qizhen was perhaps pitiable, looked fragile, and wasn't much use.

Later, no one could have guessed that she would become the one he indulged in without restraint, the one he couldn't bear to be apart from, the one who was his life.

*

Through every sunrise and moonset spent drowning with you,

I learned to love this world all over again.

***All settings are fictional and have no real-life counterparts.

Theme: Strive ever onward.