A Time Difference in the Summer Night

Preorder: Sudden Downpour. If you're interested, please add it to your collection. (The blurb is below or you can find it on my profile.) -- After a car accident, Lu Qi'an spends three months in the hospital. By the time she's discharged, a colleague has taken her job. She keeps striking out at interviews for new jobs, and her landlord is pressing her to pay next quarter's rent. Under the weight of all this pressure, she decides to leave the city and spend some time back in her hometown. Lu Qi'an's hometown is a seaside town with a thriving tourist industry. Her mother, who lives elsewhere, has rented out their old house, leaving Lu Qi'an with nowhere to stay. So her mother asks a friend to look after her for a while. At her mother's friend's house, Lu Qi'an meets Lin Qiao for the first time. Lin Qiao is three years older than Lu Qi'an, a striking beauty through and through. She's said to have worked as a model, formed a band with someone, and now runs a bar as its owner. At their first meeting, neither of them knows what to say, and things quickly get awkward. Out of consideration for Lu Qi'an's mother, Lin Qiao agrees to look after her. After being away from home for so long, Lu Qi'an has no friends in town, so she mistakenly places her emotional attachment on Lin Qiao. On a sweltering summer night, tipsy and muddled, she spends the night with Lin Qiao. After that night, Lu Qi'an and Lin Qiao begin a relationship that only the two of them know about. By the window at the end of the second-floor corridor, Lin Qiao kisses her until her face turns bright red. In their room on a stormy night, Lin Qiao shows her with actions how thoughtfully she can "look after" her. Lu Qi'an thinks Lin Qiao might like her at least a little, so she asks her to date. But Lin Qiao turns her down: "Qi'an, we're not that kind of relationship." After that, Lu Qi'an starts avoiding Lin Qiao. She quits her part-time job at the bar, moves out of Aunt Lin's house, and returns to S City on the pretext of getting back to work. She blocks Lin Qiao. Back in S City, Lu Qi'an plans to forget everything about the seaside town and start a new life. But a week later, Lin Qiao appears before her without warning. "An'an, I was wrong." "Could you... please talk to me?" Reader's guide: 1. One-on-one pairing, both characters are sexually inexperienced, three-year age gap. 2. Small-town story. There will be a little depiction of city life, but the story will return to the seaside town later. 3. A little groveling and pursuit after a breakup. -- Preorder: Sudden Downpour Six years after breaking up with Yu Zhenqing, Wen Mianyu runs into her on a London street. As the rain pours down, Yu Zhenqing says, "Ms. Wen, it's been a long time." · Wen Mianyu has been obedient and sensible since childhood, but in her second year of high school, for once in her life, she started dating someone. No one approved of the relationship. Her girlfriend, Yu Zhenqing, was a poor student who relied on other people's financial support to stay in school, and came from a world completely different from Wen Mianyu's privileged background. Wen Mianyu didn't care what anyone thought and dated her for two years. After graduating from high school, Wen Mianyu went abroad to study. For the sake of her future and her family's expectations, she broke up with Yu Zhenqing, and they never contacted each other again. When they meet again, Yu Zhenqing has become a hot new name in the new energy technology industry. Wen Mianyu thinks Yu Zhenqing must hate her, but after their reunion, Yu Zhenqing treats her with every kindness. When she learns that Wen Mianyu is expected to marry for business, she takes out a diamond ring and proposes. Wen Mianyu doesn't understand. Yu Zhenqing says, "If you can just pick anyone to marry, why can't that person be me?" During the six years apart from Wen Mianyu, everyone tells Yu Zhenqing to let go, but she refuses. Their reunion on the street is something she's planned for a long time. Every time she gets close is carefully arranged. This time, she will never let Wen Mianyu leave her so easily. · Reunited from the start, with flashbacks in between. One-on-one pairing, both characters are sexually inexperienced. Theme: As long as you're happy.