Sweet Sugar, Bitter Taste

The author’s other novels in the same genre, His Tactics and High and Mighty, are complete. Blurb: A note before we begin: This story features coercive pursuit and a male lead who loses his mind. Blurb 1: That year, eighteen-year-old Lian Tian finally couldn’t keep quiet. Just before she stepped out of Chen Tang’s room, she explained, “I applied for student loans and scholarships to cover my tuition and living expenses. I didn’t take anything from your aunt.” She thought Chen Tang wouldn’t answer, but he replied in a lazy, indifferent, flippant tone, “So what?” Lian Tian knew him too well. She heard the hint of mockery in his voice. Later, twenty-six-year-old Lian Tian said to Chen Tang, “I’ve paid back everything I could in material terms. I don’t owe you anything.” He cut her off, still lazy, indifferent, and flippant. “So what?” Blurb 2: Lian Tian knew her place. She only wanted to repay the Chen family’s kindness and then leave, but she still believed Chen Tang and stayed, entering into a relationship with him. He was a perfect boyfriend. He kept his distance from his old flame, defended her when people gossiped, brought her into his circle, and introduced her to everyone... If she hadn’t accidentally overheard him telling a friend what he really thought, she truly would have been fooled. It turned out all his love and respect had been deliberate. After weighing the pros and cons, he had decided she was the best choice for a wife. He knew she wouldn’t enter a loveless marriage, so he took advantage of the feelings she’d had for him as a girl and successfully deceived her. Lian Tian took a deep breath and left quietly from behind the door where she’d been listening, without alerting anyone. She told herself it was fine. She was only leaving a year later than planned. She immediately changed her phone number, deleted all her social media contacts, packed a suitcase, and took a flight with an admission letter from an overseas university. She left without looking back. At first, Chen Tang thought little of her leaving. He’d simply been careless and failed to hold on to the fruits of his victory. What a shame, after all the time and effort he’d put in. That was all. But later, he tried everything he could to take her back. Note added a year later: I don’t really care about whether the leads are virgins, so I never used to mention it. Then I found out some readers do care, so I’ve added it to my more recent stories. I definitely remember that the male lead in this story is a virgin, since it was part of how I designed his character, so I can remember that. As for the female lead, I’ve forgotten. As I said, I really don’t care about this. Someone in the comments said she didn’t get a chance to sleep with the second male lead before the male lead broke them up. If anyone knows, please say in the comments whether both leads are virgins or only the male lead is. Thanks. High and Mighty is complete. The male lead’s identity is revealed starting in Chapter Four. Blurb: Before that incident, Zhang Xintan had always thought she and Yan Zheng were dating. She believed they kept their relationship secret because her boyfriend was considerate of her status as an actress and had made that compromise and sacrifice for the sake of her career. Until the day he came to find her for his younger brother. Yan Zheng’s younger brother, the Yan family’s second son, was an actor too, a first-tier star. His girlfriend was a rising actress who was competing with Zhang Xintan for a role. Yan Zheng practically ordered her, “She’s the woman A Rong is going to marry, not some random little star he can fool around with. Don’t compete with her. If you run into her, keep your distance. I’ll make up for whatever you lose.” So that was what their so-called secret relationship really was: she was a little star he could fool around with, someone unfit to be seen in public. Zhang Xintan didn’t give up on trying to get the role. Instead, she dumped the man and ended their unequal relationship. He seemed perfectly calm on the day they broke up, and they left each other alone after that. It wasn’t until the rising actress won the role after all, and Zhang’s career ground to a halt, that she realized Yan Zheng’s apparent nonchalance had all been an act. She’d fought back, but she still couldn’t win. She decided to leave the industry. With the savings she’d built up over the years, she could live well. If she couldn’t afford to offend him, she could at least stay out of his way. But he showed her no mercy. Everyone she cared about was “taken care of” one by one. An intermediary came to warn her: no one could get away unscathed after offending Yan Zheng. Zhang Xintan couldn’t just leave without caring what happened to anyone. She steeled herself and went to see him. This time, she was allowed onto the elevator and taken to the top floor of the legendary Giant Fish Entertainment, where she was granted entry into his domain... Blurb 2: Yan Zheng had set his sights on someone who was perfect for him in every way, right down to the last strand of hair. So he naturally took her in, collecting and playing with her like one of his antique hobbies. At first, he couldn’t even be bothered to tell her about his other identity. For a long time, she thought he was just an ordinary rich businessman. He couldn’t understand why she reacted so strongly when she learned that he owned Giant Fish Entertainment. Shouldn’t she have been relieved and secretly pleased? Even less could he understand why she said the word “breakup” after he said something to her. Breakup? Wasn’t that a word for official couples? At most, they were ending their arrangement. It didn’t matter. It was just a word, and he didn’t care. He thought he didn’t care... As time passed, he went through the textbook’s five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. He endured it this long because he thought acceptance was the final stage. But it never came. At last, he realized he simply couldn’t accept her leaving. In that case, he wouldn’t let her go. Note: 1. His identity is revealed starting in Chapter Four. 2. Coercive pursuit and a groveling chase. 3. Happy ending. The historical novel The Palace in Ruins is ongoing. Blurb: Wu Ye, founding emperor of the Dawu Dynasty, and Empress Zhang Xian were married before he rose to power. During her first year as empress, Zhang Xian learned enough to realize that Wu Ye not only didn’t love her, but looked down on her for her common, streetwise habits. In the second year of his reign, the empress presented the emperor with a letter admitting her faults and asked to be deposed and sent out of the palace. To the young emperor, who possessed the entire realm and everything in it, this was nothing short of a provocation. The emperor granted only half of Zhang Xian’s wish. He deposed her and demoted her to a commoner, and divorced her, but refused to let her leave the palace. Instead, he kept her there as a maid. Zhang Xian knew she had married the wrong man, but never imagined Wu Ye would disregard their past affection and be so cruel and heartless. Still, she had substantial savings, and in her year as empress she had always treated others kindly and won over many female officials and consorts. She only had to endure for five years, and then she could leave the palace. But things didn’t go as she hoped. In her first year as a maid, the female official who could have protected her was transferred elsewhere, and the consort who had been willing to take her into her own quarters was demoted and could barely protect herself. In her second year as a maid, she was assigned to the emperor’s Yuanlong Hall, where she had to endure Wu Ye’s unpredictable moods. That was bearable, but what Zhang Xian couldn’t accept was the emperor forcing her to spend the night there. She protested, “Your Majesty and I have already divorced. Apart from the master-servant relationship, there is nothing between us.” Wu Ye replied, “You know we’re master and servant. If your master tells you to do something, you do it.” In the third year, the emperor stopped giving her the contraceptive medicine he had prescribed. Desperate, Zhang Xian decided to risk everything and escape, even if it cost her life. She succeeded, but only for two years. Theme: Study hard and work hard. You owe no one anything.