The Sparrow in My Palm Flew Away

At twelve, Jiang Lan found fifteen-year-old Nie Peichen in a remote mountain village. Nie Peichen had lost his memory and couldn't remember a thing. Jiang Lan brainwashed him, saying, "You're my big brother. You have to take good care of me, love me, and treat me well. Got it?" Looking into the boy's sly, pretty eyes, Nie Peichen nodded as if under a spell. "Okay." And so, with Jiang Lan on his back, Nie Peichen picked his way through muddy puddles and carried him out along the long, rugged mountain path. After they reached the big city, Nie Peichen regained his memories and found his biological parents. They went from having nothing to being fabulously wealthy. And from two naive boys who relied on each other, they stepped into the marriage hall. One became a powerful figure who could call all the shots. The other refused to be left behind and entered the entertainment industry, landing several terrible movies in a single year and earning the title of "box office poison." * Jiang Lan once thought he would never part from Nie Peichen in this lifetime. But as the gap between their social positions grew, Jiang Lan suddenly began to notice how unequal their relationship was. He realized that if Nie Peichen wanted to keep him by his side, there was nowhere he could run. And if Nie Peichen ever stopped wanting him, he wouldn't even have a way back. Almost everyone around him, his friends and family included, had also taken Nie Peichen's side. They told Jiang Lan to hold on to Nie Peichen tightly. Otherwise, if Nie Peichen ever grew tired of him, his fate would be unbearably bleak. As if Jiang Lan would die without Nie Peichen. When love became a blade binding him in place, Jiang Lan's self-respect began to waver beneath this lofty, overbearing love. The chasms between them grew, until they seemed impossibly far apart. * Nie Peichen once believed that if he gave Jiang Lan enough money and love, and lifted him up with every resource at his disposal, Jiang Lan would stay by his side forever. But in the early hours of a snowbound morning in the United States, he saw on the news that Jiang Lan had announced his retirement from the entertainment industry. Jiang Lan gave up everything in Shengjing and accepted a hundred-million-yuan penalty from his company. Over the phone, he smiled and said to Nie Peichen, "Thank you for being a part of my life." "Let's leave everything here. For the rest of our lives, it's best if we never see each other again." * The caged bird flew back to the mountains and became a wild bird once more. The proud eagle gave up everything, too, and followed him back to the mountains where they had first fallen in love. * A sensitive, proud bird of a bottom who loves and hates fearlessly x a possessive, obsessive, fatherly top * Content warnings: 1. The top is extremely, extremely possessive! He's deeply arrogant, twisted, and obsessive. The bottom isn't perfect either, but he'll gradually become a better person. This is a story of growing together. 2. One-on-one romance, happy ending. Childhood friends to lovers. 3. Readers with extreme top- or bottom-focused preferences, please don't read. 4. I'll add more warnings if I think of any. Theme: I want both love and freedom!