[Both leads are inexperienced + male stand-in + green-tea puppy + fighting for affection + black-sesame-filled tangyuan]
Deep in her heart, Sang Wanning hides a long-lost love who has been abroad for three years. To ease her longing, she finds countless young men who resemble him and keeps them by her side as stand-ins.
Xu Jingye is the one who looks most like him, so Sang Wanning grants him plenty of privileges.
He can live in her house, enter her room, sleep in her bed, and be intimate with her.
There is only one rule: he gets no title.
*
The poor puppy has been her secret lover for two years when he finally works up the nerve to ask for a proper place in her life. But then her first love returns.
He easily captures all of Sang Wanning's attention. The privileges once reserved exclusively for Xu Jingye are gradually taken away, leaving him as the most inconspicuous shadow among her many stand-ins.
Worse, her first love, Shen Yan, keeps provoking Xu Jingye.
Shen Yan: "You know the saying, 'She sees you as a substitute for her old love'?"
The more he provokes Xu Jingye, the weaker Sang Wanning's legs grow that night.
When passion takes hold, Xu Jingye cups Sang Wanning's face. "Sis, who's better, him or me?"
*
Sang Wanning coolly draws a line between them, forcing him to face the fact that he's only a stand-in.
But when desire takes over, she can't help going soft for this green-tea puppy.
"Choose me, Sis. I'm more obedient than he is. I'll always be your dog."
*
At their wedding years later, Shen Yan storms the venue. "Sang Wanning, I'm the one you love most! What is a stand-in like him to you?"
Xu Jingye leans against Sang Wanning, looking pitiful. "Sis, maybe I should leave after all."
Sang Wanning looks down at Shen Yan coldly. "You say she sees me as her old love? The one who isn't loved is the stand-in."
