A Nail Driven to the Bone

After a family disaster, Shang Yanran was treated as a burden and sent to an unfamiliar little city in Jiangnan.

Shang Yanran was beautiful, with a soft, sweet voice and skin so tender it looked as if you could squeeze water from it. Her big, fawn-like eyes made her seem delicate and easy to bully.

She didn't fit in with anything here.

Least of all with a troublemaker like Sheng Lin.

Sheng Lin couldn't stand the little girl who had taken over his room. He was annoyed with her and had no intention of looking after her.

Sheng Lin sneered. "Get lost. Do you hear me?"

This little idiot was timid as a rabbit, yet she still dared to tug on his sleeve and ask him to protect her.

Sheng Lin gave her a half-smile. "Do I look like the kind of guy who'd do something that stupid?"

In the end, he still beat up the little punks who wanted to bully her.

That night,

The little idiot dabbed medicine onto the corner of his mouth with a slender white cotton swab, pressing so hard it hurt like hell.

She said, "Sheng Lin, you're pretty nice."

His whole body hurt, not a single part of him was unscathed, and he'd nearly paid with his life. All he got was "pretty nice."

He secretly swore he'd never make a fool of himself for her again.

--

Later, Shang Yanran left without a backward glance and never came back, as if she had never been there at all.

When they met again, many years had passed.

At a reception, she wore white and looked as pure and lovely as she had back then.

She smiled shyly, her eyes curving, like a young girl in love, but she was smiling at someone else.

Sheng Lin lounged against the wall with a cigarette dangling from his lips. Smoke blurred his face as he watched the whole scene in silence.

She was a heartless little brat. Why should he bother with manners and good breeding? Besides, he had been born with savagery and cruelty in his bones. A suit and tie couldn't make him a gentleman. If he wanted something, he could just take it; when he got tired of it, he could throw it away.

Shang Yanran said, "Sheng Lin, we're not right for each other."

Sheng Lin nodded casually in agreement, then crooked the corner of his mouth. "So what? I want you, so you have to give yourself to me."

She was a princess, and he was a beggar.

He was going to drag the princess out of her castle and lock her in a cage.

Theme: Love