Farther North Than the Northwest

[Tattoo Artist & Volunteer Teacher; Wild Growth & Rule-Following]

That day, Yao Xi followed Liang Songbei up a mountain. Gasping for breath, she found a rock to sit on and asked him what the mountain was called.

Liang Songbei shielded his lighter from the wind and lit a cigarette. "It's called the watershed."

Her eyelid twitched involuntarily. She remembered she hadn't graded her students' homework yet and said they should head back down.

"We haven't reached the summit." His cool fingers caught her wrist, and he led her onto the winding trail without giving her a choice.

Yao Xi watched his solitary figure trudging ahead and felt the cold wind at the summit.

The little city stretched out below, old and cramped.

Liang Songbei's voice was cool. "At the end of the mountain, the rivers meet."

She plucked the cigarette from his lips and put it in her own. "Liang Songbei, you're overthinking this. There is no future for us."

It was Yao Xi's first time smoking. She discovered it really did dull the pain.

[Reading Guide]

1. Over 150,000 characters, with a substantial backlog and new chapters released regularly.

2. A slow build, with a happy ending.

3. Please support my new novel! (holding a flower)

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Coming soon from the author next door, fully drafted: "Embracing the Wind"

[Capital City Circle / Foster Care / Faux Uncle and Niece]

1. At sixteen, Youning crouched in a cramped corner.

She caught a breath of cool air and looked up into a man's deep eyes. Her gaze darted away, landing on the palladium lighter in his hand, its flame flickering on and off.

Only after following him to Jingzhou did she learn she was supposed to call Xu Huaifeng "Uncle."

Youning lived carefully, but in the end, people still found her tiresome.

Nobody expected Xu Huaifeng, usually so aloof and unfeeling, to take an interest in family affairs for once. Ignoring what people said, he brought her into his private residence.

"From now on, this child stays with me."

2. At last, Youning understood why people were always throwing themselves at him, and desperately hid the reckless thoughts growing wild inside her.

One windy day after school, she held out her arms. "My beloved, you are the green of my heart, and my longing for you stretches on and on."

"What are you doing?"

Youning looked up to see Xu Huaifeng inexplicably doubling back, and blurted out that she was reciting poetry.

People streamed past, looking their way. "I send you to school, not so you can come back a fool."

After graduation, she could no longer hide her feelings. She secretly listened to his phone calls. Even when he talked about marriage, he sounded indifferent, but he paused when the conversation turned to the girl at home.

Her cheeks burned, but then she heard him say, "I'm only cleaning up someone else's mess."

3. In the first year after leaving Jingzhou, Youning didn't come home. She didn't even call.

Xu Huaifeng canceled the family banquet and sat alone all night in the spotless room.

Only when the wind picked up at dawn did he realize that day she'd wanted to hug him.

But the girl who had once depended on him now had her arm linked with another man's. She had outgrown her youthful awkwardness and blossomed into a graceful beauty.

She lifted her chin. There was none of her former carefulness left. "Uncle, this is my boyfriend."

Xu Huaifeng had never once lowered his head to anyone.

Yet later, over countless nights, he was defeated by the breathless cries of "Uncle."

Theme: Breaking free from the cocoon