Cen Xingsi has dated three men. Her friends who know her well say she's a devoted heartbreaker.
They call her devoted because all three of her boyfriends were the same type, with an obvious resemblance anyone could spot.
They call her a heartbreaker because none of the relationships lasted more than three months.
She met her third boyfriend by chance on a business trip, and they became a couple just one week later.
Two months passed. With her return date drawing near, her enthusiasm for her new boyfriend had all but run out.
Who could have guessed that he would unilaterally lose himself in a fantasy of marrying her? After Cen Xingsi broke up with him, he repeatedly made a scene and grabbed at her in public.
Xie Jingchen had witnessed it several times.
He stood in front of Cen Xingsi and slapped away the man's reaching hand without hesitation.
His tall, broad-shouldered figure perfectly overlapped with the person who had grown up by Cen Xingsi's side in her memories.
After that, perhaps unable to hold back, Xie Jingchen said earnestly, "Even if you want to date someone, you should find someone better."
Cen Xingsi sat in the passenger seat and laughed dismissively. "What's 'better' supposed to mean?"
When he didn't answer, she pressed him further. "I chose them to look like you. How are they not good enough, big brother?"
Xie Jingchen: "..."
#You said family lasts longer than love, so I call you "brother" with a heart full of resentment
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On Christmas Eve, Cen Xingsi suddenly appeared on Xie Jingchen's university campus.
Hong Kong was warm all year round. Wearing only a thin coat and carrying nothing, she appeared in the snowy night of Y City, M Country.
When they met, they seemed strangely distant and had little to say.
But years of understanding meant they could communicate with just a glance.
Xie Jingchen took her home. At first, they got along just as they always had, until Cen Xingsi walked into his room of her own accord. From then on, everything spiraled out of control.
The room was dark, and their two young bodies lay close together.
They spent a warm, humid Christmas together.
One early morning, Xie Jingchen stepped out for a while. When he returned, he saw Cen Xingsi sitting by the window, wrapped in a blanket, her face expressionless as she quietly watched the snow falling outside.
His star said, "Xie Jingchen, I'm cold."
At that moment, Xie Jingchen would have given his own blood to warm her.
But what Xie Lu Jingchen never expected was that one morning, Cen Xingsi would be gone.
She had brought nothing when she came, and left nothing behind for Xie Jingchen when she went.
Only later did Lu Jingchen learn that Cen Xingsi had returned to Hong Kong.
As soon as she got back, she forgot that brief week, and her relationship with Xie Jingchen went back to normal.
She still treated him as her brother.
Xie Jingchen would think back to that Christmas break countless times before he finally realized that, though their bodies had been so close, they had never once talked about the future.
They could only be family.
Fine, then. He would be family.
He would play the part well.
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Reader advisory:
1. Although the female lead has had three boyfriends, none of the relationships lasted long enough for anything physical to happen.
2. Of her three boyfriends, only the first was a stand-in. The other two resembled the male lead simply because that's her type. (The female lead is a bit of a natural heartbreaker, but not too much.)
3. The male lead isn't as innocent as the blurb makes him seem. He's a wolf in sheep's clothing, so don't trust him.
4. This is a freewheeling story. If anything bothers you, feel free to drop it. We can all go our own way in peace.
Theme: Love is restraint, but desire is madness
