Late Smoke in Its Season

This is my first book, so it has plenty of flaws. Read at your own risk.

Please add my next books, Past Crush and Winning You Back, to your reading lists! (Starry-eyed)

[My other book, Tempting Xiaoxiao, is now updating. Feel free to check it out!]

[Figure skating beauty and coach × heir to the Shi family]

1.

Su Wanyan, known in the figure skating world as the "Ice Fairy," retired at twenty-four due to an injury. Everyone thought she would leave the spotlight for good, but instead, she threw herself into a career as a figure skating coach.

People praised her dedication to her work, but someone asked, "Teacher Su, you spent the past few years so busy with international competitions that you had no time for anything else. Don't you think it's time to consider your love life?"

"You're so talented and beautiful, Teacher Su. Your admirers must be lined up all the way to France, right?"

Su Wanyan smiled faintly. "I pursued someone once, but unfortunately, he dumped me. I've stayed away from romance ever since."

Everyone was stunned. Who could be so blind as to dump the Ice Fairy?

2.

When word reached Shi Huaiyi that the Ice Fairy had been dumped by her first love, the cool and distinguished man looked down at the delicate girl in his arms, narrowing his eyes.

"Wasn't I your first love?"

"...Yes. I only dated you, after all."

The man chuckled, his voice low. "So who dumped whom?"

3.

At eighteen, Su Wanyan stopped Shi Huaiyi on her way home from school and, summoning every ounce of courage she had, confessed to him. "Shi Huaiyi, once I graduate from high school, I'll be old enough to date. Will you be my boyfriend?"

After winning the heart of the school's dream boy, Su Wanyan once thought she was the luckiest girl in the world. But her good fortune lasted only two short months.

Later, Su Wanyan dismissed that time as the recklessness of youth.

"He wouldn't take a childish romance seriously."

"In Shi Huaiyi's eyes, there were too many things more important than me."

After listening to her bittersweet story of unrequited love, Shi Huaiyi's eyes reddened at the corners, and his voice turned hoarse.

"Yanyan, you have always been my first priority."

"Back then, I just thought your dreams mattered more than my feelings for you."

P.S.:

1. Daily updates.

2. The heroine dated the hero for a while after graduating from high school. The hero was the one who broke up with her. (There are reasons and extenuating circumstances. They have always loved each other!)

3. No real-life inspiration. I researched the figure skating details, so please gently point out any mistakes.

Upcoming book: Tempting Xiaoxiao

[Pampered heiress fallen on hard times × powerful businessman, Mr. Fu] Seven-year age gap

"Mr. Fu, let's call off the engagement." The young woman had just returned from studying in England. With rosy lips and bright teeth, the twenty-one-year-old was like a rose just beginning to bloom. Facing the head of the Fu family, a man whose name struck fear into everyone, she clenched the hem of her skirt. A faint dampness from outside still clung to it. "We're not right for each other. I don't think you want a marriage contract drawn up by our elders to restrict you, either."

"Have you made up your mind?" The inscrutable man narrowed his eyes and set down his ornate stemmed glass. The bright red wine rippled gently inside. "I don't force women."

Three months later, on another day of steady rain.

Thinking she would never cross paths with Fu Huaiyan again, Ye Chuxiao had no choice but to step into the castle-like villa once more.

The soft carpet muffled her footsteps. Pressing her lips together, she walked up to the man.

"Mr. Fu." She addressed him as she always did. Her pale hand gripped the hem of her skirt, a habit whenever she was nervous. "I've made up my mind. I'm willing to consider working with you."

"Are you sure?" The man still held the same ornate stemmed glass, and his words were just as they had been last time. "I don't force women."

Later, Ye Chuxiao went out to eat with friends. By the time Fu Huaiyan came to pick her up, the young woman was already drunk.

"Fu Huaiyan..." The petite, soft girl curled up on the sofa lifted her head. Her peach-blossom eyes glistened with tears. Barely able to keep them open, she still remembered to apologize to him.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault." She sobbed, so wronged she could barely catch her breath, genuinely believing she'd committed some terrible crime. "When I called off the engagement... I never thought I'd end up loving you this much..."

The tall man gave a faint, amused huff as he looked at the little cat with reddened eyes.

"You'd better remember what you said tomorrow."

She still had no idea who had made the first move.

Theme: Dreams and legacy