Reborn, I Married My Archenemy

[Coming soon: My Little Neighbor Is Soft and Sweet. Please add it to your favorites.]

Blurb: In his previous life, the night Li Ran won the Best Actor award, he received news that his father was critically ill. Forced to return home and take over the family business, he trusted the wrong people and ended up losing his family and dying young.

After dying, he was reborn and returned to the time when his father had just fallen ill. Determined to change his fate, he first set out to cure his father. But the first thing his father demanded after being admitted to the hospital was that he marry Ji Wuxiu.

Ji Wuxiu was the Li family's adoptive son in name only, and the person Li Ran had hated most since childhood. In his previous life, Li Ran had been deeply prejudiced against him. It wasn't until he was on his deathbed that he realized Ji Wuxiu was the only one who had tried to help him.

For the sake of that bond from his previous life, Li Ran decided to agree to his father's demand and marry Ji Wuxiu, but only in a marriage of convenience. To protect his rights after the wedding, he carefully drew up a contract. To his surprise, Ji Wuxiu signed it without even reading it.

His father's illness was looking hopeful, and Ji Wuxiu was managing the family business. Li Ran was delighted, thinking he could live a carefree life from then on. It wasn't until Ji Wuxiu pinned him against the door on their wedding night that he realized something had gone wrong.

The man gazed at him intensely, like a hunter who had waited for ages and finally caught his prey. Li Ran's legs went weak. At last, he remembered the most important clause he'd forgotten to include in the contract: "I'll perform, but I won't sleep with you"!

To avoid their "marital obligations," Li Ran came up with a different excuse every day. His leg hurt today, his stomach felt off tomorrow, and the day after that he had no appetite... Until one day, he discovered that Ji Wuxiu had a mysterious little notebook. Not only had he been keeping track of everything, he'd also added a note: "interest."

From the gong's perspective:

The thing Ji Wuxiu regretted most in his previous life was indulging Li Ran too much. Whenever Li Ran told him to go away, he'd disappear far into the distance and never bother him. It wasn't until he received news of Li Ran's death that he realized he should have tied him to his side long ago, even if it meant being hated.

Later, he was reborn... Looking at the person he'd lost and gotten back, countless possessive, crazed thoughts surged through his heart. But he carefully concealed his malice and desire, then approached him as if nothing were wrong.

In this life, he would weave a net around Li Ran, binding them tightly together.

Little scene:

Later, when Li Ran joined a production to film, Ji Wuxiu visited the set at least twice every week, come rain or shine.

A colleague on set looked envious. "You two are so sweet together."

Li Ran replied helplessly. "Can't help it. The interest has piled up too high."

Reading notes: Marriage before love, both partners are consenting adults, a sweet story, and the gong dotes on the shou.

Character design for the cover by Teacher Ergou.

Check out my upcoming story, My Little Neighbor Is Soft and Sweet.

Characters: A naturally ditzy, soft, adorable shou x a scheming, sweet-on-the-outside, dark-on-the-inside gong who spoils his partner.

Su Xiaozhou was frail as a child. After someone gave his family elders advice, they gave him the nickname Meimei, meaning "little sister," figuring that if the demons of illness saw the name didn't match his gender, they'd leave him alone. Su Xiaozhou's health did improve, but he developed a new problem: people around him often assumed he really was a girl because of his nickname. He was also so pretty and delicate-looking, and seemed so sweet and soft, that sometimes nobody believed him even when he explained he was a boy. Eventually, he stopped bothering to explain.

When he was five, he moved into a new home. The first time the neighbor's mom saw him, she adored him so much that she pulled her own son over and said, "You have to take care of your little sister and protect her. You mustn't bully her, okay?"

And so Su Xiaozhou got an older brother. The boy was half a head taller than him and didn't care to talk to people much, but he always kept the promise he'd made when they first met: he looked after Su Xiaozhou, protected him, and never bullied him.

When Su Xiaozhou cried, he'd comfort him.

When Su Xiaozhou was afraid of the dark, he'd stay with him.

But when Su Xiaozhou wanted kisses and cuddles... he firmly refused.

Su Xiaozhou thought the neighbor's older brother didn't like him and was only friends with him because his mother had told him to. That was until one day, after taking a bath at home, Su Xiaozhou forgot to bring his pajamas and sauntered through the living room, where the other boy saw him...

From the gong's perspective:

Lin Yuan had a sweet, soft little neighbor. At first, he thought the kid was a girl. Later, he found out he was a boy.

A boy, then. It didn't make much difference. If he cried, Lin Yuan would still comfort him. If he was afraid of the dark, Lin Yuan would still keep him company. If he wanted kisses and cuddles... well, that might be okay too?

Many years later, Lin Yuan no longer wanted to be Su Xiaozhou's big brother. He wanted to be his boyfriend.

Su Xiaozhou was baffled and didn't know what to do.

Lin Yuan coaxed him. "Even if I'm not your big brother anymore, you'll still have everything you had before, and you'll get even more."

Su Xiaozhou asked him, "Like what?"

Lin Yuan: "Love."

Su Xiaozhou: "What's that?"

Lin Yuan: "I can keep you company every night while you sleep."

Su Xiaozhou, who's afraid of the dark and a bit of a scaredy-cat: "Yay!"

Theme: Our choices determine our fate.