The Neighbor Across the Hall Has a Crush on Me

[Full manuscript complete, @Chang An Writes]

Updates according to the rankings

Radiant, charming opera actress x reserved, etiquette-conscious heir

Love grows over time / mutual sweetness and devotion

Chu Jin first met Zhao Rangli at Old Master Zhao’s eightieth birthday celebration.

The sight of the man listening to a lecture with his eyes downcast and his brows furrowed made Chu Jin suppress a laugh.

So everyone acted the same way around their elders, even someone as distinguished as a wealthy heir like Zhao Rangli.

They met for the second time overseas.

In her rush to leave, she had forgotten her translator. Unable to communicate with the foreigners, all she could do was gesture frantically.

Zhao Rangli stepped in to help her.

Afterward, she politely thanked him, only to get a cold reply from the man.

“No need.”

Only after they parted did Chu Jin realize that he probably didn’t even know who she was.

Before long, they met again. This time, they became neighbors.

Gradually, Chu Jin discovered that Zhao Rangli was actually a warmhearted person.

He helped her fix broken light bulbs, carried large parcels for her, and invited her out to eat.

The man was far too attentive to her.

So when Zhao Rangli invited her to dinner again, Chu Jin finally couldn’t help asking, “Why are you always so considerate of me?”

Nervously, she looked up and met the man’s amused, unreadable gaze.

His eyes held a smile. “A distant relative can’t compare to a nearby neighbor. What reason would I need?”

So that was all there was to it. It seemed she had read too much into things.

She put away her idle fantasies and treated him only as a neighbor.

Not long afterward, she received another invitation from the Zhao family.

They met at the old family home. Their eyes met briefly, and she was the first to look away.

In a setting like this, it was better not to act too familiar.

That evening, Chu Jin had just arrived home and had yet to open the door when a solid wall of a man pressed against her from behind.

His hot breath brushed her neck as he called her in a low voice, “Tang Tang.”

Only after they had been together for a long time did Chu Jin slowly realize what it meant.

Zhao Rangli had been kind to her from the very beginning because he had liked her even then.

That line about how a nearby neighbor was better than a distant relative had been nothing but a way to fool her!

#[Reader’s Guide]

1. The female lead is 28, the male lead is 33, with a five-year age gap.

2. The male lead falls for the female lead first. She is slow to catch on and takes time to warm up.

3. Both leads have their own career arcs, and the story will focus especially on the female lead’s career.

-All place names in the story should be considered fictional-

(Blurb saved on July 10, 2026)

Theme: Become the one and only variable in your life