Blurb
Not-quite uncle and niece / foster care / he's utterly devoted / old house catches fire / powerful man loses his composure
Next story: Moonlight Lodged in Liang Garden. Older man, kept lover, loves her like wallpaper.
The past and present lives are independent stories. If you don't want to read the Republican-era story, you can start with the present-day story.
“You led me down a path where I was neither your niece nor your mistress. You seduced me!”
Present-day story:
Beijing venture-capital tycoon x mischievous Jiangnan girl
In this life, eighteen-year-old southerner Shen Xi is admitted to R University and will move to Beijing to study in the fall. To keep her rebellious streak in check, her real uncle entrusts her to his cousin, Shen Liangzhou, who lives in Beijing.
This arrangement turns Shen Xi, who used to rebel against her uncle at every turn, into a top-three student who wins a scholarship every year.
Her uncle exclaims over the phone, “Shen Xi, since when did you get so amazing?”
One day, while Shen Xi is on a video call with her uncle, he asks, “A Xi, how about we find your Nineteenth Uncle a girlfriend to thank him for looking after you?”
Furious, Shen Xi fires back, “Shen Xingzhou, what on earth is wrong with you?”
Her uncle, Shen Xingzhou, treats her as a child. He goes over her head and arranges a blind date with Shen Liangzhou.
Angry that Shen Liangzhou doesn't refuse, Shen Xi kicks him hard.
“Ow!”
Shen Xi is the one who cries out first.
Under the table, Shen Liangzhou grabs her ankle and ruthlessly tickles the sole of her foot.
Excerpt one:
At the request of his cousin, Shen Liangzhou picks Shen Xi up every weekend and brings her to his home, so the little devil won't get into trouble outside.
One weekend evening, Shen Xi sits on Shen Liangzhou's lap and helps him shave. She deliberately lets her hand slip and nicks him.
Shen Xi asks, “Nineteenth Uncle, does it hurt?”
Shen Liangzhou says nothing. It doesn't hurt anymore... but... the pleasure is so intense it makes him tingle.
When he stays silent, Shen Xi's eyes redden as she apologizes. “I told you not to move around.”
The next moment, she lowers her head and kisses his wound.
Lamplight shines down. The joints of the armchair creak softly. Rules and propriety must not be broken. Shen Xi is still young.
Shen Liangzhou struggles to hold back. Gripping the armrests, he grits his teeth and curses furiously, “Shen Xi, you're outrageous!”
Shen Xi licks her lips as if savoring the moment. “Nineteenth Uncle, I like you so much, I just couldn't help myself.”
The opening line is adapted from Thunderstorm.
Past-life story:
Northern banker x refined Lingnan young lady
In the winter of 1934, to honor a childhood betrothal, Shen Ningxiang, daughter of a wealthy Guangzhou merchant, travels north alone and stays with her paternal cousin Shen Siyang in Beiping.
Shen Siyang is a bank president in Beiping, a celebrated God of Wealth. He helped revise banking regulations, is enormously wealthy, and can do anything.
Ningxiang, meanwhile, is a niece dependent on his goodwill, living under his roof.
The (not-quite) uncle and niece live beneath the same roof, and this Nineteenth Uncle is not easy to deal with.
He insists she learn abacus, piano, and the Beijing accent, among other things.
Though Ningxiang seems obedient, she's rebellious at heart.
One day, Ningxiang gets into serious trouble. Shen Siyang coolly and unceremoniously “disciplines” her palm with a ruler.
On a snowy night, she returns to her room heartbroken. Just as she's thinking of herself as a drifting duckweed in a foreign place, Shen Siyang pushes open the door.
Shen Siyang brings in a basin of hot water, then bends down to remove her shoes and socks. His voice is gentle. “It's snowing hard outside. Don't keep walking barefoot. The floor is cold. Come, your Nineteenth Uncle will wash your feet.”
At a banquet, her greedy future in-laws insist that Ningxiang be sent to England to join her fiance, and offer an enticing deal.
Ningxiang refuses and is about to speak up, but Shen Siyang cuts her off sharply. “You're still young. What could you know about such an important matter?
Besides, this is a gathering of elders. There's no place for a child like you to speak!”
“Oh!”
Ningxiang submits to his authority as an elder and dares say no more.
This is at a banquet, with everyone present.
But beneath the table, their leather shoes touch and their legs press together. As her “Oh!” fades, he hooks her ankle, neither gently nor harshly, and won't let her pull away.
In front of the entire gathering, he declares, “All the wealth in the world is worth less than A Ning! The Shen family does not sell its daughters!”
After the banquet, Shen Siyang suddenly waves his hand and rents out the entire Kunqu opera theater.
Onstage, a gifted scholar and a beautiful woman sing their story. Below, shedding his usual air of nobility, he asks quietly, “...A Ning, would you be willing to try a modern, civilized romance with me?”
Excerpt one:
Ningxiang's fiance dies unexpectedly in England. Bound by their engagement, Ningxiang must mourn him as a widow for one day.
At the funeral hall, Ningxiang, dressed in white mourning clothes, welcomes guests alongside her future in-laws.
After they leave the hall, Shen Siyang pins Ningxiang against the wall in the bathroom at home. He removes the white silk flower from her hair, his gaze traveling from her forehead to her chin. “I'm not dead yet. Who are you wearing mourning for?”
The silk flower falls to the ground, crushed beneath his leather shoe.
Then his hands travel up her white silk skirt, inch by inch, fitting together like mortise and tenon, and steal the daylight.
||Reader advisory: This story is entirely fictional. One-on-one pairing | Both leads are sexually inexperienced | Happy ending | Not-quite uncle and niece
A past-life and present-life story. The leads are not related by blood in either life.
There are also no legal barriers to them dating or marrying, and both leads know this.
Theme: I'll wait for you in the new era!
Licking? Finger? No gun 🤔
The two little bitter gourds have fulfilled their lives😏😏The ex-wife is also very interesting
The two of them began to live a life without shame.
The female protagonist is worried about gains and losses, so the male protagonist should also think about it.
After the male and female protagonists get together, the male protagonist's seniority becomes lower. 😏😏
Shen Xingzhou is also a stubborn duck😏😏
Dog training still depends on screenwriter Jiang
Two people must be together despite all difficulties😏😏😏
Shen Xingzhou was stunned 😏 😏 😏
Hahahahaha, the heroine's sure-fire way to refuse marriage 😏😏😏😏