The Honeymoon Phase

Confessions are for children. Adults go straight to seduction.

The first step of seduction is to abandon your humanity.

Basically, there are three tried-and-true moves:

Turn into a cat, turn into a tiger,

or turn into a puppy caught in the rain.

Japanese drama Quartet

Icy top student × talkative troublemaker

Ji Qian had heard Zeng Hao mention Ni Shuwei more than once.

Ni Shuwei skipped class to break-dance, stayed out all night, and got reported by a classmate for reselling secondhand goods...

In short, Ni Shuwei was a complete troublemaker.

Ji Qian had once tried to comfort Zeng Hao, who was worried about her, joking that she’d been just as energetic during puberty. Zeng Hao only smiled faintly, clearly thinking, “Don’t try to fool me.”

Perhaps because his first impression had been too vague, when Ji Qian finally met Ni Shuwei in person, he couldn’t immediately connect that lively face with the name “troublemaker.”

Ni Shuwei didn’t mind the unfamiliarity at all. She walked right up to him and spoke as if they’d known each other for ages. “Did my mom come here to badmouth me again?”

Only then did Ji Qian come back to himself. He stayed silent, not intending to tell her about Zeng Hao’s concerns or his own preconceptions.

But after seeing her more often, Ji Qian began to feel that Ni Shuwei wasn’t nearly as much trouble as Zeng Hao had made her out to be.

Ni Shuwei knew how to act vulnerable. She’d lean against Ji Qian’s arm and say she’d be more careful in the future. Sometimes she’d lounge against his shoulder like a cat and tell him he smelled so nice.

Whenever that happened, Ji Qian’s heart would race. He counted the beats for a minute: 122 in all.

So that was what it meant to fall for Ni Shuwei.

So that was what it meant to have feelings for Ni Shuwei.

Reader’s guide:

1. One-on-one romance, happy ending

2. Older woman × younger woman

3. The blurb and the actual story are two different things. The story itself is sweet, sweet, sweet!

Theme: Study hard and keep improving every day.