Conviction

[I'll add the extras after I finish revising the main story. It's been so long since I wrote, I've gotten stuck too. Sorry.]

[My historical romance, After Marrying My Archrival from a Past Life, is now open for follows. Please add it to your library! My upcoming contemporary romance, Unreasonable Desires, is also available to follow.]

Sharp-tongued woman with a PhD x gentle male celebrity

Avoidantly attached little hedgehog x considerate big puppy

1.

Jin Zijia never expected to run into Lu Yuheng, her famous ex-boyfriend, on the variety show Battle of the Contrarians.

The debate topic for this episode was, "Is a love that treats one person as a substitute for another a blessing or a curse?"

Jin Zijia sneered inwardly. Thanks to the big star across from her, she had far more firsthand experience than theoretical knowledge.

Onstage, Jin Zijia countered every move and left him speechless.

Offstage, Lu Yuheng stopped her. "Zijia, can we talk?"

What was there to talk about? When she was free of love, she had a lively soul and was calm and composed.

Who knew the awkwardness of their parting would be interpreted by the show as subtle chemistry, and that they would be put on the same team, forced to fight side by side through one competition after another?

For the sake of the competition, Jin Zijia had no choice but to face their past relationship. Gradually, she discovered that the truth was not what she had imagined.

2.

Every chance encounter is nothing but a carefully plotted reunion.

In the years since breaking up with his first love, Lu Yuheng had never been able to let go.

He had once stood outside the auditorium, facing the girl he loved, and nervously confessed his feelings. "I know it doesn't help that I'm the only one who likes you, but I still can't help liking you."

But from the moment she agreed to date him, she had seemed unwilling. After they got together, she was even stingier with any expression of love or concern for him.

He had thought that years of companionship could melt the ice in her heart. In the end, all he got was her decisive, unexplained breakup, while he was the only one left behind.

When he happened upon the familiar name on the program's list of potential guests, he decided to ask her for an answer.

3.

Four years seemed to have made her more certain and confident, yet he could still glimpse the most vulnerable corner of her heart.

As they drew closer again and again, the shadows of the past faded away, along with her sensitivity and timidity when they first met, his bluntness and recklessness, and the misunderstandings that had bound them ever more tightly.

The show was more than halfway through its run when viewers were astonished to discover that the chemistry between the two people who had originally been at each other's throats was becoming increasingly unusual. The "Jia-Yu, Everyone Knows" ship appeared out of nowhere and dominated the trending searches.

In a backstage interview, the host asked Lu Yuheng a rather leading question: "Suppose you had a girlfriend who's really good at debating. What would you do if you couldn't win an argument with her?"

Lu Yuheng: "I have my own clever ways."

Jin Zijia gave him a sidelong look. "I don't believe you. Why don't you try debating me first?"

But as soon as they entered the dressing room, a fiery kiss cut off the rest of the words from the one who never let anyone get the last word.

"So this is your clever way?"

The other person looked innocent. "What can I do? I can't win an argument with you."

[Reading Guide]

1. The two leads are each other's first love. Both are sexually inexperienced.

2. The male lead really did have a crush on another girl before, but she wasn't his unrequited love, and he never treated the female lead as a substitute. This wasn't the fundamental reason the leads broke up. The inspiration for this story actually came from that original debate topic about treating someone as a substitute. I wanted to use it to explore some controversial issues in intimate relationships, so I hadn't thought very carefully at the time about how to position the story or how readers might react. If this bothers you, please read with caution. I'm truly sorry if it upsets you.

3. Both leads have some personality flaws, which they will work together to overcome later.

4. There will be quite a few flashbacks to their school days early in the story.

5. The story involves a lot of debate scenes, but because they need to fit the plot and feel like a variety show, they won't be as rigorous as actual formal debates. If any of the arguments contain factual errors, please feel free to point them out.

6. I'll do my best to balance the arguments from both sides and avoid taking a strong position. The winners and losers are determined by the plot and don't represent the author's real views.

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The blurb for Unreasonable Desires, available to follow, is below.

Money-loving, fussy little white rabbit x blustering big bad wolf

1.

Su Weiwei was a staunch believer in living for the paycheck, and had always believed in one simple truth: Those who pursue love achieve nothing, while those who chase money thrive.

So when the general manager's assistant at Jingcheng Group came rushing to her door, asking her to pretend to be Lu Jingyu, the second young master of the Lu family, and pose as his fiancee, she pulled out the little ledger she never went anywhere without and calmly wrote down a six-digit figure. She raised an eyebrow. "As long as the price is fair, I'll make sure Mr. Lu is satisfied."

In the general manager's office, Lu Jingyu watched as his assistant, looking troubled, handed him a tattered piece of paper torn from somewhere. Generously, he took up his pen and added two zeros to the figure.

"All of that is negotiable, as long as she doesn't cause me trouble or harbor any unreasonable desires."

Behind the door, where he couldn't see her, Su Weiwei rolled her eyes hard.

What unreasonable desires?

In other people's eyes, Lu Jingyu was a favored child of heaven and the man of their dreams. To Su Weiwei, he was nothing but a walking ATM, albeit one with a pretty exterior.

2.

Su Weiwei had thought she was just taking a temporary job and could collect her pay and make a run for it when it was done. But after she boarded this pirate ship, one thing after another went wrong.

As the contract's expiration date drew nearer, the client kept changing the requirements. Somehow, her workload grew from pretending to be Lu Jingyu's fiancee to walking down the aisle with him in a wedding dress, and then acting like his devoted newlywed wife in front of a crowd of prominent figures.

During their honeymoon trip, his attentive care and tender thoughtfulness, both in public and in private, almost made her sink into the dream woven by their lies.

When she realized things were getting more and more out of control, Su Weiwei decided to end this absurd arrangement early.

On the night before she was due to leave the Lu family home, a completely drunk Lu Jingyu barged into her room, grabbed the hand she was using to pack her things, and pulled her forcefully into his arms.

"Weiwei, can you please not leave?"

"Mr. Lu, get a grip. That's not in the contract," Su Weiwei said, struggling to push him away. "Besides, I never had any unreasonable desires toward you."

"But I do."

Theme: Put yourself in someone else's shoes.