A Trap of Springtime Longing

[My next story will be Temperature Difference. The blurb is at the very bottom.] ▲Rekindled love | Secret crush comes true | Born to shine ▲Lazy troublemaker × gentle and reserved ▲Chi Yu × Cen Xi Chi Yu was a free spirit who did whatever he pleased. Cen Xi had heard all kinds of gossip about him from her high school deskmate. She had also once happened to see a girl from their school boldly confess to him. He gave a lazy, scornful laugh. “You like me? Try getting the top score in your grade first.” In the end, the girl ran off crying. Cen Xi had been crouched in a corner behind the door until her legs went numb. Just as she was about to use the wall to get back up, an expensive pair of sneakers appeared in front of her. Chi Yu reached down with a wicked look, his voice careless. “Well, well. Even the top student likes eavesdropping?” At S University, no one would ever have linked Cen Xi and Chi Yu. Chi Yu was a wealthy young heir, carefree and debauched. More girls wanted to date him than he had designer sneakers in his collection. Cen Xi was a quiet girl from the south, calm as water, with excellent grades and a sweet disposition. She had the highest scholarship. But no one knew that outside the dim stairwell, crowds of people came and went. Inside, Chi Yu had Cen Xi in his arms on top of a classroom desk, peppering her eyelids and the curve of her ear with soft kisses. Outside, people laughed and chatted. Cen Xi trembled all over with nerves. Chi Yu turned her face toward him, his voice husky. “Baby, can we kiss a little longer?” After they broke up and met again, Cen Xi thought she was handling things very well. As a proper ex, she hadn't let any of the thoughts she shouldn't have show. But she couldn't help it when someone on the client's side repeatedly failed to cooperate, sometimes on purpose and sometimes not. At last, Cen Xi couldn't take it anymore and stormed into someone's office. “What exactly are you trying to do?” Chi Yu seemed much more mature and steady than before. He leaned against the sofa and casually loosened his tie, then drawled: “Didn't Miss Cen say we weren't close?” Cen Xi replied coolly, “You're welcome. Keeping my distance from an ex is the least I can do.” The man laughed in exasperation, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Cen Xi, is your heart made of stone?” She turned to leave. Before she could reach the doorknob, she suddenly found herself in a mint-scented embrace she had not felt in a long time. Chi Yu held her so tightly she could barely breathe, as if he wanted to press her into his bones and swallow her whole. Cen Xi asked quietly, “Didn't we agree that from now on we'd pretend the other was dead, and whoever went back on it would be a dog?” Chi Yu gave a mocking laugh. “Yes, I regret it. I'm a dog.” Every night when I close my eyes, it is your eyes I remember., Louis Aragon Blurb for Temperature Difference: [Head of an old-money family X pampered, high-maintenance beauty] [Powerful, rigid, paternal older man X proud, dazzling heiress from a bankrupt family] Older man / ten-year age gap / a tense push and pull / old flame reignited / Daddy On Christmas Eve, Hong Kong media sent out a breaking alert: “Mr. Xi secretly meets young beauty late at night. Is he robbing the cradle?” The accompanying picture was a grainy, secretly taken photo in a parking lot, but the cane Xi Mingxuan always carried close at hand was recognizable. It wasn't long before the “young beauty” seen going home intimately with him was identified as the notorious Ninth Miss of the Shi family, Shi Jiuyuan. The Xi family was the foremost of the five great families in Hong Kong's New Territories, while the Shi family had long since fallen into decline. Xi Mingxuan had become the undisputed head of the Xi family at just twenty-six. During his five years in charge, he had accomplished a great deal and supported many charitable causes. He was praised by everyone. He was truly like a moon in the heavens, pure and flawless. No one believed he could have any connection to Shi Jiuyuan. Until Xi's airline suddenly announced that its newly built port would be named Nineteen Harbor, celebrating Mr. Xi's marriage to Miss Shi. The news sent all of Hong Kong into an uproar. Shi Jiuyuan remembered the first time she met Xi Mingxuan. It was a night in early winter. It was her eighteenth birthday party, but someone had splashed wine all over her. After giving them a piece of her mind, still seething, she ran off to sulk by a flower bed. Xi Mingxuan appeared with an unhurried voice and the tap-tap of his cane. “White peonies are beautiful, but you can catch a chill if you look at them too long. Go and put a shawl over Miss Ninth.” A gray cashmere scarf carrying a faint scent of tobacco settled over her shoulders, covering her bare skin. Shi Jiuyuan ignored it and let it slide to the ground. She recognized the man before her. Her grandfather had swallowed his pride to invite him as an honored guest, so she ought to call him “Uncle Xi.” Uncle Xi studied her for a few seconds, handed his cane to his assistant, and personally crouched down in front of her. With a gentlemanly touch, he used his cashmere scarf to wipe the wine from her ankle. Shi Jiuyuan reflexively pulled away, but his cool, warm palm soon closed around her ankle. “Since you call me uncle, I should take care of you,” he said. Later, the Shi family declared bankruptcy. It was raining in Hong Kong that day. Shi Jiuyuan was dancing wildly at a party in a flimsy slip dress, while a young star wiped her sweat and poured her drinks. It took only one song for everyone's eyes to change when they looked at her. Some were sympathetic, others delighted at her misfortune. Everyone wanted to witness Hong Kong's most noble and dazzling white peony wither away, step by step. One daring man offered her his room key. “Miss Ninth, don't be sad...” Shi Jiuyuan tilted her head for her male companion to light her cigarette, then glanced at the man with an airy look. A bodyguard in black stepped forward and twisted the man's arm. Screams rang through the ballroom, and everyone stopped moving. Shi Jiuyuan calmly held her cigarette between her fingers and chided the bodyguard. “You've been with me for ages, and you're still so rough.” “I'm sorry, Miss Shi. Mr. Xi instructed us to put your safety first.” The photo of her male companion lighting her cigarette eventually made it into the papers. That night, Shi Jiuyuan lay in the bathtub, sat on the bathroom counter, and leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window until her voice was hoarse from crying. The man stroked her long hair, pressing her down. He lowered his eyes and said, “Try it.” Shi Jiuyuan heard his encouraging “good girl” and tried. When it was over, she lay in his arms, touched the corner of her mouth, and glared at him with red-rimmed eyes. “Uncle Xi, is this how you take care of me?” Xi Mingxuan loved stroking the top of her head and leaving a tender kiss there. He looked down at her, his gaze almost tangible, his voice gentle and restrained. “Xiao Jiu, this is your punishment for misbehaving today.” Theme: Love people well