Romance Under Duress

Zhou Su has spent years treating life as a game, earning a reputation for being fickle and heartless. But with his handsome looks and high status, he has never been short of admirers. He likes straightforward, brief relationships with women, investing as little time as possible in an entertaining, fleeting encounter. It's always been his way: cold and never involving feelings. Then he met Ye Qingyao. She was pure, composed, and unattainable, as well as an otherworldly young Taoist priestess. She would always glance at him as if he were some cheap trinket and mock him lightly: "Mr. Zhou, my heart is set on the Way. I don't date." Zhou Su knew his comeuppance had arrived. - The night Zhou Su returned from a camping trip with his friends, a heavy snowfall trapped them in the mountains. As he searched for somewhere to shelter, a young woman in a white Taoist robe came slowly through the endless falling snow, carrying a lantern decorated with plum blossoms. Her long hair fell to her shoulders, and she stood alone amid the storm. Its dim, golden light illuminated her otherworldly, untainted features. The instant she curved her lips and spoke, Zhou Su suddenly heard his own heartbeat. A little scene: When Zhou Su's friends heard that he was pursuing a young Taoist priestess, they all scoffed, laughing that he must be blind to have fallen for a priestess. Later, they met her. She came through the drizzle with an umbrella, dressed in a sky-blue Taoist robe, her slender waist accentuated, her hair pinned up with a wooden hairpin. As she approached, she smiled faintly at them. Graceful and captivating, she seemed blessed by heaven itself. Only then did everyone realize Zhou Su wasn't blind. He'd fallen for a fairy! They had assumed that Zhou Su had taken her out for fun because he'd won the young priestess over. But when they leaned in to listen, they heard Zhou Su's meek voice: "Don't worry, I've already fed the chickens and ducks. I even washed your clothes. I'll chop the rest of the firewood tomorrow. Can I stay a little longer? Please." A smooth-talking playboy who gets nowhere with the heroine x a pure, classically beautiful fairy who's sweet on the surface but cunning underneath #A story about a man who thinks he's passed through a thousand flowers without a single petal clinging to him, only to fall from his pedestal and become completely infatuated with the heroine# #The playboy falls hard# #Zhou Su and his little comeuppance# "I'll wager on this romance with all the passion I possess, and make you love me without end." Zhou Su Reading notes: You can leave reasonable criticism. I won't delete comments as long as they're within what I can accept. I may delete some comments for a simple reason: they don't seem appropriate or make me uncomfortable. Readers are entitled to comment if they're uncomfortable or don't like something, and the author is entitled to delete comments if they make me uncomfortable. If you keep pestering me after your comments are deleted, I'll keep deleting them. Don't ask why yours was deleted while someone else's wasn't. It's naturally because you said something I don't think belongs in the comments. If you're okay with that, please keep reading. If not, that's fine too. Let's part on good terms and perhaps meet again someday~ Also, the writing style has a slightly classical flavor in its wording. It's not a typical modern romance. 1. Happy ending. A story with a Jiangnan feel. The heroine is beautiful and kind, and has plenty of skills to support everyone at the Taoist temple. You're welcome to follow the story and enjoy the fairy's daily life. Note: I have no intention of insulting traditional Chinese Taoism. After researching the topic, I found that Taoist priests who have not taken vows of celibacy can marry. Please see the author's note in Chapter 1 for details. Also, the world in this story is fictional, so please don't judge it by modern rules or ideologies. Thank you! 2. Weibo: @Jin Yu A 3. Please don't offer writing advice. 4. Content warning: The male lead is a playboy, so readers who care about sexual purity should proceed with caution~ The male lead is a playboy for the first few chapters. After that, he suffers, and from then on he's devoted to her alone. This story has had these warnings since it was first announced, and most of the readers who've stayed are okay with the male lead being a playboy. I'm very grateful for everyone's support. If you can't accept it, please don't start flaming the story just based on the blurb. There are countless great stories on Jinjiang. If this one isn't for you, move on. Let's be kind as we come and go, and do one good deed a day. Thank you. [Why I suddenly decided to write a story with this kind of male lead] I'm not an author who insists on sexually pure characters. I write according to the characters, and I've always written whatever I want. When I read, I don't care whether the characters are sexually pure, either. What matters to me is the relationship between the leads. Why write a playboy this time? Because I want to~ I want to write about a charming playboy who can't get the person he loves, someone who once scorned love but now longs for it, someone who hates being tied down but dreams of being bound, a flirt who becomes faithful, a scumbag who turns into a devoted puppy, and someone who watches himself fall into ruin with a clear head. Someone might ask: There are so many other character types. Why pair a fairy with a male lead like this? Why not? I want him to regret everything he's done, to regret that his life is so rotten and unworthy of her. I want him to always love her with all his heart, terrified she'll despise him and leave. I want him to be cautious in everything, afraid of making a mistake and hurting the woman he loves, and to spend forever making it up to her with his love. And somehow, a man like that gets to have someone wonderful. The better she is, the more muddied, worthless, and desperate to love he seems! Ah, well... I just want to write this kind of story. So, my lovelies! If you don't like it, don't read it. If you disagree with my views, please know when to cut your losses. Until we meet again~ You can also check out my other stories. There are lots of devoted lovers in them, hehe~~ P.S. I've already given the warnings, so please don't seek attention in my comments. Let's respect each other, thank you (*^o^*) Theme: Growing into a better person by learning to love