I Won't Wait

A piece of paper bearing a contract tied two people who had nothing to do with each other together. On the surface, they were a married couple, but they were strangers at heart. Jiang Yunge saw Lu Zhengming as his salvation. So even when Lu Zhengming ignored him, even when he suffered every kind of abuse, even when Lu Zhengming treated him as a stand-in for the person he loved, Jiang Yunge endured it all. But Lu Zhengming told him to his face that theirs was nothing more than a transaction: each got what they needed, and he should not entertain any improper fantasies. So Jiang Yunge could only slowly cut away the tendrils of love blossoming in his heart and cram them back into himself, battered and bruised. When his heart was in ruins, he met Xie Zhengxuan. "Love waits for no one." The three-year contract expired. When it was finally time to part, Lu Zhengming found himself reluctant to let go. Only now did he realize the faint sweetness of having Jiang Yunge by his side. For the first time in his life, he lowered himself and tried to make Jiang Yunge stay. Jiang Yunge only smiled faintly. His voice was gentle, yet distant. "Mr. Lu, it seems you've forgotten. Between us, there was only a transaction. We each got what we needed." "It's time to wake up from your dream." [Reader's Guide] 1. The gong gets put through the wringer early on; later, the official love interest gets sweet moments, while the cannon-fodder shou gets put through the wringer. How harsh the shou's treatment feels is a matter of opinion. 2. Weak gong, strong shou. 3. You might not believe me, but this is actually a sweet romance. Coming soon: my shou-centric novel, The Puppet Who Gained Sentience Became My Dao Companion. Please add it to your reading list! The Nangong Clan was renowned throughout the cultivation world for its strange and ever-changing puppet arts. Yet the young master of the Nangong family was born with a damaged soul, and had just enough spiritual power to craft one battle puppet. After narrowly surviving death time and again, Nangong Yu gathered the most suitable bones, blood, skin, and flesh. Amid a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, he found a lonely soul weighed down by resentment and forged it into his one and only battle puppet. His battle puppet was invincible, but something about it seemed off. Puppets had no independent will. But he gradually noticed signs that someone had been touching the cup he used for fruit wine. The blanket he kicked off in the middle of the night always ended up tucked back over him, and even when he bathed, he could sense an elusive gaze that made his skin prickle. Nangong Yu sensed something was wrong, but whenever he scrutinized his battle puppet, it always looked like a dull, vacant puppet. Then one day, his soul was healed and his cultivation soared. At last, he had enough spiritual power to make more puppets. The battle puppet finally could not hold back. A glimmer of light appeared in its usually vacant eyes, and its mechanical voice carried an undeniable authority. "My lord, you may have only me as your battle puppet in this life." When word spread that Nangong Yu had crafted an extraordinary puppet that could slay gods and Buddhas alike, the entire Nangong clan came to learn his secrets. Nangong Yu's face darkened. He clutched his aching waist and fled. There was no secret to it. He had simply... offered himself to his puppet. Theme: There is no cure for regret.