The Snake Demon and the Divine Lord

A Divine Lord descends to the mortal realm to repay a debt by protecting someone through their tribulation, never expecting to get both the person and his heart involved.

A snake demon steals someone's opportunities to restore his looks, never expecting to give away both himself and his heart.

Neither of them can accept it at first.

Here's one of my upcoming novels, The Mountain Lad Who Came to the City to Find a Sugar Daddy.

Chi Luoxi was a radish in the mountains who became a spirit. After coming down from the mountain and entering the city, everything seemed new and bewildering to him. By chance, he made a few "friends."

Those young men were dressed to impress, but the words they spoke carried the greasy scheming of people steeped in city life.

They sized up the little mountain spirit. His skin really was smooth and delicate, and his eyes were big and bright. His figure was hidden beneath a cheap T-shirt and jeans, but he still had a fresh, unpolished beauty about him.

The group whispered among themselves, their words all hinting that life was short, so you might as well take what you could. They surrounded Chi Luoxi, half encouraging and half persuading him. "It's a shame to be cooped up in the mountains with looks like yours." "These days, being young is an asset, and good looks are as good as cash." "Take my advice, find someone rich and make as much as you can while you're young. Then you won't have to worry about the rest of your life."

Chi Luoxi only half understood. In his innocent way, he thought this must be how people survived in the city.

*

He Ao Xiao had encountered a little gold digger who kept showing up wherever he went. The boy had no clever schemes, and his methods were laughably clumsy. All he did was stage awkward chance meetings, stare at He Ao Xiao with those excessively clear eyes, and ask questions so naive they were almost silly.

He couldn't flirt and didn't know how to be seductive. He relied entirely on his bizarre way of thinking and the naturally lovely face that made it hard to stay mad at him for long.

He Ao Xiao had never met anyone so hopelessly unsophisticated. Everyone knew he wouldn't keep someone like that.

And yet, eventually, he really did keep him, giving him a spacious apartment and a card with a generous limit, and telling him to behave himself.

Chi Luoxi settled into He Ao Xiao's gilded cage. He wasn't good at spending money and didn't know much about luxury goods. Every month, he left most of the money on the card untouched, using only a little to buy necessities and... books.

Lots and lots of books, all kinds of textbooks and study materials.

*

Much later, those same "friends" got together again to show off what they'd acquired. One showed off the key to a luxury apartment in a high-end neighborhood; another brought out the keys to a new Audi or BMW. They were all clearly pleased with themselves. When it was Chi Luoxi's turn, they looked at him expectantly, eager to see what he'd come up with.

Under their watchful eyes, Chi Luoxi carefully reached into his faded canvas backpack and took something out, as if it were a priceless treasure.

It wasn't a property deed or a car key.

It was a silver-gray 256GB portable hard drive, its case a little worn.

Holding it in both hands, he showed it to his friends with utmost seriousness. "It's full of practice exam papers, from all kinds of years and subjects, as well as video lessons from famous teachers. He Ao Xiao bought them for me, and I made sure to copy everything onto this before I left."

The smiles froze on everyone else's faces.

This wasn't a mountain boy who'd come to the city to find a sugar daddy.

He was a bottomless sieve who could leave even his sugar daddy broke.

*

He Ao Xiao was going to end their arrangement and move on to the next stage. But he'd barely begun speaking when Chi Luoxi covered his mouth and said he understood.

He Ao Xiao thought that after being together for so long, they'd become perfectly in sync. They spent the night together, only for him to wake up and find his darling packing up and leaving.

He Ao Xiao: "..."

The gong has a wicked mouth, while the shou is sweet and well-behaved.

Theme: Don't judge people by their looks.