Big Brother, Don't Delete Me!

[A sunny boy raised with love x a calm, levelheaded older man] When Luo Jing was fourteen, his sister, whose family had long worried she would never find a partner, brought home a handsome boyfriend for the New Year. The young man was named Huai Dan. He was quiet and reserved, with a cool expression that suited his name. His parents seemed delighted, probably because their daughter, whom they'd thought would be single all her life, had finally found a decent boyfriend. Luo Jing was delighted too, because this big brother was unbelievably good at video games. Huai Dan stayed with them for over a month. Luo Jing pestered him every day to play games and rank up, and spent the whole vacation thriving among his friends as his game rank shot far ahead of theirs. Luo Jing couldn't have been more pleased with his future brother-in-law. He was sure there could never be another man more suited to joining their family than Brother Huai. The only strange thing was that his sister and her boyfriend didn't seem very close. Suppressing his unease, Luo Jing continued happily spending time with his future brother-in-law. Then one day, his premonition came true: his sister and her boyfriend broke up! Luo Jing felt as if the sky had fallen. He'd seen videos and posts about how couples who broke up went out of their way to erase every trace of each other from their lives. A crushing sense of crisis swept over him. He hurriedly opened his messaging app. Luo Jing: [Big brother, don't delete me!] In desperation, Luo Jing tried anything: [I actually have another older sister. She's lived abroad for years. I can introduce you to her!] Huai Dan: [?] * He agreed. And so the two began a strange sort of online romance. * As Luo Jing gradually grew up, he eventually realized how childish it had been. So he had his “older sister” break up with Huai Dan that very night, then planned to stay out of his brother's life for a while. They met again when Luo Jing returned to China after graduating from university to start an internship. He discovered that the client he was assigned to work with was the very person he had accidentally deceived for so long. An overwhelming sense of guilt washed over him. “Where's your older sister?” The dreaded question finally came. “D-dead.” Luo Jing lowered his head and scanned the floor, searching for a crack to crawl into. The man was silent for a moment, then gave a soft laugh. “Don't jinx yourself like that, Luoluo.” * Same-sex marriage is legal in this setting. Pure sweetness, no angst. * Five-year age gap. The top agreed to the online relationship because he wanted to encourage the kid to study hard. * The top never dated the sister! It was a misunderstanding (important). Both are completely devoted to each other, body and soul. * The top spoils the bottom. The bottom falls first, but doesn't pursue him. The top falling first would go against propriety, so please understand, given their age gap, haha. [The full text costs only 5 RMB to read. The novel has been revised, and pirated copies are inaccurate. Only the official version on Jinjiang is authorized. Website copies and paid novel bundles are all pirated. Comments from people who admit to reading pirated copies while having single-digit subscription rates will be deleted and blocked.] Upcoming book blurb What Does Your Highness Intend to Do?: [A fake young stepmother who's only interested in staying alive, a lazy beauty-obsessed bottom x a taciturn, brooding, obsessive, treasonous prince top] During the holidays, Lin Yizhou's little cousin got him to try a palace-intrigue game. At first, he scoffed at it. But then he got hooked on raising his stats, and before he knew it, he was playing all night. Then he closed his eyes, opened them again, and found himself lying in a strange room. Lin Yizhou: ? “You're awake.” Before he could react, an ominous electronic voice suddenly rang out in his mind. “Palace Heart has logged in. We hope you enjoy your experience.” Lin Yizhou: ???! * To avoid being summoned to the emperor's bed, raise his affection, and stay alive, Lin Yizhou focused on making money from the moment he woke each day. Invitations from concubines and trips out of the palace for summer retreats could all wait. He took thriftiness to the extreme. A eunuch came to report that a concubine had died after a long illness, leaving behind a prince in his teens. He asked if Lin Yizhou wanted to adopt him. Lin Yizhou shook his head. Raising a child took too many resources. No thanks. ...Then, the instant Lin Yizhou saw the boy, he spent the night taking inventory of his storerooms. * By giving out gifts, Lin Yizhou had made a name for himself in the palace. He got carried away and failed to notice that the child he'd adopted had grown taller than him. He'd also become more and more taciturn, making it harder to guess what he was thinking. At first, Lin Yizhou assumed the boy was going through a rebellious phase. Until one day, he opened the door and saw Xie Ji sitting at his desk. There was a half-empty jug of wine beside him, and his eyes were still red. “Mother Consort.” The boy, who usually insisted on calling him Yizhou, suddenly used this unfamiliar title. Lin Yizhou felt a chill run down his spine. Xie Ji stepped closer, forcing him back against the door. A strange premonition rose in Lin Yizhou. He knew something was very wrong. “Mother Consort.” Xie Ji said it again, his brows deeply furrowed. They were so close that Lin Yizhou could finally see his eyes clearly. They held a strange, overwhelming obsession. “Why are you my mother?” Lin Yizhou: ... Wasn't this going in the wrong direction? [Bonus scene] Every time that man came to see him, he brought a gift. Sometimes it was a brush, sometimes an inkstone, sometimes books, sometimes an inkstone... ...Wait, hadn't he given him that already? Xie Ji watched the young man across from him with a complicated expression. But when he saw him cup his face in his hands, smiling as he asked whether Xie Ji liked it, he couldn't bring himself to say a word. He must have given presents to too many people and forgotten, he supposed. Xie Ji thought darkly. ...And so, for three or four days in a row, he received inkstones. “...” Looking at the three identical brushes and four inkstones lined up on his desk, Xie Ji thought, This man definitely has a problem. Theme: Be careful with online romances