Whirlpool

It took Ni Xinjia years to wash away the traces of being a "canary" and start a new life.

After returning from her studies overseas, she threw herself back into her directing career. Her films received excellent reviews, and her talent won her favor from all sides, helping her establish herself in the industry.

Free-spirited, independent, and clearheaded: those were the labels the media gave her in interviews, and the public wholeheartedly agreed.

Few people knew that from the age of fifteen to twenty-two, Ni Xinjia had spent seven years with a woman. She had blossomed from an inexperienced girl beneath that woman's palm, a dispensable bird in her cage.

Bo Shi was the most beautiful woman Ni Xinjia had ever seen. Rescued, raised, and molded by her, it was only natural that Ni Xinjia would fall for her.

But being possessed at will and treated like a plaything, it was only natural that she would want to escape, too.

The two met again at a banquet.

Still, Ni Xinjia's heart fluttered at the sight of that elegant, striking figure in the crowd. She would rather believe that the idea of loving only one person for life was a fallacy.

Amid clinking glasses and frequent glances toward the rising star of the directing world, Bo Shi had lost count of how many times she regretted letting her go. She began to wonder whether it was possible to love only one person for life.

Not long afterward, the film and TV projects Ni Xinjia was involved in were inexplicably obstructed, and her past works came under a massive wave of online abuse. Her life suddenly hit rock bottom.

Bo Shi came to see her. After all these years, she once again offered Ni Xinjia a contract that trampled on her dignity.

Ni Xinjia glanced at the stack of papers. "President Bo, I suggest you get treated for your illness."

Bo Shi: "What's wrong with me?"

"An emotional deficiency." Ni Xinjia let out a laugh.

To her great surprise, Bo Shi looked at her through her thin lenses, gave the matter serious thought, then said, "All right."

"I fell into the whirlpool that was you all those years ago, and I've never escaped."

Content warnings:

1. Ni Xinjia is the bottom: clearheaded and not pathetic. Bo Shi is the top: a domineering heartbreaker.

2. The bottom heroine works behind the scenes in the entertainment industry, but the story doesn't focus much on it, so it isn't tagged as an entertainment-industry story.

3. The past and present storylines intertwine. Chapter titles use N/P to distinguish them.

4. It might have an old-school melodramatic feel, or it might be an unremarkable urban romance. I haven't written this sort of story before, so I'm giving it a try.

5. Started in 2024.

Theme: Cooking for myself