Pleasing Others

[Main Story Complete]

A melodramatic old-school romance

* The second male lead gets the girl

* Unrequited love becomes requited

When Cheng Song'en was sixteen, she was brought into the Xie family as a student they sponsored, forced to live under their roof. No one in Beicheng's elite circles could stand her, except Xie Huaiyun, the eldest son of the Xie family.

After graduating from college, Cheng Song'en got engaged to Xie Huaiyun. On the eve of their wedding, Xie Huaiyun left for a business trip to Australia. He was killed in a car accident on his way back.

At the funeral, Cheng Song'en fainted from grief. In her daze, she thought she had grasped Xie Huaiyun's hand. Before she could come to, she heard a man's voice.

"Can you even tell who I am, sister-in-law? Don't tell me you want to play Cinderella all over again."

Cheng Song'en came to and saw the man's face, so similar to Xie Huaiyun's. A beauty mark sat beneath his eye, and his manner was unnaturally aloof, though his expression was different.

He was the Xie family's second son, Xie Rongshu.

-

Cheng Song'en had always understood that everyone thought she was after money and status. Xie Rongshu was no exception.

Until the night she left the Xie home. In the pouring rain, Xie Rongshu blocked her way with an umbrella and refused to let her go.

In desperation, Cheng Song'en slapped him. The umbrella fell to the ground, and rainwater streamed down them both, leaving them in a miserable state.

Cheng Song'en lowered her eyes and explained, "You know I was only after the Xie family's status."

Xie Rongshu grabbed Cheng Song'en by the shoulders and stared at her with dark eyes. Usually so calm and composed, he now kissed her as if he'd lost control, then demanded furiously, "And what if you were after it all over again?"

-

Cheng Song'en thought she and Xie Rongshu had only crossed paths a few times. Later, she realized that in the places she couldn't see, he had watched her countless times.*

*The final blurb paragraph is quoted from the internet.

Coming soon in the author's collection: Private Kiss. Please add it to your reading list. Blurb below.

The second male lead gets the girl / marriage before love / three-year age gap

* Aloof beauty x sunny girl

* Lin Muzheng x Jiang Yanqian

* One-on-one, both virgins

Lin Muzheng had loved her childhood friend Lu Yuanzhou for years. He promised he would marry her, but then went off and got together with someone else. All she could do was stay by his side as his "best friend."

The night she watched Lu Yuanzhou go out with someone else, Lin Muzheng stared hopelessly at the ink-black sky. Her dream had shattered, and she finally let him go.

-

The business tycoon Jiang Yanqian is known throughout the industry for being decisive and ruthless, swift and efficient. He is also cold, taciturn, and indifferent to women.

Until one day, Jiang Yanqian was photographed at a hearing for a certain case, and everyone began speculating about why he was there.

When reporters cornered him at the entrance, Jiang Yanqian looked toward Lin Muzheng, who was in the same predicament nearby. His eyes were full of tenderness. "I'm here for my wife. She's easily frightened."

Everyone was stunned: Wasn't that Lawyer Lin, who had nearly slammed the defendant's lawyer's head into the floor just moments ago?

Later, when Lin Muzheng was asked why she had impulsively married Jiang Yanqian despite having met him only a few times, she smiled and admitted freely, "He said all his assets would be mine."

No one knew that what had moved Lin Muzheng was Jiang Yanqian's wholehearted trust and devotion, and the wind that blew into her left ear on that snowy night.

Theme: Stay positive, and be kind and just.