Plum Blossoms in Late Spring

My next novel will be Spring Waters of Chi Nan. Marriage first, love later / an old flame reignited / stealing someone's girl, scruffy-dog romance. Please add it to your favorites! Blurb: [Childhood Sweethearts / Reunited After Years Apart / He's Loved Her in Secret] [Cool, cocky military man x sweet, adorable top student and childhood friend] Qiao Chuyi grew up being teased by the adults in the family compound. They said that when she turned twenty, she'd marry Zhou Xuting. Only later did she learn their supposed childhood engagement was just a joke their parents had made. But her resistance to Zhou Xuting had already taken root deep in her bones. She avoided him like the plague. The year Zhou Xuting went to military academy, all their childhood friends tearfully said goodbye. He broke the hearts of countless girls who secretly admired him. Only Qiao Chuyi was thrilled. She dragged her best friend to an arcade and spent the whole night massacring zombies. Zhou Xuting had finally left. May he grow old and die in the army. May she never see him again. * Years later, Qiao Chuyi went to college too. She'd long since moved out of the family compound with her parents and had completely forgotten someone called Zhou Xuting existed. Until the handsome officer seated on the stage at the freshman military training assembly set the whole campus abuzz. People on the forum were asking his name, his age, whether he was single... Qiao Chuyi cursed their terrible luck, then secretly replied on the forum to ruin his chances with women: Not sure if he's single, but he did have a childhood engagement. Later, Zhou Xuting cornered Qiao Chuyi on the way to the library. Knowing she couldn't get away, she smiled at him with feigned enthusiasm. "Hey! Long time no see." "Didn't we just see each other yesterday?" The corners of the man's mouth curled coldly, his smile irreverent. "There were twenty girls in your class, and you were the only one who walked with your arms and legs on the same side moving together." Qiao Chuyi figured he had no intention of having a proper conversation, so she glared at him and gave up trying to be polite. "Just tell me what you want." "I don't want anything in particular." Zhou Xuting advanced step by step, forcing her to retreat. "I heard you care a lot about our engagement. I'm here to make good on it." (Four-year age gap) *The leads aren't perfect. This is a growing-up story. Don't read if that's not for you. Both are each other's first and only. Slice of life, romantic push and pull. The characters are not based on real people. My next novel will be Spring Waters of Chi Nan. Set among Beijing's elite / marriage first, love later / an old flame reignited / scruffy-dog romance. Blurb: The second son of the Chi family and the youngest daughter of the Nan family were promised to each other as children. Nan Xi loves Chi Zhaoming. She gives him freedom, respects his career, and doesn't take issue with his so-called business-world socializing. But after pretending not to notice for three years, she gets nothing but his shameless cheating right before their wedding. Photos of the Chi family's second son in bed with an actress trend online, and overnight, the Nan family's daughter becomes the biggest joke in their social circle. * Everyone says the second-generation rich playboy has turned over a new leaf. He kneels in the rain outside the Nan family's villa for three days and three nights, finally earning permission to enter. Later, the Chi and Nan families proceed with their marriage alliance as planned. Their twenty-billion-yuan island wedding becomes a national sensation. The bride wears a custom wedding gown sewn by one of the world's top designers and walks toward the handsome man in his immaculate suit, with the waves roaring around them. But that man isn't Chi Zhaoming. He's Chi Zhaoming's half-brother. No one knows that on the day Chi Zhaoming knelt for three days and three nights before entering the Nan home, he never saw Nan Xi. At the time, she had spent three days and three nights in a penthouse suite at the Jinghua Hotel too. Through the spotless floor-to-ceiling windows, the dazzling city spreads beneath her, neon lights filling her vision. At her ear, a man's breath is hot: "Turn around." * Nan Xi has always thought Chi Jinyu was cold by nature, indifferent to everything. She thinks he doesn't care about her past with Chi Zhaoming. He simply needs a marriage alliance, so he chose her. Later, at a family banquet, Chi Zhaoming gets drunk and boasts about how he and Nan Xi were childhood sweethearts, how they understood each other without a word, and how even if she marries his older brother, she'll never forget her first love. Chi Jinyu, usually steady as a mountain and never one to show his emotions, flies into a rage in front of everyone and beats him up. That night, Nan Xi is in the bedroom where Chi Jinyu grew up, directly above Chi Zhaoming's room, crying and unable to sleep until dawn. Tips: A fatherly big shot who comes down from his pedestal for love x a clever, pampered rich-family beauty. A little brother-versus-brother drama. Marriage first, love later from the heroine's perspective; the hero has been secretly planning this for a long time, and his unrequited love comes true. The heroine truly loved the second male lead. Don't read if that bothers you. The hero is pure in both body and heart. SC. Theme: Protect our beautiful home together.