The Gentlemen Regretted Giving Me Away

Li Xia has two original sins.

The first is that he is an illegitimate child born to a servant.

The second is that he is far too beautiful.

Powerful men can't help despising him even as they lust after him.

A helpless little thing is there for anyone to toy with.

But Li Xia is like a lovely pink-and-white snake, able to bite when you least expect it. The moment his target raises a hand, though, he turns soft as a kitten and acts sweet. He's utterly mad and infuriating.

Yet this fragile, exquisite little thing actually managed to win over Shang Tingyue, the head of the Shang family...

The man whose power made all of North City give him a wide berth, tall and stern, untouched by worldly pleasures.

And yet he would gently lower his head to listen to Li Xia, smile indulgently at him, and even helplessly pull him onto his lap to soothe him.

Who knows how many people were so furious they cursed him in their dreams.

But Li Xia didn't care. He knew he had made the right bet.

Mr. Shang was noble and impeccable. He treated Li Xia like a child, keeping him safe and beautiful, the envy of everyone.

If Li Xia wanted his protection to last, of course he would use the beautiful body he'd always relied on to please him.

But Shang Tingyue pushed him away and told him what a normal child ought to be like.

For the first time, something else crept into Li Xia's years of scheming. He wanted to drag the man standing above the clouds down into the mortal world.

Until Shang Tingyue coldly gave him to someone else.

-

Everyone understood: Mr. Shang really wouldn't fall in love with a mere pawn.

Those who had long been jealous of Li Xia rushed to kick him while he was down, only to be punished by Shang Tingyue.

And no one expected that, before long, Mr. Shang would come to fetch him in person.

"Li Xia, come home with me."

Li Xia smiled innocently. "You were the one who gave me to Young Master Shang."

"This is my home now."

Shang Tingyue's jaw tightened into a sharp line as he coldly watched the young man he had carefully nurtured and protected now obediently held from behind by Young Master Shang. Beneath his thin shirt, two small rings showed through on his chest.

The handsome, devilishly beautiful man, with the same gray-blue eyes as Shang Tingyue, drawled lazily, "Brother, didn't you say he was unimportant? Don't look so angry."

"Or I'll think the person you 'take good care of' every night is your wife-in-law."

* The one chasing his wife and regretting it isn't the only one. There are also the perverts who had twisted feelings for the bottom from the beginning.

* The older brother is the top. Older man, angsty with a mostly sweet happy ending.

* The younger brother is a flirt, but he cares about the bottom. He wasn't the one who made him get the piercings.

* Character traits:

[Bottom] A broken yet clever beauty with an innocent, sensual charm. He endures in silence but is intermittently unhinged, and sometimes looks like a bewildered little animal. The ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing.

[Top] A quarter-blooded beauty on a high peak, firm and decisive, aloof and chaste, accustomed to being the one in control and the one who protects.

Theme: Once a soul is loved, the flesh grows wildly.