Name: After Dumping My Broke Boyfriend
Author: Zhou Er

Synopsis

[A sensitive, avoidant, wealthy heiress x a gentle professor who knows how to guide her, can't forget her, and whose ex-girlfriend doesn't seem to care]

As the beloved granddaughter of a jewelry tycoon, Shiyu was a good girl whose life had been carefully arranged for her.

But while studying abroad, she hid from her mother that she was dating a poor young man who relied on part-time work and scholarships to pay his tuition.

If there were castles in real life, Shiyu would be a princess in one. She was beautiful and elegant, the apple of everyone's eye.

Their worlds could not have been more different. Shiyu pursued him with abandon, then abruptly left him once she had won him over.

That summer, she returned to China and sent him just eight words on WeChat:

"Xu Huaizhou, let's break up."

The breakup was ugly.

The night was still, with the occasional rumble of distant thunder. Outside the black, intricately carved gates of a private estate, a servant held a large black umbrella over the young lady.

Shiyu spoke softly, but her words were like a dagger: "Xu Huaizhou, I don't need to gamble my future on someone with no money or connections."

That one offhand remark sent the heart the young man had placed in her hands crashing to the ground, where anyone could trample it.

Years later, Shiyu was still the princess in her castle.

At a party, someone brought up the past.

The poor boy everyone once looked down on had become the youngest and most promising professor in Peking University's law department, hired for a handsome salary. He was an industry rising star, courted by countless youth-focused media outlets.

The man stood tall and elegant, a scarlet glow at his fingertips. White smoke veiled his cool, aloof profile, rendering it indistinct.

When they met again beneath the moon, they were as unfamiliar as strangers.

Shiyu clenched her fingertips, chilled by the wind.

She thought that Xu Huaizhou must really, truly hate her.

Later, the room was as stifling as it had been on that rainy night of their breakup, so dark that no light could get in.

Their breaths mingled, their faces so close they seemed about to kiss.

The usually refined and gentle man tore away his mask of tenderness. His eyes dark, he gripped the ring box that had supposedly been thrown away long ago in one hand, while the bones of his other hand pressed against the girl's chin.

"You really don't like me anymore?"

"Mm."

"We're really breaking up?"

"Mm."

"Fine."

Xu Huaizhou stared at her for a long moment, then suddenly laughed, self-mocking and cold.

His voice was hoarse and trembling, yet his eyes were red. "Shiyu, you're playing with me."

The first time Xu Huaizhou ever flew business class was because of that breakup with no explanation. A ticket costing tens of thousands was more than he could earn in a month of hard work at a restaurant.

He stood there in a daze, watching a servant toss the only matching ring set he had wanted to save for Xiaoyu into the stream.

On that damp, rainy night, the stream soaked his trouser legs. The young man bent down to search for it, not even noticing as the sand and stones scraped his fingers raw.

Warm, salty tears fell. His vision blurred with moisture, and Xu Huaizhou finally came to his senses.

He had nothing. How could he stop Xiaoyu from going to someone better than him?

The spine that had never bent, even when he was insulted and mocked, felt unbearably heavy, as if he could never straighten up again.

Shiyu had always thought Xu Huaizhou would hate her. What she didn't know was that on countless sleepless nights, Xu Huaizhou held on to their memories and missed her for longer than they had been together.

He said, "Xiaoyu, I've traveled such a long, long way,"

"thinking that only if I stood high enough would you be able to see me."

To him, longing was an impassable green mountain.

We let our pride drag us along, making love take a winding path.

"Miss Shi, you can't read longing as goodbye. It wouldn't be fair to either of us."

"I love you."

"I love your sensitivity, your vulnerability, and your tears."

"I'm willing to let the clouds linger in my world. I love this cloud."

Sensitive girl x gentle professor

Jewelry designer x lawyer

Mostly set in the modern city, with interspersed memories. Pure romance, very, very pure. Just writing whatever comes to mind.

1. The heroine is avoidant for certain reasons. She's not perfect, and she's a character who grows.