I Lied to You, That Night I Planted the Love Gu

[Written with limited skill. Read with caution, and don't buy the whole book at once!]

Character setup: [Sunny, cheerful puppy-like bottom X gloomy, scheming green-tea top]

Blurb:

Qianning Village is a branch of the Miao people of the borderlands. The villagers are mostly reserved and dislike communicating with outsiders. Even in the village, they keep to themselves.

So it's perfectly normal for the villagers not to know one another.

But among all these introverts, one top-tier extrovert emerged: Ning Shuang, the sort of person even dogs were afraid to talk to.

Later, as the new century brought reforms, the young clan leader explicitly forbade anyone from raising or using gu.

Ning Shuang finally got his wish and went to university.

-

In his second year, Ning Shuang fell in love at first sight with Ji Huaizhi, a freshman. Before long, he launched a passionate pursuit of him.

But the junior was the department's untouchable beauty, and he wasn't easy to win over. Even though they'd gone out together and eaten together many times, and had exchanged gifts, he never responded to Ning Shuang's confessions. Ning Shuang's friend thought he was being strung along, but Ning Shuang refused to believe it.

So Ning Shuang decided to use a truth gu on his junior and find out what he was thinking.

Though the clan leader had already forbidden gu, he was in the village while Ning Shuang was in the city. Besides, the gu wasn't being used on the clan leader, so it wouldn't be a big deal.

-

Unexpectedly, something went wrong when he used the truth gu, and it turned into a love gu. They even ended up in bed together by accident.

From then on, the two officially began dating.

As time passed, and Ji Huaizhi kept treating him so well, Ning Shuang's conscience began to bother him.

So after they slept together one last time, Ning Shuang gave him the antidote, left a letter of confession, and went home without looking back.

-

They met again when the young clan leader, who had always held meetings online, suddenly ordered everyone to attend an in-person meeting at the ancestral hall.

There, Ning Shuang saw Ji Huaizhi seated in the place of honor.

Ji Huaizhi wore his long hair loose, dressed in a purple shaman's robe, and wore dangling earrings. He was aloof, abstinent, and mysterious, and he looked at Ning Shuang with a deeply aggrieved expression.

Ning Shuang: ...O.o?

-

Little scene:

"Clan Leader, I was wrong to use gu on you. I won't pursue you or bother you anymore." Ning Shuang had been kept behind after the meeting. Terrified, his legs gave way, and he dropped to his knees, listing his mistakes.

Ji Huaizhi: Pursue me?

"Weren't we already together?"

Ning Shuang: That was an accident. Does... does that still count? O.o?

Ji Huaizhi nodded.

So... I seduced and abandoned our aloof clan leader?!

A few notes:

1. Gu has no effect on the top. Both are each other's first and only partner, 1v1.

2. This isn't purely a romance. There will be some plot. It's a plot-driven practice piece with an outline, and I'll finish it properly. It probably won't be very long.

3. There are no non-consensual scenes. The two of them stumbling along is all part of the fun!

4. The plot will probably focus on campus life and village life, with less emphasis on the latter.

5. Lots of original headcanon, not much logic. All plot holes serve the story, such as the bottom not knowing the top is the clan leader.

6. When I was outlining, I thought the story worked better with the top as the younger one, so I changed the blurb.

7. The village secretary got cut, so I changed the name.

8. This story has no supernatural elements. Gu techniques can be learned, and gu are essentially all sorts of strange drugs. Any bizarre hallucinations are caused by drugs. There are absolutely no supernatural scenes!

Theme: Nothing is impossible for those who set their minds to it