After Our Contractual Breakup, My Love Rival Started Pursuing Me

Couple: fake gentle and devoted, world-weary and aloof top x fake womanizer, flirtatious and refined gentleman, unhinged bottom.

Three years into his contractual relationship with the young master of the Yun family, Jin Qian caught him in an intimate tangle with his ex-boyfriend.

He quietly closed the door for them, drafted a breakup text, then turned and headed for the terrace to find somewhere he could smoke.

As luck would have it, he ran into an old acquaintance.

"How was the show today?"

Half the man's face was hidden in the night. He exhaled a cloud of smoke and curled his lips at Jin Qian in challenge.

Ying Cinian, a notorious playboy among the children of wealthy families, one of the young Yun master's suitors, and Jin Qian's romantic rival.

He was also once Jin Qian's closest friend.

Three years ago, after breaking up with his ex-boyfriend, the young Yun master had gone to Jin Qian, whose upbringing and manners far surpassed his ex's.

Throughout their contractual relationship, Jin Qian had been the perfect lover. His phone was on around the clock; he came whenever he was called, no matter the weather, always ready to be summoned and dismissed at will.

As long as the young Yun master didn't fool around right in front of him, Jin Qian could pretend nothing had happened.

Yun Min was more than satisfied. Ying Cinian, however, found it disgusting.

The Ying and Yun families were old friends, and he and Yun Min had grown up together.

At least half the reason Jin Qian had met Yun Min was Ying Cinian.

A shameless, ungrateful opportunist, putting on this devoted act for whom?

From then on, wherever the young Yun master went, Young Master Ying was sure to appear.

Rumor had it that Jin Qian and Ying Cinian had fought over Yun Min more than once.

But now, the two rivals who ought to have been at each other's throats were on unexpectedly good terms.

Jin Qian walked straight over to Ying Cinian and casually fished a lighter out of his coat pocket.

He lit a cigarette, and the cold air stung his throat.

"Pretty good." Jin Qian flicked his eyes up and glanced at him coolly. "You've gone to a lot of trouble, Young Master Ying."

After all that groundwork, deliberately luring him here, the purpose was obvious.

But...

"Why?"

Ying Cinian leaned in close. In the dark, his smiling eyes shone brightly. "Obviously, to make you break up with Yun Min."

Jin Qian raised an eyebrow. "Then you'll take my place?"

Remembering what he had just seen in the private room, he said with feigned regret, "The young master and his white moonlight are rekindling their old flame. I'm afraid you won't get your turn this time either."

Ying Cinian only smiled.

The next moment, he grabbed Jin Qian by the wrist, gripping him so tightly he could hardly break free. "Who said I wanted to take that place?"

"This is the place I want."

[Reading Guide]

1. The young Yun master will have a chase-your-ex-to-the-crematorium arc. That guy is naturally a scumbag.

2. Fake rivals become lovers, squaring off head-on. A love story between two pretenders: one wears the mask of a gentle gentleman, the other a refined playboy.

3. Both are virgins and neither has ever liked anyone else. The top took the contract for money; the bottom is in love and just putting on an act.

4. Both leads are in a worrying mental state, and the whole novel is drenched in melodrama, except for their relationship. Readers who don't handle that well, run.

5. The bottom falls for the top first, showing off like a peacock and fighting to win him over. Think dream boyfriend meets career fan. The top seems laid-back but is extremely controlling, a pure dom.

6. The "campus" tag is there because the top is a PhD in psychology and a part-time counselor, while the bottom studied art and spent a few years abroad. There are school scenes.

7. Written on a whim, so please don't offer writing advice. At heart, this is a story about a man and his dog. It's melodramatic, but they dote on each other. I like unequal feelings (

8. Hehe, making it a lucky number. Wishing all my lovely readers a fresh start in the new year, good fortune, and prosperity!

Coming next: Shadow Self

Couple: cold, domineering, self-righteous, unhinged top x gloomy, lovesick, pathologically possessive bottom.

Lu Xun, a high school math teacher.

Alone in the world, with no parents.

He had a handsome face but a foul temper. By the time he was thirty-six, he still didn't have a partner.

If he happened to die alone in his home one day, chances were nobody would find him.

His friend had set him up on blind dates again and again, and every one had gone spectacularly wrong.

He said people with good prospects were out of his league, those with bad prospects weren't good enough, and he rejected every handsome, beautiful, tall, short, and everything in between.

His friend was furious. "Lu Xun, just you wait!"

Lu Xun didn't care. "I'll wait."

And while he was waiting, he really did get someone formidable.

Xu Mingqing, a famous author and part-time screenwriter.

After his father died, he inherited tens of billions.

A man like that was completely outside Lu Xun's standards for a partner.

But...

"Your ex still can't get over you. So, are you marrying him or not?"

In all his years, Lu Xun had only had one serious ex.

He looked up and, sure enough, it was that lunatic.

"Yes."

With Xu Mingqing's temperament, even if Lu Xun were dead, he'd insist on having a ghost marriage with him.

Lu Xun and Xu Mingqing had a long, tangled history.

When they were young, neither was willing to give an inch. Their mouths were weapons, and they stabbed each other straight through the heart.

In the year they loved each other most and felt most helpless, Xu Mingqing said to Lu Xun:

"I don't understand love, but I can't live without you."

Lu Xun gripped him by the throat, his wrist tightening.

"That's interesting."

Both were insincere, each treating the other as their own possession, while putting on a show for their friends about how much they loved each other.

Years after their breakup, they reunited and got married. Their friends all thought they had rekindled their old love.

But to Lu Xun, it was just another fling.

The lunatic had gotten interested again and remembered his old lover from his youth.

To Lu Xun's surprise, this time Xu Mingqing really did fall in love with him.

He broke down again and again, screaming himself hoarse.

At last, their boring game of romantic power struggles came to an end, and the loser bowed in submission.

The lunatic couldn't move his cold-hearted lover.

"I don't understand love. If you love me, that's your own fault."

Theme: Keep your word.