Snowfall in Yanzhou

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[My next book, I Can't Bear to See Her Tarnished [Childhood Friends], is now available. Please add it to your collection!]

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Powerful man vs. parasol maker

Secret love | Foster-care trope | Age gap | Happy ending

(The blurb makes it sound like the male lead is deeply in love with the female lead's aunt, but that's not actually the case. See the author's note in Chapter 16 for details.)

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The day her aunt died, a heavy snow fell. A man had traveled a long way to be there. He placed a bouquet of roses in front of the coffin and carefully wiped the dust from the portrait.

Meng Siyi was a man who valued love and loyalty. Li Yan knew that from that moment on.

Later, at her aunt's request, Meng Siyi brought Li Yan to North City to look after her.

The day he came to Yanzhou to pick her up himself, he brought a bouquet of frangipani, a flower that symbolized new beginnings.

The rebellious girl really did start putting her wild ways behind her that day. She turned over a new leaf and returned to the things she loved.

That frangipani was like something he had planted in her life. From then on, everywhere she looked, there was new life.

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She shouldn't have let herself entertain such thoughts, but at some point, she began dreaming the same lucid dream year after year.

Li Yan watched him date and break up with other women. She also saw the withered roses he laid out every year on the Qingming Festival. His love endured with endless patience, leaving her no hope at all.

She never told anyone about these shameful feelings, not until a winter night when she was twenty-six.

It snowed heavily again, just like the day they first met. He rarely drank himself into a stupor like this.

At the villa on the outskirts of town, Li Yan tried to help Meng Siyi into his room, but his broad arms were too much for her to handle. Instead, they ended up by the fireplace.

She knew this might lead nowhere, but she still chose to have one last reckless fling.

With him, she didn't need an outcome.

By morning, the snow had stopped.

She got herself ready to leave, but a voice behind her called out...

His first words were an apology.

There was little emotion in Li Yan's eyes. "It's okay. Let's pretend nothing happened."

But he stopped her again. "I mean it, Xiao Yan. I'm sorry. I wasn't actually drunk last night."

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It turned out this dream was one they had both been wide awake for, falling into ruin together.

Blurb for I Can't Bear to See Her Tarnished [Childhood Friends]

Powerful family | Childhood friends | The playboy turns over a new leaf

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Su Zhaoyue and Wang Ze grew up together.

Wang Ze was just like his name.

When he was unhappy and wore a frown, he was like an unfathomable, boundless ocean.

When he spoke tenderly and lovingly to a girl, he was like a swamp that would never run dry.

Was he truly profound or merely pretending to be shallow? It was impossible to tell.

Su Zhaoyue knew her crush on him could only be explained by a screw loose in her brain. In her twenty years of life, she had yet to see a girl stay by his side for more than three months.

If bloodthirsty, flesh-eating behavior was the nature of beasts, then Wang Ze's nature was a life of wine and women.

The love girls treasured like dew was nothing more than a light snack to him. Anyone who tried to find love with him would end up with nothing left.

Fortunately, liking him was the only irrational thing about her.

Su Zhaoyue had a built-in self-delusion function, so she could even be calm and friendly with those girls.

Of course, every now and then, she ran into a hostile one...

Girl A: "Sister Zhaoyue, you've known A-Ze for so many years. Why didn't you take advantage of being close to him? Or have you actually had a crush on him all these years?"

Su Zhaoyue didn't react to the girl's brazen teasing. She only shot Wang Ze a cold look.

The next day, Wang Ze had a new girlfriend.

Neither of them would let anyone speak ill of the other in their presence. They treasured each other above all else.

Treasures belong on a high shelf.

Not in someone's arms in bed.

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Later, the Su family arranged a fiancé for Su Zhaoyue. The pampered young lady had always known this day would come sooner or later.

She had intended to give in.

But before the engagement, Wang Ze rang the doorbell of her apartment.

He asked her, "Do you want to marry him?"

The walls around her heart suddenly melted. An ocean shimmered in Su Zhaoyue's eyes.

She gently shook her head.

He brushed away her tears. "Looks like I'll have to help you again."

The last time he'd helped her was when they were seven. She hadn't wanted to play the bully's wife in their make-believe game, so Wang Ze defeated the bully and married his princess.

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"I can't bear to see her tarnished. I can't bear to see her entrust herself to the wrong man."

Theme: Promote traditional culture