A Headwind Romance

[Breaking News: New Novel!]

My entertainment-industry novel next door, "Chasing the Light: A Preview Screening", is now open for preorders and will launch in August!

The blurb is below. Please add it to your collection! Sending love!

****** Blurb for this novel, "Love Against the Wind" ******

A gentle, calculating business upstart X a straightforward, sweet, hardworking top student

A young person's careful hesitation + an adult's art of playing hard to get

It began with two strangers pretending to be in love, and ended with a bond forged by true feelings.

When you needed me, it just so happened that I liked you.

Whether he was P-God, admired by countless players in King's Canyon seven years ago,

or Mr. Gu, a formidable force in the turbulent business world today,

Gu Zheng always seemed unflappable and completely in control.

That is, until the gears of time insisted on bringing him together with Lin Zhimu.

Her eyes were red, her whole body trembling.

She linked arms with Gu Zheng, still a stranger to her, and calmly forced out one last casual remark:

"My boyfriend's here to pick me up. Excuse me."

Her feigned composure in the face of betrayal led Gu Zheng astray in Lin Zhimu's world. He became obsessed with keeping up the role-play that had begun by chance, sincerely matching her courage to love, hate, and let go.

He cornered Lin Zhimu in a narrow space, repeating in an apparently gentle tone:

"If you ever need someone to pretend to be your boyfriend again, don't ask anyone else. I'm good at this. Besides, no one is as well suited to each other as we are."

But she was too rigorous to take the word "well suited" lightly.

"I'm not sure I can suddenly grow up and become someone who can stand by your side."

"Stay right where you are. I'll come find you."

Her words carried no emotion, but he was willing to stake his whole life on her.

He boldly defied the plans his family had spent years making, and recklessly gave in to his own insecurity. His genteel composure began to unravel, his quiet steadiness spiraled out of control, and every scale tipped out of balance.

He would make up for the seven-year gap,

and become the next person she stubbornly chose.

Later, on a whim, Lin Zhimu asked Gu Zheng,

"Do you think we'll have a seven-year itch too?"

He gently brushed her lips with his thumb, then suddenly leaned in while she wasn't paying attention. He answered with a passionate kiss and a love that consumed him:

"I'm staking every future I have to promise you: it won't happen."

Every seven years, we become someone entirely new.

Whether we choose to say goodbye or are forced to part,

either way, we leave the past behind and begin again.

If we can, let's not start from zero this time.

"In the summer of cicadas, I want to meet you."

Across a seven-year gap, they catch up with ease and love each other without restraint.

[Reading Guide]

※ This is the companion novel to "The Light That Embraces Darkness". The second male lead of that novel is the male lead here, and this story takes place seven years later. The characters are mostly the same, though they've grown up and become a little more mature. P.S. The male lead has no first love or ex!

※ They have a seven-year age gap. This time there is no ensemble cast; it's just the romance between two people.

※ They start out pretending, then develop real feelings, but this isn't a relationship bound by a contract. As always, it's the kind of slow-burn romance where both fall for each other over time, just the way the author likes it.

※ Theme song: Jay Chou, "Time Machine"

※ Updates daily after the novel goes premium. 70% of the text is protected from spoilers for 48 hours.

****** Preorder: "Chasing the Light: A Preview Screening" ******

Here's a short blurb. See the preorder page for the full one!

A quiet, hardworking assistant planner X an aloof, obsessive top producer

The film industry has never lacked ambitious prodigies, and Li Yu is the most promising young one of all. At just 28, he can make things happen with a word, yet he can't stand the world of pleasure and excess.

A famous investor in the industry teased him over a toast: "You're having quite the time, playing for both teams."

But Li Yu covered his glass with his hand and refused without the slightest attempt at tact: "I find it disgusting."

Everyone says Young Master Li is obsessive, aloof, and inconsiderate. But only Lin Lexuan has seen him patiently and gently pleading in her ear: "Let me take charge of your next story, okay?"

Lin Lexuan replied coolly, "I don't want people saying I got ahead by relying on you."

The next moment, Li Yu's warm breath drew closer and closer, until he whispered in Lin Lexuan's ear, "But I've been plotting this for so long because I want to get ahead."

Also,

"The Light That Embraces Darkness", the companion novel to "Love Against the Wind", is complete!

My behind-the-scenes column, "Private Words", where I share my creative process and story design, is updating too!

If you want to know why I sometimes miss an update, or what I get up to in my daily life, find me on Weibo at @Ziyao Xiaoxiannv.

Theme: Make a habit of reaching for the light, and refuse to settle for less.