The Substitute Was Me All Along

My new story, Pick Me Up, Hold Me Close, is now underway. Check my profile to read it~

In Ke Zijin's eyes, Qu He is the perfect girlfriend.

Beautiful, gentle, and good-natured, and above all, madly in love with him.

So he fools around with other women, taking her love for granted.

Later, when Qu He risks her life to save him,

Ke Zijin thinks he absolutely must never let her down again.

*

Qu He suffered one hardship after another as a child, with her beloved always by her side.

After her beloved died, Qu He devoted all her attention to Ke Zijin,

solely because his face looked so much like her beloved's.

Then her beloved comes back from the dead, bearing down on her with an ulterior motive.

The fickle stand-in keeps teetering on the brink of cheating.

Qu He remains calm and collected,

her gaze settling on Qin Lu, a young, handsome man who bears some resemblance to her beloved.

Later, Qin Lu asks, looking aggrieved, "Do you only love my face?"

Qu He sighs and draws him into her arms. "Of course not."

I only feel lonely because I haven't met you yet. So I love you, and only you.

PS: Qin Lu is the male lead. He appears less often in the early chapters, which focus on putting Ke Zijin through the wringer.

Synopsis for Pick Me Up, Hold Me Close:

Qiao Yin once saved a man. He was tall, handsome, from a good family, and had a sweet, charming personality.

They've known each other for three years, but Qiao Yin is insecure and keeps her feelings buried deep.

On her birthday, Qiao Yin buys Zhou Zhang his favorite sneakers,

only to accidentally see him mocking her with his friends in front of everyone.

"Her? She's way too old for me. I'm not interested."

"She's not even pretty, her voice sounds like an old woman's, and she's fat. Who knows if any man will want her?"

Qiao Yin stands in the corner for a long while, then quietly leaves.

She blocks him on every platform, leaves the city, and throws herself into her work.

--

A year after leaving that city, Qiao Yin meets the man who becomes her husband.

Her shattered confidence is slowly pieced back together, and her wounds are gradually soothed.

The night she unexpectedly meets his family, she sees Zhou Zhang standing by the door,

calling the person beside him "Uncle."

*

Zhou Yuanxi watches the young woman stand by the door, tears streaming down her face,

then leave after setting down a gift.

He squints at Zhou Zhang, who is inside chatting away, and thinks the kid is a real piece of work.

Later, by chance, he runs into the young woman again and uses his connections to clear a few paths for her.

Before long, his heart grows softer and softer.

After thinking it over, Zhou Yuanxi simply makes Zhou Zhang a new aunt by marriage.

The story begins a year and a half later.

Theme: Cherish sincere love