1.
When Wen Ying was thirteen, she unexpectedly lost both her parents. With nowhere else to turn, she was sent to live with Old Master Ji, an old friend of her grandfather's.
When she first arrived at the Ji residence, the old man summoned all his children and asked Wen Ying to choose a guardian. The powerful elders all avoided her gaze, treating her like a hot potato.
Clutching her plain white dress, Wen Ying looked toward the young man sitting in the shadows. Even in the dim light, he was so strikingly handsome it hurt to look at him.
He was also the only person there who hadn't shown any disgust toward her.
She said earnestly, "I choose him."
The Ji family members were secretly astonished. She had chosen Ji Chengjin, the most unruly, rebellious, and unconventional young master in the entire family.
In the dead silence, Ji Chengjin lazily raised his eyes and curved his lips with nonchalance. His voice was languid. "You want to come with me? Then you're in for a hard time."
2.
From the moment Ji Chengjin took responsibility for looking after Wen Ying, the girl became an inseparable little tagalong at his side.
Everyone in the capital's social circles who knew Ji Chengjin's personality was certain the little girl would be thrown out in disgrace within days.
Yet everyone witnessed Ji Chengjin go from ignoring his new little sister to doting on her to an absurd degree, protecting her for years.
People in their circle assumed he was just a sister-obsessed big brother. But no one knew that, starting in the winter break of Wen Ying's freshman year, she would secretly cling to and kiss her high-ranking brother in the shadows, where the light couldn't reach, and spend the night in his bed.
In public, he was an untouchable, proud older brother.
At home, he was a secret lover with insatiable desires.
On Wen Ying's twentieth birthday, Ji Chengjin rejected every hint of an arranged marriage from his family, preparing to bring their scandalous "sibling" relationship into the open.
But Wen Ying had already left the capital alone, leaving him only a final text.
"Ge, I've done what I came to do at the Ji family over the years. I'm sorry, I had ulterior motives with you. I've never loved you."
3.
Wen Ying thought Ji Chengjin was so proud that the truth would make him hate her. She had no idea how desperately he searched for her after she disappeared.
They met again at a grand public declaration of love made to her.
The man who appeared out of nowhere was shrouded in gloom, a tightly controlled, icy smile on his lips. He shoved her into the car and gripped her chin hard. "You don't love me? What good is a text? Say it to my face!"
Wen Ying closed her eyes and called him "Ge" in a trembling voice.
Ji Chengjin's knuckles turned white as he squeezed her until it hurt. Then his eyes slowly reddened, and he held the person he'd found again tightly, drawing her into his body.
She'd followed him, but in the end he was the one who suffered, the one who was played, the one who fell beyond redemption.
Ji Chengjin pressed his thumb against the lips he'd kissed countless times, stroking them with both tenderness and force, as if punishing her.
"You couldn't have used me without my permission."
"You take everything from me and then think we can go our separate ways? I've looked after you for seven years. When did I ever teach you to treat me like this?"
Nine-year age gap
Cool, delicate, scheming heroine X refined, wicked, golden-boy hero
[Blurb dated 2023-06-30]
Theme: Have the courage to pursue happiness
