The Eldest Brother Reigns Supreme

[Female Lead's Blurb] After Gu Xier died, her soul lingered in the Gu family ancestral hall for years. Three years after her death, the Gu family welcomed back their real eldest daughter, Bai Wei. Gu Xier had merely been the one switched at birth. Given the chance to be reborn, Gu Xier returned weighed down by guilt and shame, feeling like an impostor who had stolen someone else's place. She kept a low profile, no longer taking advantage of her parents' and elder brother Gu Shen's affection to do whatever she pleased. She learned to care for them and be considerate, and waited wholeheartedly for Bai Wei to return to the Gu family. Once she did, Gu Xier planned to leave on her own, sparing everyone the embarrassment. [Male Lead's Blurb] His own younger sister had never been close to him. She disliked his rigid temper and cold, off-putting personality. But Gu Shen cherished her as his only full sibling and repeatedly gave in to her. Perhaps their temperaments were simply incompatible by nature. In the end, his younger sister couldn't even be bothered to give him a kind look. Over time, Gu Shen couldn't help growing cold toward her, too. Then something strange happened. For some reason, after recovering from a serious illness, his younger sister suddenly grew close to him again. When she learned that he often suffered from stomachaches, she personally made him a bowl of nourishing soup every day. She made so many varieties that she never repeated one, saying it was food therapy. He had an old injury that made his knees ache unbearably every winter. His younger sister paid a fortune to acquire a "Bian Que Stone" and made him a pair of warm knee pads. Even when their father punished him for doing something wrong, his younger sister would rush in front of him, spread her arms, and shield him. In all these things, she showed him the utmost care. To Gu Shen, his younger sister's change was naturally a good thing. He doted on her more and more, granting almost every request. In his presence, she could have anything she wanted. Even if she asked for the moon, Gu Shen would find a way to pluck it from the sky for her. [Bonus Scene] At last, Bai Wei was recognized and welcomed back into the Gu family. Gu Xier spent several days thinking it over. Though her heart ached, she still packed her little bundle and slipped away quietly. What Gu Xier didn't know was that during the months she was gone, Gu Shen had turned the capital upside down searching for her, nearly driven mad. When Gu Shen finally found Gu Xier, she was cooling off in a small courtyard outside the capital. Beside her, a young man with a simple, honest face was slicing a watermelon for her. Gu Shen's handsome face darkened. Through gritted teeth, he said, "Xier has a weak stomach. She can't eat watermelon." Then he stared at Gu Xier as if he meant to see right into her heart. "As long as I'm here, you will never leave the Gu family for the rest of your life." Call him obsessive, or say he has a dark heart. All he wants is for Xier to stay by his side, never taking a single step away. Reader's Guide: 1. The story features a real-versus-fake, switched-at-birth eldest daughter plot. Bai Wei is not vilified. 2. The setting has no household rivalries between wives and concubines. 3. A faux-sibling romance with no blood relation. They are not in the same clan genealogy. This is a sweet, indulgent slice-of-life story set roughly in the Ming Dynasty. Please don't nitpick the historical details. 4. Gu Shen's romantic feelings for Gu Xier only begin after he learns she isn't his sister. The honest-looking man in the blurb isn't a bad person. He looks after Gu Xier like a younger sister. *This blurb was written in May and a screenshot has been saved as proof. Dear readers, please add my next book to your library! "The White Lotus's Survival Handbook (Reborn)": A calculating, revenge-seeking male lead VS a protective, mischievous female lead who just wants to survive. [Female Lead's Blurb] Sun Ruyi died, stabbed by her younger brother-in-law, Zhou Wen. She stared straight at him until she died, never understanding what was happening. He couldn't bear her torment and fled the Zhou family. Everyone said he had died outside. So how had he returned wearing a crimson robe with an embroidered lion insignia? Had he become a high-ranking official? Zhou Wen looked with disgust at the woman coughing up blood and took a deep breath. Yet the memories of being forced to kneel on ice in winter and sit by a fire in summer were clearer than ever. Even if his elder brother was dead, that didn't give her the right to throw her weight around in the Zhou family! But after dying, he woke up, and everything had returned to the beginning. Sun Ruyi was reborn. Zhou Wen had been so hungry that he went to the kitchen and took a steamed bun to eat. Now she was punishing him by making him kneel on ice. In the middle of winter, Sun Ruyi felt sweat running down her back. She hurried out of the inner room and found Zhou Wen in the front courtyard, carrying the chicken soup she'd been about to drink. She handed it to him. "...Get up and drink this first. It'll warm you up." Then she scolded the few servants standing nearby. "Are you all blind? I only said those things in anger. Who told you to make Second Young Master really kneel?!" Zhou Wen's refined face remained expressionless as he looked up at Sun Ruyi. "Weren't you the one who told them to watch me while I was punished?" He paused, then added, "You specifically told them not to let me slack off." [Male Lead's Blurb] I thought my sister-in-law was kind and noble, compassionate and pure, like a white lotus blooming on a snowy mountain. Who knew she was a poisonous woman, full of lies? But... even after learning the whole truth, I still couldn't bear to hurt her in the slightest. Reader's Guide: 1. The female lead and her husband never consummated their marriage. 2. An older woman-younger man romance. The male lead is not reborn, but will gradually regain memories of his past life. Neither lead is a paragon of virtue. 3. This is a story of a husband pursuing his wife after a breakup, with deception and trust at its heart. But it's still a sweet romance. The chaos starts from the very beginning. Theme: People should know how to be grateful.