The Frail Beauty Rescue Plan

* Mutual healing * Gentle, saintly bottom x utterly straightforward, retired police detective top Li Zheng had been watching Su Ling for a long time. A man, yet he wore his hair long and dressed in a floral skirt. Every morning at eight sharp, he'd come out with a bamboo basket to buy groceries, timid and too shy to say much to anyone. The middle-aged women at the market bullied him, deliberately cheating him with their scales and taking his money. He seemed not to notice. He just kept his head bowed, paid, and left. The women all called him a freak. But Li Zheng watched Su Ling walk away with a cigarette between his lips, and noticed the bruises on his neck. They looked like hickeys, but what kind of beast could kiss someone until he looked like that? It was practically sexual abuse. Maybe it was his instinct, honed by years as a detective. Li Zheng realized that some hidden crime must be going on, so he stubbed out his cigarette and began following Su Ling in secret. - After half a month of covert investigation, Li Zheng finally stormed into a villa with a large group of officers and rescued Su Ling. By then, the sun was already high. Su Ling was wearing the same floral dress as always, curled up in a corner. He looked up and saw Li Zheng walking toward him, then burst into uncontrollable tears. “No... Don't take him away.” “I don't... I don't want to be alone. Please, don't... Don't leave me alone.” The heart Li Zheng had kept unyielding for twenty-seven years seemed to cave in at that moment. He slowly crouched and pulled Su Ling into his arms. “I won't leave you alone. Don't worry.” − Li Zheng brought Su Ling back to his rundown home, cut off the long hair he'd grown for years, and took off the ill-fitting floral dress. When nightmares left him trembling all over, Li Zheng soothed him again and again, lips close to his ear. “Baby, you're free now.” - Six months earlier, after the upheaval, Li Zheng had resigned from the criminal investigation squad. He gave up the dream and convictions he'd held for years and began drifting aimlessly through the streets. Li Zheng had resigned himself to wasting the rest of his life. But he never expected to meet Su Ling. Su Ling needed him, loved him, and wanted to be with him for the rest of their lives. When Li Zheng thought of himself as a sinner who had betrayed his beliefs, Su Ling held him close and told him he was a hero. After Su Ling came into his life, Li Zheng found himself looking forward to the future again. At midnight, Li Zheng gazed at Su Ling resting in his arms. When he looked up, Su Ling was watching him with boundless tenderness and acceptance. It was as if his eyes were telling Li Zheng that he could do anything and it would be all right. Li Zheng's Adam's apple bobbed. Unable to resist, he reverently cupped Su Ling's face and murmured, “Did you come to save me, my bodhisattva?” In Su Ling's eyes, he was ordinary, cowardly, and a complete mess. But in Li Zheng's eyes, Su Ling was pure, radiant, and one of a kind. Su Ling was Li Zheng's bodhisattva. Li Zheng was his most devoted believer. P.S. The blurb is from Li Zheng's perspective; the story is from Su Ling's. Li Zheng won't stay poor forever. He'll return to the force. He can live in a rented room and eat instant noodles nearing their expiration date, but he won't make Su Ling live in hardship. Their lives will keep getting better. P.P.S. Li Zheng is devoted to one person. The little bodhisattva is the first and only person he's ever fallen for. Su Ling has never loved anyone else. Li Zheng is the only one he's ever fallen for; everything else was forced. [Highly emphasized] Written for my particular tastes: dark, dark, dark... Blurb first posted on January 8, 2026. Screenshots saved. My next book will be The Proper, Widowed Sister-in-Law of the Top Scholar * Transmigration / farming and imperial examinations / building wealth / a slow, steady romance * Gentle, dignified widowed sister-in-law x gloomy, ghostlike younger brother-in-law x honest hunter older brother - Shen Mingyan had always taken life as it came. When he transmigrated into the body of a groom-to-be, he didn't fuss. He put on the red wedding veil and walked straight through the Xu family's door. Xu Jiayou was an honest, rugged hunter, and his family also had a younger brother preparing for the imperial examinations. Shen Mingyan thought life would be hard, but Xu Jiayou gave him everything he could. Even when there were two chicken legs on the table, one usually went to Shen Mingyan and the other to his younger brother, Xu Changsheng. Gradually, Shen Mingyan came to see how good Xu Jiayou was to him. At night, when all was quiet, Shen Mingyan would even wrap an arm around Xu Jiayou's neck and softly call him “husband.” What he didn't know was that Xu Changsheng had gotten up in the night and heard them. He stood by the window, staring inside with blood-red eyes. He heard Shen Mingyan call his brother “husband” and saw that his usually proper, gentle sister-in-law was completely different now... The days passed, one after another. Xu Changsheng's dark feelings for Shen Mingyan spread and grew unchecked, without either of them realizing it. - Soon, the court began conscripting soldiers. Xu Jiayou was forced to go to war, and when news of him finally came, he was already dead on the battlefield. Xu Changsheng was only seventeen then and had just passed the provincial imperial examination. Everyone in the village thought Shen Mingyan would leave Xu Changsheng and marry someone else. But after calmly taking care of Xu Jiayou's funeral, Shen Mingyan took Xu Changsheng's hand and solemnly promised at the grave that he would look after him on Xu Jiayou's behalf. As long as Shen Mingyan drew breath, he would never let anything happen to Xu Changsheng. - Shen Mingyan kept his solemn promise. He sold tofu on the streets and ran a small business so Xu Changsheng could take the metropolitan and palace examinations. When Xu Changsheng failed for the first time, he held his hand and gently said, “Then we'll simply start over.” Xu Changsheng certainly lived up to expectations. The more setbacks he faced, the more determined he became, until at last, in his fourth year, he placed first and became the top scholar. Shen Mingyan was as proud as if he had earned the honor himself. That very day, he brought fine food and wine to share the good news with Xu Jiayou. - After Xu Changsheng became top scholar, he enjoyed a brief spell of great fame, and people began eyeing the family's dignified, gentle widowed sister-in-law. At a banquet, the drunken Marquis of Yong'an had someone secretly drug Shen Mingyan and bring him to his bed. When Xu Changsheng heard the news, he went mad. After beating the Marquis of Yong'an badly, he rushed into the room He saw his dignified, gentle sister-in-law lying weakly on the bed, shoulders trembling as if he were desperately trying to endure something. Xu Changsheng's eyes reddened at once. He rushed forward and held the struggling Shen Mingyan tight, clumsily kissing his eyes and cheeks. “Just think of me as your brother! Just think of me as him!...” [Extra scene] After spending a wild night with Xu Changsheng, Shen Mingyan was so ashamed he wanted to die. Afraid he might do something foolish, Xu Changsheng tied him to the bed with red silk and told him he wasn't allowed to go anywhere. Xu Changsheng was preparing to marry Shen Mingyan when a fire suddenly broke out. The sister-in-law who had been by his side for so many years disappeared from his life forever. Three years later, Shen Mingyan's turbulent life finally returned to normal. One day, while shopping on the street, he unexpectedly spotted someone whose figure looked just like Xu Jiayou's. His heart raced, and he hurried after him “Husband...” The man turned around and calmly removed his mask. “Sister-in-law, do I look like him? I've practiced for so long: his mannerisms, his voice...” “Sister-in-law, let me be your husband.” P.S. The romance is one-on-one in each phase. Shen Mingyan lives in the present. Once he transmigrates to ancient times, he doesn't pine for anything from the modern world. Likewise, when he is with the older brother, he loves only the older brother; when he is with the younger brother, he loves only the younger brother. There is no question of a living person being unable to measure up to a dead one. The romance with the younger brother begins after the older brother is gone; before that, theirs is an ordinary relationship between brothers-in-law. Theme: Love helps us grow flesh and blood; justice will prevail