A Bite of Spring

[Obedient, timid coward x cold, ruthless wolf in sheep's clothing]

*

When Yang Peiyun was twelve, something happened to the Yang family. Her uncle, whom she had never met, saved her and took her back to the Lu household.

During her days in Bianjing, she was cautious at every turn. The first time she met the Lu family's eldest son, Lu Huaiquan, a cold gaze fell on her from his elevated seat. She was so frightened that she knocked over a teacup, spilling tea all over the person seated above her.

Yang Peiyun's face turned pale. In her panic, she lifted her eyes and saw a lofty, unattainable face hidden in the shadows. Handsome and distinguished, he gave nothing away as he looked down at her expressionlessly.

Flustered, she trembled and squeezed out two words: "Elder Brother."

*

Lu Huaiquan had thought Yang Peiyun was amusing. Every day she trembled as she greeted him, clearly afraid yet forcing a smile. She was like a tender peach quivering among the leaves. He wanted to take a bite and watch her cheeks bloom red as spring.

He thought he could wait until he tired of her, then come up with some excuse to send her away.

But as time passed, Yang Peiyun grew bolder. She truly began to depend on him as family. She was no longer afraid when she saw him, and would come running from far away with a radiant smile.

She chattered away, calling him Elder Brother.

*

The Lu household had recently become the butt of a joke. Their country cousin, a timid girl who stammered, followed Lu Huaiquan around calling him her elder brother.

Everyone mocked her for reaching above her station. Lu Huaiquan had begun his studies at three, passed the imperial examinations at fifteen, and swiftly risen through the ranks. How could a nobody like her be his sister?

But later, at a banquet, someone dared ask him about Peiyun's marriage prospects. All the gentlemen who had once mocked her now blushed and pricked up their ears to listen.

Lu Huaiquan's gaze swept casually over them. Propping up his slightly flushed face, he smiled faintly. "Naturally, I will leave it to Father to decide."

Later, Yang Peiyun bid Lu Huaiquan farewell with a bright smile, thanking him for years of protection and indulgence.

Her elder brother quietly gazed at her delighted expression, just as he had when they first met, and said nothing for a long time.

That day, the Lu household caught fire. All the servants survived. Only a young bride, whose wedding was just around the corner, died.

On the eve of her wedding, Yang Peiyun was abducted. She was abused day and night, unable to take her own life. Amid the endless, scorching waves of torment, she whispered unconsciously in despair: Elder Brother.

The man on top of her paused for a moment, then covered her with even hotter kisses.

[Love by force]

[Childhood sweethearts]

[Cousins, a match made in heaven]

Upcoming novel: My Husband Became Hopelessly Lovesick

A young couple's first love across two lifetimes / Married first, fall in love later / Both leads reborn / The male lead remembers far earlier than the female lead

[Aristocratic young master x sweet, gentle girl]

*

Everyone said Sun Baoyi was lucky to have secured a marriage with a son of the Duan family.

If Duan Sui's childhood sweetheart hadn't lost her chance after her family got into trouble, Sun Baoyi never would have gotten to take her place.

Sun Baoyi thought so too. But whenever she stood among the crowd and gazed from afar at his dazzling figure, she still liked him so much, even though he was cold and distant toward her.

Until the Lantern Festival, when Sun Baoyi went looking for him and was abandoned halfway, becoming the laughingstock of all her friends.

Sun Baoyi went home and cried bitterly, then decided she would not marry him.

As it happened, Duan Sui developed a fever that night. She planned to wait until he recovered before telling him the engagement was off.

Liking someone was too painful. Sun Baoyi never wanted to like him again.

But when Duan Sui recovered, he had completely changed.

*

The once-unattainable young master of an aristocratic family now spent every day by her side. When Sun Baoyi was down, he told her jokes to cheer her up.

He was just like the lovesick men her friends talked about, spending all day following her around.

Everyone else was horrified, wondering if he had been possessed by an evil spirit.

Sun Baoyi asked him why he had suddenly become so nice to her.

The quiet, refined young master hesitated, then looked at her firmly. "I like you."

"Because I like you."

That day, Sun Baoyi's face turned even redder than it had on her wedding day, when she was wearing makeup.

Later, Sun Baoyi began to feel something was strange. Whenever Duan Sui stared at her in a daze, it seemed as though he was looking through her at someone else.

She couldn't figure it out. She always thought Duan Sui was still attached to his previous engagement, and even wondered if she was like a lowly stand-in from a storybook.

Then she began to dream, catching brief glimpses of scenes that felt both familiar and strange.

Scenes from the past, when she died young, heartbroken because of Duan Sui...

Only then did she understand: Duan Sui really had been possessed by an evil spirit, his own self from a previous life.

*

Sun Baoyi began having hazy dreams and mentioned them to Duan Sui.

She soon regretted it, after seeing him break down and go mad.

That day, the noble young master, pure as the moon, held her in his arms. Bloodlust filled the air, talismans fluttered, and chanting rang harshly in their ears. Buddhist prayer beads wound again and again around Sun Baoyi's wrist.

Duan Sui wept and begged like a madman:

Don't remember. Don't remember!

Theme: True love overcomes every obstacle