The Pretty One Coveted by a Brooding Powerhouse

It took Li Yuqing only five years to go from the hottest new-generation pretty boy to an outdated star nobody cared about. His company shelved him, his boss fabricated an onerous contract, and he was nearly driven out of the entertainment industry.

Then he met Cheng Zhiru.

Cheng Zhiru was a sickly man in a wheelchair, and his personality was truly awful. Li Yuqing had seen him joking and chatting one moment, only to make a subordinate bleed from the nose the next for making a mistake.

And right when he was at his poorest, Li Yuqing ended up owing him a debt of nearly a million.

At a dinner party, an unlikely turn of events landed Li Yuqing in the hotel room of his creditor, Cheng Zhiru.

Resigned to his fate, he washed the smell of alcohol off himself and braced for what was to come. But Cheng Zhiru only tossed him a script and told him to act it out in front of him.

Li Yuqing was confused, but he did as he was told.

Fortunately, Cheng Zhiru seemed satisfied. His smiling gaze never left Li Yuqing for a moment.

After that, Cheng Zhiru often asked him to do the same, but never let him stay the night. Each time, Li Yuqing received some payment afterward.

The two grew closer with every meeting. Cheng Zhiru often visited the set, and Li Yuqing introduced him to his friends. Even the fans created a ship forum for them.

The whole world thought they were a perfect match and were certain they'd get married.

Li Yuqing had even entertained the thought himself. Then, after an accident, he discovered that Cheng Zhiru was only using him.

But that was fine. They were each getting what they wanted.

From then on, Li Yuqing started acting along with him.

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Cheng Zhiru was raised by his biological father as if he were an enemy. To get what he wanted from among all his father's illegitimate children, he had to be ruthless and cunning.

At first, he chose the handsome man because he was useful and easy to control. A little money was all it took to make him work for Cheng Zhiru.

As time went by, Cheng Zhiru achieved his goal and successfully secured his father's shares.

By rights, Li Yuqing should have been useless to him then.

But Cheng Zhiru had grown softhearted without even realizing it.

He tirelessly dealt with his devilish relatives, paid to get Li Yuqing cast in productions and sent to study and train, and went to great lengths to blacklist unscrupulous colleagues...

Li Yuqing's career kept getting better, and they often couldn't see each other. Cheng Zhiru grew unusually irritable.

He realized Li Yuqing was deliberately distancing himself, and that he was frequently linked to another actor in rumors.

The rumors became more convincing each time, until Cheng Zhiru heard from a friend that the other man had already confessed his feelings.

He immediately booked a flight in the middle of the night and reached the production crew in the mountains before dawn.

There is no such thing as a fair exchange of value, but Li Yuqing still owed him. Cheng Zhiru didn't want things to end like this.

When he knocked on the door and saw the face that had appeared in his dreams so many times, Cheng Zhiru's racing heart finally made him realize that there had long been no exchange between them. He had fallen for Li Yuqing willingly.

Bonus scene:

After winning Best Actor, Li Yuqing comes home from a work dinner to find the house dark, with only the television screen glowing. It shows Li Yuqing in an intimate scene with someone else.

Cheng Zhiru, dressed in an expensive suit, stares intently at Li Yuqing on the screen. The tie clip that belongs to Li Yuqing is clenched so tightly in his palm that it digs into his skin, but he doesn't feel a thing.

Afterward, Li Yuqing is limp all over, his voice hoarse. Cheng Zhiru's white shirt has only one button undone, and he tries to pull Li Yuqing up to continue.

"Cheng Zhiru, enough."

Cheng Zhiru's bewitching voice stretches through the heated atmosphere. "It's not enough. You left me with nothing but a stupid tie clip. That's nowhere near enough."

Then his final words are swallowed up by the next round.

* Happy ending / one couple. The protagonist has a slight golden finger. Clear-headed little white rabbit x arrogant, poisonous snake.

* The gong schemes to get what he wants, so he's not exactly a good person.

Theme: Don't forget to work hard