The Wutong Tree's First Stirring of Love

The full text has been revised. Only the official version is supported (Weibo: @Yi Kuai Wangwang Xian Bei)

Next novels: "Honey Trap" / "After He Takes Off His Hearing Aids"

My friend's novel, "Hello, Miss Qiao," is at the very bottom

Blurb:

A gentle, slow-burn campus romance, with no angst throughout

Sweetness levels are off the charts at every stage: secret crush, flirtation, and relationship

Tang Zhi has had a crush on Zhou Shiheng for a long time.

During the freshmen basketball tournament, Zhou Shiheng injured his knee while playing. Tang Zhi sprinted back to her dorm to find some povidone-iodine, but when she returned to the court, there was no one there.

As disappointment flooded her mind, a voice she had only ever heard in her dreams suddenly spoke.

He said, "Hey, could I borrow that povidone-iodine?"

She nervously handed it to him, then ran away. Tang Zhi was sure she'd made a fool of herself in front of Zhou Shiheng, and he clearly hadn't recognized her.

Back in her dorm, she buried her face in her pillow and cried. But once she'd cried it out, she thought it was only natural that Zhou Shiheng didn't remember her.

After all, she was the one with the secret crush.

What she didn't know was that Zhou Shiheng never used the povidone-iodine on his injured knee. Instead, he put it on display in his dorm room.

He bowed to the Povidone-Iodine God three times every day, praying that it would help him and Tang Zhi end up together!

That's right, he had a crush on Tang Zhi too.

--

Tang Zhi had an online guy best friend. They'd met in their senior year of high school, but had never met in person or sent each other voice messages.

His profile picture was a plate of guo bao rou.

Every day, Tang Zhi would vent to that plate of guo bao rou about how Zhou Shiheng was blind, and ask why he wouldn't even look her way.

It wasn't until much later, after the two of them finally got together, that Tang Zhi uncovered Zhou Shiheng's secret identity!

She was furious: "You're a perfectly good handsome guy, so why use a plate of guo bao rou as your profile picture?!"

That night, Zhou Shiheng didn't go into the bedroom. He sat in the living room, staring at a plate of guo bao rou and thinking all night.

What's wrong with guo bao rou?

Who says a handsome guy can't use guo bao rou as his profile picture?

--

Among Zhou Shiheng's friends, his feelings for Tang Zhi were no secret.

The thing he heard most often was: "Aheng, if you don't confess soon, you'll be an old bachelor. Your goddess won't like an old man."

He would only smile and say nothing.

Then he'd bow to the Povidone-Iodine God three more times.

He didn't understand. He'd been praying for so long, so why hadn't the Povidone-Iodine God answered his prayers yet?

He and Tang Zhi had only met a few times, and he was afraid a sudden confession would scare her. He'd tried to get closer to her, too, but the timing was always wrong. Whenever Tang Zhi saw him, she ran away. There was nothing he could do.

Then they met again at university. When he saw her hurry away during the basketball tournament, he waited in a corner for her to return.

That's how he acquired the Povidone-Iodine God, and realized he might not be the only one with a crush.

From then on, Zhou Shiheng tried to get closer to Tang Zhi, both openly and subtly, but she always managed to avoid him perfectly.

Tang Zhi was like a rabbit, always finding one of a hundred ways to slip away from him.

Then at night, she'd hide under her covers and complain tearfully to her online best friend.

She said, "What's wrong with me? Why can't Zhou Shiheng like me?! Is he blind?"

"Enough, Tang Zhi. I said enough."

Zhou Shiheng finally couldn't take it anymore. He sent her a video call, and the next second, he saw Tang Zhi's eyes widen.

She said, "G-guo bao rou?"

He corrected her: "Zhou Shiheng."

Tang Zhi abruptly hung up. A message popped up right after.

"Tang Zhi, come downstairs. Your crush is about to confess to you."

-- Blurb for Honey Trap --

Melancholy, sickly CEO Cheng Junyou x resolute, level-headed doctor Song Miao

It was only after meeting Cheng Junyou that Song Miao learned what a gloomy, clingy ghost of a man could be.

Cheng Junyou had kidney problems. She saved him, and then he latched on to her.

First, he tried to tempt her with money, asking her to be his personal doctor. When she refused, he resorted to threatening not to take his medicine or get treatment, even saying he'd rather die.

A person he'd only just met, threatening her with his own life.

He acted like he'd kill himself if she didn't agree.

With a healer's compassion, Song Miao agreed. After spending a long time with him, she realized Cheng Junyou's gloomy ghost aura had only gotten stronger. But she firmly believed that every illness could be cured. A gloomy, clingy ghost was an illness too, and it needed treatment!

So when Cheng Junyou deliberately stopped taking his medicine properly and made himself half-dead just to see if she'd worry about him, Song Miao ignored him for three days. She only showed up after his assistant called to say that her boss knew he'd done wrong.

Her first words when she arrived were, "Mr. Cheng, if your kidneys don't work, you'll never find a wife."

Cheng Junyou still put on a tough front, but obediently took his medicine. He'd go crazy if he couldn't see Song Miao for three days.

After a few months of bickering like this, Cheng Junyou finally began to change.

He went from, "If you leave, I'll kill myself," to, "I'll take my medicine like a good boy. Let me hold you a little longer today."

This change made Song Miao feel like he was trying to get something from her.

-

Cheng Junyou had a pretty miserable life. His father didn't care about him, his mother didn't love him, and no one around him cared about him, leaving him gloomy every day until he met Song Miao.

He liked it when Song Miao reminded him to take care of himself and showed him concern, so he latched on to her.

Song Miao treated his illness seriously and patiently soothed him whenever he lost his temper.

Over time, Cheng Junyou discovered that when he was furious, all it took was for Song Miao to pat his head, and he would calm down.

So after they made their relationship official, Cheng Junyou's favorite thing was to cling to Song Miao like an accessory. But sometimes, when he visited her at the hospital and saw her treating other patients, his gloomy, clingy ghost tendencies would surface again.

He'd ask, "Who's more handsome, him or me?"

And then get smacked upside the head!

Getting hit actually made him feel better. After all, if his wife didn't like him, why would she hit him?

His wife hitting him meant she loved him!

-

Song Miao's best friend had seen Cheng Junyou's meltdowns before, so when she saw the new and improved Cheng Junyou, she couldn't help remarking to Song Miao in private:

What have you done to that perfectly good CEO?!

One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's only love

| The male lead is a bit of a gloomy, clingy ghost at first, then becomes a lovesick fool

| The female lead is decisive and resolute throughout, and falls for the male lead after discovering his good qualities

-- Blurb for Hello, Miss Qiao --

The first time Qiao Wan met Xie Yunting, he was a death-row inmate in shackles, suffering from a serious gunshot wound, and she was the doctor on call.

An intern was trying to stop Xie Yunting's bleeding, but her hands were shaking badly. When Xie Yunting frowned repeatedly, Qiao Wan took the forceps from the nurse...

She treated the wound with an unchanged expression, even though the man before her might have been a ruthless killer.

When she noticed Xie Yunting watching her, she said, "If it hurts, tell me."

Xie Yunting only gazed at her calmly and read the name on her chest aloud.

"Qiao Wan?"

Qiao Wan looked up and gave a small nod.

Qiao Wan probably never imagined back then that, a few years later, the death-row inmate she thought would be sentenced to death would become her lawful husband.

Qiao Wan couldn't understand how Xie Yunting, a tough-as-nails man who'd spent five years undercover without ever complaining, could become like this around her.

"Wifey, I want you to pat my head."

For example, right after waking up, he'd wrap his arms around her waist, like a golden retriever begging its owner for pets. Qiao Wan wished she could record him like that and show his fellow soldiers.

She wanted them all to know what the usually stern Commander Xie was like in private.

-

Xie Yunting falling for Qiao Wan was an accident. Before he even knew the young woman, his heart had already fallen for her.

When his five-year undercover mission ended, everyone treated him like a criminal. Only Qiao Wan asked if he was in pain.

Qiao Wan was ordinary-looking and stubborn, with nothing especially striking about her, but he could always spot her in a crowd.

The second time they met, Qiao Wan was taken hostage by a criminal, and he offered to trade places with her. Afterward, Qiao Wan stared at him for a long time, long enough for him to grow afraid that she minded his past as an undercover agent.

But perhaps she noticed his unease, because she made a joke.

She said, "Can a criminal become an officer?"

Xie Yunting smiled. He said, "I got in through a special appointment. Hello, Miss Qiao."

My heart tells me I should know you.

Theme: There is always someone in this world who loves you.