Winter Heat

(This novel will never be paywalled because I'm not satisfied with how it's written)

[Voice Actor Gu Shi vs. Online Fiction Author Qiao Yu]

Gu Shi and Qiao Yu were together for three years. When they broke up, there wasn't a single explanation.

Qiao Yu left without warning or reason, vanishing from Gu Shi's world as if she had disappeared off the face of the earth.

Gu Shi suffered from severe depression.

After the breakup, her condition, which had finally eased with medication, flared up again. One night, she cried so hard that her whole body convulsed, triggering physical symptoms. Her roommate found her and rushed her to the hospital in time for emergency treatment.

Four years after the breakup, Gu Shi finally achieved her dream of becoming a voice actor.

One day, it snowed heavily, just as it had on the day they broke up. That was also the day she ran into Qiao Yu again downstairs from her office. The stress response in her body recognized Qiao Yu before she did.

Qiao Yu, who had once been dealt the hand of a tragic, struggling student, had transformed into a top-tier online fiction author in just two years. Four years later, she had several hit novels to her name and was famous across half the country.

Money can make the devil turn millstones. It can also bring about a tremendous transformation in a person in just two years.

Qiao Yu had an unhappy family. Her adoptive mother died young, and her adoptive father had every vice in the book: smoking, drinking, and gambling. Her brother was just like him.

While Qiao Yu was in her first year of college, her adoptive father died suddenly from alcohol abuse, forcing her to take a leave of absence and return home. Her useless, unfilial brother dumped all their father's funeral arrangements on her, despite having no blood relation to her and no part in raising her. He even left her with his debts.

To keep Gu Shi from being dragged down with her, Qiao Yu had no choice but to break up with her.

Debt collectors drove her to move five times in a single month, and she couldn't get a single night of restful sleep. Even though she no longer had to worry about food or clothes, she still sometimes dreamed of those miserable days in the middle of the night.

-

Perhaps it was fate. Gu Shi landed the lead role in an audio drama adapted from one of Qiao Yu's novels. The two of them got back in touch through their collaboration.

Qiao Yu found too much evidence that Gu Shi might still love her. So, on a night filled with fireworks and falling snow, she finally said the words she had kept in her heart for four years.

-[Gu Shi, I want us to get back together.]

-[When does anything as good as a free lunch ever fall from the sky? If you want us back together, you'll have to work for it.]

HE / Both each other's only / Reunion after years apart / Switch

*The parts about Gu Shi's work are based on the author's personal understanding. I've never actually worked in this industry, so please forgive me if I haven't gotten everything right!

[Now serializing: After Being Kept by the Young Lady. Interested readers, feel free to visit my author page and take a look~ Please add it to your collection~ Please~ Please~]

Theme: An unyielding soul will eventually make you stronger