Half Bad

The story is complete. My next novel will be Beijing Snowed Last Night. Please add it to your reading list.

Li Ran and Jin Yan were childhood sweethearts who grew up together.

Everyone thought they would get married once they reached a certain age, and that was exactly what happened.

In their second year of marriage, they had a daughter.

In the eyes of outsiders, they were the model couple, model parents, and model children.

But when Li Ran turned thirty-eight, she handed Jin Yan divorce papers.

Jin Yan had no idea why she wanted a divorce, but he realized his wife had changed.

She used to like peace and quiet. She never went to bars, let alone did anything dangerous.

Now she was learning to play the drums, stayed out at bars until after two in the morning, and had even tried extreme sports.

Li Ran's rebellious phase had come far too late. In a bid to save their marriage, Jin Yan decided to pursue her all over again.

He chased after her for a long time and tried everything he could think of, but Li Ran wouldn't give him the time of day.

Then one night, after Jin Yan had thoroughly worn her out, Li Ran suddenly felt that maybe there was still hope for their half-broken marriage.

○ Both leads are virgins, and none of the characters are perfect.

○ The blurb is limited by its point of view. See the novel itself for the full story.

○ At heart, this is a middle-aged version of the wife-chasing crematorium trope. Tagged accordingly.

My next novel will be Beijing Snowed Last Night. Here's the blurb. Please add it to your collection.

■ A clearheaded heiress who is stubborn only with him × a powerful Beijing socialite who loses all reason around her

In the winter of her twenty-third year, Jiang Luoyan met Shen Qingzhou again.

By then, her family had fallen on hard times, while he was still the illustrious third young master of the Shen family.

To save her family from ruin, Jiang Luoyan, who was allergic to alcohol, risked her life drinking with a certain young master.

But before the glass could reach her lips, Shen Qingzhou snatched it away and smashed it on the table. Then he took Jiang Luoyan by the wrist and led her out of the club.

Shen Qingzhou stared at Jiang Luoyan, dressed in flimsy clothes, his eyes bloodshot. In the end, he took off his coat and draped it over her.

Furious, he said, “Jiang Luoyan, you couldn't see me sitting right there? You didn't ask me for help. Do you think I'm dead?”

Jiang Luoyan smiled at him through tearful eyes. “We broke up. You said you wouldn't meddle in my life anymore.”

-

Rumor had it that Third Young Master Shen kept to himself, was cool and reserved, and had no interest in women.

Yet gossip reporters caught him entering and leaving Xishan Residence with Jiang Luoyan again and again.

Some people guessed Shen Qingzhou was only playing around. After all, a young man from a prestigious family like his could have any well-matched woman he wanted. How could he possibly fall for a down-and-out Jiang heiress?

But on certain nights, Shen Qingzhou would grit his teeth and look at the woman pinned beneath him. “Jiang Luoyan, I've got money and power. I could bring the Jiang family back from the brink in minutes. Would it kill you to ask me?”

-

Years later, the Jiang family rose from the ashes, and the truth behind everything came to light.

Exhausted, Jiang Luoyan let go of her family's grudges and chose to leave Beijing.

That winter, Jiang Luoyan saw Shen Qingzhou once more, in a faraway place.

After they reunited, the first thing he said was, “It snowed in Beijing last night.”

At that moment, Jiang Luoyan suddenly remembered the joke they had made when they first fell in love.

If it ever snowed heavily in Beijing in the middle of the night, they would go register their marriage the next day, after the snow stopped.

For all these years, Beijing had never seen a heavy snowfall, let alone one in the middle of the night.

And yet this year...

The next second, Jiang Luoyan heard Shen Qingzhou say, “Jiang Luoyan, let's get married.”

-

After all their twists and turns, breakups and reunions, rises and falls, they still ended up with the person they had chosen at first sight.

He was at the top of the social ladder, while she held the upper hand in their relationship.

He bowed his head only to her, and bent only for her.

○ Both leads are virgins.

○ A love full of bitterness and passion (?)

Theme: Love someone as they are, not as you wish them to be.