Character setup:
At first: Glittering, extravagant CEO of a wealthy family × impoverished orphan with no one to rely on
Later: Down-on-her-luck tenant × landlady with a little money
Blurb:
1. Xu Lingwen first met Bo Li in a world of fame and fortune, where everyone had to bow to her.
The lights swayed and glasses clinked. New to the workplace, Xu Lingwen was drunk out of her mind, and through her haze she saw Bo Li part the crowd and walk toward her.
With a sharp crash, an incredibly expensive necklace fell to the floor. The other woman's cold fingers clamped around Xu Lingwen's chin as she demanded, "Pay me back? What could you possibly pay me with?"
Not long afterward, Bo Li used those same fingers to caress every inch of Xu Lingwen's trembling skin and her most intimate places. As Xu Lingwen's awareness faded, Bo Li bit her earlobe. "You'll spend the rest of your life paying off this debt!"
One offered her body to repay the debt; the other reveled in taking what she wanted. Day after day, year after year, they wore each other down. No sincere feelings, no talk of love.
Just when Xu Lingwen thought their less-than-innocent relationship could really last a lifetime, Bo Li brought home a woman who looked seven-tenths like her.
Eyes red, Xu Lingwen asked, "Is the lifetime you wanted only three years long?"
Bo Li gazed fondly at the woman beside her and answered without addressing the question: "Do you know that every second I'm with her, I'm thinking about you?"
2. They didn't meet again until years later. The woman who had once been untouchable stood barefoot in the rain, covered in mud, outside Xu Lingwen's old house.
She had once been so dignified and aloof. Now she was so broke and down on her luck that she had to bargain with Xu Lingwen for rent.
Bo Li tilted her head up and asked, "Could you make the rent two hundred cheaper?"
Xu Lingwen looked down at her from beneath her umbrella. "Every time you haggle, I raise it tenfold. Take it or leave it. If you don't rent it, get lost."
Bo Li: "Then... could I pay with myself, like I did back then?"
Xu Lingwen looked Bo Li up and down with utter disdain. "You? With that scrawny body? How many times could you make it worth? I'm not you. I'll settle for a knockoff."
Reader's guide:
1. One-on-one, body and mind, HE, switches (neither is more of a top).
2. No real-life inspiration. Don't read it as a stand-in. No need to tell me if you drop it.
Blurb written September 9, 2025, revised October 11, 2025 (screenshots archived on Weibo)
Theme: Love faces every hardship and overcomes them all
