Moonlight Sonata [Campus]

[Check out my upcoming novel, The Night Before the Wedding, My Real Husband Shows Up: Amnesia, running away while pregnant, love rivals, wealthy-family drama, marriage before love, and plenty of juicy gossip. Add it to your reading list to help me get it started!]

Jiang Yu's sixteenth year began in utter chaos. She gave up the piano she'd played for years, transferred to a regular high school, and left music behind for good.

Until the first day of school, when she met her childhood friend Zheng Sinan again.

He sat casually on the school wall. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, and the girl's long skirt caught his carefree gaze. Bracing one slender hand on the wall, he teased her with a smile: "Miss Jiang, long time no see."

She did her best to avoid him, but he barged without hesitation into the world she'd walled off.

He found her hiding place with ease and led her out of a bottomless abyss, all the way into the bright spring sunshine.

-

Later, she finally achieved her dream, taking home the heavy, icy champion's trophy on the world's most prestigious stage.

That day, snow fell thick and fast in Salzburg. She skipped the celebration and ran all the way to the small church outside the concert hall, holding up her skirt.

Zheng Sinan showed no sign of having just stepped off a long-haul flight. In the foreign city, he still stood in front of the stained glass with his hands in his pockets, relaxed and nonchalant, as if admiring the angel descending in the carved glass. Hearing her breathless footsteps, he turned and came to her, brushing the snow from her brows and hair.

Her eyes were still red and burning, but her heart was full of joy. "I won!"

He smiled, indulgent and perhaps a little helpless. "Yes, you won."

"Zheng Sinan, you have to catch up with me soon."

She couldn't help lifting her chin proudly. She failed to notice that reflected in those autumn-leaf eyes was not a pure, flawless angel, but her own spirited face.

-

To sixteen-year-old Jiang Yu, he was the sun: laid-back and carefree, with an effortless arrogance, lighting up every darkness she kept hidden.

To eighteen-year-old Jiang Yu, he was her sail and her oar. Aboard this gentle, steadfast boat, she could go anywhere in the world.

[The moon stirs the tides, and the sea at night is our symphony.]

[Prickly, proud girl who says one thing and means another x playful only when he's with her]

Upcoming novel: Springtime Fantasies

On the night of her high school graduation, Fang Li lost a game of truth or dare.

With everyone egging her on, she had no choice but to call her crush, Cheng Yuan, and confess to him in front of them all.

"...Is there someone you like? If not, would you consider me?"

On the other end of the line, Cheng Yuan's voice was a little hoarse.

"Okay."

And just like that, Fang Li and Cheng Yuan became a couple.

Their romance was perfect in every way. They came from similar backgrounds, and Fang Li was beautiful and gentle.

They were made for each other.

Who could have guessed that years later, the Fang family would be hit by disaster, and Fang Li would fall from the heights overnight?

Before the pain of losing her loved ones had even begun to fade, Cheng Yuan took the initiative to break up with her. "I'm sorry. We're not right for each other anymore."

Just as Fang Li was at her wit's end and losing all hope, she received a call.

"You need someone in your corner, and I happen to need a wife."

The caller was Lu Huaizhou.

Once a reckless, rebellious young man, he was now head of the Lu family in the capital and founder of the tech company LIZ, a celebrated name in their circle.

Every gesture carried a touch of refinement and a hint of defiance, making him impossible to dismiss.

Most importantly, he and Cheng Yuan were the closest of childhood friends.

Rumor had it that Lu Huaizhou doted on Fang Li beyond measure.

He was even willing to fall out with his childhood friend and marry her at any cost.

Fang Li loved flowers, so Lu Huaizhou gave her fields spanning thousands of acres. He even filled their home with her favorite lilies of the valley.

Fang Li loved the sea, so Lu Huaizhou bought an island and named it after her.

When an heir to a minor family brought up the Fang family's past, he sneered that Fang Li had merely married into a powerful family, and that it was only a matter of time before she fell from her lofty branch back into the mud.

The next day, his family lost a crucial contract, and its businesses came under attack one after another. They never recovered.

After that, no one dared mention Fang Li's fallen fortunes again.

When the rumors reached Fang Li, she could only smile bitterly.

She knew her place. Mrs. Lu was just a pretty vase meant to fool the world.

She and Lu Huaizhou had only met a handful of times before. They weren't even close, let alone in love.

Then one day, at a high school reunion, Lu Huaizhou insisted on going with her for some reason.

He couldn't hold his liquor. Once drunk, he fixed his blazing gaze on her and pulled her into his arms.

His usually cool expression turned almost plaintive.

"...I was the first one to come along."

"...Don't look at anyone else. Look at me."

His voice was a little hoarse.

It was exactly like the voice of "Cheng Yuan," who had answered Fang Li's call all those years ago.

Theme: Have the courage to pursue your dreams