Addicted to Her Charm

[Print edition now available. Follow Weibo: @Lingqi] [Please leave a five-star rating in the bottom right corner. If you enjoy this kind of story, please check out my other novels, *Indulge* and *Killing Beauty*. Much love~] ① At the EUROS Jewelry Garden Gala, Shen Si fell for an 1830 “Wild Rose and Jasmine” tiara. Unfortunately, she had a history with the young star bidding against her. Not wanting things to get too ugly, she dropped out. Shen Si watched the tiara being taken away, feeling a little regretful. Just as she was about to get up and leave, someone suddenly sat down beside her and clasped her wrist. The entire venue fell silent. The smug young star swallowed her snide remark. From a distance, she hadn’t recognized the man beside Shen Si, but the crowd’s reaction said it all: This was someone she couldn’t afford to cross. “Like it?” Qi Sheng asked, glancing up lazily without paying any attention to the many different expressions around him. Shen Si wanted to say no. But he cut her off. “Then put it back up for auction.” ② Everyone in Beijing’s upper circles knew that the current head of the Qi family was gloomy and hard-hearted, a defiant rule-breaker who hated being threatened or restrained. He had never made a habit of indulging anyone. All the patience he had was reserved for Shen Si. Unfortunately, Shen Si “didn’t know what was good for her.” When she got the chance, she left without a trace. Years later, Shen Si and Qi Sheng met again after a long separation. In a figure-hugging qipao, she looked graceful and curvaceous, the corners of her eyes slightly lifted, her beauty rich and vivid. She greeted him sweetly. “Third Brother.” Later, Qi Sheng gripped her by the neck and pinned her against the edge of a hot spring pool. He lowered his eyes lazily, his gaze skimming over the tattoo above her heart. She’d gotten it while they were together, and the heat made it grow clearer by the minute. + “I thought you’d had it removed,” he said with an offhand chuckle. “What’s it to you?” Shen Si dodged his touch and met his eyes without flinching. Her face was as cold as ice, yet her beauty was still devastating. “Si Si.” Qi Sheng held her chin, narrowing his eyes slightly. His voice was gloomy and callous, at odds with the warm, smooth sandalwood prayer beads around his wrist. “You’re more likable when you keep quiet.” She thought their reunion would be the start of his revenge for the way she’d left without a word. But all he wanted was to see her again. ■See my series companion, *Indulge*, in my author profile. P.S. 1. Also known as *The Wind of Si Kisses the Rose*. The title was coined in 2019 and is the name of the ring in this novel. 2. The male lead is gloomy and obsessive, so please read with care. The female lead is proud, alluring, and no pushover. (Blurb saved on February 10, 2019. Screenshot taken. Anyone who asks me to change it gets whacked.) ■Next up: *Killing Beauty*. Cold-blooded and ruthless × an ethereal beauty. Please add it to your reading list~ [The events from five years ago are told in flashbacks. Sheng was on a mission; now he has inherited the family business|A pseudo-forced-marriage romance|Sweet romance|Family-arranged marriage] + ① Rumor had it that Xie Qingman had a powerful, well-connected man backing her. He could turn the world upside down with a wave of his hand and held countless people’s fates in his grasp. In Beijing, he was a “patriarch” no one dared cross. Then, in the span of just two years, Xie Qingman rose to the top of the entertainment industry, thanks to her stunning, graceful beauty and superb acting. No one could rival her. Her incredible opportunities and good fortune made people green with envy. Everyone knew she had a powerful backer, but even after digging desperately, her rivals couldn’t uncover any dirt or identify the “sugar daddy” rumored to be keeping her in comfort. Then one day, an anonymous post shot to the top of the trending list “Movie star spends the night keeping two big shots from Zhonghai and T&C company. Did she find herself a sugar daddy or a cousin?” Her rivals fanned the flames, and rumors spread across the internet. As everyone fought over the story, Xie Qingman had yet to respond when Zhonghai and T&C issued statements one after the other [Zhonghai International V]: Taking our young lady home. Please leave her out of this. [T+C Capital V]: Taking our future Mrs. Boss home. The boss is pursuing her, so please watch what you say and go easy on us. Don’t make things any harder for our boss, or we’ll see you in court. The internet erupted. + ② Five years earlier, on the border of Yunnan. Xie Qingman stumbled into a criminal deal. Just as she was discovered, a gun barrel pressed coldly against her forehead. “Don’t move.” A split second from disaster, a hair’s breadth from death. A young man smelling faintly of alcohol, his short hair neatly trimmed and his figure tall and straight, hauled her up. “I want her. She’s coming with me.” Feeling her resist, he gripped her slender neck. Half his face was lost in shadow, and his chilly voice made her blood run cold. “What are you dodging for? Never been with a man?”++ Fortunately, fate was on her side. The criminal gang was rounded up, and Xie Qingman escaped. She locked that memory from her youth away in her mind. ++++ Five years later, at D.S. Capital’s annual gala. Everyone in the industry said Second Young Master Ye was cold and unfeeling, and kept women at a distance. Every woman who threw herself at him failed, and ended up ruining her own future for nothing. At the party, Xie Qingman accidentally spilled her drink all over him. Everyone watched Ye’s face darken, assuming she’d taken her “throw herself at him” act too far. They all agreed: The rising star’s career was in trouble. Only Xie Qingman recognized the familiar face. The alcohol drained from her head, leaving her shaking all over, horrified. Oh my god, isn’t that the criminal from back then? ++ Time passed, and Xie Qingman remained perfectly safe. Neither her fears nor everyone else’s guesses came true. She continued to rise to stardom, while the news that “Ye Yansheng confessed his love aboard a yacht” shook all of Beijing’s elite circles. +++ [Bonus scene] At the annual gala, Xie Qingman wore a long dress that cinched her slender waist and showed off her graceful curves. Drunk, she mistook Ye Yansheng for someone bothering her. “Get lost. Leave me alone.” One day later, Ye Yansheng gripped her chin and pinned her in front of a mirror. His low voice carried an unintentional huskiness and sensuality. “Stand still. Hold on tight.” ◎Of all my ambitions, you are the greatest., Ye Yansheng ■Series companion: *Indulge*, an obsessive, powerful man × a sweet and alluring beauty At seventeen, when Chen Weiran was at her lowest, she met He Zhifan, the man who ruled the city with an iron fist. She had seen him smile while hiding a knife, manipulate people from the shadows, and offer her a fortune with tenderness. Everyone in the city’s upper circles knew she was the canary he kept in a gilded cage, and the one thing he would never let anyone touch. ++ But just when she was at the height of her success, someone told her that the He family was implicated in what had happened back then. She slapped He Zhifan and ended their five-year relationship. On a night of pouring rain, she left him. + “Chen Weiran, have I spoiled you too much?” He Zhifan still wore his gentlemanly smile. His long fingers slipped off his gold-rimmed glasses, and he wiped them slowly. “Don’t come crawling back to me.” “Don’t worry, Mr. He.” Chen Weiran smiled too, her gaze already ice-cold. “I never want to see you again.” + But after she turned everything upside down and even offended Ninth Master, the viper everyone in the powerful circles feared, she realized she’d gotten it wrong. Afraid she might have to pay a price, Chen Weiran ran that very night. + Who knew she’d get into a car accident while escaping and lose her memory! When Chen Weiran woke up in the hospital, she saw a man with a gloomy expression gripping her chin. “You’re awake?” “Who are you?” Chen Weiran looked up at him, bewildered. He Zhifan thought she was putting on an act and gave a low, cold laugh. “We shared a bed last night, and today you’re pretending to have amnesia? Or do you think you can get out of paying for what you did by losing your memory?” ++ “Are you my husband?” Chen Weiran’s eyes lit up as she threw herself into his arms. “Did I really have such good taste?” “…” [A full-blown silly, sweet romance after she loses her memory, with her pretending to recover it and the truth coming out, as they resolve the misunderstandings and barriers between them.] Theme: Love rises with the wind; the wind of Si kisses the rose.