Expired Starlight [Second Chance Romance]

[The original title of this book was Spring Colors Fade [Light Entertainment Industry].]

[The entire book is complete! The full book costs only a few coins to unlock. Pirated versions are incomplete. Thank you for supporting the official release!]

[Next door, The Perils of Obsession is currently updating: a marriage-first, love-later romance from the heroine's perspective, and a long-planned love from the hero's perspective!]

This book:

[Rekindled romance + light entertainment industry + light competitive sports + mostly everyday-life sweetness. Please add it to your favorites!]

[Height difference and size difference warning]

[Young actress x athlete]

Wen Zhinan made a name for herself at twenty with a film by a celebrated director, but then spent five years in obscurity doing idol dramas.

Until she joined a basketball variety show and tried shooting hoops while everyone teased her.

In full view of the crowd, Xie Zhibei stood behind her, running his fingertips inch by inch over the back of her hand, teasing her mercilessly.

Yet his voice was perfectly serious: "Relax."

The night the episode aired, the trending topics exploded. "Holding Hands with Zhi" shot straight to the top across every platform!

[This is on the court, not in bed!]

[When you're over twenty, your bodies should get tangled up good and proper!!!]

Their unexpected CP went viral, and Wen Zhinan was mobbed by entertainment reporters whenever she went to the airport.

But no one knew that when Xie Zhibei's callused fingertips brushed over her hand, all she could think of was the night six years ago when they had been tangled together in the summer heat.

In the dim room, she collapsed against him, exhausted and limp, but he gripped her waist and pulled her upright. Her pale fingers couldn't keep from pressing against his rain-soaked waist and stomach.

The desire in the man's eyes was fierce and voracious as he looked up at her, admiring her without restraint.

Everyone said Xie Zhibei was stern and cold, with no interest in desire, and famously immune to women.

Even the paparazzi who loved chasing clout and taking scandalous photos had never caught the hugely popular basketball star in a single romance rumor.

But no one knew that six years ago, someone had slept with this basketball superstar and then dumped him.

He'd held back for six years without disturbing her, but when he heard her say she was single, he tore through every last shred of restraint.

Later, at Xucheng's All-Star Game, a reporter asked what he thought of the wildly popular CP, "Holding Hands with Zhi."

The man's voice was low and his tone serious.

"I hope everyone can focus on our careers. I don't pay much attention to anything else."

The reporters present were deeply disappointed.

Just as everyone thought they'd shipped the wrong couple, Xie Zhibei suddenly raised his eyes and looked straight ahead. His gaze was dark and deep, as though he were looking at someone through the camera lens.

His tone was nothing like the serious one he'd used before.

"I said everything you taught me to say."

"I heard them say that being obedient is one of the best dowries a man can bring."

[I can't hear the roar of the crowd around us. All I can hear is the thunder of your heartbeat and mine, loud enough to drown everything else out.]

[Reading guide:

1. Both sexually inexperienced, mutual pining, he loves her more.

2. Because of her family, the heroine is a little awkward about romance at first. Don't insult her, but feel free to insult the hero.

3. Light on the entertainment industry and competitive sports, but at heart this is a sweet romance, mostly focused on everyday life.

4. No real-life inspirations. Please don't draw comparisons or mention real people's names.

5. The story begins with their reunion.]

Please add my sweet romance, The Perils of Obsession, to your favorites!

Synopsis:

[Sweet romance / marriage-first, love-later from the heroine's perspective / long-planned love and mutual pining come true from the hero's perspective / size difference / winning back his wife / a love like a home invasion]

The Jian family's business had recently run into serious trouble, and Old Jian was so anxious he landed in the hospital.

The entire burden of the company fell on Jian Yunyi, but her artist's hands couldn't prop up a business on the verge of collapse.

After working herself ragged with little to show for it, Jian Yunyi had no choice but to turn her attention to the man she'd only met a few times at the hospital.

Along a tree-lined path in the hospital's VIP wing,

she gathered her courage and stopped in front of him. In a soft voice, she said, "Mr. Wen, I heard you're looking for someone to marry."

"...Perhaps... we could work together."

Cicadas sang in the midsummer heat, but the man's gaze was icy and somber. His dark eyes held an unfathomable abyss, making him impossible to read.

Jian Yunyi was cowed by his presence and felt uneasy. She badly wanted to back out.

Just as she thought the idea was going nowhere, the man gently rubbed the Möbius ring on his finger and spoke coldly:

"Miss Jian, I want to get married so my father won't die with regrets."

"A partnership has to be something we both want."

Jian Yunyi had heard stories about Wen Lie long ago.

He was Song family's illegitimate son, abandoned overseas, but a few months ago he had stormed back into Yucheng and become the Song family's new head.

Rumors said he was ruthless and sinister, a man who acted decisively and spared no one, not even his own father.

But what Jian Yunyi saw at the hospital was a man who stayed by his father's bedside at all times, personally pushing the wheelchair to take his father, who had suffered a stroke and could no longer speak, downstairs to get some sun.

She thought, So it really is better to see for yourself than to believe hearsay.

What she didn't know was that after leaving the tree-lined path that day, the tall man in a black suit leaned over in front of the wheelchair, the corners of his lips lifting in a smile that never reached his eyes.

He lightly patted his collar and looked at the middle-aged man glaring at him, helpless to do anything. His voice was laced with mockery.

"Didn't expect you'd still be useful."

Reading guide:

1. Marriage-first, love-later from the heroine's perspective; a long-planned romance from the hero's perspective.

2. Both sexually inexperienced. The hero is pure from head to toe, right down to every strand of hair.

3. The hero has little sense of morality, but he's good at pretending. Feel free to insult him, but don't insult the heroine. Our girl can do no wrong.

4. Though she trains him like a dog, the heroine isn't a domineering woman. She's a soft girl who trains her dog.

5. The hero is the intensely lustful type.

#After waking in the storm, he is the only island

Theme: Never lose the courage to love