1.
The next time she saw him was the day Zhu Yumian reported to the law firm.
A colleague followed Zhu Yumian's gaze. "Who are you looking at?"
Outside the biggest law firm in Jiulin City, a group of people were exchanging pleasantries and saying goodbye. At their center stood a young man surrounded by others, dressed in a suit, with refined features and a tall, slender figure.
After all these years, he was still elegant and distinguished, with an aloof, unconventional air in every gesture.
Her colleague gave her a knowing smile. "Good eye. Attorney Wen Qingji, the founder of our firm. He only returned to China a couple of years ago. Don't let his age fool you. He's already a highly sought-after, top-tier lawyer. He's at the very peak of the profession."
Then her colleague raised an eyebrow at Zhu Yumian. "You're not the first person to stare at him like that."
"He's my..." Zhu Yumian fell silent for a long time before finally saying, "...older brother."
Her colleague burst out laughing. "Your brother? Sure, sure. The kind you dream about at night, I get it."
Zhu Yumian shook her head helplessly.
That man was the son of Zhu Yumian's stepfather, and also her older brother.
2.
After a week on the job, her colleagues all thought they were merely boss and subordinate.
When they crossed paths at a corner of the firm, Wen Qingji didn't even spare Zhu Yumian a glance.
They passed each other.
Zhu Yumian worked up the courage to grab him, forcing him to stop.
Following his gaze, she saw that her fingers had crumpled the neat cuff of his suit. She hurriedly let go, her confidence faltering. "I... I didn't mean to come here. I... I couldn't persuade Mom."
"You know the truth better than anyone." He strode away, leaving the crumpled cuff as it was.
As she watched the hands that had pushed her away, a wave of hurt and bitterness welled up inside Zhu Yumian.
3.
Wen Qingji was a leading figure in the legal world: not only highly skilled and young and promising, but also handsome, well-educated, and born into a distinguished family.
At the firm's team-building event, a client tried to set him up with a girl.
Ignoring her friend's and everyone's astonished looks, Zhu Yumian rushed over to stop him. Her voice was plaintive, almost out of control. "I don't want you seeing another woman."
For the first time, the usually easygoing and considerate Zhu Yumian was making a scene in front of everyone, and she was doing it to her own boss.
Everyone drew in a sharp breath.
The man was forced to stop. Looking at Zhu Yumian's small hand gripping his suit cuff, he met her eyes. "If you don't want me to see another woman, then who should I see? My sister?"
★ "My filthy blood is destined to mingle with yours, to live and rot together, or bloom and bear fruit."
■ Note:
1. The male lead appears chaste and refined, but is actually a deranged, possessive man with an obsessive love for the female lead! The female lead is genuinely innocent.
Fake siblings / blended family / bittersweet romance / flirtatious tension / reunion after years apart / some workplace scenes
2. The leads are not related by blood and are not registered under the same household. The male lead is three years older than the female lead.
3. Both leads are each other's first and only partners. 1v1, happy ending.
(Blurb archived: 2025.02.24)
Cover art assets courtesy of Tian Bayu.
Theme: Living and growing together.
