His Gaze of Admiration

[Main story complete. The next book is Early Spring Is a Good Time to Marry. Please add it to your collection!]

[New couple: gentle, sweet oil painter x refined, handsome financier]

[Blurb at the very bottom~~]

The Xu and Wen families had been close friends for generations. Xu Lenning and the Wen family's youngest son, Wen Yu, had been engaged since before they were born. The plan was for them to get engaged after graduating from university, but at a Wen family banquet, Xu Lenning overheard Wen Yu calling her a medicine jar, a sickly weakling, and dead weight.

Rain fell as Xu Lenning curled up in a corner, sobbing uncontrollably.

Just as she felt helpless and lost, someone draped a suit jacket over her shoulders. It carried the faint minty scent of summer. She looked up. The man's gaze was cool and clear, as if he could see through everything. He lowered his eyes to her and said softly, "The rain makes the night chilly. Don't catch a cold."

Xu Lenning recognized him: Wen Yu's uncle, Wen Shiye. Rumor had it that he owned the largest share of Wen Group and was fabulously wealthy, yet for some reason, he had opened a clinic in Nancheng.

That suit jacket became the secret shared by Xu Lenning and Wen Shiye on that rainy night.

*

Later, Xu Lenning went to Nancheng for an internship and stayed at her brother's friend's home. One day, she got out of bed, her hair a mess, and opened her bedroom door. There, she came face to face with a man in a suit, loosening his tie.

Xu Le'an had told his sister many times not to worry about staying there. Wen Shiye had someone in his heart and always kept himself proper. Even if the sun rose in the west, Wen Shiye would never fall for her.

At first, Xu Lenning thought so too. That was until one day, when a certain someone got drunk, pulled her into his arms, and asked her over and over, "Xu Lenning, do you like Wen Yu that much? Can't you look at me?"

He looked at her almost pleadingly.

Xu Lenning was at her wits' end. She kept Wen Shiye's secret, that he had been secretly in love with her for years, and continued tiptoeing around him as they lived together.

One day, Xu Le'an came over. He opened the door and stared in surprise at Xu Lenning emerging from Wen Shiye's room. "Beibei, why are you coming out of Shiye's room!"

Xu Lenning clutched her bedhead hair. "I went into the wrong room..."

Xu Le'an: Then why are you wearing his shirt!

Xu Lenning: I put on the wrong one!

And then...

Xu Le'an watched his usually cool, arrogant friend, who kept women at arm's length, walk lazily out from behind his sister in a white T-shirt. He shot him a glance and asked, "Xu Le'an, how do you know the password to our home!"

Our home!

Our home?

Xu Le'an froze. When did someone steal my sister away from me!

Early Spring Is a Good Time to Marry

The year they graduated from high school, Ji Zhiyang went to the neighboring class with her yearbook and asked Pei Jingxu to write her a message. Instead, her classmates laughed at her.

Back then, Ji Zhiyang wore glasses every day and had a timid nature. Hearing their words, she hugged the yearbook and her eyes reddened.

"Bullying a classmate deserves the harshest punishment!"

A clear, cool voice rang out. Ji Zhiyang looked up. A boy stood at the doorway with his hands in his pockets, his features striking, his nose high and his eyes deep, his jawline sharp. He was cool and defiant.

It was Pei Jingxu.

Pei Jingxu glanced at the group, walked over, and took the yearbook from Ji Zhiyang. He pulled a pen from his pocket, uncapped it with his teeth, and wrote a long message in sweeping strokes.

At the end, when he went to write her name, Ji Zhiyang hurriedly said, "My name is Ji..."

Before she could finish, Pei Jingxu had already written in the yearbook: To Ji Zhiyang.

That year, his message was: May you shine brightly in the field you love.

*

After graduating from university, Ji Zhiyang went on a blind date and met Pei Jingxu again.

At the time, Pei Jingxu was sitting in a cafe, wearing a white shirt and black trousers. He was as fresh and handsome as he had been years ago. Looking at the girl in front of him, he said, word by word, "Ji Zhiyang, the skies are clear today. It's a good day to get married."

Before they married, Pei Jingxu had written Ji Zhiyang's name twice.

Once in her yearbook.

Once on the registration form at the marriage bureau.

*

Later, at their high school reunion, Pei Jingxu followed Ji Zhiyang into the private room.

The man wore a sharply tailored suit, his long legs straight and slender. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses rested on his handsome face, their lenses reflecting the light with a hint of cool detachment.

But when he put an arm around the woman's waist and lowered his head to look at her, that detachment melted away, replaced by a tender gaze.

Holding Ji Zhiyang's hand, Pei Jingxu said in a low voice, "Let me introduce my wife, Ji Zhiyang."

Ji Zhiyang smiled. She wore a smoky-pink qipao, with bright eyes, pearly teeth, and fair skin. She had shed her youthful awkwardness, and now Ji Zhiyang was radiant as a peach blossom.

[Note: Blurb written on November 12, 2024]

Theme: Love makes everything possible