The Loved and the Unloved

Wei Ling and Yu Yi’an had been together for five years. They got along well, and their relationship was stable. Wei Ling had grown up in an unstable home without much love. He wanted Yu Yi’an to love him forever, and around him, Wei Ling was obedient in every way, carefully trying to please him. He thought they would be together forever, until he saw the bright red kiss marks on Yu Yi’an’s neck. Yu Yi’an had cheated on him. Wei Ling didn’t know what to do. He only knew he still loved Yu Yi’an, so he indulged him and never asked about the marks. But the quieter Wei Ling stayed, the further Yu Yi’an went. At last, on a snowy night, Yu Yi’an brought another man home. Just a wall separated them as they made love. Outside, Wei Ling listened to their conversation, his blood turning cold as water. He didn’t know how long it was before Yu Yi’an and the man came out of the bedroom. After an argument, they parted on bad terms. That night, Wei Ling wandered the streets and climbed to a rooftop. He looked down at the city streets as his awareness began to fade. In a daze, he thought that falling to his death on a snowy night would at least be a romantic way to die. He leaned forward, the cold wind brushing past his ear. Suddenly, someone wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him, without a word, back to safety. Wei Ling turned around. It was Ning Yang, the classmate he’d had a crush on in middle school. Snow swirled around them as they embraced in silence. A bittersweet, sugary romance about a sunny, guiding puppy healing a poor, gloomy soul. The top has a mental illness and psychological issues, and is desperately starved for affection. Please don’t hate on him. There are plenty of angst-inducing, melodramatic twists: youthful pain, angst, so much angst, and so much melodrama. At least when I was outlining it, I wrote myself into a state of despair. The story is divided into the Yu Yi’an arc [EXILE] and the Ning Yang arc [DOWN BY THE WATER]. There’s no special meaning or preference behind the titles. I just think the songs are great and fit the story well. ( ) Coming Soon Bro, Let Him Go and Give Him to Me Synopsis Cen Zhiqing is an exemplary Host for the White Moonlight System. He specializes in playing the desperate wife and the grieving sister-in-law. His missions are to become the husband’s deceased white moonlight and leave him drowning in endless regret. When her husband neglects him, he acts sorrowful and forlorn. At last, the plot reaches the point where he is utterly heartbroken by his husband and can die to leave the little world. Unexpectedly, before he can take his own life, his husband’s best friend shows up at his door. The friend’s eyes are red as he holds Cen Zhiqing tight and says in a trembling voice, “Sister-in-law, forget him. From now on, I’ll take care of you!” Cen Zhiqing, halfway through killing himself: ? 1. [Wealthy Family Intrigue: Falling for My Brother’s Wife] Cen Zhiqing and Shen Gu were joined in a business marriage. A loveless marriage is like a rootless duckweed: one gust of wind, and it drifts apart. Shen Gu was busy with social engagements every day and couldn’t spare a thought for Cen Zhiqing’s feelings. Knowing he was unwanted, Cen Zhiqing quietly stayed at home, cooking for Shen Gu and doing his best to play the devoted wife. In public, they were the closest of married couples. In private, they were utter strangers. In the eyes of Shen Gu’s friends, he had married a wonderful wife, beautiful and gentle-tempered. Yan Chen used to think so too. But when he saw his sister-in-law drinking alone late at night, he couldn’t help going over to comfort him. To his surprise, his sister-in-law cried as he told him about all the tears and heartache he’d endured over the years. So Shen Gu didn’t love Cen Zhiqing at all. He had even deliberately hurt him! Yan Chen’s heart ached for his sister-in-law. He thought, If Shen Gu didn’t love him… Then he would. 2. [Ruling the Sect: I Love My Sister-in-Law Most] As the Venerable of the Azure Firmament, Cen Zhiqing was pure, noble, and unmatched in beauty. He seemed like a sacred being who could only be admired from afar, never touched. Until his attempt to break through a cultivation barrier failed, and a villain took advantage of the moment to destroy all his cultivation. The Venerable fell from his pedestal and became the sect’s useless outcast. After the New Year, Cen Zhiqing was offered up as a peace-making sacrifice to the Sword Sect’s leader. The leader was haughty and aloof, never willing to spare Cen Zhiqing a second glance. He even turned a blind eye when Sword Sect disciples bullied and insulted him. Cen Zhiqing silently bore every injustice and swallowed his anger. Zhang Shengwei saw it all. He had thought that, after Cen Zhiqing became cultivation partners with his cousin, his spiritual meridians would be nurtured and repaired, and his cultivation would gradually recover. Besides, as the sect leader’s spouse, he should have been treated with the utmost respect. And yet they treated him like this… Zhang Shengwei was displeased. His sister-in-law had once gently shelled pine nuts for him and quietly listened as he spoke about the difficulties and obstacles on his path to cultivation. He shouldn’t be trampled on. Zhang Shengwei’s resentment grew. He secretly vowed that one day he would tear away the Sword Sect leader’s hypocritical mask and take Cen Zhiqing into his arms. He would make his sister-in-law his alone. 3. [Brothers at Odds: I Love My Sister-in-Law Only] Cen Zhiqing was blind. His family considered him a disgrace and couldn’t wait to throw him out. After barely a moment’s consideration, they sent him to a carefree prince to be his concubine. The prince looked down on Cen Zhiqing for being blind and thought he’d be a burden to care for. So he spent his days carousing in the pleasure houses, and when he came home, he mocked and taunted Cen Zhiqing. No one knew Cen Zhiqing was only pretending to be blind. He worked tirelessly as a concubine and swallowed every humiliation. Even when the prince ignored and insulted him, he still made him porridge and massaged his shoulders. The prince thought nothing of it, but the crown prince cared deeply. Cen Zhiqing was gentle as jade and exceptionally talented. How could Heaven allow someone like him to be treated so cruelly? The crown prince felt for him and began deliberately drawing closer. After all, his bond with the prince was already a relationship in name only. Taking advantage of the situation was only natural. Cen Zhiqing had assumed the crown prince was approaching him to win his family’s support. But when the crown prince sat on his lap, comforted him, and then held Cen Zhiqing’s erect shaft as he slowly lowered himself onto it, Cen Zhiqing had to admit he’d never seen anything like this before. The crown prince seemed awfully possessive of his younger brother’s concubine. 4. [Beautiful Young Widower: Loving My Sister-in-Law Through Pain] At sixteen, his last remaining family member died. At twenty-six, his husband died. Cen Zhiqing was devastated and spent every day in tears. Why did fate treat him this way? Why, no matter how hard he tried, could he never get what he wanted? He had lost both family and love. What did he have left to live for? Cen Zhiqing was miserable, and everyone knew he loved Liao Jingtang. Even Liao Jingtang believed it. His death had been planned from the start. To seize the position of Demon Lord, he had to win. He had thought his wife was quiet because he didn’t love him, so he deliberately neglected him and never came home. He never imagined that his wife loved him so much. Seeing his wife sort through his belongings, unable to hold back his tears, Liao Jingtang’s heart ached. Seeing his wife live alone in the world, not even knowing how to dress warmly, Liao Jingtang’s heart still ached. Just as he was about to claim the Demon King’s throne and return to his wife, he unexpectedly discovered that someone else had appeared at his wife’s side. That person comforted his wife and kept him company. The two were so close they seemed like the perfect couple. His wife’s tears, his wife’s smiles, his wife’s love: it seemed they had all shifted to that person. And that person was a brother with whom he had once shared a bond strong enough to risk their lives for each other. His brother had stolen his wife. Changsun Ning often heard Liao Jingtang complain about his useless wife. He couldn’t cook, was terrible at housework, couldn’t tell grains apart, and didn’t even know how to wash clothes. Liao Jingtang didn’t like his wife. He often told Changsun Ning that if only he could get a divorce, he couldn’t wait to rush off to his next lover. With that fixed impression, Changsun Ning happened to meet Cen Zhiqing. Only after meeting him did he discover that Cen Zhiqing was nothing like the wretched person Liao Jingtang had described. In fact, he was wonderful. Changsun Ning fell for his brother’s widow. Holding Cen Zhiqing, he promised in a somewhat humble voice, “I don’t need you to do housework for me, and I don’t need you to make sacrifices for me. I want you to live comfortably and happily. I can give you everything you want, as long as you love me.” 5. [Fake Canary: Obsessively Loving My Sister-in-Law] Xu Jieran had seen Cen Zhiqing before. Six years ago. It was October, at his uncle’s funeral, and the rain was pouring down. Cen Zhiqing stood in the rain, the gale lifting his black coat. Raindrops ran down from his brow, yet somehow didn’t even wet his eyelashes. His gaze was deep and his emotions distant, as if nothing in the world could catch his eye. He was like a black drongo perched on a branch: perfectly still, yet so full of menace. But dangling from his right earlobe was a long, vivid red ruby, especially conspicuous in the gloom. The earring gave him a touch of sensuality. Like bait on a trap, provocative and brazen. Xu Jieran had only just come of age then. He caught one dazzling glimpse of Cen Zhiqing and could never forget him afterward. Until the Cen family’s cash flow collapsed. Xu Jieran got his wish and saw Cen Zhiqing again. Cen Zhiqing was sitting on the sofa as his older brother tipped up his chin, teasing or toying with him, pressing a thumb hard against his lips. Xu Zhaohuai was willing to help the Cen family through its crisis on one condition: Cen Zhiqing had to become his lover and his wife. The black drongo drowned in the sea. The person he loved had somehow become his sister-in-law. Xu Jieran was furious. He forcefully turned Cen Zhiqing’s face toward him and demanded, “Do you really like him that much?” Cen Zhiqing’s gaze was somber. He didn’t answer. “I’m younger than him, and I’m better than him.” Xu Jieran looked at Cen Zhiqing and slowly leaned closer. His tone was dangerous, though he lowered his voice. “Would you really be content to spend your whole life only having sex with a scumbag?” Then the door opened. “What are you doing in my room?” 6. [Title To Be Decided] END, [A Reverent Reunion] Sister-in-law fiction. If you don’t cherish your wife, bro, then let him go and give him to me (singing) Share your brother’s wife, send him over here to become my bride (singing) If one day I fall for your wife, and your wife falls for me too (singing) You don’t love your wife, you’re always saying he’s too much. Why keep suffering? Let him be mine instead (singing) Note: All the tops have divorced by the later part of the story. There are no illicit romances! Reader advisory: Lots of melodrama, lots and lots of melodrama. The tops’ virtuous, gentle personas are all an act. At heart, they’re gloomy beauties with poisonous tongues. There are plenty of scenes where the original scum bottoms chase the tops and get their comeuppance. Theme: Live well