As a student, Qin Zhi was spoiled, arrogant, and conceited. Backed by a wealthy family, he suffered from a blind and absurd case of knight-errant syndrome, lost in a grand fantasy of saving other people’s lives.
If a problem could be solved with effort, he gave his effort. If it could be solved with money, he paid.
He never considered the consequences or what he might lose. As long as people thanked him sincerely, Qin Zhi was satisfied.
Unfortunately, one anomaly appeared in his grand fantasy: his deskmate, Chi Lin, a poor top student burdened by a bad reputation, who always opposed him and repeatedly rejected his well-meaning offers.
Chi Lin would rather be misunderstood and insulted, eat spoiled rice balls and wear patched clothes than let Qin Zhi “stick his nose into other people’s business.”
“We’re not that close,” Chi Lin said ungratefully.
Furious, Qin Zhi swore he would be a dog if he ever helped this guy again.
*
Naturally, someone with knight-errant syndrome like Qin Zhi had a prince living in his heart.
It was his childhood friend, a sickly beauty of an Omega who suffered from a pheromone disorder.
Qin Zhi planned to confess his feelings sincerely once he presented as an Alpha, promising to take care of his childhood friend for the rest of his life.
But one night, when he made his usual visit to the hospital, that ungrateful Chi Lin was sitting by his childhood friend’s bed, chatting happily with him.
His childhood friend wore the brightest smile he had shown since taking a leave from school, and Chi Lin’s face held a tenderness Qin Zhi had never seen before.
It turned out his childhood friend and his nemesis liked each other. There was no place for Qin Zhi in their relationship at all.
Qin Zhi couldn’t get angry with his childhood friend, so he disliked Chi Lin even more. He would make cutting remarks at him whenever he could, and whenever there was a reason, he rolled up his sleeves and fought him.
The two were like flint and steel. Everyone around them knew they were enemies who would fight until one of them was dead.
Even after his childhood friend ultimately chose neither of them, even after they went their separate ways upon graduating from high school and never met again, whenever Qin Zhi thought of Chi Lin, he still wanted to stick pins into a little figurine of him and curse him with the most vicious words.
*
As Qin Zhi grew older, his knightly dreams gradually crumbled. His two older brothers, who held power in the family, kicked him out. He lost his family’s financial support, and his career as a director stalled. Not one of the people he had helped back then reached out to help him.
Meanwhile, Chi Lin, who had once been too poor to afford food, had transformed into a tech magnate from a wealthy family, armed with cutting-edge patented technology. His net worth soared, and old and new elite families alike treated him as an honored guest.
Ten years later, their fortunes reversed. They met again at his childhood friend’s wedding.
Qin Zhi believed the rumor that Chi Lin planned to steal his childhood friend away at the wedding. Before Chi Lin could get close to him, Qin Zhi cracked his head open.
They naturally ended up fighting again, landing on the trending headlines in Yangcheng that very day.
Public opinion overwhelmingly sided with Chi Lin. Stubborn as ever, Qin Zhi refused to apologize. He just wanted to finish raising money, hurry off to the mountains to shoot his film, and escape Yangcheng and all its trouble.
He tried to find investors, but the negative publicity meant not one of them was interested in his film.
Yet somehow, Qin Zhi kept “running into” Chi Lin in all sorts of ways.
Chi Lin said, “I can invest in your film.”
Qin Zhi didn’t believe Chi Lin would be so kind. “What if my film loses money?”
Chi Lin revealed his sinister side. “Then you can come work like a beast of burden for me.”
*
Later, Qin Zhi discovered one of his nemesis’s secrets.
Chi Lin had also presented as an Alpha. In the throes of a feverish rut, he kept repeating the same sentence in a daze:
“Wenwen, I miss you so much.”
Wenwen was Qin Zhi’s childhood nickname. Few people besides his family knew it.
*
Back in their school days, Chi Lin never really liked Qin Zhi.
Qin Zhi was always doing whatever he wanted, guided by a certain arrogant, naive sense of justice, and swore he would help every person he came across.
He was like the sun at high noon, hanging in the sky, radiant enough to light up every filthy, sordid corner of the world.
But he was far too scorching. People basking in that sunlight could suffer anything from heatstroke to collapse, and Chi Lin was the poor soul on the verge of collapsing.
An unknown god heard Chi Lin’s complaints and made Qin Zhi, that sun, vanish from his life like a shooting star.
For ten whole years, Chi Lin’s life entered a long night.
Over those ten years, Chi Lin finally understood one thing: if the sun wanted to hang in the sky, let it. Anyone who tried to stop it from shining would be Chi Lin’s enemy.
*
Qin Zhi x Chi Lin
Both Alphas
Silk tree flower x spearmint
Formerly a bright, passionate young master, now an unconventional, carefree artistic director x formerly a gloomy, strong-willed poor top student, now a cool, devoted tech magnate
Both are virgins. There’s a reason they became enemies, but it really wasn’t because of a first love.
No set roles; sorry if that’s not your thing.
Both characters’ perspectives will appear in the main story.
The story has two timelines: the adult timeline is marked “New Wine” in chapter titles, and the school-age timeline is marked “Old Bottle.”
Theme: Living in harmony with others
[Reborn] Assassinate That Tyrant!
[Reborn] Don't Come Any Closer!
We're Just Childhood Friends!!
Sniffing the Roses
Better to Sleep Together, Gently
The Obsessive Fake Young Master Wants to Confess to His Brother
The Dark Moonlight Master's Ascension Handbook
A Loss
A Year of Promise
Drink Until We Drop
Virtuous
Unwell