A Mad Dog's Guide to Rising to the Top

Possessive younger seme x affection-starved shou, not a sugary-sweet romance, realistic happy ending.

Wen Zhu Yi has been selling chestnut cakes in Yancheng for eight years. He's gentle, and the cakes he makes are fragrant and soft. He hasn't raised the price once in all those years, so everyone on the street has a good impression of him.

When he found the little stray dog, he was stealing someone's e-bike battery in the rain. His name was Li Xing, and even at a young age, everyone found him unbearable.

He lured him home with a meal, but it wasn't long before the boy showed his true colors. He behaved for a while, then finally bared his claws.

Everyone said he was bad, but Wen Zhu Yi wanted him to turn his life around. When Li Xing got into a fight at school, Wen Zhu Yi cleaned up after him. When Li Xing skipped class, Wen Zhu Yi went to the internet cafe and dragged him back.

Wen Zhu Yi didn't know how to raise a child and wasn't very educated. The only thing he knew how to make was chestnut cakes that cost ten yuan a jin. When Li Xing didn't want to study anymore, all Wen Zhu Yi could do was look at him with red eyes and say, "Li Xing, you need to make a good future for yourself."

Wen Zhu Yi thought Li Xing hated him, but when someone bullied him, Li Xing ran off to fight that person.

~

Li Xing would never forget that day, when the man held an umbrella, his slightly curled hair damp, and put on the air of an elder as he told him, "I'm your Uncle Wen."

"Be good and listen."

He had never met anyone like him, someone so softhearted that a little threat could easily make him bend. It awakened a greedy, wicked desire in Li Xing. His little uncle treated him so well, but he treated everyone that way. Li Xing watched helplessly as one close companion after another came and went from his side, yet that gentle, indulgent gaze, full of affection, never once fell on him.

Later, he grew taller than his little uncle. He got into one of the top ten universities in the country. He started his own company. Now he could easily draw him entirely into his arms, and, step by step, he would finally confine him to his side. His little uncle was shocked, bewildered, and disbelieving, trembling with fear, yet he pretended to be calm and put on his grown-up manner.

He didn't know he was like a little lamb, still pretending to be the same as before and telling the wolf to behave.

"Uncle Wen," Li Xing narrowed his eyes and smiled. "You don't think I'm still a kid who needs a Xiaotiancai smartwatch phone, do you?"

P.S.

1. Younger seme, with a ten-year age gap. The shou has had two ex-boyfriends. He's indecisive by nature, so it's easy for people to bully him.

2. The seme is a virgin. From a little stray who stole e-bike batteries to a possessive Great Dane, he started obsessing over him at eighteen and went crazy after seven years of secret love.

Key point!! The shou has a hard time early on, so there's a little angst.

The early part has a puppy in tow; later, the puppy chases him.

Theme: Persevere through hardship