Mint Fireflies

■Mutual redemption | Bittersweet push and pull | Reunion after years apart

The summer after the college entrance exams, Qin Yi and Liang Keye met by chance.

She was a student working part-time at an art gallery, while Liang Keye was the wildly popular lead singer of a band, born into privilege and dazzlingly carefree.

She saw her usually sharp-tongued employer fawning over him, and a hazy thought surfaced in her mind:

She wanted to see if she could make an arrogant man bow his head, make a dazzling young man wither.

-

When Liang Keye really did fall into the dust, he cornered her with red-rimmed eyes and demanded to know whether she had ever loved him. Qin Yi couldn't answer. She only bit down hard on his shoulder.

A sharp pain shot through him. Liang Keye's eyes filled with sorrow, and he spoke softly. "Qin Yi, I can't win against you. From now on, we'll go our separate ways. Let's never see each other again."

-

Years after they parted, they met again. Qin Yi had shed her former gentle, refined air and become the band's mysterious drummer. The nightclub was dimly lit, but the way she commanded the stage was reminiscent of someone, radiant and dazzling.

Dressed in black and hidden in a corner, Liang Keye watched the cheers and applause wash over him, yet his eyes held only her.

That same day, Qin Yi was being harassed by a suitor. The next second, dazzling headlights blazed. Liang Keye leaned against a top-of-the-line supercar, blocking her path. His voice rang out from a distance:

"Do you want to come with me, or go with him?"

-

Much later, Qin Yi happened to see the notes Liang Keye had written, filled with memories from years ago:

[She likes brown sugar milk tea with taro paste]

[She said, Liang Keye, the bad things are all over now.]

[We broke up]

[Dreamed about her. She said she missed me. She lied to me, then lied to me again.]

[I have to become a better Liang Keye, then go back to her.]

-

How could anyone love someone without realizing it? Liang Keye had always known that the person he loved was Qin Yi.

"I went mad for a while. That's my crime."

-

Gentle X Wild and roguish

1. Both leads are sexually inexperienced, HE, and each other's first love.

2. The line about going mad is from a song lyric.

3. There is an anti-piracy delay: 80% locked, for 24 hours.

4. I revised the blurb. Everything in the old version is still in the story. I haven't abandoned it!

Upcoming story, "Cherry-Red Night," on my author page

■Class divide, suit-and-tie groveling | Brothers fighting over her | Stealing each other's partners | Unconventional marriage before love

■Beautiful, spoiled, catlike younger woman X billionaire heir in a suit, Daddy

The day Lin Dongyi was invited to Lu Ranzheng's birthday party, her brother earnestly reminded her: she needed to be ingratiating and lavish with compliments. The Lu family had deep roots and powerful connections, and an opportunity like this was hard to come by.

At the party, Lu Ranzheng told Lin Dongyi to dance on the roof of his car for everyone's amusement. The girl neither lost her temper nor got upset. She flicked open a lighter and tossed it into the car. The top-of-the-line supercar, worth hundreds of millions, burst into flames in an instant!

Later, Lu Ranzheng used the evidence of her "car-burning" to pressure Lin Dongyi into dating him.

He had no idea she was already married to his older brother.

-

Before the party began, Lin Dongyi had been alone with her secretly married husband in a dimly lit room.

She knew he was Lu Ranzheng's cousin, the true head of Hong Kong Island's Tan family, and a man with billions in assets. He wore no jewelry, only a thin red string on his wrist that looked like a tattoo.

Outsiders said Tan Xuting was a ruthless man. Lin Dongyi had only noticed the scars beneath his shirt and his figure.

Tan Xuting said, "Do you remember our premarital agreement? First, I'll protect you. Second, I won't accept a sexless marriage..."

But Lin Dongyi said, "Could I touch your scar first...?"

Tan Xuting paused, then smiled loosely after a moment. "Go ahead."

-

No one knew Lin Dongyi had met Tan Xuting, much less that she was secretly married to him.

Likewise, Lin Dongyi never expected that the seemingly untouchable man suffered from severe separation anxiety and wanted to cling to her every moment of every day.

By then, Lu Ranzheng had become a popular entertainer. At a photo shoot, the stylist was about to paint a lipstick mark on the side of his neck.

But Lu Ranzheng said, "What's the fun in painting one on? Why not just give me a kiss instead?" In front of everyone, he called her by name. "Lin Dongyi, come do it for me!"

The next second, the studio doors swung wide open. Tan Xuting strode in under everyone's astonished gaze. "Lu Ranzheng, Lin Dongyi is your older brother's wife. Think carefully: what should you call her?"

That same day, Tan Xuting removed the signature red string from his wrist and tied it around her ring finger.

The young man stood impeccably dressed, dropped to one knee, and gazed up at her, his voice hoarse. "Lin Dongyi, we've been secretly married for so long. Isn't it time you gave me a proper title?"

-

"I want to share every meal with you, and I want to die inside you."

-

Lin Dongyi X Tan Xuting

Theme: Work hard and live happily