Xia Zhiyi debuted at nineteen and made her way to the top with a face that looked like it belonged in a masterpiece. Beneath her stunning features and figure was even more impressive acting talent. In the year when the industry had the highest hopes for her, everyone agreed it was only a matter of time before she became a major star.
The entertainment industry was a tangled mess. With no powerful backer or family connections, she had to tread carefully at every turn, surrounded by hungry wolves.
After she rejected a certain big shot, even the smallest things became difficult. The day she brought clothes to a friend, she should have been able to come and go freely, but security suddenly barred her way. "You can't enter the side venue without an invitation."
As the standoff continued, the person in charge hurried out. She turned to look and saw a vintage Rolls-Royce with a Hong Kong license plate drive through the pouring rain and slowly come to a stop before the entrance, surrounded by a crowd.
The black door opened. The man had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, with an air of nobility. Being the center of attention was second nature to him. He passed through the crowd with indifference, and their eyes met.
It was their second meeting. They were little more than acquaintances, though she had once helped him with a small favor.
A moment later, he bent his arm to invite her to enter as his companion. "If you don't mind."
It was only after she took the center seat in the front row, noticed her friend was nowhere to be seen, and realized that even the top-tier star had been relegated to a corner that she understood just what kind of center of power and influence the man beside her occupied.
The main venue. The investors' seats. A guest of honor.
-
Later, beneath the clearing sky in a garden after the rain, the man said circumstances had forced his hand and asked if she would be interested in marrying him.
Xia Zhiyi looked into it a little and learned that although he had mixed heritage, was exceptionally handsome, and owned assets everywhere, he had one fatal flaw: he was impotent.
Thinking of her future, she limited the marriage to one year. She had assumed it would be a marriage in name only, but one day a small accident led to them spending the night together. When she opened her eyes the next morning, she woke in his arms and struggled to pull her clothes up to cover herself.
"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "Could you pretend last night never happened?"
"..."
Later, when she realized he saw their relationship as that of a sugar daddy and his kept woman, she swiftly packed her things and prepared to run.
Her escape failed, and she was caught and brought back the way she'd come. As they faced off, the man furrowed his brow slightly and repeated, "...What kind of daddy?"
Xia Zhiyi replied reluctantly, "A sugar daddy."
"You'd give me the stars if I asked, and wouldn't let me settle for the moon. You let me kiss you whenever I want and dump you whenever I feel like it, and you even scold me for being delusional," he said with a faint hum. "I've never seen such a pathetic sugar daddy."
"..."
[Bonus scenes]
1.
Xia Zhiyi had once studied traditional Chinese medicine for a role. Not long afterward, a friend sent her some potent tonics. Following her professor's instructions, she added a few kidney-nourishing herbs to the prescription for his insomnia.
Before long, Lu Yanshen realized that whenever he drank medicine she'd made herself, he would feel restless and overheated all night, unable to sleep.
Chatting with a close friend late one night, the usually taciturn man paused, then spoke softly into the night breeze. "Then tell me."
"What does it mean when my wife keeps putting aphrodisiacs in my water?"
For countless mornings afterward, Xia Zhiyi would wake up aching all over. She wondered if the dose of medicine from a few days earlier had been too strong, making him keep her up all night without restraint. Then, exhausted, she got up to check.
Huh? I didn't even add that much.
2.
When news spread that Xia Zhiyi had married into a wealthy family, everyone had something to say. Some envied her good fortune, while others sneered that an actress had married up. Only she knew how much hardship and suffering she'd endured along the way.
No one expected that on the night she won her award, a thirteen-minute light show over Victoria Harbour would stay lit all night. No one knew who had spent so extravagantly to celebrate her. A photograph quietly captured the moment:
Under the shimmering night lights, the man knelt before her, looked up, and pressed a kiss to her lips.
#Bet you didn't expect the male lead to be the one giving the kiss
Meeting you was a miracle more dazzling than anything else.
Height difference; guiding lover; each other's first love
Theme: Love is humanity's eternal question.
