Commander Bai, Drop the Act: A Young Woman Has a Crush on You

(Alternate-history Republican era, 15-year age gap, secret love, mutual devotion)

Heroine: A rich young lady spoiled by her own mother into a useless little thing, but she grows up fast.

Hero: Steady and fatherly on the surface, but actually...

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“Tangtang, I’m much older than you, and I could lose my life at any moment. Do you really not care about that?”

Jiang Tang answered obediently, “Big Brother, I started liking you the moment I first saw you. You know that once I’ve set my heart on something, I never change my mind.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “You’re calling me a thing?”

The girl immediately corrected herself. “No, you’re not a thing!”

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They say nine out of ten Republican-era romances end in tragedy, but this novel isn’t one of them. There’s no melodramatic rich-family infighting or brutal battlefield scenes, only a slow-building romance and a steady stream of sweet everyday moments between a young woman and an older man. They heal each other with sweetness, and get their happy ending.

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At first, this was a love that should never have happened.

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Bai Chongxiao’s wife was like a red rose, and his first love was the moonlight. She fell for him at first sight, but knew loving him would be immoral. Jiang Tang was young and lovely, innocent of the ways of the world. As a man stationed on the battlefield, he didn’t dare entertain a single improper thought about her.

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Before he knew it, the girl had grown into exactly the kind of woman he liked. He fell for her, and she was about to run away.

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Watching one suitor after another pursue the girl, someone finally reached the end of his patience, tore off his human disguise, grabbed his nine-toothed rake, and started digging up his own cabbage patch...

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Later, someone teased him, “Commander Bai, you’re brave and battle-tested, but your wife is terribly timid.”

Bai Chongxiao replied, “The bravest thing Tangtang ever did was risk her youth on my future.”