Synopsis
-Synopsis-
When Lu He was fourteen, she got an older brother.
She was unruly and troubled, loved getting into fights, and was often covered in bruises.
Her brother, Chen Yu, was gentle and considerate, an excellent student, and a good kid in everyone's eyes.
He seemed kind to everyone, but was especially gentle with her.
But Lu He had seen him beaten until his face was a swollen mess.
He had just as many bruises as she did, if not more, and they hurt even worse.
What she hated most was his calm, indifferent attitude.
She once asked him why he never fought back. He smiled and patted her head.
"Xiao He, violence can't solve problems."
She pressed him to say what could solve them, but he only smiled faintly and said nothing.
Until the day everyone sided with that disgusting man, watching her lose her mind and scream hysterically in a pitiful rage.
Only Chen Yu held her trembling body and whispered in her ear:
"Don't be afraid. Your big brother will help you."
He snatched the knife from her hand and charged at the man.
That night, Lu He curled up on her brother's clean, fragrant bed, but beneath his pillow she felt the bra she'd lost long ago.
After that, her brother asked her again and again:
"Xiao He, why are you avoiding me?"
"Good kids keep their promises, don't they? Didn't you say you wanted your brother to stay with you forever, that we'd always be together?"
His gloomy, gentle eyes stared deeply at her, thick and sticky like the loquat syrup he'd spoon-fed her when she had a cold.
She called him a pervert, punched and kicked him, and cried for him to get out.
He put up with every blow, smiling as he soothed her:
"Xiao He, Xiao He, don't cry... Your brother doesn't hurt at all..."
They met again several years later.
Lu He came out the back entrance of a mall, holding a stack of flyers she hadn't finished handing out, and saw a black Bentley parked by the roadside.
The car door opened, and a man stepped out.
Impeccably dressed in a suit, elegant and composed, he was surrounded by people like a star.
She stood in the wind after the rain, her thin part-time uniform soaked through.
It was as if an entire world lay between them.
But Chen Yu acted as though nothing had changed.
He still called her Xiao He and his little sister.
He still gently asked how she was doing and whether she needed his help.
Lu He tugged at the corner of her mouth, lowered her head in embarrassment, and said,
"Not well. I'm really short on money."
Chen Yu looked at her and suddenly smiled.
He gently lifted her chin and said,
"Xiao He, you once asked me what could solve problems. Now I'll tell you: money and power."
Lu He stared at him in a daze.
The gentle, clean-cut boy she'd once known had become a stranger.
He leaned close to her ear, murmuring on and on like a ghost whispering to her:
"How about this, little sister? Sleep with me, and I'll give you money. What do you say?"
She slapped him hard, held back her tears, and turned to leave.
But late at night, Lu He still tossed and turned.
He was like the bruises on her body, healing only to be hurt again.
They ached faintly, and yet she couldn't stop craving them. She couldn't tell if what she felt was resentment or attachment.
To escape that pain, Lu He agreed to meet the guy who wouldn't stop pestering her at a hotel.
On a stormy night, rain pattered relentlessly.
As soon as she entered the room, a large hand covered her mouth and pulled her into his scorching embrace.
In the darkness, his warm breath brushed her ear:
"Little sister... you're so naughty. How could you meet another man instead of your big brother?"
[Reader's Guide]
1. Both leads are each other's first. They are not related by blood and are two years apart.
2. A bittersweet, angst-filled youth story with a touch of an ensemble cast, beginning in middle school and following the female lead.
Core message: Be strong and brave.
