The Early Spring

Sep 6, 2026

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The Early Spring (早春晴朗) is a Chinese urban workplace romance novel by Guniang Bie Ku (姑娘别哭). The complete novel follows Shang Zhitao, an ordinary college graduate who enters a top ad agency and falls into an intense, hidden relationship with her strict boss, Luan Nian. After years of emotional turmoil, she leaves to build her own success, leading to a mature reunion. It was adapted into the drama of the same title, starring Jing Boran and Sun Qian.

A new city, a demanding first job, and a boss who seems determined to push every boundary: Shang Zhitao arrives in Beijing with two suitcases, a modest amount of savings, and the excitement and uncertainty of starting adult life on her own. The Early Spring follows her from an inexperienced graduate into the competitive world of advertising, where every project, presentation, client request, and workplace challenge becomes part of her growth. She is not introduced as an effortless prodigy. Instead, her progress comes through mistakes, pressure, persistence, and the gradual confidence she builds by learning how to stand on her own.
At the center of this Chinese urban workplace romance is the complicated relationship between Shang Zhitao and Luan Nian, her sharp-tongued and demanding boss. Their connection develops slowly through daily work, misunderstandings, attraction, emotional restraint, and a relationship that neither of them can easily define. Around them are colleagues, friends, clients, business opportunities, and ordinary people whose lives add texture to the story. The advertising industry is more than a backdrop: it becomes the place where Shang Zhitao learns about ambition, responsibility, independence, and what it means to become capable in her own right.
The story also gives considerable space to separation, personal change, and second chances. As Shang Zhitao grows from a young employee into a woman capable of building a life and career of her own, the balance between love and independence becomes increasingly important. Readers can follow this long-form character journey through its complete chapter sequence, from her first rainy days in Beijing to the later turning points that reshape her relationship with Luan Nian. The story does not reveal its final emotional answers too early, leaving the consequences of their choices to unfold gradually.
The novel was also adapted into the 2026 C-drama The Early Spring, starring Jing Boran and Sun Qian, bringing the workplace romance and the characters of Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao to the screen. For readers interested in romance and contemporary workplace fiction, the surrounding My Bias, My Boss offer another natural way to explore similar themes. The complete reading resource is available to free read and download, making it convenient to continue through the chapters whenever you want.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatDOCX

AccessFree to download

The Early Spring

The First Year

Chapter 1: The City of Rain

Chapter 2: The Beginning of the Story

Chapter 3: Was She Spying on Me?

Chapter 4: I'm Not in a Hurry, I'm in a Hurry

Chapter 5: I Advise You to Resign

Chapter 6: Luan Nian, This Plague God

Chapter 7: Someone as Foolish as You

Chapter 8: Always Tough, Occasionally Tender

Chapter 9: Not for Sale

Chapter 10: Are You Eavesdropping?

Chapter 11: Playing Dumb

Chapter 12: I've Been in Love

Chapter 13: My Heart Was Scratched

Chapter 14: The Night I Was Taken Care Of

Chapter 15: I Will Never Cry in Front of You

Chapter 16: An Uninteresting Intimate Relationship

Chapter 17: I Thought of a Fragrance...

Chapter 18: My Students, My Own Teaching

Chapter 19: Get Home

Chapter 20: The Mermaid Loses Everything

Chapter 21: Lust or a Mortal Heart

Chapter 22: At This Moment, Beauty and Romance Are Boundless

Chapter 23: Congratulations

Chapter 24: Why Not Do Something?

Chapter 25: Work Is a Form of Spiritual Practice

Chapter 26: There Was Also a Beautiful Love Story

Chapter 27: Not About Dating

Chapter 28: I Have a Great Figure, So You Won't Be at a Disadvantage

Chapter 29: Come to My House?

Chapter 30: Everything Beyond Control

Chapter 31: Heartless People

Chapter 32: Acting as If Nothing Had Happened

Chapter 33: The Charm of the Stubborn Donkey

Chapter 34: My Boss Is Especially Capable

Chapter 35: A Complete Rout, Utterly Defeated...

Chapter 36: Strangely Good

Chapter 37: Long-Term... Secret... No...

Chapter 38: True Love Can't Be Hidden

Chapter 39: Ignoring

Chapter 40: Why Not Be Together?

Chapter 41: No Love

Chapter 42: A Place for the Heart to Rest

Chapter 43: Tell the Truth When It Snows

Chapter 44: Let's End It Here

Chapter 45: A Sickness

Chapter 46: A Dead End

Chapter 47: Goodbye to This Year

Traveling Through Time

Chapter 48: A Human-Like Dog

Chapter 49: My Boss Won't Sell

Chapter 50: Get Ready, We're Going to Win Big...

Chapter 51: A Mess

Chapter 52: The Warmth of the Palm

Chapter 53: Chaos and Turmoil, Defeat Without a Fight...

Chapter 54: Blooming

Chapter 55: None of Them Are Kind-Hearted Men or Women

Chapter 56: Tearing Off the Mask

Chapter 57: At the Beginning

Chapter 58: A Joy No One Else Can Give

Chapter 59: One Journey After Another

Chapter 60: Are You All Blind?!

Chapter 61: Mutual Life

Chapter 62: Good Weather

Chapter 63: Hello, Luke

Chapter 64: May Your Luke Grow Strong and Healthy...

Chapter 65: One Heart

Chapter 66: Dog

Chapter 67: The Field of Interests

Chapter 68: Does Flora Have a Boyfriend?

Chapter 69: Peach

Chapter 70: Dunhuang 108

Chapter 71: Stability

Chapter 72: Softness

Chapter 73: Unexpected

Chapter 74: Courage

Chapter 75: Pain

Chapter 76: Tenderness

Chapter 77: Crystal Clear

Chapter 78: Getting Out

Chapter 79: Time

Chapter 80: High-Stakes Gamble

Chapter 81: Shaking

Chapter 82: Star Transformation

Chapter 83: Evening Breeze

Chapter 84: That's All

Chapter 85: Solo Journey

Chapter 86: Illusion

Chapter 87: Conflict

Chapter 88: Reminiscing

Chapter 89: Old Times

Chapter 90: Letting Go

Three Thousand Miles of Road and the Bright Moon of That Time

Chapter 91: Unexpected

Chapter 92: Malignant Disease

Chapter 93: Schemes

Chapter 94: Out of Control

Chapter 95: Before Departure

Chapter 96: The Long Journey

Chapter 97: Shattered

Chapter 98: Missing You

Chapter 99: Collision

Chapter 100: The Long Journey

Chapter 101: Two Colors

Chapter 102: Heart-to-Heart Talk

Chapter 103: Youthful Beauty

Chapter 104: Spring

Chapter 105: Cracks

Chapter 106: Clouds

Chapter 107: Heartbroken

Chapter 108: Wounded City

Chapter 109: Frost

Chapter 110: Finale

Snowy World

Chapter 111: Resolute

Chapter 112: Breaking the Cocoon

Chapter 113: Hello

Chapter 114: Nothing More

Chapter 115: Collision

Chapter 116: Looking Back

Chapter 117: Cancellation

Chapter 118: Competition

Chapter 119: Missing

Chapter 120: Battle

Chapter 121: Old Times

Chapter 122: Dawn

Chapter 123: Rash Adversity

Chapter 124: Conclusion

Chapter 125: Fusion

Chapter 126: Old Ground

Chapter 127: Illumination

Chapter 128: Enthusiasm

Chapter 129: Winter Night

Chapter 130: So Good

Chapter 131: No Rush

Chapter 132: One Day

Chapter 133: Foreshadowing

Chapter 134: The Early Spring

Extras

Extra 1: Liang Chengmin

Extra 2: Liang Chengmin

Extra 3: Liang Chengmin

Extra 4: Liang Chengmin

Extra 5: Liang Chengmin

Extra 6: Liang Chengmin

Extra 7: Liang Chengmin

Extra 8: Nian Tao

Extra 9: Nian Tao

Extra 10: Nian Tao

Extra 11: Nian Tao

Extra 12: Nian Tao

Extra 13: Nian Tao

Extra 14: Nian Tao

Extra 15: Nian Tao

Chapter 1 The City of Rain

That year, Beijing received more rain than usual, even more than the south where Shang Zhitao had just left. The rain fell softly, and wisps of smoke lingered above the clouds, making it hard to tell whether the scene was poetic or chilling.

Shang Zhitao was busy packing her two large suitcases, one filled with books and the other with clothes and shoes; there was nothing else. At twenty-two, she had completed her first solo migration from Nanjing to Beijing.

Fine beads of sweat dotted her forehead and cheeks, her face flushed pink, and Shang Zhitao felt like she was melting. She decided she absolutely had to buy a fan tomorrow.

The cramped cubicle became even more crowded because of the two boxes. She heard the girl in the next room talking on the phone: "Can I come over to your place this weekend? Someone moved into the room next to mine, and the soundproofing isn't good."

Shang Zhitao took a moment to process what she was saying. She put on her headphones and played music, then continued packing, this time moving more gently. Before she left, her senior, Yao Bei, had told her: "Living in this city, you need to be more understanding, because there are people suffering everywhere." Shang Zhitao vaguely understood what her senior meant by suffering.

She had originally planned to stay in the south after graduation, but that would mean being too far from her parents. After much deliberation, she sent all her resumes to companies in Beijing. As a graduate of a relatively unknown university, receiving a special offer from this company was incredibly exciting. Shang Zhitao even felt extremely lucky.

After tidying up her things, she looked around the small room and realized how shabby it was. When she looked at the apartment online, the agent had sent her some photos, and she even thought they looked alright. But now, in this bare room, apart from the floral-patterned bed, there was nothing else decent. She leaned against the headboard, propped herself up, and took out her notebook to carefully write down what she needed to buy tomorrow. For cooking, she only had the small electric cooker she brought from school and a bowl printed with a night view of the Qinhuai River; for laundry, she was hesitant to use the communal washing machine in the rented room. All the worries she hadn't had for herself during her school days were now making up for. And with these worries, she realized how trivial and mundane life truly was.

Her notebook was filled with three pages, and in Shang Zhitao's eyes, all the words on those three pages transformed into the single word "money." Everything required money to buy!

She does have some money; she saved some while working part-time during her studies. A few days ago, Lao Shang was worried that she would suffer financially, so he went to the bank and transferred 10,000 yuan to her.

Shang Zhitao was reluctant to spend the money on the peach blossoms. She started looking at the first row again, considering which items were urgently needed and which could wait. She added a column at the end, writing down "to be bought soon," "to be bought with the first paycheck," and "to be bought with the second paycheck."

As she wrote, she suddenly felt a bit ridiculous and pathetic, threw the notebook aside, flopped onto the bed, and giggled. She hadn't lost her innocence, her movements were unsteady, and she was completely unaware of the life that was about to begin.

Who cares!

She felt brave, but that bravery faded as night fell. She jumped out of bed, pushed her suitcases to the door, stacked them two together, blocking the doorway completely. Slowly, she felt the urge to urinate, but she forced herself to stay in the bathroom, counting sheep with her eyes tightly shut. The urge to urinate and fear clashed with her drowsiness, courage and cowardice clashing and pounding within her.

The first night alone in a foreign land felt incredibly long.

It was still raining the next day. When she opened her eyes, she remembered there was a farmers' market near her rented apartment. She had seen it on the bus the day before, and she decided to go there to buy some small items. She put on her raincoat, moved her suitcase, and opened the door to her room. She saw a girl standing in the bathroom washing clothes. The girl looked delicate and frail, somewhat like a girl from southern China. Shang Zhitao smiled at her: "Hello, my name is Shang Zhitao."

The girl smiled back at her: "Hello, my name is Sun Yu." The voice was familiar; it was the girl next door to Shang Zhitao: "It's still raining outside, where are you going?"

"I want to go to the farmers' market to buy some things."

“There are a lot of thieves over there. You just arrived in Beijing, right? It's inconvenient for you to go alone. I'll go with you.” Sun Yu wiped her hands clean and jogged back to her room to get an umbrella.

Aren't you going to work today?

"I resigned." Sun Yu's expression dimmed for a moment, then she walked in front of Shang Zhitao to lead the way.

The building they lived in was quite old, and the hallways were cluttered with various items, making it dark and cramped. Shang Zhitao took out a small flashlight, turned it on, and said to Sun Yu, "Don't fall."

The two finally went out, and the drizzle fell on Shang Zhitao's raincoat, making a rustling sound.

"Where are you from?" Sun Yu asked her.

"I'm from Harbin. What about you?"

"I am from Guizhou."

"Wow, Guizhou, it's so far away." Shang Zhitao exclaimed. She was born in Harbin and had only been to a few places around Nanjing when she was studying. Guizhou seemed like a distant place to her.

Hearing her exclamation and seeing Shang Zhitao's wide eyes, Sun Yu couldn't help but laugh: "You're so cute."

Shang Zhitao blushed a little at the sudden compliment and chuckled. The road to the market was muddy, and the two of them trudged through it, getting their trousers covered in mud, until they finally entered. The market sold everything imaginable. Shang Zhitao bought bowls, chopsticks, pots and pans, four basins of different sizes, a flower stand, plants, and a chamber pot. Sun Yu watched as Shang Zhitao, blushing, put the chamber pot into a black plastic bag and whispered to her, "I bought one when I first came here too. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"The agent said that the other two rooms are occupied by two young men who have just started working, but I've never seen them before, so I'm a little scared," Shang Zhitao explained.

"It's right to be more careful, and it's also right to protect yourself." Sun Yu spoke in Guizhou dialect, her tone both soft and firm, which was rather pleasant to hear.

The two of them went back and forth three times before they finished buying everything.

There was a beef noodle shop in the market, and the aroma of the rich broth wafted out in the rain. Both of them were a little hungry, so Shang Zhitao treated Sun Yu to a bowl of noodles to thank her for leading the way.

And so, on the second day after moving to this city, Shang Zhitao made a friend.

Sun Yu had just quit her job, and her boyfriend lived on the other side of the city, so she volunteered to help Shang Zhitao renovate her room. The originally simple room was transformed, suddenly gaining a touch of artistic flair. Sun Yu exclaimed in amazement, "Are you an art student?"

"No, I didn't!" Shang Zhitao sat cross-legged on the bed, admiring her masterpiece, then nodded and praised herself: "It's really good."

Sun Yu was amused by her silly antics and sat down next to her.

Shang Zhitao had a faint fragrance about her, and she was spotless, like a blank sheet of paper. Sun Yu felt like she hadn't seen such a clean and well-behaved girl in a long time.

"How old are you?" she asked Shang Zhitao softly.

"I'm twenty-two years old, how about you?"

"I'm twenty-five years old. So what brings you to Beijing?"

"I got a job through campus recruitment, and I'm officially starting work next Monday!" Shang Zhitao said with a smile, her eyes crinkling – she looked so pretty. Sun Yu nodded: "Is the company close to here?"

"I haven't been there yet, but my senior said it takes about eighty minutes to get there."

"That's great, it's not too far away."

For those working in Beijing, an 80-minute commute is on average, not too far. After all, the city is huge. Shang Zhitao didn't find it far either. When she was in school, she had to go to Zijin Mountain from school every week, a four-hour round trip. She often read books and listened to music on the bus, and the time passed quickly; it wasn't painful at all.

She was full of anticipation for her upcoming work and life, and also for the city. Under her pillow was a journal; she had filled out a page last night before bed, pasting three small, thin, almost transparent bus tickets on it—bus tickets she had taken from the train station to here, with "July 10th, Hello Beijing" written on them.

That night, lying in bed listening to the rain outside the window, she felt as if she had returned to the South. She always felt that graduation had come too quickly, and those days of frantically jumping out of bed and rushing to class were gone forever.

Shang Zhitao felt a little lonely.

She sat staring blankly at the dim lamp by her bedside, the surroundings quiet except for the patter of rain. She still couldn't sleep, her eyes open in the dim light, listening to the sounds outside.

I'm a little homesick.

I miss school and my classmates a little.

Shang Zhitao felt a lump in her throat.

FAQs

What is The Early Spring about?

The Early Spring follows Shang Zhitao, a new graduate who enters a prestigious advertising agency in Beijing and gradually grows through demanding workplace challenges. At the same time, her complicated relationship with her boss Luan Nian develops through attraction, conflict, restraint, separation, and change.

Who are the main characters in The Early Spring?

The main characters are Shang Zhitao and Luan Nian. Shang Zhitao begins as an inexperienced young employee, while Luan Nian is her demanding and sharp-tongued boss. Their relationship forms the emotional core of the story, with Song Qiuhan and Chen Kuannian among the important supporting characters.

How does The Early Spring portray workplace romance?

The Early Spring places romance inside a competitive advertising environment rather than treating the workplace as simple background scenery. Projects, clients, presentations, career pressure, personal ambition, and professional growth all influence how Shang Zhitao and Luan Nian understand themselves and each other.

Why is The Early Spring different from a typical office romance novel?

The story gives substantial attention to Shang Zhitao's personal and professional development. Her relationship with Luan Nian is only one part of a longer journey involving independence, career growth, separation, entrepreneurship, and the difficult process of becoming someone who can build a life on her own terms.

Where can I read or download the complete The Early Spring ebook?

The complete The Early Spring ebook can be read and downloaded directly on this webpage, allowing readers to continue through the full chapter sequence and extras.

Sep 6, 2026

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