Drunk on the Sun, Lost in Pleasure

Fostered Lodging | Defying One's Elders | Forbidden Fairy Tale

The Chen and Lu families have been close for generations.

After the Chen family falls on hard times, Chen Li is taken in by the Lu family.

Lu Li is four years younger than Chen Li. The day she arrives, he stands beneath the window.

White roses frame his clean nape. His black hair curls slightly, and his features are striking against his pale skin.

He greets her with cool detachment: "Hello, big sister."

Later, it is once again the season when the roses bloom.

At a lively birthday party, the guest of honor, Chen Li, is nowhere to be seen.

Lu's mother's concerned voice sounds from outside the door: "Xiaoyou, are you ready yet?"

Chen Li panics, trying to keep her voice down as she pushes him away and tries to get up to say, "I'm ready."

Lu Li's expression darkens. He pulls her back, his burning warmth pressing deep into the hollow of her neck.

Taking his time, he teases her with wicked persistence: "Big sister, you won't be ready anytime soon."

Days and nights blur together.

Only Chen Li knows how wild and rebellious Lu Li is beneath his impeccably polite, refined exterior.

Later still, at Chen Li's engagement party...

The man's fringe is still touched with the glimmer of fresh snow as he quietly calls, "Xiaoyou."

Chen Li lowers her lashes and introduces him to her fiance: "...My brother."

Lu Li looks at her. "Is that so?"

He answers, unhurriedly: "All right."

He steps closer, his familiar presence seeming to burn faintly in the hollow of her neck.

A blush creeps across Chen Li's earlobes despite herself.

Lu Li smiles and raises a hand. "Then, my big sister." He tucks her hair behind her ear.

His fingertips linger where she's trembling. "Does your fiance know you as well as I do?"

*Chen Li always thought her younger brother, Lu Li, was exceptional and refined, as pure as a little square of milk cake.

But after being coaxed into taking a bite, she discovered that it was made with a wicked heart, laced with shards of ice.

Reader's Notes:

1. One-on-one romance, first love for both, happy ending, sweet romance.

2. The blurb was screenshotted and archived. Revised on July 5, 2024.

Theme: Time may stretch across the path of life, but it cannot stand in love's way.