Foster-Family Romance | Tense Push and Pull | Mutual Salvation
After Nan Yuan is brought home from the orphanage by the Chengs, she learns that the family has an older son named Cheng Wang, who is difficult to get along with.
When they first meet, she obediently calls him "Big Brother."
The boy lazily lifts his eyelids and answers with a careless "Oh," as if he couldn't care less about the new addition to the family.
Nan Yuan goes between school and the bookstore every day, living a quiet, well-behaved life.
Cheng Wang is her complete opposite. He is wild and unruly, seemingly born to explore, and loves racing, rock climbing, and anything thrilling.
Nan Yuan is the one exception.
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As they spend more time together, Cheng Wang discovers that she isn't as well-behaved as he'd imagined.
Nan Yuan doesn't indulge his arrogance and rudeness, either. They trade barbs every day, and, strangely enough, their relationship begins to thaw. Even the villa's servants find it downright bizarre.
One day, Cheng Wang drives her to a spot halfway up the mountainside along the island road to watch the stars.
He stands in the wind, his gaze fixed on her face. His lips curl in his usual careless smile, but there is a new seriousness in his eyes.
"Nan Yuan, want to play a game of love with me?"
At the time, Nan Yuan thinks, What a bastard.
He actually compares love to a game.
But she has to admit that there is a wild streak buried in her bones. Beneath her obedient nature, she longs to break free of order. And so begins a secret love affair hidden from the world.
Just as he said, Nan Yuan treats their relationship as a game that will inevitably end.
That is, until he starts making plans for her in his future. Then she begins to panic.
Claiming she'd lost interest and grown bored, she breaks up with him. After graduating from college, she moves far away to Nancheng.
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Four years later, Nan Yuan returns to Nancheng for work.
A friend jokingly asks Cheng Wang if he still holds a grudge over what happened back then. He replies with breezy indifference, "Who didn't have a few relationships when they were young and foolish? I've forgotten all about it."
Later, when he sees that she's even calmer than he is, and that she's going on a blind date with another man, he can no longer keep up the act.
"Young and foolish? I was young, reckless, innocent, and devoted."
"It's my fate to have fallen for Nan Yuan in this life. I'm Cheng Wang, and I accept it."
Their friend shrugs and smiles knowingly, wearing an expression that says, I knew it.
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[Reading Guide]
Both leads are sexually inexperienced | Happy ending
The leads are not legally related, and were never registered as family. This is not an incest story.
They only begin dating as adults, so there is no underage romance.
Theme: Love that is mutual and wholehearted is always passionate
