Together All the Way

★ Please add my next Yunnan road-trip novel, A River Full of Stars, to your reading list!~

Glamorous heiress botanist × wild, rugged veteran|Older man|Road-trip romance|Slow-burn tension

To ensure her field research in Xinjiang went smoothly, Yan Qingtang hired a driver who would also serve as her bodyguard, and they set off together.

She first met Su Zheng at a bustling market in Urumqi.

The man was tall and powerfully built, with a straight posture. He wore military-green cargo pants and a white T-shirt. The sweat-soaked fabric stretched across his chest, and his chiseled features, thick brows, and deep-set eyes gave him a resolute air.

His muscular arms were strong and solid. He had draped his shirt over his back, and in his sturdy right hand he carried a bottle of local Yili King liquor. Seeing her look him over, he tapped the bottle with a finger, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Want to try some, young miss?"

Yan Qingtang took two steps back and pointed at the bottle in his hand with distaste. With the haughty air of a boss, she ordered, "Put that away. Your only job is to drive."

-

Later, that night, the two of them squeezed into the off-road vehicle.

Su Zheng drank to keep warm. Yan Qingtang moved closer of her own accord and took a sip, but couldn't stand the sharp burn. Like a blossoming crabapple, she leaned drunkenly against his chest, still reaching to wrap an arm around his neck. Laughing playfully, she stole the liquor from his lips. "Let me try."

Su Zheng locked one arm around her waist, the veins in his forehead bulging as he watched her kiss him. His other hand cradled the back of her head. He narrowed his eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing, and said in a low, husky voice, "Take it slow, Qingtang."

[In Kazakh, joldas can mean a travel companion, or it can mean a lover.]

(A lot of people seem to have misunderstood: the male lead is called Su Zheng, and his name alone should make it clear that he's Han Chinese. He's fluent in Uyghur, so he also knows some Kazakh.)

Reader's Guide:

1. They are each other's first love. The heroine is 26, the hero is 30. Age gap and size difference.

2. The heroine has a bad temper and is every bit the spoiled heiress.

3. The drinking scene in the blurb takes place while they are staying outdoors, not while driving.

4. The heroine's family lives in Shanghai, but her ancestral home is in the north. Please bear with her speech habits.

★, Blurb for the Yunnan road-trip novel A River Full of Stars, ★

Beautiful, innocent photographer × wild, untamable CEO|Older man|Road trip at first, then urban romance

In her two years as a photographer, Feng Xiao encountered a "deity" once in Yunnan.

He was a local fisherman, wildness radiating from him, as if he were one with the mountains and waters. His clear, pure peach-blossom eyes were like the glistening snow at the very summit of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Feng Xiao, long accustomed to city life, was struck by his beauty. Her heart stirred, and she wanted to flirt with him. Seeing him rowing out alone, she tried to follow, only to be intimidated by his presence and turn back.

Until one night, on the shore of Erhai Lake lit by fishing lights, the two of them fell asleep aboard a boat and gazed together at a river of stars.

"Don't send me off the boat again." At last, emboldened by wine, Feng Xiao leaned close to his ear and shared a secret. "Do you know your eyes are so beautiful that they make me want to kiss you?"

The man finally reacted, his expression softening. He kissed her eyes first, his Adam's apple bobbing as he said in a hoarse voice, "My fishing boat is just the right size for two."

Beneath the fishing lights and starry sky, they embraced and kissed, unable to resist each other. Only then did Feng Xiao realize he wasn't a "deity" but a "seducer."

And she was an innocent "scholar," not only hopelessly in love but also willingly offering him money and valuables just to make him happy.

Fortunately, the next day she woke as if from a dream, fled in a panic, and disappeared without a word.

-

Back at the newspaper, Feng Xiao brought up this extraordinary encounter to her colleagues more than once, always lamenting how it had ended.

Not long afterward, the notoriously rebellious only son of the chairman finally agreed to give up his travels and take over the family business in a hurry.

The new CEO's first act was to make life difficult for Feng Xiao, the unlucky one.

They were alone together in the CEO's office.

Jiang Huaiye was refined and arrogant, dressed in an immaculate suit. He looked every bit like a pampered young master who had never endured hardship, yet whenever Feng Xiao met his eyes, she couldn't stop feeling guilty and flustered.

"What are you looking at?" He shot her a cold glance, his voice low.

"Nothing. You just look kind of familiar..." Feng Xiao wiped away her sweat.

"Feng Xiao." The man finally lost patience. He grabbed her wrist, his voice hoarse as he demanded, "You slept with me, then threw money at me and ran off. What exactly do you take me for?"

She had naturally noticed the bite mark on the exposed half of his right arm, neither deep nor shallow. It was the reckless result of her losing control that night.

Theme: Protecting wild plants starts with me.