The Puppy Likes to Act Tough and Cry

[Not blood-related siblings: a rational but indulgent, flirtatious older sister x a lovesick little puppy who puts on an act and cries]

[Next book: Kittens Love to Compete and Snatch, the second male lead steals the girl and takes his place]

Xu Ning and Su Li were childhood sweethearts, more or less.

One night when they were seven, one big and one small lay side by side. Moonlight streamed in through the window. Su Li leaned close to Xu Ning's ear, his eyes bright and dark, and called in his childish voice, "Big sister."

Her ears turned bright red.

They thought they would stay together forever, until their hair turned white.

But on a cloudy day after high school graduation, their paths began running parallel for six years.

-

When they met again, it felt as though the six years apart had been no more than a fleeting moment. But the separation still left Su Li anxious and uncertain. He didn't want her to leave him behind again.

His tall figure trembled against the light, eyes red-rimmed, head resting against Xu Ning's slender neck as he held her tightly and choked out, "All these years, were you planning to abandon me like this?"

Su Li thought he and Xu Ning could finally truly be together. Every time he crossed 99 steps, all Xu Ning had to do was take one step toward him, and they could embrace.

But every time, that final step never came.

Whenever Xu Ning introduced him to someone else as her younger brother, Su Li would smile politely.

A love-struck younger brother is still a younger brother.

But Su Li couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't stand Xu Ning looking too long at other people, or someone else taking his place at her side.

A sharp knife point pressed against his beating chest. Su Li's eyes brimmed with red, and he pleaded in utter desperation, "Xu Ning, please, please love me."

He wanted so, so much of Xu Ning's love.

Notes:

1. The story alternates with flashbacks.

2. The characters aren't perfect.

3. A healing story.

Blurb for Kittens Love to Compete and Snatch:

Shang Chuqing fell for someone. It was a star-sparse night, and the tipsy haze of alcohol had made her a little dizzy, but the man's low, languid singing from the center of the stage drew her in.

Soft light fell across his face. His features were striking, and the corners of his narrow eyes were as bewitching as a fox's.

She was captivated. Only later did Shang Chuqing learn that he was Fu Xujun, the notorious playboy of one of Nancheng's most prestigious families, a man who knew how to have fun and was utterly heartless.

Like a moth flying into a flame, Shang Chuqing went up to him. "Hi. Can I date you?"

But in the end, the fox still wouldn't stay for her. When she saw him with another girl in his arms again, the love in Shang Chuqing's heart vanished in an instant.

Everyone who knew Fu Xujun knew he was a carefree playboy. In his twenty-plus years, he had passed through a garden of flowers without ever letting one take root.

When they saw another pretty girl approach him, a few men watched the show from the sidelines. Someone else was about to fall for him, and this girl was bold enough to ask the young master to date her right off the bat.

There was another show to enjoy.

Except for one person.

Wen Lianshan had liked someone for a long time. He loved her smiling face, and he loved the tear-streaked face she wore when she cried. Whatever she did, he loved her.

But he was a coward, never daring to confess, and she didn't even know him.

The first time he spoke to her was when she cried over another man. Shang Chuqing's sobs, laced with alcohol, pierced Wen Lianshan's heart.

"Xujun, I really, really like you. Why don't you like me?"

Wen Lianshan held the person in his arms tightly, as if he wanted to meld her into his very bones. His eyes beneath were dark as ink as he murmured, "I like you too."

"From now on, will you only like me?"

Fu Xujun realized he had fallen, fallen for Shang Chuqing, but it seemed he understood it a little too late.

He dialed a number, and a familiar voice answered: "Hello, Chuchu is asleep now."

With a crash, the wineglass shattered on the floor.

Notes:

1. The second male lead takes the heroine's heart, and she truly did love the first male lead.

2. A melodramatic plot, and the male lead really does steal someone else's girl.

3. The groveling-after-the-breakup plot turns into a real breakup, with romantic rivalry between men.

Theme: Someone is coming toward me.