Tender as the Wild

Welcome to my new book, Seventy-Seven Degrees of Sweetness, a story of secret love and springtime. Bai Li lives in a remarried family that seems wealthy and glamorous on the surface but is rotten and moldy underneath. She draws a comic to earn enough money to escape her family. But she never imagined that one of the characters in her comic would step into real life along the way. The wind howled that day. Seeing the familiar figure grow farther and farther away, she chased after him through the rain. The young man had a fierce look in his eyes and a cigarette between his lips. Turning around, he asked her, “You’ve been staring at me for so long. Do you know me?” Bai Li didn’t know how to explain, so she could only shake her head. After all, the person her character was based on, her stepbrother, had died long ago. Just as she thought the young man was going to leave with his umbrella, he placed it in her hands. “It’s going to rain in Lingjiang for the next few days. Keep the umbrella.” Later, another accident left her with nowhere to go. As if it were fate, that young man smiled and took her home. After hearing her introduce herself, he said in an unhurried, languid voice, “Bai Li, you forget things pretty easily, don’t you? I’m Fang Ye.” A gust of wind brought Bai Li back to her senses. She was sobbing, and Fang Ye gently wiped away her tears. “Why are you crying? You thought I was dead? I’m not that easy to kill. I’m tough.” From then on, Bai Li had Fang Ye. All her hardships and suffering faded away. But when she imagined who she might marry in the future, Fang Ye was the first person who came to mind. Later, Fang Ye said, “Bai Li, I don’t want to be your brother anymore. Marry me. I’ll always stand up for you.” She knew it. Fang Ye was the only one who could save her, and Fang Ye could only be hers.