When Winter Snow Boils

[Main story complete. Bonus chapters are still updating. Writing is hard work, so please leave if you're reading a pirated copy.]

Southern, slightly robotic, adorably goofy girl x Northeastern, sincere, talkative, cool guy

For a project, Cong Yi was sent to work on-site at a research institute in Harbin. She went from mild, rainy Shanghai to a Harbin buried in snow and ice. Though the local customs and way of life were worlds apart, Cong Yi always remembered one saying:

"Northeasterners, raised by the black soil, are hearty, straightforward, warm, and loyal."

After meeting Duan Jingzhou, Cong Yi believed those words even more.

When they first met, it was snowing in Harbin. The roads were especially slippery at night. In her hurry to cross at a traffic light, Cong Yi lost her footing and slid straight down onto the roadside. Bundled up from head to toe, she couldn't get back up. That was when Duan Jingzhou appeared.

He was six foot three, wearing a black workwear down jacket, with the snow on his shoulders standing out against his neat, fresh appearance.

Perhaps amused by Cong Yi's struggle, he couldn't help laughing as he stepped forward to help her up. "Easy there, the road's slippery."

Cong Yi silently formed her first impression of him: very warm, and... very handsome.

They met again when the radiator in Cong Yi's rental apartment broke and stopped heating. As luck would have it, Duan Jingzhou was the landlady's son. He showed up with a toolbox and fixed it in no time, then replaced the burnt-out light in the stairwell outside her apartment as well.

After that, they kept running into each other, and Duan Jingzhou looked after her at every turn. Cong Yi couldn't get used to some Northeastern dishes, so he took her to restaurants that served food to her taste. When he learned she really wanted a particular blind-box toy from a capsule machine, he searched the whole city until he found one for her. And that was just one of many things he did.

Even every one of Duan Jingzhou's friends said he was a loyal, dependable guy. Cong Yi thought so too, nodding emphatically in agreement every time.

"He's really such a good person."

She had already decided what kind of person he was, so when Duan Jingzhou seriously confessed his feelings one day, Cong Yi was dumbfounded. She asked in disbelief,

"You really like me?"

Duan Jingzhou looked down at her, his eyes narrowed.

"If I didn't like you, would I be this good to you?"

Cong Yi looked at him earnestly, her words full of sincerity.

"But aren't you just a good person?"

"The internet says Northeasterners are warm and loyal."

Duan Jingzhou was stunned for a good two minutes, then laughed in exasperation and muttered,

"What the hell does the internet know? All that effort for nothing."

In Cong Yi's eyes, Duan Jingzhou was insecure in their relationship, because she had to kiss him every day and tell him "I love you" now and then.

Duan Jingzhou, on the other hand, thought Cong Yi was clingy and adorable, because she loved kissing him and using it to express her overwhelming love for him.

"Winter snow gently kisses the northern frontier. As Harbin's new chapter of life slowly unfolds, he welcomes your arrival with the same joy as this enchanting city of snow."

[Reader's Guide]

A heartwarming, slow-burn, slice-of-life story set in Harbin.

Both leads are faithful and each other's first love. Semi-fictional setting with plenty of authorial liberties. The professions and research details aren't meant to be scrutinized. Reasonable suggestions are welcome.

If you think the food isn't well made, feel free to criticize the chef, but please don't get worked up over the ingredients. Thanks for reading with an open mind, lovely readers.

Weibo: @Sixingyi

Coming soon: Spring Is the Perfect Time for Love and Moonlight on the High Road

A completed, slow-burn, healing romance of the same kind from the same author: Long Love in the Old Lane

Give them a try if you're interested. Thanks for reading.

Theme: The vast lands of the north cannot produce a narrow love.