Transgression

The main story is complete! Lu Chengzhou used sixteen "substitutes" to bet on Shen Yan coming back to him, never realizing that the wolf cub's return had been part of a plan all along.

Defiant, possessive younger wolf cub gong x cool, ascetic, powerful uke

Lu Chengzhou's greatest transgression was falling for Shen Yan, whom he had raised and protected himself.

Five years ago, he personally sent eighteen-year-old Shen Yan to Paris.

Everyone said it was an exile.

Over the next five years, Minglan Art Center signed sixteen young painters.

Some had eyes and brows like Shen Yan, some had a similar profile, and some even held a paintbrush with the same slight bend in their wrist.

Everyone in their circle said President Lu was collecting lookalikes to use as substitutes.

And, as it happened, news of each of the sixteen artists' public appearances always crossed half the globe and reached Shen Yan right on time.

Lu Chengzhou was making a bet.

He was betting that the wolf cub he'd sent away with his own hands would come back to him one day.

In the fifth year, Shen Yan returned to Yaoying with a reputation as a rising star in the art world.

The door to Lu Chengzhou's top-floor office clicked shut behind them.

Turning a paintbrush that hadn't yet been cleaned, Shen Yan slowly picked apart Lu Chengzhou's tie. Dark red paint streaked across his white shirt, leaving a vivid mark.

"You found sixteen people who looked like me."

Shen Yan leaned over to look at him.

"So why can't you look at me now that I'm back?"

Lu Chengzhou gripped his wrist. "Let go."

Shen Yan twisted his wrist around and pressed Lu Chengzhou's palm to his own chest.

Beneath his hand, his heartbeat was heavy and frantic.

"It's been five years, brother."

"If you wanted me to leave, why did you insist on making sure I'd see all this?"

Everyone thought Shen Yan had been lured back by those sixteen shadows.

Lu Chengzhou thought so too.

Only later did he realize that Shen Yan had planned every step of his return.

The wolf cub had already grown into a hunter. He'd only pretended to play along so that this lofty man of power would offer up, with his own hands, the true feelings he'd hidden for five years.

Reader's Guide:

1. One-on-one, happy ending, both leads sexually inexperienced, ten-year age gap, younger gong.

2. The sixteen young painters are all legitimate signees. The uke has no romantic or physical relationship with any of them.

Theme: Sincerity cannot be replaced, and love cannot be counterfeited.