Zhengzheng Mu Chen’an

Cold, ruthless boxer gong x honest, gentle shou, two male leads + younger man/older man + slice of life + love that grows over time

At four in the morning, steam from Su’s Bun Shop unfailingly drifts down the street. Thirty-one-year-old Su Muan tends the old shop his father left him. Life is like the dough in his hands: steady, unhurried, and unchanging. That is, until a rainy night when a tall, drenched man knocks on his door.

Twenty-two-year-old Shen Zheng is like a wounded wolf: silent and sharp, carrying invisible scars all over. He asks only for a place to stay and work as an apprentice. The hot bun Su Muan offers him becomes the first ray of light Shen Zheng has found in his dark life.

From then on, the “Lone Wolf,” undefeated in the underground boxing rings, starts learning to knead dough, prepare fillings, and shape perfect buns with eighteen pleats. His fists once struck fear into everyone, but now he uses them only to shield Su Muan from every storm.

“Touch him and I’ll tear you apart.” Shen Zheng pins a thug who has been harassing the shop to the wall with one hand. When he turns to Su Muan, his gaze instantly softens. “Brother Muan, the dough is ready.”

In the steam-filled kitchen, the young boxer wraps his arms around his teacher’s waist from behind and rests his chin on his shoulder. “Is this the right way to knead it?” Su Muan’s ears turn bright red, and the dough in his hands almost falls into the bowl of filling.

When the shadows of the past draw near again, Shen Zheng shields Su Muan behind him. “This time, I have someone to protect.” For the first time, the usually gentle Su Muan grips his rolling pin tightly. “Anyone who wants to take him away will have to get past me first.”