Hard to Raise

An Yuning x Jiang Yumian | Stubborn sweetheart x scheming older woman

/Not biologically related/ Groveling arc/Off-road motorcycle racer

When she was 18, An Yuning made a mistake: she confessed her feelings to Jiang Yumian, the woman who had raised her.

She had to bear the consequences of her failure.

/

It rained often in the coastal city. After class, the students left in twos and threes beneath their umbrellas. An Yuning had forgotten hers and waited for the rain to stop beneath the school building's eaves.

Jiang Yumian had just finished a group meeting and walked over to the eaves with her colleagues.

She knew the girl's slender figure all too well.

Their conversation abruptly stopped. An Yuning turned around just then, and met her eyes.

Jiang Yumian's long fingers tightened around the umbrella, its metal ribs cold against her hand.

But a colleague was the first to call out, "Yuning," and offer her an umbrella from their bag.

An Yuning didn't take it. In the pouring rain, she walked straight into the downpour without looking back.

/

An Yuning took three days of sick leave in a row, and didn't attend Jiang Yumian's class either.

Burning with fever and drifting in and out of consciousness, she dreamed she was curled up in Jiang Yumian's arms.

Jiang Yumian kissed away the tears at the corners of her sleepy eyes, and moistened her cracked lips.

When An Yuning woke, there was no one beside her. Rain fell outside the window. She asked whether Jiang Yumian had come by.

Silence was her only answer.

/

Every weekend, they would act as if nothing had happened and go to a family dinner at an older relative's home, sharing a table and a pot of food.

At the table, An Yuning spoke up. She said she hated rainy days.

Jiang Yumian's hand paused as she served her food.

"I want to go back to my hometown for a while. My advisor has already approved my leave."

She asked, "For how long?"

An Yuning smiled at her. "Not long."

/

An Yuning lied. She wasn't coming back. Jiang Yumian held the application for a leave of absence in her hands.

Jiang Yumian went to the rented room where An Yuning had stayed while she was sick. It was empty.

Jiang Yumian went to the mountain village where An Yuning was born. She hadn't returned there at all.

She searched for her all over the world like a madwoman, answering the confession that had long since expired, over and over.

So what if she'd raised her with her own hands? So what if people cursed her? So what if their love was immoral by society's standards?

All she wanted was for An Yuning to come back to her.

Until one day, a poster of the MXGP champion appeared on LED screens across countless cities.

At last, she saw An Yuning's face.

/

A letter from across the ocean

It said, Jiang Yumian, come to New Zealand and chase me.

*Eleven-year age gap, older woman, fostered upbringing, no blood relation, not on the same household registration, and no confirmed relationship before An Yuning turns 18. Both are each other's only partner! A romance focused entirely on the two of them.

*Marked as dual POV, both leads' perspectives will be written. Jiang is the top.

*Yuning doesn't give up her studies, as explained in the story.

*MXGP is the Motocross World Championship. The top has also been a racer.

Theme: When life is good, make the most of it