A Taste That Leaves You Wanting More [The Nineties]

[Complete] The story is finished. I hope everyone who enjoyed it will leave a five-star review~

Millennium-era rental-room fiction | SC HE

Winter, 1991. Qiuhong was young and pretty, but she was only a low-class cigarette seller. For money, she had to take dangerous risks, trick a young policewoman into becoming her roommate, and keep taking advantage of this naive roommate.

Winter, 1991. The young policewoman had just entered the world. Like all the girls in the city, she was sunny and wholesome, came from a respectable family, had a stable and respectable job, and naturally had a bright future ahead of her.

Qiuhong hated the young policewoman. She detested her naivete, her stupidity, everything about her.

Yet on that cold winter night, the young policewoman said nothing, simply gazing at her intently.

Those clear, candid eyes reminded Qiuhong of the dog her family used to keep.

Spring, 2000. Qiuhong was behind bars, while her former lover had become a captain in the criminal police division.

She no longer had the right to hate her.

It was strange. That woman still looked at her the same way.

*The main characters are referred to by titles in the first four chapters and by name from Chapter Five onward. If this story interests you, give it a chance~

Here's a preview of my upcoming novel, Spring Mountain Stirs Late

Li Jing hated Du Xishi.

She had tried to conquer the female lead three times, and every ending had been disastrous. The female lead was either sent abroad or forced into an arranged marriage.

Du Xishi was the one to blame for all of it: the female lead's own older sister, a cliched character in a cliched story who knew nothing but standing in the way of the destined couple.

Just as Li Jing began planning her fourth attempt at conquest, the female lead threw herself from a tall building and died by suicide.

Ten years of effort had gone up in smoke. Furious beyond reason, Li Jing was willing to spend every last point to wipe the slate clean and start over.

Back at the beginning, Du Xishi became her new target.

She would win her over, then dump her cruelly, making her watch through bitter regret as Li Jing and the female lead lived happily together.

She wanted to see just how capable that woman really was, and whether even after being abandoned, she could truly avoid shedding a single tear.

-2-

Du Xishi, the eldest daughter of the Du family, had been a model student throughout her school years and became a flawless corporate heir after graduation. Her mind held nothing but business and the future of her family, and she could even sacrifice her marriage without hesitation.

Her life was without flaw. Its one imperfection was that she had never been in love.

In a sense, she seemed easy to win over.

That was what Li Jing thought at first.

She did everything she could to get close to her.

She would be pathetic and pitiful, even shameless. She refused to believe Du Xishi's heart was made of stone.

But what she hadn't expected was that Du Xishi's heart wasn't just made of anything but stone. It was exceptionally soft.

She called Li Jing a cheap slut for climbing into her bed after a one-night stand, but secretly spoke up for her to the manager.

She looked down on Li Jing's background and despised her parents, yet when she heard others insulting Li Jing, she was the one who stood up for her without hesitation.

Li Jing was a burden, a worthless girl who deserved to be beaten. Though Du Xishi hated that she took the money and still kept crossing the line, seeing her covered in bruises still left Du Xishi worrying over her.

Later, she even took Li Jing along with her, leaving Xingang and returning to the mainland together.

By the end of the conquest, Li Jing was the one who had fallen in love with Du Xishi first.

-3-

Li Jing had fallen hard.

Countless times, she had wanted to tell Du Xishi the truth, and countless times she had resolved to give up on the female lead.

At last, she made up her mind and even prepared a ring to propose to her.

But instead of hearing sweet words, she watched as Du Xishi unhesitatingly gave her to the female lead as a gift, sending her to the other woman's bed.

It had all been a lie. Du Xishi was still the same woman with a heart harder than iron.

Theme: Love and being loved, redemption and growth