It snowed heavily in the south. Wen Chan carried a book to class in one hand, walking into the biting wind as she lit a cigarette at her lips.
Wen Wan stopped her. "Wen Chan, Dad said I could have the spot in the Russian exchange program. You're not in good health, and you don't really want to go anyway, right?"
"Right."
A bright smile instantly lit the young woman's face. "Oh, today's my birthday. Mom made your favorite dishes. Will you come home with me?"
"No. Today is the anniversary of my mom's death."
After Wen Wan left, Wen Chan smoked in the snow. As her cigarette burned down, the window of a nearby Rolls-Royce rolled down.
A man sat in the driver's seat, wearing a dark wool coat, his profile sharp and striking.
A professor of physics at A University, an elite scholar in his thirties with impressive research achievements. Reserved and refined, he kept his distance from women.
He had another identity, too: Wen Wan's maternal uncle.
Wen Chan walked over, leaned against the car window, and knocked on it. Holding up her cigarette, she smiled with seductive nonchalance. "It's snowing hard. Can I borrow a lighter?"
Zhou Sinan turned around and frowned ever so slightly.
Out of courtesy, he handed her the lighter the driver had left in the car, then drove away.
-
Wen Chan lost the lighter she'd borrowed.
Wen Chan bought him a new one.
Wen Chan sprained her ankle on her way to give it to him.
Later.
Wen Chan leaned against Zhou Sinan's broad shoulder, lighting a cigarette with that lighter. She gently exhaled a puff of smoke, then brushed the cigarette against his lips. Her lipstick left a vivid red mark on the filter. "Want to try it?"
Zhou Sinan took it, didn't even look at it, stubbed it out, and tossed it straight into the trash. "Wen Chan, stop picking up bad habits from the wrong crowd."
Later still.
Through a carved window, Zhou Sinan heard Wen Wan confronting Wen Chan.
Wen Chan said, "Zhou Sinan got me the position in the program. I do want the spot, but I have no interest in being an accompanying teaching assistant. No matter how many dinners Dad treats people to, they won't be as useful as one word from Zhou Sinan."
Wen Wan's eyes widened. "You don't even call him Uncle?"
"I do." Wen Chan watched Wen Wan's face darken and smiled.
"In bed."
-
The heroine and her younger sister have the same father but different mothers. The leads are not related by blood.
One-on-one romance, happy ending.
Blurb written on 2023.12.15.
Theme: Live well
