The Poor, Rugged Man Who Took Me In Is a Big Shot

[The upcoming novel Falling for a Coal Boss: What Did I Do Wrong?! is now open for bookmarking!]

Blurb:

[The taciturn, incognito lone wolf boss and the abandoned, battered stray]

Lu Siyan was once the sole heir to the Lu family, doted on by everyone.

Now he lay dying at the gate of his late mother’s ancestral home.

A rough mechanic who worked at a repair shop lived there and saved his life.

Brother Sheng had monolids, muscles, and a scar at the end of his eyebrow. His hair and stubble were prickly, and he wasn’t much of a talker.

Lu Siyan lay naked in the yard. “I’m dying of heat.”

That night, Brother Sheng lugged home a secondhand air conditioner and installed it himself.

Lu Siyan refused the clothes Brother Sheng gave him. “They’re so ugly.”

After work, Brother Sheng took him to the night market, where he could pick any three items for a hundred yuan.

Lu Siyan gazed at the bare yard. “There used to be flowers here.”

That weekend, Brother Sheng drove him to the flower market, and they brought back sunflowers to plant.

They spent an unexpectedly wonderful summer in the little courtyard, now full of flowers.

But their peaceful life was soon disrupted. It seemed his mother’s death and all the wrongs of the past few years had not been accidents.

Brother Sheng simply asked, “Want me to help you?”

Word around the industry was that Xiao Sheng, who had started from nothing and founded the LangK club and LK Group, was back.

There was also a beauty by his side, whom Xiao Sheng kept well protected. No one had ever seen their face.

Until Xiao Sheng arrived at a banquet hosted by the Lu family, holding someone’s hand.

The Lu family members were all stunned. Even his always-composed stepmother couldn’t hide her reaction. “Why is it you?”

Xiao Sheng stood behind Lu Siyan like a mountain. “Yes, it’s ‘us.’”

“The sun has set.

I am your fishing boat,

your anchor.”

1: One-on-one romance, happy ending, with a crematorium arc. The person being burned isn’t the top; the top helps light the fire.

2: Older top, seven-year age gap, neither is sexually inexperienced.

3: The poem at the end of the blurb is excerpted from To My Beloved by the online poet Daguji.

3: Sorry, but I had to change the premise because of the subject matter. The original premise involved a flower market, which I couldn’t write about.

Upcoming novel:

[The coal boss who spends lavishly for love x the talented, grateful actor who never got his big break]

Cheng Jiashu became famous at a young age. Proud of his talent and unwilling to follow the crowd, he offended the wrong people and was blacklisted.

But he loved movies, and despite trying for years, he still couldn’t make his dream come true.

“I really don’t think I can keep going.” One winter night, Cheng Jiashu got drunk at a roadside barbecue stall and spoke from the heart.

“Maybe you should give up. The film industry’s practically been ruined!” his friend cursed. “This taste is no different from a damn coal boss!”

Cheng Jiashu, his face red, retorted, “I don’t agree. Coal bosses are way better than some of today’s investors. I miss the days when coal bosses invested in movies. They paid well and didn’t interfere with the creative process. Other than asking to squeeze in a pretty young lover, they had no other demands.”

The north wind swept past Cheng Jiashu’s reddened eyes. He shouted in frustration, “Where’s my coal boss?!”

Jin Rushan, a coal boss nearby who was reminiscing about the good old days, wept into his wineglass and handed Cheng Jiashu his business card on the spot.

++-----

Later, Cheng Jiashu returned to the film industry with Jin Rushan at his back and a fortune in his bank account.

Jin Rushan was tall, handsome, and generous. He gave everyone on set a 5,000-yuan red envelope when he visited, and kept the feasts and gifts coming.

The more Cheng Jiashu saw of him, the more he liked him, and his feelings gradually changed.

But Mr. Jin had been acting strangely lately.

He stopped visiting the set and stopped inviting Cheng Jiashu out for massages and lavish meals.

He even started trying to put actresses in the production!

His friend tried to console him when he saw how upset he was. “Maybe you should give up. You and a coal boss are such a mismatch. People will laugh their heads off if word gets out...”

Cheng Jiashu burst into tears. “What’s so funny about it? What did I do wrong by falling for a coal boss?!”

The coal boss, who couldn’t resist sneaking onto the set to see Cheng Jiashu: ToT

Reader’s guide:

1: Mostly lighthearted, with a little angst over their careers, because this is the Chinese entertainment industry. What did I do wrong by making fun of it a little?!

2: One-on-one romance, happy ending

Theme: Even in difficult times, love life and seek its meaning!