The Sweet, Gentle Beauty of the Nineties

[New Preorders: Someone Is Eyeing the Capitalist's Daughter [Period], After Refusing to Be a Stand-In, I Was Reincarnated [Period]]

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Ye Shengsheng's mother ran off overseas with a foreigner. When Shengsheng came home for the holidays, a burly man answered the door. That was when she realized she'd been abandoned.

She obediently picked up her luggage and used the money she'd earned from her part-time job, which she'd planned to give her mother, to buy a train ticket to Nan City and look for her biological father.

Her father was a cook at a state-run restaurant and was about to be laid off and find new work. He treated Shengsheng wonderfully, buying her all kinds of things a girl might need and worrying she might suffer. The neighbors were kind, too, and Shengsheng felt a warmth she'd never experienced before.

But the adopted son of the butcher next door was always staring at her with greedy eyes. She didn't like him. He looked fierce, and Shengsheng was a little scared, so she always kept her distance.

Lu Ye had recently set his sights on a girl: radiant and captivating, a natural beauty, the purest girl he'd ever seen. She seemed afraid of him and hurried away whenever she saw him, but he was determined to make this neighbor girl his!

But later...

"Lu Ye, she's not like us."

How could someone trapped in the muddy mire keep a songbird with wings?

"So what? Even if I have to crawl, I'll crawl to her side!"

If you ask Lu Ye what he regrets most, it was his youthful recklessness: skipping school and wandering around, until later he shattered his bones and crushed his pride, risking his life to climb higher, all so he could be worthy of a girl.

Many years later, in an alley in Nan City, a woman with a few strands of white hair chatted animatedly with her old friends...

"You know, our alley has produced quite a few hidden gems!"

"That cook, Ye Mingrui, opened a restaurant, and now he's a big deal! He's even been on TV!"

"I always knew that cook's precious daughter, Shengsheng, was extraordinary. Did you see yesterday's news? She's an interpreter for one of the leaders!"

"Oh, the only one I ever misjudged was that little hoodlum from the butcher's family. When he was young, I thought he was lazy and good for nothing, but when he grew up, he turned out to be incredibly successful! I heard his company has even expanded to the States! And he even whisked away our alley's little angel!"

The Foreign Ministry's newest beauty, an interpreter with an impressive record and a serious attitude toward work, had a little birthday party thrown for her by her colleagues and superiors. That day, a rising tech tycoon from the capital arrived with flowers, smiling boldly as he parted his lips and said, "Until death do us part..."

Skyscrapers rise, traffic flows, and ordinary people grow in extraordinary ways.

Notes:

1. Both leads are sexually inexperienced; happy ending; sweet romance.

2. The male lead is no saint, and the female lead is an angel.

3. I'll add other content warnings if I think of any.

Preorder 1: Someone Is Eyeing the Capitalist's Daughter [Period]

Zhen Wu was a capitalist's daughter. She had everything she needed, but no friends, all because her family background was like a stain on her.

During the most impoverished and uncertain decade, eight-year-old Zhen Wu was taken overseas by her parents. Only after things had settled down did she return to her homeland with them.

Back home, Zhen Wu lived the same luxurious life as before. Servants looked after her, and a driver took her to school. To her, it was all perfectly ordinary, but in the eyes of others, it seemed unforgivable.

A refined man in a white shirt and black trousers looked at her with disappointment.

"Zhen Wu, the way you are now is frightening."

"Zhen Wu, I don't like the way you act now. Come see me again when you've changed."

A girl with two braided pigtails looked at her with disgust.

"You're so selfish. Capitalists' daughters are the most disgusting people."

"You think you can pursue Chen Siyu? That's a ridiculous fantasy!"

How could proud Zhen Wu put up with such mockery and insults? Of course she would fight back. But before she could do anything, someone stepped in front of her first. His tall frame shielded her from every storm. From behind him, she heard only his ringing defense of her.

"Sure. I'll take her to the cemetery and make sure to burn incense for you."

"Why don't you look in the mirror? Even a maggot has a prettier face than you."

Much later, Zhen Wu curled up in the arms of the soldier known as the sharpest-tongued man alive. She poked at his stiff green uniform and asked softly,

"When did you start liking me?"

His answer was a shower of passionate kisses, and a night she couldn't escape...

As snow and wind battered the world, a little beggar in ragged clothes huddled by a wall. A pair of delicate little leather shoes, dusted with snow, stopped in front of him. He looked up and saw a very large doll...

"This is all the New Year's money I got today. You can have it. Dad said it can bring you good luck and keep you safe~"

The doll spoke...

"Jiaojiao!"

Someone called the doll away...

When passion swept over her, sweat dampened Zhen Wu's temples. She heard a low murmur by her ear: "Jiaojiao, my little doll."

Notes:

1. One-on-one romance; both leads are sexually inexperienced; sweet romance.

2. To be determined.

Preorder 2: After Refusing to Be a Stand-In, I Was Reincarnated [Period]

"Big sister, I'll give you my body."

"Can you look after my mom and dad for me?"

In the cold hospital room, a girl as pale as snow stared blankly at the empty space beside the window, her voice frail as a thread.

"Please..."

With that, the girl closed her eyes with a smile.

Damn it! Who'd want to be your stand-in?!

Chu Rong, drawn over by a gentle aura, spat out a string of curses. She exhausted half her cultivation to drag the girl back from the brink of death. Damn it, she nearly ended up as somebody's stand-in!

The girl's eyelashes quivered, and she was about to wake up. Chu Rong had already prepared to give her an earful, but a powerful force pulled her away. Chu Rong, who had just lost more than half her three hundred years of ghostly energy, couldn't resist and lost consciousness completely.

When she opened her eyes again, she heard that familiar girl's face speak to her with adoration: "Little sister, you're so cute!"

I'm a century-old female ghost! Who's your little sister?!

Everyone in the military compound knew Chu Qin had a little sister. She was as adorable as a doll, and the whole family treasured her, especially the compound's goddess, Chu Qin, who wanted to carry her around in her arms every day.

"Chu Qin, your little sister is all red and doesn't even have any hair. She's so ugly."

The day after Chu Rong was born, the children from the compound all went to see her. One boy, too quick to think, blurted that out.

Chu Qin, who was always gentle and sweet with people, immediately grabbed a baby bottle and whacked him until he cried!

More than ten years later, Chu Rong grew up and became more and more beautiful, even a little prettier than Chu Qin had been. She gradually attracted the covetous attention of quite a few young wolves, including that man...

The strong-willed woman of the military compound thought no one was good enough for her little sister, and guarded her fiercely. That is, until she saw the most proper and honorable man in the compound pinning a hand firmly against the girl's neck, holding her waist with the other, lowering his hawk-like head and kissing her fiercely!

Core theme: No matter how humble your origins, always yearn for distant horizons.