Tattoo

[Age gap] [Winning her back]

They first met when Gu Qingyou took money from Wen Shenghan’s fiancée and agreed to help her catch him cheating.

It was her first time doing anything like this. Her voice trembled as she reached for the man’s neck with a shaking hand, her tone sweet and flirtatious. “Mr. Wen...”

Wen Shenghan caught her wrist and looked at her through his cold, gleaming glasses, a faint, icy smile on his face.

He put a card on the pillow and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You’re so young. Couldn’t you find something better to do?”

--

The second time they met, Gu Qingyou was being chased by her creditors and blundered into his private room in a panic.

Desperate, she sat on the man’s lap and curled up in his arms, weeping so hard that her face was a picture of sorrow. “Mr. Wen, help me. I’ll give you anything.”

Wen Shenghan had started to push her hand away, but paused. The moment her creditor entered, he pulled her firmly into his arms.

--

Later, people said she was Wen Shenghan’s mistress.

Only she knew she wasn’t.

That day, she reached for his neck again, but he pulled her down.

Ignoring her tear-streaked face, Wen Shenghan insisted on putting her clothes back on, fastening each button one by one.

He brushed away her tears, his gaze full of pity. “Qingyou, you should understand. I will never love you.”

She was worth even less than a mistress to him. At last, she gave up hope and left the country without looking back.

-

Years later, they met again. The man was dead drunk, and one day, by chance, she saw a dragonfly tattoo on his chest.

Only then did she learn that during those chaotic years, he had loved her too, for five years.

-

#You are my tattoo, printed on my skin, branded on my heart, etched into my soul, until death#

#I love you, but I will not love you until you have grown into a towering tree#

Cool and restrained x fragile yet resilient (age gap)

Content warnings:

1. 1v1, happy ending

2. A heroine who grows over time; she starts off clingy and fragile. If you prefer strong heroines from the start, this may not be for you.

3. Older man, ten years older than the heroine

4. The hero does not cheat. He only becomes romantically involved with the heroine after his breakup.

5. There is a winning-her-back storyline, but it is not a full-on groveling arc.

6. Imperfect characters and a somewhat niche premise. Please don’t force yourself to continue if it isn’t for you.

May 15, 2022

---- Coming up next ----

Wild Tide

Among the young heirs of Beijing’s elite, Chen Zhaobai is widely regarded as a born winner.

Without relying on his family, he made a name for himself in North City with nothing but a scalpel at the age of twenty-five, becoming its youngest master surgeon.

He is aloof and proud, with a face so handsome it could bring the world to ruin.

The socialites and heiresses pursued him one after another, but every one of them came away disappointed.

People in their circle privately declared that anyone who could make Chen Zhaobai lower his head probably hadn’t been born yet.

Until one day, he returned from the south with a young woman who was like a little stray cat.

The young woman was named Zhao Ye. Her features were striking and dazzling, but she was prickly and wild, impossible to tame.

At a party one day, Zhao Ye openly gave Chen Zhaobai the cold shoulder, then turned and walked away.

The whole room erupted in shock, then fell silent.

Who would dare provoke this man when he was in a foul mood?

Chen Zhaobai’s temple throbbed with rage. His face icy, he scooped her up and left.

Everyone waited for the show. “Just watch. Chen Zhaobai will dump her within three days, guaranteed.”

A busybody secretly followed them out, only to see...

Zhao Ye was sitting on a swing, her little face tense as she impatiently kicked her legs. “Chen Zhaobai! Are you ever going to stop?”

And Chen Zhaobai, proud and noble, a man who had never bowed his head, was now kneeling on one knee before her.

“No,” he said coldly as he tied her shoelaces. “Not for the rest of my life.”

The young woman glared at him. “You don’t care about me at all!”

“You’re the one who doesn’t care,” Chen Zhaobai scoffed. “You don’t care that I’ll worry about you.”

-

Chen Zhaobai arrived in a small town covered in wounds, got scratched by a little stray cat, and was healed by her in turn.

Zhao Ye lost her mother when she was young and had to live under someone else’s roof. She grew a coat of thorns to fight the whole world. But one day, someone embraced her through those thorns and told her she didn’t have to act tough, because he would love her forever.

Willful rebel x refined and aloof

A lofty flower descends from her pedestal

A little story of mutual healing that’s easy on the heart.

1. 1v1, both leads’ first time, happy ending

2. Eight-year age gap. The heroine is an edgy teenage girl.

3. No intimate contact while the heroine is underage.

4. An adversarial couple who bicker in everyday life.

Theme: Growing up, protection, and mature love.