Addicted

Announcement: The next-generation novel, How Could We Possibly Be Born Incompatible, is available for pre-order in my profile. Scroll down for the blurb.

I have been a firm materialist all my life, except when it comes to you. I hope there is an afterlife., Premier Zhou Enlai

Blurb:

Xia Yinzhi graduated from the gifted-student program at G University of Science and Technology. She was a model student from childhood, and at eighteen, she unexpectedly entered the entertainment industry. She made her official debut in a biographical film and quickly became one of the leading young actresses of her generation. In an era where even notoriety can bring fame, she has never courted publicity or had a single rumored romance. When she isn't promoting her work, she practically vanishes without a trace.

Her only social media account is the verified “Xia Yinzhi Studio” page. She doesn't even have a personal Weibo account, and her mysterious background has sparked endless speculation online.

One night, a video of Xia Yinzhi, bundled up from head to toe at the airport, acting intimately with a tall man wearing a matching “couple” hat, suddenly spreads all over the internet.

By morning, rumors and scandals are sweeping across the web. The studio issues a clarification, but it does no good.

When the story breaks, the walking ATM, whose breathtaking looks rival those of today's hottest young actors and who had gone viral just days earlier thanks to a set of paparazzi photos, personally posts a nine-picture collage to refute the rumors:

Photo 1: A little boy, about four or five, stands by a hospital bed, his finger tightly clasped in the hand of a newborn baby.

Photo 2: A little girl who has just started primary school stands obediently at the foot of the steps, looking up as a boy a head taller than her carefully ties her red scarf.

Photo 3: A teenage girl in a birthday hat smiles as she feeds a piece of cake from her fork to the gentle, dignified boy beside her. Perhaps because of the camera, he looks a little embarrassed, but his eyes still brim with happiness.

Photo 4: A girl with a high ponytail and a denim pinafore stands on tiptoe, embracing a tall, handsome young man in a graduation cap. He bends down to hug her back, holding a bouquet of flowers.

Photo 8: In a warmly decorated, retro-style hall, surrounded by people clapping and smiling, a man with his back half turned to the camera dances with a woman in a white wedding dress, beaming in his arms.

Photo 9: A girl with no makeup sleeps peacefully with her hands folded on the man's chest, her long eyelashes like two delicate little fans.

Caption:

I've been the only one by her side all these years. I finally coaxed her to sleep, so everyone else can go home.

Reading Guide:

Childhood friends / Five-year age gap / Everyday life / Warm atmosphere / Slightly slow burn

First arc, school romance: Beloved genius girl x genius boy who is her knight

Second arc, city romance: Award-winning actress x financial power broker

The second arc includes elements of the entertainment industry, but this isn't purely an entertainment-industry story. The heroine eventually leaves show business.

Exclusively published on Jinjiang Literature City. Reposting is prohibited.

Blurb revised October 16, 2019

-

Next book in the series: Sitang

-A game of cat and mouse to win her man. Opening at the end of the year.

1. Sitang, the newly appointed head of the Shengzhou Group, is tall and stunning, standing gracefully like a red begonia after the rain. What people talk about over their tea isn't just her icy beauty, but also her ruthless, forceful methods. She's known in the industry as a “femme fatale.”

Lei Yan, the current head of the Baiyue Group, is unlike the domineering CEOs usually seen on the market. His innate gentlemanly charm and easygoing nature have won countless hearts, making him the perfect partner in the eyes of countless socialites.

The two families each rule their own corner of the capital, and neither crosses paths with the other.

Yet after this year's Young Entrepreneurs Association meeting, rumors about the two heads of the Sitang and Lei families, who had seemingly no connection whatsoever, suddenly spring up and scatter like smoke.

The rumors mostly focus on two things: her ruthless history of seizing power, and the painfully mismatched past between him and her.

Couple: Beautiful, strong, tragic, ruthless madwoman vs. class president of the ancestral gentlemanly-conduct club

Theme: Becoming truly independent isn't frightening. It means we have nothing to fear and can overcome anything.