The day her family fell on hard times, Lin Yan's life was completely rewritten.
Her parents' business took a loss. Overnight, they went from respectable small-business owners to down-and-out debtors. With nowhere else to turn, they made a decision that made Lin Yan grit her teeth with rage: they sent her to work at the company owned by her sworn enemy, Gu Ruoxin.
Gu Ruoxin, the woman who had been at odds with Lin Yan since high school, had now become her direct superior. Old grudges piled on top of new resentments, and Gu Ruoxin seemed determined to make her suffer. Overtime became routine, and trivial tasks piled up like a mountain. Every day, Lin Yan dragged her exhausted body home, growing irritated at her parents' constant sighs and seething at Gu Ruoxin's deliberate provocations. The pressure of life was like an airtight net, trapping her and leaving her gasping for breath.
Meanwhile, her brother Lin Hua's life was also stirred up by an unexpected turn of events.
Yu Yuan, Lin Hua's closest friend since childhood, confessed his long-hidden feelings to him one moonlit night, blushing as he spoke. The sudden confession left Lin Hua at a loss, but it also gave Lin Yan, who was hiding around the corner, a flash of inspiration.
A bad idea took root in her mind.
If life was going to be this miserable, she might as well find some entertainment. Lin Yan sought Yu Yuan out and confidently promised to help him win over her brother. From then on, Lin Yan became his “romance strategist,” racking her brains every day to give Yu Yuan terrible advice. Today, she told him to give Lin Hua a pair of his favorite limited-edition sneakers; tomorrow, she urged him to arrange a romantic chance encounter; the day after, she suggested staging a “hero saves beauty” scene. Yu Yuan followed Lin Yan's every word, flailing his way through her “conquest guide” and causing plenty of hilarious mishaps, while also turning Lin Hua's life upside down.
Lin Yan was so caught up in the fun of disrupting her brother's life that she didn't notice a years-long secret crush on her was quietly coming to light.
By chance, Lin Hua once delivered some documents to Gu Ruoxin's office on his sister's behalf and happened to see an old photo album in her desk drawer. It was filled with pictures of Lin Yan: running across the playground in high school, bent over her books in the classroom, and even standing with her hands on her hips, cheeks puffed in anger during an argument with Gu Ruoxin. On the back of every photo was a line of neat handwriting, every word revealing a love she could no longer hide.
Though shocked, Lin Hua finally understood that Gu Ruoxin's efforts to make Lin Yan's life difficult had never been simple revenge. Those seemingly unreasonable overtime assignments were a way to keep her by her side a little longer. Those deliberately picked faults were an excuse to talk to her a little more. Ever since their high school days of clashing with each other, Gu Ruoxin had never taken her eyes off Lin Yan.
Meanwhile, Yu Yuan's pursuit of love was full of bumps, and amid all the laughter and exasperation, Lin Hua gradually fell for his persistent childhood friend. As for Lin Yan, she was still innocently giving advice to her love rival, completely unaware that she had long since become someone else's “prize.”
When a secret crush is exposed, and a string of ridiculous attempts at conquest meets a love long buried in the heart, what sort of storm will this tangled romance unleash? The shadows of her family's downfall have yet to fade, but their story of love and growing up is only just beginning.
Theme: Misaligned love
