Su Youning debuted at seventeen and spent five years working her way through the entertainment industry. By twenty-two, she already had several prestigious luxury-brand titles to her name.
Under the spotlights, Su Youning looked relaxed and confident, her smile bright and generous, radiant as a rose.
After five years in the industry with no publicity stunts and no dating scandals, her fans regarded her as a perfect goddess.
The paparazzi, however, thought she was too fake and kept hounding her every day.
The next day, an online gossip account released negative news claiming that a certain female star was privately rude and that her parents were notorious debtors.
But before the story could spread across the internet, the paparazzo deleted the post and personally apologized to Su Youning.
That night, a new message appeared on Su Youning's private phone: "Ningning, if someone's giving you a hard time, why didn't you tell me?"
"No one told me, but even after we broke up, that doesn't mean you're not still my girl," Zhan Yunwen said.
When Su Youning was fourteen, her parents died in a car accident while saving someone. Her relatives were busy fighting over the hefty compensation and forgot about her.
Later, the Zhan family, whose lives her parents had saved, saw how chaotic the Su family had become and decided to adopt Su Youning, now an orphan.
The Zhan family was enormously wealthy and powerful. Su Youning had trouble adjusting to life there and often woke in the middle of the night.
Unable to sleep, Su Youning would avoid the servants in the mansion and climb up to the rooftop terrace to look at the stars.
One night, Su Youning came up as usual, only to find an unexpected visitor.
He was gazing at the city lights in the distance, his features cool and detached. At the sound of a disturbance, he abruptly turned to look at her.
"Su Youning, why don't you tell anyone when you can't sleep at night?"
Only later did Su Youning learn that this place was the private domain of the Zhan family's eldest son, Zhan Yunwen, and no one else was allowed in.
It turned out that the Zhan family had adopted her because of something he had said.
Zhan's father and mother were busy with their affairs, so Zhan Yunwen handled everything for Su Youning.
From choosing schools for exams to sending her new clothes each season, he made Su Youning feel like a real princess, cherished in the palm of his hand. Though she kept reminding herself not to take it seriously, she gradually came to see Zhan Yunwen as someone special.
Until one day, Su Youning saw Zhan Yunwen entering and leaving her apartment with an unfamiliar woman.
Su Youning woke as if from a dream.
Only then did she realize that while Zhan Yunwen looked at her with tenderness, he felt no desire for her.
Taking care of Su Youning was no trouble. She was well-behaved, sensible, and knew her place. She never made a fuss in the Zhan household, and was so gentle she seemed like she wouldn't cry even if someone bullied her.
She needed very little and wanted very little, except for one unexpected thing.
She stepped beyond the rules and said she liked Zhan Yunwen and wanted to be his girlfriend.
Zhan Yunwen was indifferent to romance, so he gave Su Youning what she wanted.
But he had nothing more to offer.
After they started dating, Zhan Yunwen treated her as he always had, but Su Youning asked to break up.
Zhan Yunwen grew impatient and, for the first time, turned a cold face toward her. "Ningning, you were the one who wanted to be my girlfriend, and you were the one who said you liked me. What else do you want? Why not just say it all at once?"
After coming of age, Su Youning cried in front of him for the first time.
She looked just like that poor little girl with nowhere to go.
Zhan Yunwen was helpless, and his heart softened again. After a long cold war, he said, "I've taken care of you for so long. How come you still haven't warmed up to me?"
He said, "Then I might as well love you too."
Su Youning x Zhan Yunwen
* 22 x 29 (the hero is seven years older)
* 168 x 189
Rich flower x detached Daddy
Theme: Rely on yourself even when you have others to lean on.
