Zhu Shutong first met Xie Jing when she was thirteen, at her stepsister's birthday party. People egged her on to pour him a drink.
Awkwardly, she filled the glass. The young man tossed down the cards in his hand, his expression indifferent, his refusal unmistakable.
People all around them teased her, and Zhu Shutong's face turned pale with embarrassment.
Xie Jing suddenly crushed out his cigarette and stood up. Gripping her wrist, he splashed the drink in the face of the person who had been egging them on.
Later, when she unexpectedly found herself on the streets, Zhu Shutong crouched by the roadside. A jacket settled over her shoulders.
She looked up and clutched the hem of the newcomer's clothes, timidly calling him "Brother."
Xie Jing bent down and pinched her cheek with a smile. "What, do you want to come home with me?"
-
Everyone said the second young master of the Xie family had been a rebel since childhood. Nobody expected him to give up the family business and study medicine.
One day, his coworkers started talking about Xie Jing during a casual chat after work.
"Dr. Xie has met so many beautiful women. I wonder what kind of girl he likes."
Xie Jing casually pointed to the giant LED screen outside the window. "Not that kind."
The screen showed a model at the opening of an international fashion show. She was hardly a stranger: Zhu Shutong, a rising supermodel whose career had taken off from the very start.
Everyone knew that this usually arrogant, aloof man was the only one who let the young woman stay by his side.
They remembered one gathering when Zhu Shutong hadn't finished her holiday homework. Xie Jing scolded her until she cried, then, still wearing a cold expression, helped her finish it all night.
But in the end, Zhu Shutong left without a word and cut ties completely.
Xie Jing only sneered, unconcerned. "Raised her for nothing."
Some said he hated her, while others said he didn't care.
Later, Zhu Shutong was invited back to China for an event, embroiled in a scandal at the time.
In the parking lot, they saw Xie Jing forcefully block the car that was about to leave.
The window rolled down. Zhu Shutong angrily asked what he was doing. The man curled his lips into a faint smile. "I've spoiled you for so long, and this is the kind of guy you go for?"
"Of course I'm here to settle the score with you."
Nurturing romance, seven-year age gap
Model x plastic surgeon
Blurb captured on June 2, 2023
Theme: Meeting each other is its own kind of luck
