A Slow-Burning Romance

[Cool, proud heiress of the capital’s elite circle x Distinguished, devoted investment banking tycoon from the capital]

When Lin Xi was seventeen, an injury to her ear left her temporarily unable to speak. Her parents died in a car accident, leaving her and her older brother to rely on each other. Later, when her brother was transferred for work, she was sent to live with her maternal grandmother in a neighboring city. Her brother asked a friend to check in on her, and the one who came most often was her “Third Brother,” Qin Yu, who was five years older than her.

The capital was over a hundred kilometers from the neighboring city, but he insisted on taking her to her doctor’s appointments and patiently teaching her to speak. He even showed up outside her school every night, right on time. He saved all his tenderness for her, but it all came to an abrupt end before she could work up the courage to confess. Her secret crush went nowhere, and when her family was struck by another misfortune, she left the country and cut off all contact with him.

They met again seven years later, when she returned home to go on a blind date. He cornered her in the restaurant hallway. “Is the guy downstairs your blind date? You’ve spent a few years abroad and your taste has gotten worse. You’ve got better options right beside you. How could you pick him?”

“Who’s the better option?” she asked without thinking.

Qin Yu: “Me.”

[Childhood sweethearts, rekindled love, a sweet tale of mutual secret crushes]