Do You Like Me?

[Main story complete.]

[Next up: Dust and Folded Roses. Blurbs at the bottom. Please add them to your favorites!]

[Weibo: @ShiTingLe. Come say hi~]

Wen Qingyi fell in love at first sight with her arranged-marriage partner, Qin Jiachen.

The reason was that he looked exactly like Jiang Ting, brought to life.

Oh, I haven't introduced him yet. Jiang Ting is her paper boyfriend from a dating game.

Handsome and honorable, gentle and considerate, and devoted only to her.

Qin Jiachen, however, was nothing like that.

Conceited and flirtatious, he wasn't even very gentle with her.

But when he smiled, he looked exactly like her paper boyfriend.

Wah, it doesn't matter. Looking like him is enough.

-

Qin Jiachen always thought his clingy arranged-marriage partner was a total pain.

To get rid of her, he deliberately put on a fake persona.

A carefree playboy, a nightclub prince, changing girlfriends eight times a week.

But she stuck to him like chewing gum. No matter what he did, he couldn't shake her.

At long last, he finally got rid of her. But barely two days later, Qin Jiachen realized

To her, he was just a stand-in.

And not just any stand-in. A stand-in for a paper person :)

[Content warnings]

1. The paper boyfriend is inspired by existing characters, with some of the author's own preferences mixed in.

2. The male lead likes to have fun, but he's not a playboy. He's just putting on a persona.

3. A lighthearted, ridiculous groveling arc. Don't overthink the logic. Both are sexually inexperienced, one-on-one romance, happy ending.

4. The heroine's name, "Yi" in Qingyi, is pronounced with a first tone. The male lead's surname, "Qin," is pronounced with a second tone.

Dust:

Lin Huaixia had been with Cheng Qize for three years, becoming the legitimate girlfriend of the Cheng family's young master, a man coveted by countless socialites in the capital.

But nobody envied her.

Everyone knew Cheng Qize had a beloved woman in his heart, and that he was only with Lin Huaixia because her face looked almost exactly like that woman's.

She was nothing more than a stand-in by the side of the Cheng family's eldest son.

Lin Huaixia was beautiful and sweet, and willingly played the stand-in.

Cheng Qize always thought she was only after his money.

But he didn't know there had always been a young man from a small town in Lin Huaixia's heart, appearing in her dreams again and again.

When he held her and called her Xiaxia, Lin Huaixia saw only the boy from her dreams through Cheng Qize's eyes.

-

It was only after bringing his beloved back home that Cheng Qize realized that during their three years together, he'd fallen in love with Lin Huaixia, not the girl he'd once loved.

He frantically searched for Lin Huaixia, hoping to win her back and tell her that she was the one he truly wanted to marry.

But one rainy midsummer night,

he saw her nestled in another man's arms.

She wrapped her arms around the man's neck, her bright eyes filled with tears and a love he'd never seen in them.

She said to him, "A Du, you're finally back."

Only then did Cheng Qize realize that Lin Huaixia had been sweet and patient by his side simply because

he and that man had almost exactly the same eyes.

Upcoming story: Folded Roses. Please add it to your favorites~

Jiang Yao was notorious in their social circle for being difficult. She'd been on countless dates, but nobody had put up with her for more than three days.

The wealthy young men joked that anyone lucky enough to marry Jiang Yao must have destroyed the world in their previous life.

Not long after, news spread that Jiang Yao was engaged.

Everyone speculated gleefully

"Probably that Zhao kid. I saw him chasing after Jiang Yao a couple days ago. He thinks he's landed a rich bride. Just wait till he finds out what he's in for."

"With Jiang Yao's temper, what guy could put up with her? They'll split eventually."

"Forget her temper. With the way she spends money, he'll be bankrupt in two days."

Rumors ran wild, and everyone waited to see Jiang Yao make a fool of herself.

But when the invitations went out, everyone was stunned.

Jiang Yao's groom was none other than Shen Shiyao, the aloof, high-and-mighty head of the Shen Group in Lin City, a man who seemed untouched by the mortal world.

-

One afternoon after the wedding, someone asked Jiang Yao with undisguised envy what it was like to marry the man all the socialites in Lin City dreamed of.

Jiang Yao took a leisurely sip of English tea and parted her red lips. "It's... fine, I guess. He's too clingy."

Everyone pictured Shen Shiyao's stern, unsmiling face and couldn't imagine him being clingy. ...Sure. Who are you trying to fool?

-

Later, someone with an agenda repeated those words to Shen Shiyao.

Shen Shiyao listened with an unchanged expression, his gaze cold and unreadable.

Everyone else understood. Jiang Yao was just trying to save face, putting on a brave front in public.

They'd married for business. How could Shen Shiyao have feelings for her?

Just then, Shen Shiyao's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID, and the coldness in his eyes gradually gave way to warmth.

After ending the call, Shen Shiyao bid the others farewell in a calm voice. "My wife can't sleep well when she's home alone. I need to go back and soothe her. Please excuse me."

Everyone: ????

Gorgeous rich heiress x scheming old fox, one step at a time

Theme: Growing together.