So You Can Feel Sad Too

The male lead breaks down and gets tortured / class differences / an extreme groveling chase / HE

Campus arc: down-on-her-luck kitten x scheming little menace

Urban arc: clear-headed, mature beauty x devoted, husband-material CEO

At the opening ceremony of Jing University, student council president Xu Zhouye took the stage as an outstanding student representative. Dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, he had an elegant, distinguished air. Since enrolling, he had won countless awards at home and abroad, and was widely recognized as a genius in the finance department.

Among the countless people looking up at him below was Jiang Shuyu.

Afterward, a girl asked her to deliver a love letter to the campus heartthrob Xu.

His response was polite but distant: "Can I help you, fellow student?"

That evening.

"What should I do with all these love letters?" she asked, pretending not to care. "Do you want to read them?"

"I threw them all away." Xu Zhouye held her close, a soft, affectionate laugh spilling beside her ear. "Aren't you jealous, girlfriend?"

Everyone knew Xu Zhouye was a favored child of heaven, adored by all and able to get away with anything on the strength of his looks. Jiang Shuyu, meanwhile, came from a poor family and had a younger brother who was ill and needed money for treatment all year round.

Though the two seemed to have nothing in common, they were in a relationship so unlikely it bordered on absurd. Knowing their beautiful dream could end at any moment, Jiang Shuyu still treasured it with all her heart, foolishly hoping she could be the exception.

Unfortunately, it ended soon. On a day of torrential rain, Jiang Shuyu brought the birthday gift she had made by hand to a private room, only to see Xu Zhouye casually playing with a lighter and mockingly tell his friends, "I've gotten what I needed from her. She's useless to me now."

Years later, Jiang Shuyu had become a top-tier star, a singer who had won countless awards. At the Starlight Ceremony, she was asked about her love life. Her tone was frank and at peace, and she made no attempt to hide the truth.

"I don't believe in marriage."

"I made a mistake when I was young. I loved someone with all my heart."

"Unfortunately, I loved the wrong person, and I won't make the same mistake again."

There was clearly no way to resolve this relationship.

As she left the stage and walked down the corridor, she happened to pass Xu, the CEO of the Xu Group and an investor in the awards ceremony. He pinned her against the wall. After a long silence, he finally spoke with difficulty: "You lied... Shuyu."

She had promised she would love him for the rest of her life.

"Don't be so cruel to me."

"I'll even be your backup. Just let me take another chance."

He solemnly placed her hand over his heart, still bleeding from the sting of her words. "This time, you can be the one to hurt me."

[I've weathered the wind and snow, and won't make the same mistake again.]

[Every cruel word and deed of his becomes a boomerang that strikes him in the end.]

From Y's diary:

"A bad relationship is a rainstorm, but I've learned to hold an umbrella for myself."

Reader advisory:

* Both leads are sexually inexperienced, and this is each other's first love.

* The setting is entirely fictional. The characters are not based on real people. An extreme groveling chase.

The next novel is Love Her Obsession. Please add it to your collection. Blurb:

The day Liang Shuyi was forced to attend a school anniversary banquet, she was extremely unwilling to go. Only later did she learn that the guest of honor was Shen Heyu, head of the legendary Shen family, one of the top wealthy clans in Hong Kong. He was worth over a billion, and was as striking as he was cold.

An accident happened during dinner, and the man gallantly caught her by the waist. His voice was distant and cool: "Miss Liang, be careful."

The school officials turned pale with fright and immediately scolded her. "Shuyi, how could you be so careless? What if you'd offended Mr. Shen?"

"...Sorry." She pretended to still be shaken. The next second, warm fingertips rubbed suggestively at her waist, and Shen Heyu whispered in her ear from behind, his deep voice audible only to the two of them. He was clearly doing it on purpose too.

"Baby, I think you left your lipstick at my villa last night."

Liang Shuyi and Shen Heyu were worlds apart in status. He was untouchable, while she was just a university student with no connections and nothing but her beauty.

Fate brought them together three times, and the last time, she ended up in his bed.

Liang Shuyi had always been beautiful, with fair skin, but she was born at the wrong time. At her lowest point, she had nothing, and even a romantic rival took advantage of the situation to steal her boyfriend.

The day she got drunk at a party after her breakup, she happened to see Shen Heyu, a famous and powerful figure in Hong Kong.

At the time, he was casually swirling a wineglass in his hand. His long, handsome fingers were almost unfairly beautiful, and his manner was both dangerous and alluring.

The room was full of powerful people hoping to curry favor, while he sat at the center of it all, admired by everyone yet impossible to approach.

Liang Shuyi suddenly sobered up, then lost her head again. Provoked, she began to entertain an idea she shouldn't have.

Power was a wonderful thing. She wanted to become famous, and she wanted to use him to reach the top.

Afterward, Liang Shuyi really did become a sensation, quickly making it into the top tier. When an interviewer happened to ask about her views on love, she smiled brilliantly and said with carefree candor, "Love means nothing to me. It's just a pastime to relieve boredom, something to play around with."

-

At first, Shen Heyu was very satisfied with how she acted. Adult games called for rationality and a clear head, with either person free to walk away at any time.

But later...

When he saw her being intimate with another man, even the decisive head of the family was overcome with jealousy. He took a ten-hour flight overnight to find her, gripped her waist, and blocked her behind a door so she couldn't leave.

On the other side of the wall, her scumbag ex-boyfriend had chased after her and was desperately trying to win her back. He said, "Shuyi, big brother regrets it now. I'll even settle for just fooling around. I only want you to change your mind and come back to me."

Shen Heyu heard him and leaned close to her ear, reminding her in a deep, domineering, suggestive voice: "Instead of playing with him, keep playing with me. If you win, I'll give you everything you want."

"Now, kiss me."

"And remember to focus, so he can hear us."

[Reader advisory]

* Age gap and size difference. The leads are in a one-on-one relationship, both physically and emotionally. The heroine has a complicated history with her ex.

* The heroine is imperfect, as the blurb shows. More details will be provided in the author's note for chapter one.

* The hero is a daddy-type boyfriend, an older, sophisticated man, and a gentlemanly scoundrel who knows exactly what he's doing. The heroine is ambitious, alluring, dazzling, and a particularly fiery little rose.

* Ages 19 and 28. The heroine is a model/celebrity, and the hero is the head of a wealthy family.

Theme: I roam the wilds, and the wheat grows lush and full.