Xerophytes

Jiang Zhu was the third child in his family. He had an older brother and sister who were twins, and a younger sister.

His older brother took over the family business and became a well-known rising star in S City. His sister charged into the entertainment industry, won Best Actress, and became famous across the country overnight. His younger sister was still in school, but excelled academically, and her parents sent her abroad to study when she was twenty.

Jiang Zhu, on the other hand, was no good at anything. He was introverted and inarticulate, and was worse at everything he tried than the rest of them. His parents pulled strings to get him into the best private high school in S City, but his grades still hovered around the bottom half of the class.

His grandparents, parents, brother, and sister all told him, "It's okay. As long as you try your best, that's enough. No matter what, you're still our grandson, son, and little brother."

Then, on Jiang Zhu's fifteenth birthday, a young man suddenly showed up at their door and said that he was the family's real son.

Everyone was stunned.

A paternity test confirmed that the young man was indeed the family's true second son.

And Jiang Zhu was an impostor.

The Jiang family was overjoyed to welcome back this bright, gentle, and sensible child, and did everything they could to make up for the love he had missed out on.

Jiang Zhu became the one who no longer belonged, slowly turning into a transparent presence in his own home.

Then, after he graduated from high school, the Jiang family suddenly faced a business crisis.

With the family business on the brink of collapse, the Jiangs remembered an old connection.

The Cheng family, at the top of S City's business world, had only two conditions for the marriage alliance:

The engagement could go ahead, but the Cheng family's eldest son had to be replaced by the second son, and the second son had to marry Jiang Zhu.

Cheng Yu, the Cheng family's second son, was a business prodigy who had made a name for himself at a young age. From childhood, he had been surrounded by people eager to do his bidding and showered with adoration.

Jiang Zhu and Cheng Yu grew up together. He had been the young master's lackey, yes-man, bodyguard, and plaything...

But he never expected that the second son of the Cheng family, who looked down his nose at him, would want to marry him.

To repay his adoptive parents for raising him, Jiang Zhu agreed.

*

There was no wedding or wedding ring. They simply went to register their marriage.

On their wedding night, Cheng Yu gripped his chin, his eyes full of amusement. "Jiang Zhu, keep me entertained for two years. After that, when I'm bored of you, get lost."

Two years later, Cheng Yu still wasn't bored, but Jiang Zhu disappeared just as he had wished, changing his name and vanishing without a trace.

*

Content warnings:

1. One-on-one pairing, happy ending. The top's mouth is harder than his dick. He's childish and irritable early on. The bottom is also bad at expressing himself, has an avoidant personality and bipolar disorder, and initially likes the top's older brother.

2. Professional details are glossed over. The author knows nothing about business, so this is mainly a romance.

3. Extreme top or bottom fans, please don't read.

Theme: None.