Desire for Control

My new novel, The National Server's Professional Insulter, But He Insults His Boss, is now available. Please check it out.

*Novel blurb:

[Fake siblings | Both virgins | Happy ending | Eight-year age gap]

Zhong Qingyue was the only daughter of the Zhong family. Born under the spotlight, she grew up adored by everyone, surrounded by fine clothes and delicious food, carefree and without a worry in the world.

The day she met Xie Yuning was her sixth birthday.

She wore a breathtaking princess dress, with a crown covered in pink diamonds nestled in her pinned-up hair. Across the spiral staircase, her clear eyes curiously studied the boy.

Xie Yuning had just survived a car accident. He had witnessed his parents die before his eyes, helpless to do anything.

Their eyes met. His refined, deep-set features were guarded and distant, like a hedgehog covered in spines.

Little Zhong Qingyue blinked, then smiled, dimples faint on her cheeks. "Are you my brother?"

-

Eleven years later.

Xie Yuning had become a rising star in artificial intelligence, amassing a fortune at a young age. His intellect and methods were enough to make people shudder, and the emotional-interaction robots he developed were among the best in the country and abroad.

Everyone in the industry knew he was a workaholic with no private life, spending every moment with code and algorithms. He was terribly dull.

One day, he suddenly took on a port project in Gucheng. It was a long-term, tedious hassle that would only delay his research, but no one knew why he had accepted it.

Until he appeared at the gate of Gunan University, carrying a pink-and-blue schoolbag and thoughtfully opening the car door for a beautiful girl beside him.

-

Later, at a business gathering, he brought the girl along. He served her food, peeled crab for her, and tied up her hair. His business partners watched, stunned again and again.

When the girl stepped away, one of them couldn't hold back and asked, "Who exactly is that girl?"

He answered flatly, without stopping what he was doing. He was still picking Sichuan peppercorns out of the girl's food. "My younger sister."

His younger sister...?

Who did he think he was fooling?

-

Zhong Qingyue's birthday present was an island standing quietly in the South Pacific, with azure waters, tropical reefs, and an underwater coral kingdom.

The island had a luxurious estate, where everything was controlled by artificial intelligence.

Service robots would cook for her, emotional-interaction robots would keep her company, and her walk-in closet would automatically sort her clothes. She didn't need anyone else.

Xie Yuning leaned close and naturally brushed the hair away from her ear. His voice was gentle, like a whisper and an enchantment. "As for tonight, your big brother will keep you company."

[Reader's Guide]

1. The heroine is already an adult at the start.

2. The hero was fostered by the heroine's family. They are not related by blood and are not registered in the same household.

5. The blurb has been screenshotted.

6. The whole plot exists to serve the story. Please don't give writing advice!

7. All the technical information about artificial intelligence comes from the author's research. If anything is inaccurate, please feel free to point it out.

8. Thanks to my good friends and fellow authors, Jialai and Shuangyue Wubian. (Bows)

--- Coming next: A Tangled Romance [Beijing Circle] ---

Blurb:

[Steady, powerful Beijing-circle big shot X gentle, clearheaded red rose]

Contract relationship | Age gap | An old flame rekindled | The powerful bow their heads

The city of Zhouhai experienced its heaviest snowfall in nearly a decade.

Jiang Qingyu left the newspaper office where she was interning and waited at the bus stop for an hour without seeing a single bus. Instead, a discreet black sedan pulled up. The rear window lowered, revealing a man with refined bearing and a calm, distant elegance.

She froze for a moment. "Mr. Liang."

Liang Yiheng's deep gaze settled on her. His voice was low and unhurried. "Would you like to get in?"

-

From the first day Jiang Qingyu met Liang Yiheng, she knew there was a great gulf between them.

His family was powerful and prestigious. With the flick of a finger, he could turn the capital upside down, while she was just an ordinary person.

He had come from the capital to Zhouhai to add a striking achievement to his otherwise blank resume, while she could only rely on him to establish herself in the capital.

At their fourth meeting, he handed her a contract, his expression calm. "Would you like to make a deal, Miss Jiang?"

At the time, she was mired in trouble. Her mother's illness and the mounting bills were the final straws.

She agreed, making just one request. "I want to work for the Jingzhou Times."

He raised an eyebrow, his tone casual. "All right."

After three days together, he spent a fortune replacing everything she used.

He never skimped on spending money on her. If he saw a piece of jewelry in a magazine, it would be on her desk the next day.

A mansion on the outskirts of the capital and a million in savings: he gave them to her without batting an eye, before she even had to ask.

She knew theirs was a transaction. The valuable gifts were all part of a calculated arrangement, but feelings crept into her heart like winding vines, taking hold before she knew it.

Later, the contract expired.

To keep her, he threatened her with her mother's life.

The bedroom was dimly lit. The red mark from her palm stood on his face. "Liang Yiheng, I hate you."

A mocking smile played at his lips, his features indistinct in the dim light.

He said, "You win, Jiang Qingyu."

-

They met again by the sea in Zhouhai, beneath a blue twilight sky as deep as a dream. They chatted as if they had only just met.

She thought they had both moved on, but he suddenly leaned close, his warm breath brushing her neck. His voice was low and beguiling. "Jiang Qingyu, could you love me just once?"

She stepped away from him, lowering her lashes. "I'm sorry, I have a boyfriend."

He ignored her attempt to escape and trapped her in the corner of a bench. "Have you ever watched a soccer game?"

"Having a goalkeeper on the field doesn't mean you can't score."

A few days later, he met that "goalkeeper."

Jiang Qingyu appeared at a bridal shop with her arm linked through his. The people around them praised how well suited they were, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven.

Liang Yiheng looked at them. Beneath his steady, reserved exterior, he was shaken and disoriented for one second.

He found a way to trap her in a fitting room. Faced with her cold words, he lost the composure and self-control he had always maintained.

His lips crushed against hers, making her cry for him, but in the end he received a resounding slap.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes bloodshot, his voice low and hoarse. "Jiang Qingyu, what do I have to do to make you fall for me?"

-

[Short Scene]

After Jiang Qingyu left, Liang Yiheng forbade anyone from entering the villa where they had once lived. Her room became off-limits, too.

He often spent an entire day there, neither eating nor drinking, and refusing to answer anyone's calls.

The sachet she left behind became his only keepsake. He hung it in his wardrobe, letting its scent cling to his clothes.

He slept in the bed they had once shared, holding her pajamas, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Is love a sin?"

"Worse than a sin. It's a mistake."

Love Disguised as a Monologue

[Reader's Guide]

1. The hero seems old-fashioned and chaste, but the heroine has no effect on him in that regard.

2. Happy ending! Both are virgins, and it's both their first love! Six-year age gap, with the hero older. A bittersweet romance. The hero is not a scumbag and never harmed the heroine's mother.

3. The "goalkeeper" line comes from the internet.

4. Fictional setting with many original details. Don't compare it to reality. Love with a level head!

Theme: I am your little ray of sunshine