Capturing the Sun

[Story Blurb]

Cool, aloof beauty x domineering, devoted puppy

Runs away while pregnant | Reunion after a long separation | Mutual salvation

-

Everyone knows Chen Su is crazy about Jiang Sitian.

A teenage short-distance running champion, sunny and dazzling, but unfortunately trapped in a mire.

And she is a flower atop a high peak, far away in the clouds.

They come from different worlds. She's not easy to pursue.

No one knew about that summer night.

The scent of wine clouded their senses. Her soft hair wound around his sharp Adam's apple. She made the first move and brushed a fleeting kiss against his lips.

-

They meet again in the mountains.

The short-distance running champion is now a limping cook, all smoke and bustle, but also the mountain's richest man.

The former heiress remains as lofty as ever. Her first words are icy:

"When did you get out of prison?"

Chen Su's mouth twitches. He can't help reaching for a cigarette.

Late at night, they pass each other.

A bright, adorable little girl's face flashes across a phone screen.

Chen Su stops and looks back. The screen now shows a man with his tie loosened, refined and elegant.

The video call ends. Jiang Sitian turns around and comes face to face with his fierce, unruly expression.

Six years apart. Her daughter is four, and her husband is as noble as she is.

The mountain wind kicks up sand and stones, snuffing out the fire in his eyes.

-

A cramped room.

Chen Su is burning with fever and confused, but his touch is gentle and restrained as he caresses the long-missed skin of the woman who has come to him of her own accord.

The night is hazy and intoxicating. Their passionate kiss warms her cheeks. Holding back his sobs, he begs her, "Divorce him."

Jiang Sitian answers coolly, "I can't."

Chen Su's fingers tremble. He lowers his lashes and scoffs, suppressing his fury as he asks, "Then what are you doing now?"

Jiang Sitian cups his face and smiles. "Repaying you for waiting all these years."

The night before they part.

At last, Chen Su can't hold back. He pulls her into his arms, his breath warming her neck. His burning tongue slips past her teeth. He lifts the hem of her skirt and bats away the frenzied butterflies.

"You want to cut ties with me, but you keep coming to me?"

"What, do you think I'm a good man?"

-

No one sees the love she holds for him in those cool eyes. No one knows the storms she once faced alone for his sake, with her frail arms and body.

-

"He thought the only thing that could capture him was the sun.", Ya Xian, The Colonel

But he was the sun in her life.

[Reading Guide]

* The male lead spent time in prison but was never convicted of a crime. The female lead has never married.

* Both are sexually inexperienced, and the ending is happy. The sun is the present; being captured is the past.

-------------------- Upcoming Novel --------------------

My upcoming novel, Sinking into Silence, is coming soon! Please add it to your collection!

[Blurb]

Gentle, tender, hearing-impaired sweetheart x scheming, possessive, lovelorn big shot

Marriage first, love later | Age gap | Substitute bride and salvation | A little bit of dark romance

-

The fog is thick tonight, so thick the moon at the horizon is nowhere to be seen.

The bedroom door opens a crack, and a man slips inside with barely a sound.

The lamplight stretches his tall shadow even farther, softly covering Jiang Ting's sleepy eyes.

A moment later, steam from the bathroom drifts through the gap in the door. The opening faces a full-length mirror.

Through the curling white mist, clean water runs down the contours of his muscles like a landscape painting.

Jiang Ting shyly looks away.

Soon, the damp weight of his body presses against her. She sees his lips move.

He leans closer. His strong arm curves around the back of her neck, and his broad palm rests gently on her belly.

At the height of passion, his calloused thumb and forefinger hold her hand and press it to his throat.

Jiang Ting sees his lips move: If it hurts, cry out. If it feels good, cry out, too.

Not sure, maybe I'll come back to this?

Jiang Ting stares intently at his lips. They're narrow at the top and full at the bottom, so beautiful she longs to kiss them.

But she can't.

Afterward, he lies over her like a lion, panting, his hot breath brushing her ear.

He's speaking.

But she can't hear what he says.

He gently kisses her earlobe, then her neck.

In three years of marriage, he has kissed her everywhere except on the lips.

Jiang Ting knows she's a substitute. She is meant only to endure, never to ask for anything.

-

On the way to the flower shop at the foot of the mountain, Jian Huaizhen thinks of the roses on the dining table.

They are always a clear, delicate pink, always full and perfect, with a gentle quality that seems never to fade.

He once thought they were fake, until he plucked a petal and squeezed a thin layer of juice from it between his fingers.

Then he looked up and met his wife's eyes, distant and dazzling as the stars.

Now his wife stands in the light outside the flower shop, her back to him. Against the wall of roses, she shines, pure and luminous.

The shopkeeper is a handsome young man with fine features. He wraps a flower for her in kraft paper and lace.

Jiang Ting signs to him: I'll put it in a vase when I get home, so you don't have to go to so much trouble.

The man signs back: There are still thorns on the stem. This way it's prettier and safer, and suits you better.

Jiang Ting smiles gently and thanks him.

Jian Huaizhen lowers his lashes, casually straightens his cuff, and toys with the deep blue gemstone cufflink.

But an uncontrollable restlessness suddenly stirs inside him. From a distance, he sneaks another look at her rosy lips.

In their three years of marriage, he has dared to touch her everywhere, even the tips of her toes. Only her lips have remained untouched.

He knows perfectly well that she was never meant to marry him.

His princess should have belonged to a prince adored by all, not a lonely, insignificant creature like him.

-

"I like you when you are silent: it is as though you were absent.

You sound like you are lamenting, a butterfly cooing like a dove."

From I Like for You to Be Still by Pablo Neruda

Later, Jian Huaizhen adds another line:

"Your silence is bright as a lamp, simple as a ring,

You are like the night, with its silence and stars."

[Reading Guide]

1. A bittersweet romance. Eight-year age gap. Both are sexually inexperienced, with a happy ending. Please don't read if you're particular about character factions.

2. Tingting isn't mute, but she lost her hearing before learning to speak, so she cannot talk. She willingly agrees to the substitute marriage, and Uncle Jian loves only Tingting from beginning to end.

3. The male lead is no saint. He has a difficult past, has truly risked his life, and is ruthless. His decision to marry is driven by both practical considerations and genuine feelings.

4. Pregnancy and a child are part of the story, and the child helps thaw the relationship. Please be sure to distinguish fiction from reality.

Both lines are from Pablo Neruda's I Like for You to Be Still.

Theme: Live well and pursue love bravely.