The Forbidden Zone

Brash, ambitious little gray wolf x outwardly flirtatious, inwardly tender, motherly femme fatale 1. The old men and women of Lotus Lane sit at its entrance, watching the woman walk between them. They click their tongues, then curl their lips in disdain. “Loose.” “Shameless.” “A man-stealing vixen.” Lan Yan wears a cheap qipao, faded from too many washes. Its hem sways with every step, revealing two dazzlingly white legs. Her lips curve into a smile, and she looks just like a bewitching fox. A woman who sells alcohol at a nightclub must be selling more than just alcohol. That's what everyone says. She enters the tenement building, walks down a narrow hallway, passes the communal kitchen, and turns to Room 304, her home: a tiny place of barely ten square meters, that sees no sunlight all year and is stuffy and damp. Shan Qiqi crouches by the doorway, gazing at her expectantly. She picks an apple from the basket and offers it to Lan Yan, speaking haltingly in Mandarin. “Mama, eat. Eat apple.” Lan Yan glances at her. “Are you going to get lost on your own, or should I make you?” With tears in her eyes, Shan Qiqi asks, “Mama, why don't you want me?” Lan Yan gives her rough cheek a couple of light slaps. “Why? Because I'm not your mother!” 2. Everyone on Lotus Lane says Lan Yan is Shan Zhibiao's mistress. Shan Zhibiao dies. Shan Qiqi has no father, so she comes looking for her mother. Later, Shan Qiqi spends years following Lan Yan around and calling her “Auntie.” “Little vixen!” “She takes after her auntie!” “Vixen” and “little vixen” tie them together with a subtle thread. But just as a cheap qipao can never maintain an air of elegance, Lan Yan eventually discovers Shan Qiqi's feelings for her. One day, while Lan Yan is drunk, Shan Qiqi can't help stealing a kiss from her. Not long afterward, Lan Yan loops her arm through that of a man in a fine suit and tells Shan Qiqi, “He's my man. We're getting married.” “Don't just stand there. Call him Uncle.” 3. Lan Yan devotes herself to turning a timid little white rabbit into a brash little gray wolf. Ever since this little wolf stole a kiss from her and got a taste for it, she's kissed Lan Yan by force again and again. One day, she even dares to cross the line and defy her. “Shan Qiqi, how dare you!” Shan Qiqi grins brazenly. “You trained me well.” “Didn't you teach me that if I want something, I should get it by any means necessary?” 4. Shan Qiqi's birth mother comes looking for her. She says that if Shan Qiqi will go with her, she'll give her a luxury car and a mansion, and she'll want for nothing ever again. Should Shan Qiqi leave or stay? She already knows the answer. She's a wolf, and an untamable one. Reader's guide: 1. Happy ending. Both are emotionally and physically pure, with an 18-year age gap. 2. Bittersweet, with a little angst for flavor, but overall it's not an angsty story. 3. The characters aren't perfect, and the younger one's development is a major part of the story. 4. They are not blood-related, do not share a household registration, and have no family ties. Their romance begins when both are adults. 5. All the potential triggers are already listed in the blurb. 6. Lan Yan simply considers Qiqi's needs more often. Please don't twist the many ways she shows off her varied personality and charm into a portrayal of her as insecure and servile. That really doesn't work for this story. Let her be vulnerable sometimes, but that doesn't mean she isn't strong. Theme: Love at the mountain's peak, affection flowing like a river.