Broken Crabapple Blossom (A Similar Story to Huaijin and Jing Yanze)

Scheming, flirtatious charmer x powerful Beijing circle tycoon

Down-on-her-luck student x bad-boy, handsome young nobleman

Body first, heart later: a proud young master goes mad with love

Ming Tang is stuck in a quagmire with nowhere to turn, so she sets her sights on Chu Xunfeng's uncle.

Chu Chengzhuo stands at the top of the pyramid in Jingbei. Ruthless and decisive, he does everything with flamboyant flair, and countless women surround him.

Ming Tang is his nephew's girlfriend, so Chu Chengzhuo doesn't give her a second thought at first.

But gradually, he feels that this woman is too ambitious, and that Chu Xunfeng, with his innocent nature, is no match for her.

Later, he never expected to be the first to feel compassion. Ming Tang gets what she wants, scheming her way into having Chu Chengzhuo spend a fortune on her.

Unfortunately, Chu Chengzhuo can give her supreme power and an endless supply of money.

He can pamper a thorny begonia into bloom, but he can never give Ming Tang what she wants most.

Someone asks about the relationship between Chu Chengzhuo and Ming Tang.

Propping his chin on his hand, Chu Chengzhuo answers with careless indifference, "A beautiful flower in full bloom. Just a bit of fun."

Ming Tang had only meant to play along, but gradually became lost in the act, until her heart finally turned cold.

The begonia is also known as the flower that understands one's heart. In the game between her and Chu Chengzhuo, there are no winners.

-

They meet again after a long time.

Laughter and noise ring out from the room on the other side of the wall in the hotel's top-floor suite.

Inside, tangled lines of light cut the dimness into ambiguous shadows.

Red wine stains her snowy skin, and a glass tumbles to the floor. The man pins Ming Tang against the dining table.

His long fingers, slick with wine, lightly push aside the fabric on her shoulder, then trace their way down inch by inch, leaving wanton marks behind.

Her heart trembles, but Ming Tang keeps up her composure. She hears Chu Chengzhuo's voice, cold and impersonal.

"Ming Tang, so who's your stepping stone this time, and who's your ultimate target?"

Ming Tang smiles, takes Chu Chengzhuo's wrist, and presses it against her chest. Her heartbeat is no longer as fierce as it once was.

The woman's red lips part, and her words cut like a blade. "It won't be you, Mr. Chu."

Chu Chengzhuo's movement stills. He stares at Ming Tang for several seconds, then suddenly laughs.

His eyes narrow as he roughly wipes her lips.

That was where another man had just kissed her.

Only when her lips turn pale and she can no longer hide her pain does his voice sink coldly. "Ming Tang, you haven't changed one bit. You're selfish and cold."

Ming Tang once thought she was beyond saving. She was a begonia shattered into the mud, wretched and filthy.

But later, Chu Chengzhuo was willing to pick her up piece by piece, patiently, without ever tiring of it.

-I love your dazzling pride, and I love you broken and withered.

* For the Huai Jing CP bonus story, see Night's Radiance in the author's works.

* Written on July 5, 2023. The last two lines of the blurb were adapted from something online.

Theme: Creating a beautiful life together