Setting Lychees Ablaze

The year she finished the college entrance exams. A grandson from Hong Kong came to stay with the auntie next door. He was tall and striking, with a face and bearing that seemed almost too perfect for this world. Nie Jingli heard the auntie call his name: “A Yi…” In Qingfu Town, Yuecheng, few people had a name like that. The boy’s name was like a wildfire in the heart of adolescence, tempting the girl to draw him into its flames. Before long, Nie Jingli got her wish. But less than half a month later, she broke up with him. On the night they parted, torrential rain poured down. Pei Yici looked like a miserable, drenched dog, the corners of his eyes red as he demanded, unwilling to accept it, “Why are you breaking up with me?” Nie Jingli smiled carelessly. “I was just collecting souvenirs to pass the time. I got bored, so I’m calling it off.” … Seven years later, they met again at a family dinner. The Pei and Nie families were considering a marriage alliance. Nie Jingli sat at the head table, radiant and aloof. Pei Yici glared coldly at the marriage booklet, gripped a fountain pen, and crossed out Nie Jingli’s name. He said coolly, “I don’t agree to this marriage.” Everyone was stunned. Who needs your agreement? This marriage is for your older brother. Pei Yici said, “My future sister-in-law can’t have the character Li in her name.” Everyone in the family knew Pei Yici hated lychees most of all. But nobody knew he would go so far as to meddle even with his sister-in-law’s name. And they knew even less that seven years ago, he had pinned Nie Jingli against a lychee tree, fiercely biting the glistening flesh of a lychee between her lips, and kissed her until the world went dark. … Pei Yici x Nie Jingli “I wish you were beside me every night, calling me… A Yi.” Hong Kong’s favored son of heaven x Yuecheng’s treasured daughter [Second chance romance + cultural tourism]