Lost in the Nights of the Capital

【The blurb’s plot points have all been reclaimed, and now he’s pursuing his wife~】 【Coming soon to my collection: Just This Love. Please stop by! Pretty please, bb’s, give it a little bookmark~】 ◆ College girl × powerful Beijing socialite / gentle and resilient × scheming and sinister ◆ Powerful man making moves at every turn / possessive pursuit / forced love “You tear me apart, torturing me inch by inch in the way only you can. And somehow, I call it love. It really is love.” 01/ When Zhu Yunzheng was eighteen, she boarded a green train alone and traveled from a small town in the south to Jingzhou for college. Jingzhou was a glittering, decadent world, and she knew perfectly well that she didn’t belong amid all its glamour. Then she was cornered at the end of a covered walkway, mud splattering her skirt and leaving her humiliated and disheveled. When she looked up, she saw someone leaning against the railing in a second-floor private room, its curtains half drawn. A few casual words from him got her out of trouble. Through the haze of smoke, the man’s gaze was as still and unfathomable as an abyss. Only later did she learn his name: Cheng Yanzhi. The second young master of the Cheng family was Jingzhou’s most refined and proper gentleman, and the hardest to win over. The powerful families she had to navigate so carefully, the ones she couldn’t afford to offend, were no more than dust beneath the Cheng family’s feet. 02/ In time, Cheng Yanzhi grew mature and understanding, gentle and considerate. Whenever she was in trouble, he always seemed to appear at just the right moment. He gave her comfort, protection, and a “status” that others both envied and looked down on. He showed her a world she had never known, lifting her from the mud to the clouds time and again. The things that felt like the end of the world to Zhu Yunzheng were things Cheng Yanzhi would repeatedly reassure her about: “I’m here. Everything you want will be yours.” And so she let herself sink deeper into the warmth and security he offered. Yet she knew all along that she was nothing more than an affair unfit for public view in his perfect life. 03/ Only later did Zhu Yunzheng discover that the fate and rescue she believed in were merely part of Cheng Yanzhi’s carefully laid plan. So she made all the necessary preparations, cut herself free from this carefully constructed illusion without a backward glance, and disappeared completely. But she never expected Cheng Yanzhi to be like a patient hunter. He interfered with her work, meddled in her life, controlled her friends, drove a wedge between her and her new boyfriend, and used every means at his disposal to force her back to his side. In an old alley in the pouring rain, the man gently wiped her disheveled face. His voice held the familiar gentleness she had once known so well, but his eyes burned with feverish madness. “Why are you afraid of me? Weren’t we always good together?” “Do you like the old Cheng Yanzhi, the one who was so gentle with you?” “That’s fine.” “I can keep pretending. For as long as you want, Yunzheng. Come back to me, all right?” ◆ 1. One-on-one romance, happy ending, both leads are each other’s first. 2. The cities, administrative divisions, laws, and regulations in this story are fictional, bear no relation to reality, and are not intended to allude to anything real. Any resemblance is purely coincidental, so please don’t draw comparisons or take it as real. 3. Please see the author’s note in Chapter One for content warnings. ◆ My next novel, Just This Love, is coming soon to my collection. Please bookmark it! The underdog is making a comeback, please bookmark it! (O >`ω′< )☆ ◆ Fox × daddy / money-loving flirt × smiling old-money schemer #A gentleman in public, dark and obsessive in private ◆ Daddy issues / age gap / size difference / hunter-and-prey relationship 01/ Chu Zhi had always been prejudiced against older, wealthy men. They were conceited and worldly, polished on the outside, and all of them liked to toy with women. But she was happy to seek them out. Their connections were inexhaustible, their fortunes bottomless. She might as well take what she could get; nobody turns down money. Still, Chu Zhi thought that even by her impossibly picky standards, Zhou Yuqian was a flawless sugar daddy. He called her his babygirl and told her she was a good girl. He would gently stroke her hair, tease her just enough to keep her wanting more, coax her into saying daring things, encourage her to express herself, and patiently satisfy every desire she voiced. 02/ When Chu Zhi first approached Zhou Yuqian, she hadn’t thought much about it. He was rich, handsome enough, great in conversation, and generous with his money. But as they grew closer, she gradually learned that beneath his courteous exterior, he was a complete madman: obsessive, dark, extreme, and fiercely controlling. He could even use any means necessary to wipe out his own brothers. More importantly, he hated betrayal and deception. Chu Zhi was relieved that on a whim, she had created a fake name and identity tailored to fit the part, inventing a tragic backstory about being unloved by both parents, responsible for elders above her and children below her, and having nothing in common with her real life. Once she got what she wanted, she took the money and slipped away without a word. 03/ Then, four years later, as rain fell and thunder rumbled, Chu Zhi was driven into a corner and had no choice but to flee back to her hometown in the south. The moment she opened the door, she saw the tall man standing in the shadows. It seemed he had been waiting there for a long time. He came closer with a gentle smile and drew her rigid body into his arms. “Good girl. Welcome home.” / “I hunted her like a madman, trapping her so that my reflection would be the only thing those beautiful eyes could see. But when she finally looked at me, all I could do was beg on my knees for the woman I love to grant me the tiniest bit of affection.” Theme: Respecting others is also a way of respecting yourself