Plucking the Forbidden Fruit

Complete The entire book costs no more than a cup of milk tea~ The pirated version is often revised and incomplete. [Please add my next books, Troubled Lives and After My Secret Crush Gets Married, to your favorites] Possessive pursuit | powerful older man | age gap | Hong Kong style | SC Older, dominant man x sweet, innocent ray of sunshine Hong Kong tycoon x actress When people talk about the entertainment industry's darling, Cen Yingshuang is second to none. With a powerful mother who was a Grand Slam actress backing her, she reached the top as soon as she debuted. Everywhere she went, people fawned over her, and none of the industry's unspoken rules ever came near her. But fate had other plans. When disaster struck the Cen family, Cen Yingshuang went overnight from the industry's darling to a pariah everyone avoided. Once she had been able to get anything done in show business; now every step was a struggle. Everyone was certain Cen Yingshuang's glorious days were over and that she would soon disappear from the entertainment industry. Who could have guessed that her era was only just beginning? Once again, everything changed overnight. All the business partners who had terminated their contracts with her renewed them, and she even got back the leading role in a major television adaptation she'd been replaced in. Her new opportunities flourished in every direction. A certain Zhu, reputed to be the top paparazzo in the industry, started a livestream. Cen Yingshuang's name flooded the comments. “I really can't talk about this one. Whoever's backing her isn't just untouchable in the entertainment industry…no one can afford to provoke him at all…” - One day, Cen Yingshuang did something unprecedented: she skipped her film shoot and stormed straight into the top-floor office of the tallest skyscraper in Central, Hong Kong. The man seated at his desk, taking a phone call, wasn't the least bit annoyed. He raised a hand and gestured for her to come over. Her anger had yet to fade, and she blurted out, “Was it you who replaced the male lead in this drama?” The man put down his phone and stayed seated, his eyes fixed on her behind his glasses. He smiled faintly. “If I didn't replace him, should I wait for the day you replace me?” Cen Yingshuang regained her composure and realized she'd acted too impulsively. Fear crept in. “How could I dare…?” she murmured, lowering her head. The man said nothing, merely turning his chair to face her. She understood. Quietly, she sat on his lap, meek and passive as she accepted his kiss. The hand hanging at her side silently clenched into a fist. Replace him? How could she dare? He was the head of Hong Kong's foremost family, powerful and influential, with the whole world in his hands. All she wanted was for him to replace her one day. Because from beginning to end, she had never chosen him. - The first time He Yuzhou saw Cen Yingshuang was in his cousin Chen Yanli's art studio. He didn't see her in person, only her oil paintings. She appeared in countless poses in those paintings, but the one that left the deepest impression on He Yuzhou was… She wore a floral dress and two braids, standing barefoot in a garden. She watered the flowers with one hand and bit into a red apple with the other. Her head was tilted to the side, and she smiled more brilliantly than the flowers. The painting's title was the Italian word Ragazzina. In Chinese, that meant Girl. Chen Yanli had painted many women, but he never painted the same one more than once. Yet the girl in these paintings occupied nearly an entire studio. At first, He Yuzhou merely admired the paintings, teasing with a smile, “You like this type?” Who could have guessed that later, still smiling at Chen Yanli, he would say casually but with no room for argument, “What a coincidence. I like this type too.” The more forbidden something was, the more he wanted it. 2025.7.8 [Full reposting on any platform is prohibited. Violators will be held accountable.] Next book: Troubled Lives Beijing elite circle | second chance romance | mild coercion | pursuing his wife | 11-year age gap Powerful, influential man x female university student Master strategist x clear-headed, independent woman [One fleeting glance, impossible to forget; from then on, beauty turned her life upside down] When Jiang Wenqiu was a child, a teacher volunteering in her village asked her, “What do you dream of becoming?” Sitting atop a high hill and looking out at the endless mountains, Jiang Wenqiu thought of the red walls and golden roofs from her textbook: the heart of the nation. It took Jiang Wenqiu eighteen years to make the journey from her mountain village to Beijing. The day she met Yin Dong was in the autumn of her second year in Beijing. She had just finished class and was on her way to her part-time job when she heard someone call, “Qiuqiu!” A black car was parked beneath a ginkgo tree. A girl standing beside it waved to her. It was her roommate. “Where are you going? Want a ride?” The man nearby had just finished a phone call and was walking back. Her roommate quickly introduced him. “This is my uncle!” Jiang Wenqiu looked over and smiled politely. “Hello.” He smiled back and said, “Get in.” She sat in the front. Unable to help herself, she stole glances at him in the rearview mirror. Beijing was so big. And this was the first time she'd ever met a man like him. He was refined, elegant, and unmistakably privileged. Though he was smiling, he still seemed impossibly distant. Just like autumn in Beijing. Mild, yet desolate and indifferent. Just as she was lost in thought, the man in the back, who had been looking at his phone, suddenly raised his eyes. Their gazes unexpectedly met in the rearview mirror. From the beginning of their relationship, Yin Dong laid down the rules. No feelings. Each of them would get what they wanted. Jiang Wenqiu had always known what she wanted and what kind of life she hoped to lead. So she stayed with Yin Dong for two years without a name or commitment. She might not have contributed much, but she had at least done her part diligently. Yet those thousand-plus nights and days made her more and more greedy. She wanted more than a future and money. She actually dared to hope for his heart. Or perhaps she had been the first to fall in love. In the midst of their lovemaking, she wrapped her arms around his neck and said, unable to hold back, “Yin Dong, I love you.” He stopped moving and watched her silently for a moment. Then he wiped the sweat from her temple, his voice as gentle as ever. “Qiuqiu, you've broken the rules.” The day she drew a line between them, she got dressed and climbed out of bed. After one last look at the red walls and golden roofs in the distance, she quietly made one final request. “I want to study in London.” He was silent for a long time. He didn't try to stop her. He only said, “Okay.” The day she left Beijing, it was autumn again. Like a desolate, withered leaf, she flew away to far-off London. After a long time, she finally decided to start over. A few days before her wedding, her fiancé rang her doorbell. The neighbors said she hadn't left her home all day, but no one came to answer the door. Unbeknownst to them, on the other side of the door… Jiang Wenqiu was pinned to the sofa with nowhere to escape, enduring the man's forceful kisses as she pushed frantically at his chest and tried to get away. “You're going to marry him?” Yin Dong restrained her restless hands. Her eyes were defiant. “Qiuqiu.” Yin Dong gripped her waist, his movements growing more forceful. Even his usually calm voice sounded unsteady. “Then what am I?” Theme: Believe in love