Jiayi

Innocent, sheltered sweetheart × self-restrained, proper disabled tycoon

Love at first sight after an arranged marriage | Old flame rekindled | Warm and healing

-

Ruan Jiayi lived quietly in the mountains, far from the world. Liang Hesheng dominated the business world and was the darling of everyone around him.

Two people with nothing in common were bound together by a marriage contract.

But they were worlds apart, and the contract was no more than a scrap of paper.

Life is unpredictable. Liang Hesheng lost both his legs in an accident.

The Ruan family called the Liang family to ask about their marriage agreement.

At the time, Liang Hesheng had just come out of the resuscitation room. His face was pale as paper, his eyes sunken. He stared blankly at the ceiling, his wrist wrapped in layers of bandages, a testament to the wretched, pathetic way he'd failed to end his own life.

When his father hung up, Liang Hesheng's lifeless eyes came alive. A mocking sound rasped from his cracked throat. "Crazy."

He was thirty, Jiayi was eighteen. Before, he had still been half a person. Now he wasn't even that.

-

One day, when he wasn't even half a person anymore...

Liang Hesheng was in his study reviewing emails, as usual. Jiayi padded silently over the snow-white carpet to stand in front of him, barefoot.

"Liang Hesheng, what's this?"

The man she'd addressed by name glanced at the document in her hand. His eyes paused, then he guiltily lowered them. "Can't you read? It's a will."

Jiayi's eyes reddened, and she pouted.

This was going to be the death of him. Liang Hesheng shut his laptop and beckoned. "Come here."

Jiayi was very obedient. Even though she was crying so hard she looked like a rain-soaked pear blossom, she still walked steadily toward him.

Liang Hesheng reached out to hook her closer. "A little closer."

"Good girl." His voice was so gentle it could make anyone surrender.

Her feet moved forward of their own accord.

Liang Hesheng put an arm around her soft waist and pulled her into his embrace, taking the document from her hand in the same motion.

His rich voice brushed her ear. "Jiayi."

Jiayi gave a barely audible, tearful "Mm."

"Jiayi," Liang Hesheng called her again, very softly.

"...Mm?" Jiayi looked into his eyes, confused.

Moist, like rain in muddy fields, they stirred ripples that spread through her heart, one circle after another.

Bright, like stars in amber, their sparkling light illuminated the road ahead of her, again and again.

Liang Hesheng smiled. One hand quietly slipped beneath her skirt as he spoke in a low, husky voice. "Oh, Jiayi."

Jiayi surrendered. "...Uncle."

Liang Hesheng cupped the back of her head and gently pressed it down until their foreheads touched.

Their hot, humid breaths blushed the line between dawn and dusk outside the window.

Beneath a radiant sky, he lowered his head. "I was wrong."

-

She was willful and impulsive, always full of surprises.

She was innocent and carefree, following her heart.

He held her carefully in his hands, letting her bloom forever in the sunlight.

[Reading Guide]

1. The male lead is disabled. His left leg is amputated below the knee, and his right leg above the knee.

2. Jiayi is very well-behaved, with a little rebellious streak. She will grow, but she's not a strong, independent heroine!

3. Pure love and a happy ending. No fan wars, please.

4. This novel is entirely fictional. The countries, locations, and characters are all made up. The story prioritizes romance and does not allude to or relate to reality in any way!

5. Not suitable for readers who apply lofty standards of realism. If that's you, please turn back!

Blurb archived on 2024.11.28.

[Apology]

After much thought, I've finally decided to change the heroine's name. I want to apologize to the readers who have supported, respected, and comforted me all this time. I held on for so long, thinking that as long as I had a clear conscience, everything would be fine. But the abuse online has reached a point I can no longer bear. I feel wronged, and I feel hurt...

In the end, I'm just an ordinary, shallow person, and my story is just an ordinary, shallow story. I can't live without the internet, but the name "Meibao" has saddled me with all sorts of accusations, including "inhuman," "not human," "infantile," "boy mom," and "misogynistic." I have a clear conscience, but that means nothing. I overestimated how much I could take, so I've decided to put an end to all this.

Let me say this again: I love my heroine. I named her Meibao precisely because I love her. I simply thought her personality fit words like "little sister" and "baby." My mistake was not understanding the market's sensitive points well enough, and not knowing that "Meibao" shouldn't be used as a name. But I never intended to insult women. People who attack me over a name have no leg to stand on.

Meibao may not be a strong, independent heroine, but she's absolutely not a hollow character who exists to depend on someone else. But they don't read the story. They just open their mouths and curse. I can't keep proving myself, and nobody cares about my proof anyway. All I can do is use the clumsiest, most humble means to claim a little clean ground for myself. I apologize again.

Also, changing the name is a huge undertaking, since it appears in every chapter. Over the next few days, the novel may be locked, or chapters may be locked, while I revise the whole thing. Thank you for understanding.

Upcoming Stories

Now updating: Stealing a Kiss from the Light

[Blurb]

Resilient, quiet mountain girl × steady, virtuous older man

Fake siblings | Healing | Age gap

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Ruan Jiayu's life was a mess, with only the superficial trappings of wealth and glamour to show for it.

After a failed marriage, her grandfather believed a feng shui master's advice and brought home a six-fingered girl whose life had been full of hardship.

She came into his life because of him. She called him big brother, and taking care of her became his responsibility and duty.

He watched her grow from painfully thin to a graceful young woman, then watched her go from timid and submissive to unruly and rebellious.

The sunlight fell on her so warmly and honestly. She had gone from a dead leaf in winter to the light of summer.

But he could only stay where he was, watching her take one step after another, walking farther and farther away.

-

On the first New Year's after escaping the mountains, Du Jianing was in France.

There were no fireworks that New Year, only a bunch of purple irises wrapped in elegant paper, with a lace bow tied around the stems.

He said, "I couldn't find any fireworks, so I bought flowers instead."

Jianing asked, "Why irises?"

He explained, "Irises symbolize faith, hope, wisdom, and courage... All in all, they're lovely, and they suit you."

Jianing lowered her eyes, her voice damp with emotion. "Then why just now..."

"Your brother will always be your brother." Ruan Jiayu interrupted her, raising a hand to gently, carefully rub the top of her head. "So don't worry..."

His gentle tone was like bright yellow, his firm words like rich purple. Together, they made up the irises in his arms and the promise he slowly spoke.

Irises bloom for only a short time. Their spring vanishes in a flash. Fireworks disappear into smoke in the blink of an eye. But at least they get to express themselves.

Jianing never got the chance.

But he probably didn't know that irises have another meaning: whispers from the underworld.

Jianing knew she had never been a good person. She was an evil spirit fleeing from hell, mold growing on rotten wood, an ant crawling out of a sewer...

One look, one embrace, was enough to make her covet him for the rest of her life, no matter what it took.

Upcoming Story: Sinking into Silence

[Blurb]

Gentle, tender, deaf sweetheart × scheming, obsessive, unloved tycoon

Love after marriage | Age gap | Substitute bride and healing | A little bit of coercive romance

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The fog was so thick that night the moon at the edge of the sky was nowhere to be seen.

The bedroom door was ajar, and a man slipped inside quietly.

The light stretched his tall shadow even longer, lightly covering Jiang Ting's sleepy eyes.

A moment later, steam leaked from the bathroom through the crack in the door. The opening faced a full-length mirror.

Through the swirling mist, clean water ran down the ridges of his muscles, like a landscape painting.

Jiang Ting shyly looked away.

Soon, his damp, heavy warmth crowded in beside her. Jiang Ting saw his lips move.

He came closer. His strong, bony arm passed behind her neck, and his broad palm pressed gently against her lower abdomen.

At the height of their passion, his calloused thumb and forefinger gripped her hand and pressed it to her throat.

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

Not sure. Let's see?

Jiang Ting stared intently at his lips. They were narrow on top and full below, so pretty she wanted to kiss them.

But she couldn't.

When it was over, he panted on top of her like a lion, hot, damp breaths brushing her ear.

He was speaking.

But she couldn't hear what he said.

He gently kissed her earlobe, then her neck.

They had been married for three years. He kissed her everywhere, just never on the lips.

Jiang Ting knew she was a substitute. She only had to endure, never ask for anything.

-

Passing a flower shop at the foot of the mountain, Jian Huaizhen thought of the roses on the dining table.

They were always a clear, delicate pink, always perfectly formed, with a gentle quality that seemed never to fade.

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

When he looked up again, he met his wife's eyes, distant and radiant as the stars.

Now his wife stood outside the flower shop, facing the light with her back to him. The wall of roses behind her made her glow, pure and bright.

The shopkeeper was a handsome young man with delicate features. He wrapped a flower for her in kraft paper and lace.

Jiang Ting signed to him: I'll put it in a vase when I get home, so there's no need to go to all this trouble.

The man signed back: There are still thorns on the stem. This is prettier and safer, and it suits you better.

Jiang Ting smiled gently and thanked him.

Jian Huaizhen lowered his eyelashes, carelessly straightened his cuffs, and toyed with the deep blue gemstone button.

But an uncontrollable restlessness suddenly welled up inside him. From a distance, he secretly stole another look at her rosy lips

In their three years of marriage, he had dared to touch her everywhere, even her toes. The only place he had never touched was her lips.

He knew perfectly well that she wasn't the one who was supposed to marry him.

His princess was meant to belong to a prince adored by everyone, not to an ant wandering alone like him.

-

"I like you when you are silent, as if you were absent.

You seem to lament, a butterfly cooing like a dove."

From Pablo Neruda's "I Like for You to Be Still"

Later, Jian Huaizhen added a line of his own:

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

you are like the night, with its solitude and stars."

[Reading Guide]

1. A bittersweet romance. Eight-year age gap. Pure love and a happy ending. No fan wars, please.

2. Tingting isn't mute, but she lost her hearing before she learned to speak, so she can't talk. She willingly agrees to be a substitute bride. Uncle Jian loves only Tingting from beginning to end.

3. The male lead is no good man. He had a hard life, has truly lived by the sword, and is ruthless. He marries her for both practical reasons and genuine affection.

4. There will be a pregnancy and a baby, a little catalyst that helps thaw their relationship. Please, please distinguish fiction from reality.

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

Theme: Keep moving forward bravely, and there will always be surprises