Falling for Erhai

Please add my upcoming novel in the same column, Pastoral Song of the Seasons, to your collection!

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Love at first sight | Both leads are sexually inexperienced, 1v1 | The male lead falls first

I-personality homestay owner VS E-personality pianist

1.

After graduating from university, Yu Li opens a homestay in Dali to escape socializing, nestled against Cangshan Mountain and facing Erhai Lake.

With a cup of tea always in hand, she watches the sun rise and set, the clouds drift by, and successfully settles into a lazy life.

But Zhao Wenzheng's arrival turns her peaceful life upside down.

2.

Yunnan has eighteen oddities, and the weather is the oddest of all.

One evening, a sun shower suddenly breaks out.

Yu Li has just checked in her last guest when the wind chime by the door rings.

Zhao Wenzheng walks in at that very moment.

Without even looking up, she says, "There are no rooms left. Try somewhere else."

"I'm here to apply for a job."

At that, Yu Li finally looks up and sizes him up.

He's dressed like a typical backpacker, with a few spots of mud on his trouser legs and wet hair hanging over his forehead. He's clearly just been caught in the unexpected downpour.

He's a little disheveled, but not a mess. His outdoor jacket fits him well, showing off his tall frame, long legs, broad shoulders, narrow waist, and hands with long, slender fingers.

The rain patters outside, showing no sign of stopping. Yu Li presses her lips together. "Room and board included, but no pay."

3.

On Torch Festival Day, after Zhao Wenzheng keeps pestering her, Yu Li finally agrees to go out with him.

Night falls, and torches of every size form a glowing river.

The square on Sanyue Street is packed with people, all singing and dancing around a torch several dozen meters tall.

Yu Li can't help being swept up in the lively atmosphere.

She's itching to join in, but can't help hesitating.

As she falters, Zhao Wenzheng suddenly takes her hand and pulls her into the crowd.

In that moment, she hears cheers and music, and sees firelight and his bright, carefree smile.

Yu Li feels a freedom and exhilaration unlike anything she's ever known.

If she had to describe how she feels, she'd say it's like the blazing fire at the center of the square:

fiery and burning hot.

The heroine lost her hearing in her left ear after a childhood fever.

Written on May 16, 2024; revised on March 17, 2026. Archived on Weibo.

-- Pastoral Song of the Seasons --

Quirky heroine VS rugged grassland man

1.

To prepare her graduation project, Xia Weixi travels alone to the grasslands of Inner Mongolia to film a documentary over the course of a year.

After making inquiries, she is introduced to a local herding family.

By the time she reaches her destination, it's almost evening. Wisps of smoke rise above the yurt, and she exchanges brief introductions with the woman of the house.

As they're talking, a long, lilting call suddenly sounds nearby.

Xia Weixi turns instinctively and sees a figure galloping toward them on horseback.

Behind him, the setting sun hangs low on the horizon. Below him lie patches of snow that have yet to melt and the deep-brown earth.

She squints, and a phrase comes to mind: "dashing in fine clothes on a swift horse."

The rider draws closer, swings down from his horse, and strides over, casting a shadow over her.

Xia Weixi cranes her neck to look up at the man, who towers over her like a mountain. As she silently wonders what he eats to grow so tall, she reaches out first. "Hello, my name is Xia Weixi."

He briefly shakes her hand and lets go at once. In Mandarin with a peculiar accent, he says, "Hello, Baoyin Chaoketu."

2.

Xia Weixi is fascinated by everything on the grasslands, like a curious child with endless questions.

Chaoketu's answers are always brief and to the point.

"How does a ewe know which lamb is hers?"

"She just knows."

"What did you eat as a kid to get so tall?"

"Meat."

"Could you use a few more words?"

"What should I say?"

"..."

3.

Another late autumn arrives. Xia Weixi has fully adapted to life there and mastered everything from riding horses and milking cows to herding sheep.

She can even leap onto hay bales with ease, though at first she couldn't climb up and had to be pushed by Chaoketu.

At the same time, that means she has to leave.

That night, the two of them sit by the bonfire, looking down at the dancing flames. Neither says a word.

Winter turns to spring, and Xia Weixi finally finishes her graduation project.

Her roommate comes back from outside and says someone is waiting for her downstairs.

"Who is it?"

"I don't know."

Xia Weixi heads downstairs, full of questions. She has only just reached the door when someone embraces her before she can get a proper look.

Then she hears the awkward Mandarin she has missed for so long: "I missed you."

Theme: Fate often finds us when we least expect it