Love Is Like Water in a Sponge

[My new story, Paper, Pen, and Good Weather, is now underway. Please add it to your collection!]

Blurb:

Rich heiress / Male lead pursues her in turn / Brothers' love triangle / Female side character has no romantic storyline

Early: She pursues him: charming and alluring x proud and ambitious

Later: He pursues her: cool, aloof queen x willing to bend and adapt

Two people fall in love, but four people are involved.

1.

Liang Qiushou couldn't quite remember her first impression of Tan Ju.

She only remembered that she seemed to be standing by a window on the second or third floor. Through the latticework, with its distinctive Jiangnan style, she first saw the willows in the back courtyard, their branches hanging down like countless silk ribbons. Only then did she notice Tan Ju standing beneath them.

He held his phone to his ear with one hand, talking to someone.

The air was heavy with the promise of rain. The greenery was so dark it almost seemed black, casting the scene in cool tones.

Perhaps it was the humid, sweltering subtropical climate. As she stood up high, fanning herself against the heat, she suddenly felt that his solitary, elegant profile was the perfect finishing touch to the scene.

Thunder boomed overhead. The ink-dark sky seemed to announce an imminent downpour. He paused mid-conversation and looked up.

Liang Qiushou stood exactly where his eyes instinctively turned. She froze, and it felt as if a breeze had brushed past her ear.

But Jiangcheng was full of handsome men, and Liang Qiushou soon forgot the moment.

2.

As spring gave way to summer, the temperature suddenly soared. A friend organized a ski trip to beat the heat.

They chose an indoor ski resort on a mountain. The next day, news came that Tan Ju's father had suffered a sudden heart attack.

After a night of heavy rain, the road down the mountain was difficult to navigate. As luck would have it, Liang Qiushou was the only one with a 4x4.

Liang Qiushou wasn't close to him, and she wasn't particularly compassionate. Hearing the news stirred a small flicker of pity in her. She picked up her car keys, walked over, and opened her hand. "Here."

The mood turned tense. Tan Ju had just come down from the ski slopes. Wearing black gloves, he was taking off his helmet.

He lowered his gaze toward her at the sound of her voice.

So someone really had happened to bring a 4x4.

The corner of his mouth lifted for an instant, then the expression quickly disappeared. "I wasn't supposed to go collect a corpse."

His voice was calm and steady. As he spoke, he raised his head, his sharp gaze suddenly meeting hers. "But you wouldn't even give me an excuse."

He swiftly tugged off his gloves and reached out. Liang Qiushou felt either his fingertips or the key brush across her palm.

Unlike last time, when they had stood in the blazing summer heat out in the open, this time the man-made ski slopes behind them stretched out in a white expanse. Dressed all in black, his strong-browed, forceful air blended naturally with the cold, carrying a touch of wildness.

3.

Recently, the heiress Qiushou hadn't been having much luck pursuing someone. She complained to her best friend that she'd hurt her foot, and told Tan Ju in a wheedling tone, but he still didn't reply.

Her best friend looked at the chat history, the screen full of sobbing and whining emojis, and pondered for a long moment. "You look pretty pitiful. You'd think any man would check on you."

Zhang Qiushou crossed her legs, her temper already flaring. "So what's the problem? I'm telling you, that jerk had better not take me for granted!"

Her best friend scrolled up, saw the picture, and smacked the phone against her. "If by 'hurt' you mean a mosquito bite, and you hadn't sent that 'oh shit, fuck' sticker."

--

Both leads are inexperienced, two-year age gap

Not a groveling-after-the-breakup story, just pure sweetness

Theme: Fluff