Tales of Hong Kong Island [Reunited After a Breakup]

A spoiled, charming playboy from Beijing's elite circles x a sweet Hong Kong girl

1.

Jiang Qing first met Ji Chen on the White Beach of Pingzhou Island.

The sun was shining, and a lone young man stood with one hand in his pocket and a cigarette flickering in the other, staring blankly at the waves in the distance.

When he started walking forward, Jiang Qing couldn't help calling out from behind him:

"Hey, don't go any farther. It's dangerous."

When he turned around, the sea breeze gently ruffled the hair over his forehead, but did nothing to smooth the restlessness and defiance on his face.

Ji Chen impatiently took off his sunglasses and gave her a half-smile. His features were striking, and his manner was languidly alluring, but the words he tossed out were ice-cold.

"Get lost. Mind your own business."

2.

Their first meeting had gone so badly that for a long time, she thought he was a terrible person.

Until the night of her birthday, when she was forgotten at home.

A young man climbed in through the window, grinning with carefree confidence and urging her on. Like a knight who had fallen from the sky, he had planned a romantic escape just for her.

They raced through the crowded streets of Nathan Road.

Under the fireworks lit just for her atop Victoria Peak, someone else's long fingers slowly pried her hand open, one finger at a time, until their hands were clasped together and their pulses beat as one.

Jiang Qing heard the young man's low voice drift into her ear like the wind:

"Jiang Qing, wanna give us a try?"

It was the warmest winter Hong Kong had ever known.

Only later did she understand:

The thorns all over Ji Chen were nothing but a show of bravado, a way to protect himself after being hurt.

And once he chose someone, she would receive the most passionate, utterly unreserved love in the world.

He had never been someone who offered a passing favorite amid a sea of people. His love was always meant for one person alone, chosen with unwavering certainty.

3.

Five years ago, their breakup had turned so ugly that things became unbearable.

When Ji Chen flew from England to Hong Kong to find her, dark shadows were obvious beneath his eyes. The indulgence that had once filled his gaze was gone, replaced by nothing but resolve.

He clasped her hand tightly and said, each word deliberate: "Have you made up your mind? You know I never go back on my word."

Jiang Qing nodded through the pain. She watched him slowly let go, his usually tall, straight figure slumping for the first time.

He nodded, then looked at her and smiled. "Jiang Qing, you've got guts."

"Once you leave, don't ever show your face in front of me again. Got it?"

Five years later, when they met again in Beijing, they gazed at each other from opposite sides of a stage. Just as he had said, Ji Chen didn't spare her another glance. He indifferently looked away and let the girl beside him link her arm through his as they walked past.

Until one day...

He rushed to Hong Kong, travel-weary, only to find her with the man who had once been his rival in love. He lost control at once, gripping her chin, the knuckles on the back of his hand turning white as if he wanted to crush the person before him.

"Him again. What, five years still weren't enough for you to decide which of your two boats to stay on?"

"Jiangjiang, you can't be this cruel."

Jiang Qing's lashes trembled. She didn't know where to begin explaining, so she quietly said, "I'm sorry."

Ji Chen couldn't be bothered to listen any longer. He cut her off, his tone flat but tinged with ruthless resolve.

"Marry me. Do you dare?"

Please add my next campus novel, Single-Choice Question, to your reading list!

[A sly, sharp-tongued childhood friend who's secretly devoted x a pampered soft girl who's intermittently hardworking but consistently lazy] [Bickering sweethearts forced to live together | Campus | Mortal enemies to lovers]

Cheng Mai has a childhood friend who's a real pain.

When they were kids, he fought her for the watermelon-shaped TV remote.

When they grew up, she fell for a senior in her second year of high school and was ready to dive into a passionate first love, but he got in her way. His reason was:

"You shouldn't date in high school."

She protested and asked when she could, and he told her with great seriousness:

"Guys with good grades like smart girls."

"So get into the top 100 first, then we'll talk."

She never expected that later, she would make it into the top 100, and then some, but her boyfriend would turn out to be someone else entirely, someone she would never have expected at the time.

It took Cheng Mai a very long time to realize:

This guy had been trying to steal his own guard post all along!

*

The summer rain in Nancheng came down suddenly and hard. After playing basketball, a certain someone insisted, quite out of character, that she come pick him up.

It was rare to see him looking so disheveled. Ignoring his warning look, Cheng Mai twirled his drenched hair between her fingers and touched his eyelashes. She couldn't help laughing as she teased him:

"Chi Yan, you look like a stray puppy right now."

He glanced at her without saying a word, then shook the raindrops from his head.

Seeing that, Cheng Mai laughed even more shamelessly. "Now you look even more like one."

After teasing him, she was about to open her umbrella, but the moment she turned around, she was pulled into a warm embrace that smelled of mint.

In the brief moment of stunned silence, the person behind her brushed his soft lips against her ear.

Car horns and voices filled the street, noisy and bustling, forming a complicated symphony,

but at that moment, all Cheng Mai could sense was Chi Yan's hot breath against her ear.

"The puppy says he wants you to take him home."

Theme: Sincere devotion can move even the hardest heart.