Drowning in Life

[Main story complete]

Beijing elite circle | Fake siblings | She runs, he pursues | Mild coercion | Cultured but wicked young master of Beijing's elite circle x gentle, sweet, innocent girl

The stepsister brought home by Fourth Young Master Zhou's stepmother had left. Apparently, things hadn't ended well.

So far, no one who'd crossed Zhou Siyi had ever managed to walk away unscathed.

The story was spreading like wildfire.

At a banquet, someone teased him: “What have you been busy with lately, Fourth Brother Zhou?”

Zhou Siyi smiled carelessly. “Looking for a cat.”

How novel. A man who'd always done whatever he pleased wasn't going after his stepsister to settle the score. Instead, he was making a huge fuss over a cat he'd supposedly failed to coax inside and had let escape.

Meng Ying had been a model student for seventeen years.

Then came her eighteenth year, one chaotic summer.

She fastened the last button and looked up, meeting Zhou Siyi's gaze. She had no idea when he'd come in.

They stared at each other for two seconds.

“You've been crying.”

Zhou Siyi lazily brushed a fingertip against the corner of her eye.

“They say we're partners in crime, little sister.”

Beneath his refined facade, his possessiveness and appetite for conquest were barely concealed.

What Meng Ying and Zhou Siyi had was a fair deal.

She borrowed his influence; he wanted her.

All the young masters of Beijing were betting on when Zhou Siyi would tire of her and abandon the pampered cat he'd kept at home.

They never expected Meng Ying to be the first to say she was leaving.

On a night of torrential rain, she backed away step by step until she had nowhere left to go.

Zhou Siyi's voice was cool and merciless as he threatened her, each word deliberate: “Are you coming here on your own, or do I have to bring you over?”

“Eye contact is a spiritual kiss without desire.”

He wanted to look into her eyes.

And he wanted to kiss her.

The story begins when both are adults; they are not on the same household registration

She runs, he pursues; mild coercion and some melodrama

The first half of the blurb takes place by chapter 26. For their friendly relationship, strangers in public and overly familiar in private, start there

Recommending my friend's novels

I Didn't Know You Had a Crush on Me by Jin Yu | Complete | Secret crush | Two top-tier stars

Hearing Your Heartbeat | Fake siblings | Reunited after a breakup | Plenty to read

Upcoming novel in the same series: Tempt and Take | Beijing elite young master x sweet, scheming beauty

On New Year's Eve, Second Young Master Lu received a bird.

It was beautiful, kept in a golden cage, and sent by his nephew, Lu Zheng.

The bird was sent back the way it had come, along with a message from Second Young Master Lu:

“I already have one at home. She's spoiled and hard to please.”

On the first day of the New Year, Lu Zheng received something else:

A letter ending his engagement to his young fiancée.

Upcoming novel in the same series: Whisper in My Ear

Secret crush | Bad boy turns over a new leaf | Reunited after a breakup | Healing

Beijing playboy x cool, quiet girl

In her final year of high school, the thing Chi Er did most often was lean over her desk before evening study and listen to the campus radio.

From that angle, she could see the cool, rebellious boy walk through the classroom door.

They had nothing to do with each other, yet he left his mark on her entire youth.

Later, she worked hard to get into the same university as him.

He was still the dazzling, rebellious darling of fate; she was still the quiet, aloof girl.

Until one day, she summoned the courage to post on the school's confession wall: “CCX, a boy full of youthful spirit, always walking toward the sun.”

That evening, she ran into Chen Chengxi on the basketball court. He was talking to a few boys, wearing a cocky grin, all reckless swagger.

One of the guys on his team saw her. “Isn't that the journalism department's campus belle? Could she be here to see you?”

Her heart pounded like a drum.

Chen Chengxi made a beautiful fadeaway shot, then glanced over without a care. “She's too well-behaved. Don't go ruining that girl's life.”

A passionate romance, brief as a dream.

When they met again, she was no longer an ordinary girl lost in a crowd, but he was still dazzling and far beyond her reach.

They passed each other like strangers.

Until an accident left her stranded in the snow, and Chen Chengxi was the first to reach her.

Wrapped in Chen Chengxi's windbreaker, with his hand gripping the back of her neck, she felt his hot breath as he said, “I replied to that confession-wall post for three years.”

“Good student, would you be willing to give me another chance?”

The world of fame and fortune was meaningless. Basketball games were meaningless. Only she mattered.

He'd fallen for her, so he bowed his head and admitted defeat.

Theme: A wasteland where roses grow is not dead