The Tortoise's Tiny Steps [Second Chance Romance]

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Second Chances | Mutual Redemption | Reunion After Years Apart | HE

[Beautiful Actress x Heir and Film Critic]

Gu Fang, head of the Junlin Group, is strikingly handsome and ruthless in business. He has no shortage of admirers, yet never keeps a steady companion.

People in the industry all say he must be keeping a lover hidden away in some gilded cage.

Then one late night, a video secretly filmed by paparazzi quietly climbed to the top of the trending charts:

In the footage, lights flicker inside a little house, its curtains half drawn. A woman tilts her face up, arms around his shoulders, while Gu Fang holds her close and kisses her until she can barely catch her breath.

The video sent the buzz soaring.

That night, #JiYuGuFangKeptLover# shot straight to number one.

The comments were full of cynicism:

[Just a kept woman. She won't be smug for more than a few months.]

[No wonder she's been getting such good roles lately. Turns out she slept her way there.]

[Someone like Gu Fang is bound to dump her sooner or later. Just wait and see.]

As gossip and speculation swirled, someone anonymously released the second half of the video.

The mood shifted at once. Ji Yu struggled back half a step, the corners of her eyes red, then raised her hand without hesitation and slapped Gu Fang. The sharp crack rang especially clearly in the video.

Viewers drew in a sharp breath.

Netizens: She's done for.

But Gu Fang showed not the slightest hint of anger. Instead, he gathered the hand that had slapped him into his palm, rubbing her reddened skin with his thumb as he gently coaxed her: "It's all red. Does it hurt? Are you still angry?"

Netizens: ...Wasn't he supposed to be ruthless? This has to be edited. No way.

Extra scene:

At the promotional event for the film "Fleeting Life," Ji Yu draws the punishment "Call your newest contact."

She is supposed to call a friend in the industry who has been arranged in advance.

But the next second, a newly lit gray avatar cuts in: Ji Xiaoyu, where did you throw my tie last night?

Ji Yu has no choice but to call Gu Fang.

Before she can say a word, the man's lazy, husky voice comes through the phone: "Forget the tie for now. Ji Xiaoyu, first explain who drew a fake watch on my wrist."

The host: Too scared to speak. I think I've just stumbled onto some major gossip.

Ji Yu rubs her forehead: Please, just shut up...

The trending charts explode.

[What kind of weird kink is this? Am I allowed to hear this?]

[What! What tie! I want to hear!]

[But he called her Xiaoyu~]

School life first, then city life. No real-life inspirations.

My next novel will be "Winter Unknown on the Long Street." Please add it to your library, please!

Everyone at Nanwan No. 2 High School says Liang Jinyue is lucky: dazzlingly beautiful, from a family of doctors, cheerful, and even when her grades are poor, someone is there to catch her.

Only one person knows how many thorns lie beneath that flower-strewn road everyone envies:

Every day she can breathe, she's forced to keep moving forward, to work harder and harder and harder. All for her parents' laughable dream.

She's afraid of thunder and exams, afraid of being locked in the mediation room and beaten, afraid of being alone in her room.

She doesn't want to be a doctor. She doesn't really want to live, either.

Zhou Luchuan has never worried about anything in his life. The young master comes from a prominent family, is handsome and gifted, and gets more love letters than he can handle.

Only Liang Jinyue gives him cause for concern. She's like a vase ready to shatter at any moment, lifeless and full of cracks.

They entered each other's lives at the very beginning, but parted before they could step into the adult world together.

Over seven years, Liang Jinyue sent him countless emails. Zhou Luchuan replied to every one.

But through all those difficult days when she needed to talk and needed someone by her side, Zhou Luchuan was no longer there to catch her.

Liang Jinyue thought perhaps whatever bond she and Zhou Luchuan shared had finally come to an end.

Until one day, Zhou Luchuan appeared without warning at the door of the little house and rang the bell. His hair hid his eyes, making his expression impossible to read.

"What are you doing here?"

"Moving in."

Liang Jinyue stared at him, wide-eyed, too stunned to believe what she was hearing. After a long pause, she finally said, "But... this is my house, isn't it?"

Zhou Luchuan nodded and squeezed through the gap in the door. "Mm. Moving in."

The two looked at each other in silence. The air between them was like a window, separating them behind glass while blurring their view of each other.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Zhou Luchuan looked away first and sighed in surrender. "Liang Jinyue."

He asked, "Do you still want me?"

Theme: Just take one step toward me.