Tidal Love [Capital Circle]

Three months into her marriage of convenience to Huo Xien, she learns that her husband has suddenly died at his family's hotel.

The forensic report says he'd been engaging in vigorous activity with another person.

Huo Xien can't summon the slightest bit of grief for this stranger of a husband, who rushed overseas right after they got their marriage certificate and cheated as soon as he came back. Looking at the body in the crystal coffin, all she can think is that karma always comes around, and no one escapes it. May every man who can't keep it in his pants end up a stiff just like him.

On a dark, windy night, the branches in the funeral home's courtyard are stiff with cold, and the rustling leaves sound like ghosts wailing.

Someone steps out of the back seat of a silver Bentley and crosses the cold, starlit night. He drapes a coat that still holds his body heat over her shoulders. "Sister-in-law, my condolences."

*

Huo Xien knows full well that none of the Pei men are any good.

The eldest is her unlucky, widowed husband, a philandering cheater. The youngest is an idle layabout who lives off his parents.

As for the one in between, people say he nearly sent his own father to prison to seize power.

Now there's one more thing to add to the list:

He seduces his brother's widow.

On the day she returns to Jiangnan, the station is packed. Pei Yue buys her a ticket and sees her to the platform.

As he looks at the scrolling electronic sign displaying Beijing-Suzhou, her gaze falls on the signet ring on his pinky.

"After my brother died, you were no longer husband and wife."

"There's nothing improper between us."

"If you change your mind, come back to me."

Later, Pei Yue goes to Suzhou alone.

In a Jiangnan courtyard house tucked into an alley, Huo Xien is helping a guest hang laundry. White sheets sway in the breeze.

A hand gently brushes the loose hair away from her lips, and the signet ring catches the light, scattering diamond sparkles.

"I forgot to tell you that day."

"Even if you don't change your mind, that's all right. Sooner or later, I'll come to you."

[Beijing power player x Jiangnan beauty]

Coming next: Deep Blue Reply, a naval aviator x radio host romance.

Blurb:

To save up for a house, Zhong Youning takes a part-time job caring for an elderly woman who lives alone.

Her new job pays well, is easy, and is close to home. Her client is in good health and can take care of herself. All Zhong Youning has to do is spend two hours chatting with the woman each day.

But on their very first meeting, the woman mistakes her for her deceased daughter, and Zhong Youning suddenly gains an "older brother" who works far away and never comes home.

Her "brother" is just a silent name on her contact list and rarely responds. His salary has already been paid through next year.

Zhong Youning doesn't think much of him. The woman misses her son so much that she cries, yet he barely ever comes home.

Then a work transfer takes Zhong Youning to a distant coastal city, where she is lucky enough to board the aircraft carrier that has captivated the whole country.

In the vast open sea, on the carrier's deck, the wind blurs her vision.

A fighter jet shoots through the clouds like a bullet and lands at high speed on the carrier's runway.

Waves churn and the national flag snaps in the wind as a man in a flight suit descends the gangway.

His features resemble those in the photo at the woman's home: handsome and aloof, as if he were looking down on the world from thousands of miles above.

*

He Yixiao has heard his fellow servicemen say more than once that the young woman from the TV station is interested in him and keeps sneaking looks at him from the shadows.

His heart belongs to his country, and romance has never crossed his mind. He seeks her out in private. "Stop looking. You're not my type."

She blushes and calls him an idiot.

Later, he begins dreaming about her.

(Carrier-based fighter pilot x journalist)

Proud and untamed x resilient and clear-eyed

Theme: True love is priceless.