The Compound's Spoiled, Beloved Darling

[Complete]

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Synopsis:

Wen Qiao was a little spoiled princess.

She was pampered, willful, and headstrong, but she was also blessed with stunning looks: porcelain-pale skin, long black curls, cherry-red lips, and a slim waist. Even when she threw a tantrum, she had an adorable, captivating charm.

In a compound full of boys, Wen Qiao was the undisputed darling, adored by everyone. Wherever she went, people looked out for her. She had never lacked affection, not even as a child.

Even when she took a whim to try acting, a whole crowd of big shots followed along to protect her. No one dared mess with her.

Until one day, Wen Qiao accidentally found out that she was actually a cannon-fodder female side character in a novel about a rags-to-riches comeback in a bygone era.

The male lead she loved only saw her as someone to use, taking advantage of her connections to ingratiate himself with the people in the compound.

He'd said he would marry her only to trick her into willingly paving the way for the female lead and serving as her stepping stone.

And Wen Qiao had been blinded by love, turning into a hopeless romantic.

For the male lead, she handed over the scripts and roles tailored for her to the female lead, devoting herself to becoming the woman behind him. She managed the household and cooked for him.

For the male lead, she cut ties with everyone in the compound and gave him all her savings, supporting his career without conditions. She even schmoozed with people in the business world on his behalf.

In the end, the female lead used Wen Qiao's roles and scripts to become a celebrated new Best Actress. The male lead used her connections and money to turn his life around, face-slap his doubters, and rise to become a powerful new figure in the business world.

Their love story became the talk of the town.

Wen Qiao, having been squeezed for every last bit of value, was left with no one on her side and was cruelly abandoned by the male lead.

And in the end, people even called her spoiled and willful, saying she deserved it.

Wen Qiao: "That was supposed to be me? What a load of nonsense!"

"I love him, and instead of being grateful, he expects me to swallow my pride and bend over backward for him?"

"I won't stand for it! Absolutely not!"

Being a hopeless romantic is a terrible idea!!!

*

Wen Qiao was a troublemaker who feared nothing, but there was one person in this life she was afraid of: Lu Xiao.

The first time she saw Lu Xiao was when she stayed at the Lu home that year. From that moment on, Wen Qiao was afraid of him.

The young man already showed hints of the man he would become: aloof features, an imposing air, and dark eyes that were deep yet edged with a dangerous intensity. He was impossible to ignore.

One glance was all it took for Wen Qiao to drop the little piece of cream cake in her hand. Then she turned and ran without a second thought.

That very night, Lu Xiao bent down and picked up the silver hair clip the girl had dropped as she fled in a panic.

At first, Lu Xiao only paid Wen Qiao extra attention because of what the adults had said. He didn't like girls who were as spoiled and headstrong as she was.

Until the day she was wronged. She cried pitifully in front of him, tears covering her pale jade-like face, but her hands clutched the hem of his clothes as she sobbed and begged him to stand up for her and get revenge.

That time, he nearly spent all the self-control he had in his life holding back his impulse.

Later, he watched her grow up, watched her fall for someone else, and then watched her throw herself into another man's arms without hesitation.

This time, he decided he wouldn't hold back anymore.

Wen Qiao had always thought Lu Xiao was an incredibly contradictory person.

He would scold her coldly when she acted up, but patiently comfort her when she cried.

She was afraid of him and relied on him, yet she had never imagined that one day he might fall for her, even though everyone else saw him as composed, detached, and aloof.

Set in the 1990s. Characters and events are unrelated to real life.

The heroine is a spoiled, willful troublemaker, not a perfect character.

The leads have a five-year age gap. One-on-one romance.

[Synopsis written on December 1, 2023]

Preorder

Preorder: The Spoiled Female Side Character Is Everyone's Favorite

Ruan Youwei was a delicate little flower.

Among her generation in the prominent family, she was the only girl, and everyone had doted on her since childhood. She grew up spoiled and headstrong, unable to stand being bumped or touched, and unable to tolerate the slightest grievance.

Even after entering the entertainment industry, she didn't rein herself in at all. She regularly topped the "Most Hated Actress" rankings.

And yet she was blessed with stunning looks: bright eyes, pearly teeth, fragrant skin, and a jade-like complexion. She truly was a delicate flower raised amid wealth and luxury, spoiled rotten by everyone around her.

Her brief appearance in her debut film was breathtaking. She was so otherworldly and dazzling that she seemed like the goddess Luo descending to earth. Her dance performance made her a sensation, and even the anti-fans waving banners that said "Get out of the entertainment industry" couldn't help but love and hate her.

Until an accident revealed that Ruan Youwei was merely a substitute female side character in a melodramatic romance novel full of angst and clichés.

The male lead she pursued only saw her as a replacement for the female lead. He was cold and annoyed by her, yet kept his love for the female lead bottled up inside.

The leads suffered through eight hundred chapters of tortured love, and Ruan Youwei's purpose included, but wasn't limited to, serving as a stepping stone to bring them closer, giving the male lead her connections, giving the female lead her opportunities, and acting as a shield for their secret relationship when needed, protecting them from the storms of the entertainment industry.

Unaware that she was a substitute, she threw her whole heart into the male lead, giving him money and support. In the end, everyone saw her as a wicked female side character and the one who tried to ruin the leads' relationship.

She was even punished by the female lead's admirers for plotting against her out of jealousy, and met a miserable, premature death after dragging down those around her.

Ruan Youwei: "Me? A substitute? Jealous of someone else?"

What an outrageous lie!!!

I, Ruan Youwei, am one of a kind! I'll never be anyone's substitute!!!

*

When Ruan Youwei was little, a handsome but quiet boy came to live at her home.

Even then, she was the little princess everyone held in the palm of their hand, delicate and precious, someone to be pampered and indulged. Whatever she liked, she had to have. Whatever she disliked, she wanted gone.

So, naturally, she ordered the handsome boy around, teased him, and tried to scare him. No matter how unreasonable she was, he only kept a straight face and told her earnestly:

"You shouldn't do that."

How stiff and strange.

Just like with a toy she liked only for a while, Ruan Youwei soon forgot about the handsome but boring boy.

But the boy kept following her quietly, watching as she played with others, then patiently tidying up her messy toys for her.

Until one midsummer, the boy had to go home.

The day before he left, Ruan Youwei promised to see him off.

But when the day came, she spent the whole day playing outside and completely forgot. It wasn't until she got home that night that someone told her the handsome boy had stood beneath a tree for a long time in the scorching sun, waiting for her.

Before leaving, he had asked someone to give her a letter.

His name was written in the lower-right corner:

He Qinian.

*

Ruan Youwei didn't see He Qinian again until ten years later.

The once young, awkward, and stiff boy had become a ruthless, calculating head of the family, a powerful figure in high society who was completely different from the boy she remembered.

Meanwhile, Lin Yan was still just as willful, delicate, and trouble-prone as she had been in childhood. She had offended half the entertainment industry and provoked public outrage. Online, people were condemning her from every direction.

In the eyes of everyone else, the two of them seemed impossible to connect.

Then, at a gathering with childhood friends, someone joked about old memories and brought up the familiar yet distant name.

Remembering how she'd teased him and broken her promise, Ruan Youwei shook her head without a second thought and said, "We don't know each other."

But as everyone was leaving, she unexpectedly ran into the man waiting at the corner.

After a brief moment of eye contact, the man lowered his gaze and stubbed out the cigarette in his hand. A faintly casual smile touched his lips as he stared straight at her and said meaningfully, "You don't know me?"

He Qinian had never forgotten that midsummer when he briefly moved into the Ruan home because of a family crisis. The girl stood barefoot on the soft grass outside the door, looking up at feathers blowing in the wind. When she turned and unexpectedly saw him, she waved and smiled, bright and radiant.

It was the warmest smile he had seen after falling from the clouds and sinking into the mire.

In the days that followed, that smile, along with the spoiled, willful girl, became a restraint deep in his heart, something he could never allow himself to touch.

The heroine is a delicate, willful troublemaker, not a perfect character. One-on-one romance.

[Synopsis written on January 1, 2024]

Theme: With a dream, anyone can achieve greatness.