Enthralling

(I haven't abandoned this. It's just been so long since I wrote a novel. I'm starting a new one to get back into the swing of things, then I'll return. 5.1)

A story about the older brother. Please add my new novel, "Variables," to your reading list. My other novel, "I Was Transmigrated into the Mary Sue Novel I Wrote (Quick Transmigration)," is currently being serialized. Its blurb is below this one!

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Blurb: Ruan Ningchu is still young, but she has raven-black hair, red lips, and a pair of alluring, watery eyes. Her slender waist could fit in one hand. Almost everyone who sees her praises her as a natural beauty.

Only one person ignores her looks. Instead, he tosses her a wool coat and tells her, "It's chilly at night."

Just back from dancing at a bar, Ruan Ningchu is deliberately wearing a red sequined slip dress. She glances at the thermometer on the wall, which reads 36 degrees Celsius, and thinks, Is he trying to roast me alive?

But after a moment, she obediently wraps herself in the wool coat and does her best to smile seductively.

Sigh. Why does she have to like such an old-fashioned man?

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Professor Gu Chen of Jing University is ascetic and clueless about romance. He's been blessed with a handsome face, yet not a single woman is close to him.

His best friend, who's as close as a brother, has been sent overseas by his company. Worried about leaving his naive, lively younger sister, who has no experience living on her own, he asks Gu Chen to look after her for three months.

Frowning, Gu Chen refuses. "Aren't you worried I'll abuse my position and go after someone close to me?"

His friend bursts out laughing. "First of all, my sister just graduated from high school. You're twelve years older than her. You'd never do something so beastly. Besides, you're not interested in women. Even the female mice in your lab are more tempting to you than my sister!"

At first, Gu Chen thinks the same. But later he realizes that, somewhere along the way, every little thing Ruan Ningchu does has started to make his throat tighten with desire.

[Older man/younger woman romance. The heroine is 18, and the hero is 30.]

[Updates whenever inspiration strikes]

[Screenshots taken on 2021.12.11] Cover courtesy of a kind author from the Bichui community!

Please add "Variables" to your reading list!

Blurb: The next time Murong Pingting meets Ruan Hengyi, it's at a banquet hosted by her family.

Despite having worked in Africa for four years, he hasn't tanned at all. His skin is fairer than many girls', and he stands out in the crowd.

The banquet is supposedly to celebrate her birthday, but in reality, her parents have organized it to find her a rich husband.

Among the guests are plenty of handsome, charming young professionals, but something always seems to be missing. She can't get excited about any of them.

Then she sees Ruan Hengyi and suddenly has an idea. She walks over with a glass of wine and asks with a beaming smile, "Hengyi-ge, I have a deal to propose. Would you be interested?"

She and Ruan Hengyi grew up together and know each other well. Most importantly, he's wonderful to his younger sister. When they were children, she was always envious of Ruan Ningchu, who lived next door and had such an amazing older brother.

Unfortunately, her parents don't want another child. She won't be getting an older brother, let alone a younger brother or sister.

But if she marries Ruan Hengyi, she'll get someone else's wonderful older brother for herself.

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There have always been two things that matter most to Ruan Hengyi: taking good care of his younger sister and restoring the Ruan family's fortunes. He rarely pays attention to anything else.

He doesn't know when it started, but his sister, Ruan Ningchu, often talks about the wonderful older sister next door, Murong Pingting. He can't help turning his attention to Pingting, who is a little younger than him.

Although his little sister, Chuchu, no longer needs him to take care of her, he still hasn't achieved his goal of restoring the Ruan family's fortunes. He can only bury the feelings stirring in his heart.

Until they meet again, and Murong Pingting proposes a deal. She needs a suitable husband to appease her family, while he needs funds to break into a new market.

Murong Pingting says, "They've just discovered a gold mine in the barren hills my family owns. Marry me, and the gold mine is yours. Do we have a deal?"

Ruan Hengyi smiles. All his efforts to hold back fall apart, and his eyes fill with possessiveness. "Of course. I'd be delighted."

From then on, the two most important things in his life seem unchanged. His sister has simply gained Pingting, and his wife, Murong Pingting, has joined the Ruan family.

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"There's only affection like that between siblings, but this kind of marriage doesn't seem so bad." -- Murong Pingting

"You're the only variable in my life. How could I be content with being just your good 'older brother'?" -- Ruan Hengyi

[Sweet romance after marriage, with mutual pining that comes true.]