After Getting Back Together with My Ex for the Dating Allowance

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[My other novel, The Golden Fleece, is complete. Come check it out!]

Second chance romance · bedtime reading · sweet little story · probably a short novel

Bold, straightforward sweetheart with a lustful streak x scheming, dark-hearted man who acts like he doesn't want her

1.

Tao Jian has been a little short on money lately.

Her dog came down with an illness that cost a few thousand yuan, the videos she painstakingly filmed got no views, and every morning she woke up to a text reminding her to pay rent.

With no other choice, she took a part-time job singing at a bar.

Late-night bars are always full of people throwing money around.

A tall, handsome male server is being held by the neck and forced to drink by a customer. Pale red liquor runs down his Adam's apple, gradually soaking through the shirt over his chest.

Tao Jian glances over, intending to look away, but then realizes the man looks familiar.

Isn't that her ex?

Oh wow, a few months apart and he's fallen this far.

Tao Jian walks over and comes up with an excuse to take him away.

In a corner under the dim lights, Yan Zhuo lifts his eyes to meet hers, his expression half amused, half mocking.

"What, here to laugh at me?"

Tao Jian thinks for a moment, then asks seriously,

"I have a crazy idea. Want to team up?"

"...Just so we're clear, I won't do anything illegal."

2.

As fewer and fewer people get married each year, the community launches a new program.

Once eligible men and women confirm their relationship and submit the paperwork, they can receive a "dating allowance."

Complete the follow-up requirements, and the benefits only increase.

So, to get the allowance, the two go on trips together and share a room.

Tao Jian also keeps up her old job, recording these everyday moments in vlogs.

The result is an overnight hit, and her follower count soars.

[This couple is so sweet, sob!]

[The blogger and her boyfriend are a perfect match!]

[Who else gets how he looks at her? It feels like he's going to kiss her any second!]

Tao Jian can't read anything into his gaze.

But she knows that if they keep making videos, they'll soon be able to climb out of poverty.

In the age of online traffic, it's a perfectly reasonable choice.

So they hold hands, embrace, and kiss as if they can't bear to part.

In a word, they start pretending and end up meaning it.

Tao Jian is wondering how to tell Yan Zhuo how she feels when she spots another woman he'd once had a flirtation with at the bar.

She remembers how close the woman and Yan Zhuo were back then, clearly more than just friends.

That was close. She almost fell for him all over again.

One quiet night, Yan Zhuo comes home and bends down to kiss her lips without thinking.

Tao Jian turns her head away and says coolly, "Let's break up."

Yan Zhuo stares at her for a long while before asking why.

"You're too poor."

Yan Zhuo tosses her a stack of property deeds. "Oh, and I own the bar, too."

Tao Jian is stunned.

"You have someone else on the side! I saw you!"

Yan Zhuo examines the photo closely. "...That's my older sister."

Tao Jian is speechless.

"Anyway, I'm just not satisfied!"

Yan Zhuo raises his eyes and pulls her tightly into his arms, his voice trembling.

"You can do whatever you want... just don't leave me."

/

Reader's guide:

1. The heroine comes from a wealthy family, so she isn't really poor. She has a reason for leaving home.

The hero may be shown crying, but it's not meant to be angsty. It's just my preference.

There will be a secondary couple: a career-minded older sister who looks like a sweet young woman but is actually a mature beauty x an insecure, muscular bartender.

2. The whole story is full of sweetness, with no angst. A lighthearted, sweet everyday romance, mostly written for kisses and cuddles. One-on-one, both pure, happy ending, each other's first love.

There will be some cliche plotlines. I love writing them. I bow down in apology.

Note added 9/18

Theme: Have the courage to pursue love