Waiting for the Clouds to Descend

[Signed novel, first book, read at your own risk]

[Complete. The structure has been extensively revised, so the text differs greatly from pirated copies. I take no responsibility for pirated versions.]

---Blurb---

Chen Luofeng is a renowned figure in the water engineering department, with a GPA that has ranked at the top of his year for years. He excels in looks and bearing alike.

Unfortunately, he's reserved and dispassionate, a "small-town test-taking machine" from a northern village.

Yun Lu, from a southern metropolis, is the cherished jewel of the Yun family. Her sunny, flamboyant personality is the complete opposite of his, and she grew up adored by everyone.

On the first day of freshman year, Yun Lu bragged to her friends that she'd win him over within a month.

However, he was always oblivious to romance, and remained as cold as ice in the face of her advances.

Her friends urged her, "Just give up. He's so rigid and serious. So many girls have pursued him, but we've never seen him fall for anyone."

"That's nonsense," Yun Lu said with a smile, stuffing a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. "He'll definitely fall for me."

During her first year, the School of Water and Environmental Engineering organized a hiking trip.

Just as the sun was about to rise, Yun Lu pretended to twist her ankle.

She tugged at the hem of the school's handsome campus heartthrob, who was just as well-off as she was, but addressed the words to Chen Luofeng behind them. "My foot hurts. You'll have to carry me up the mountain."

The person behind them lowered his eyes, his gaze dim, and silently walked past the two of them.

Yun Lu was furious at his usual wooden reaction and stamped her feet. She was just about to turn around and head down the mountain when the man, who'd gone ten meters ahead, suddenly came back.

Chen Luofeng bent down slightly. "Get on. Don't let him carry you. I'll carry you."

Three years later, Chen Luofeng won an international water engineering design award for the Baifeng Mountain Water Diversion and Irrigation Project.

Standing on the highest podium, he proposed to Yun Lu in a grand, lavish ceremony before the eyes of the whole world.

After they got home, Yun Lu was arranging the trophies on the bookshelf when a yellowed photograph accidentally fell out.

In it, a girl gazed at the sun just rising above the mountain ridge, smiling brightly.

She turned the photograph over. The writing on the back had long since faded:

"Lulu, actually, it took you less than a week to win me over."

"If I were standing on a mountaintop, I'd cross every ridge and valley without hesitation, just to show you every sunrise you wanted to see."

"But the truth is, you belong among the clouds, while I belong only at the foot of the mountain."

Yun Lu muttered, "Idiot," but her eyes were red.

Why didn't he understand?

The wind from the north mountain didn't have to struggle to blow toward the southern sky.

Longing is a withered cloud. It will come drifting down to him of its own accord.

Reader's guide:

1. Bright and spoiled heiress x cool, taciturn, devoted water engineer

2. She pursues him; four-year age gap. They break up during college for a very good reason, a truly painful one. They get back together later. The locations are fictional.

3. The heroine isn't perfect, but she'll grow as the story progresses.

4. The title and blurb were inspired by the song "To You" by Yihuik Yihui.

Theme: Grow together, then become a better version of yourself