A Cheap Infatuation

Fake siblings / contrast / each other’s first love / push and pull / happy ending

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Two-faced, attention-seeking, sweet-on-the-outside, calculating-on-the-inside good girl × gentle, aloof, untouchable heartthrob

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Tan Jianian has three secrets.

First, she hates the foster brother living in her home. She thinks he has the unmistakable, shoddy stench of poverty.

Second, her first confession as a teenager was to Chi You.

No one knows that, amid the screams on a roller coaster, she worked up the courage to tell him she liked him.

Third, she was the one who dumped Chi You.

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Chi You hates his sister, who loves to lie, gets on his nerves, and uses her sweet, obedient face to do everything he can’t stand.

But he also knows that while he despises Tan Jianian’s shoddy character, he’s hopelessly infatuated with her.

The tree bears the fruit of sin, and the first to fall in love tempts Chi You into taking the first bite of the apple.

Just like Dr. Chi, so cool and aloof in the eyes of outsiders, is actually the one being led around on a leash in this relationship.

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“Big brother, kiss me.” Tan Jianian raised a finger to tip up Chi You’s chin. Seeing his cool, broken gaze filled her with delight.

Chi You’s mouth felt dry. “No. We shouldn’t. We shouldn’t…”

Tan Jianian said nothing. She got up to leave, silently counting down. The moment three seconds were up, someone seized her wrist and yanked her into his arms.

As a flurry of kisses fell, Tan Jianian’s lips curled in a triumphant smile.

*

They met again on a rainy night. Tan Jianian was startled by the disheveled figure at her door.

Only when she saw his handsome face did her expression turn unreadable. “What are you doing here?”

Chi You gritted his teeth. The cool composure of his younger days was gone as he asked bitterly, “Who was the man who walked you home?”

Tan Jianian shrugged. “An upperclassman.”

She opened the door and looked contemptuously at the ex she hadn’t seen in two years, who looked like a stray dog. Her words dripped with provocation. “Big brother, want to come in for a cup of tea?”

Tan Jianian knew perfectly well what would happen if she let Chi You in while he was blinded by anger. She lifted his dirtied face.

“Are you that obsessed with me?”

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1. The leads are not related by blood and are not registered in the same household. The male lead is fostered by the female lead’s family.

2. Both leads are virgins. The childhood portion is brief, with most of the story focused on their adult lives.

3. They can’t stand each other at first, then develop a brother-and-sister dynamic.

4. All intimate events take place when they are adults.

5. They get back together after a breakup, with a very slight groveling arc.

Theme: Keep working hard at life. Don’t give up on yourself.