Born into a struggling single-parent family in a remote little city, Lin Yunshu grew up like wild grass battered by wind and sun. Her life had always been utterly ordinary.
Then her mother died of an illness, and someone took her to a distant, bustling metropolis and a mansion as grand as a castle. That was when she learned she was the illegitimate daughter of the wealthy Lu family.
A new home, a new school, a half-brother who loathed her, and classmates who were all rich and powerful: she felt completely out of place.
Then one day, as she sat alone, daydreaming in an unnoticed corner of the school, a shadow suddenly fell before her.
She looked up. A boy of breathtaking beauty gazed down at her, his lovely eyes curving like crescents.
“Hi,” he said gently, his cheeks flushing with shy embarrassment. “Can I sit beside you?”
As a spoiled rich kid whose character was inversely proportional to his good looks, Zhou Mingyu had always moved effortlessly among countless girls without getting attached to a single one.
Life as the center of everyone’s attention had been so easy that he was starting to get bored. Then his friend Lu Heng came to him with a favor to ask.
He wanted Zhou Mingyu to get close to the girl who had just transferred to their school, seduce her, win her heart, and then dump her like trash.
Zhou Mingyu knew she was the illegitimate daughter who had been missing from the Lu family for years. Lu Heng loathed his half-sister, so it was only natural that he would want to play a few tricks on her to vent his anger.
“You love my precious car, don’t you? Dump her, and it’s yours,” Lu Heng said with a grin.
Zhou Mingyu agreed without much hesitation. It wasn’t really for the luxury car. His life could use a little excitement.
Besides, winning over an unsophisticated country girl would be a piece of cake, right?
The only unusual thing about ordinary Lin Yunshu was a secret superpower she had possessed since childhood.
Whenever someone spoke to her, a cartoon-like speech bubble appeared before her eyes. Blue bubbles meant the person was telling the truth; yellow meant they were lying.
That day, the school heartthrob, famous for making everyone fall for him, stood before her. His eyes were as innocent as a puppy’s, his expression bashful and shy.
“I like you,” he said, his eyes shining. “Will you go out with me?”
Lin Yunshu saw it all clearly.
Beside Zhou Mingyu’s blushing cheeks, the words “I like you” floated in a dazzling yellow bubble.
-
Lin Yunshu eventually said yes.
She was new and still finding her feet, and Zhou Mingyu could clearly help her adjust to her new life. He took her out for meals and fun, showered her with extravagant gifts, and brought all kinds of color into her life.
If she hadn’t known he had ulterior motives, she would almost have felt guilty.
As the days went by, she started to feel confused.
If Zhou Mingyu had seemed like a practiced actor at first, the longer things went on, the less she understood him. The yellow bubbles that meant lies above his head were growing fewer and fewer, while the blue ones were multiplying.
When the day of their breakup finally came, she felt almost as relieved as someone who had reached the finale of a TV series.
Zhou Mingyu stood before her with the cold, smug air of a heartless playboy and said that it had all been a sham, that he had only been using her for fun.
She was instantly confused.
“I never liked you.”
Beside his cool expression, the words flashed wildly in a yellow bubble that meant he was lying.
[Reader’s Guide]
* Kind, gentle, honest heroine x initially smooth-talking playboy who later becomes a lovesick crybaby
* My take on a slightly fantastical Mary Sue story
* The hero had never actually been in a relationship before the heroine
* Not sure if this counts as a groveling romance, but it’s basically a lighthearted, sweet story
Theme: Sincerity deserves sincerity
