Good-boy act x bad-boy charm
A little sister who can easily wrap her older brother around her finger x a cocky guy who doesn't realize he's a sister-complex
*You're taking advantage of the fact that I love you, doing whatever you want to me.*
[1]
Late at night, Cheng Huai was abroad when his phone showed an incoming call from an unknown number.
Some people would hang up when they saw an unfamiliar number, but he wouldn't.
"Cheng Huai?" A cool voice, calm and unhurried.
Cheng Huai sucked in a sharp breath, as if something he'd been waiting for had finally broken free of its cocoon.
"Meng Lihui." Cheng Huai laughed, his words dripping with resentment. "How dare you contact me?"
"I dreamed yesterday that I sent you a friend request and you accepted."
Cheng Huai didn't say a word for a long moment. As the seconds ticked by, he knew Meng Lihui must need something from him again.
He swore. "Then send the request already."
[2]
Before Meng Lihui moved in with the Cheng family, her mother had repeatedly urged her to be sensible, listen, and win over her new older brother.
Cheng Huai had a mercurial temper and was notorious at school as a hell-raiser.
But when a group of thugs mocked her for having an ugly name, this hell-raiser was the one who told her:
The glassy tiger moth was a beautiful butterfly.
She took the hint, hooked her pinky around his, and asked, her voice soft in the rain, "Big brother, are you coming home for dinner?"
As usual, Cheng Huai hated physical contact with her.
Daughter of a mistress. Just seeing her annoyed him.
Later, Ruan Yun and Cheng Zhongsheng discussed their wedding plans in the living room.
In a hidden corner, the bathroom was steamy. On the glass covered in droplets, a reflection appeared: a boy holding a girl by the waist, leaning down to kiss her.
[3]
On her birthday, Cheng Huai casually gave her a little cake, saying a classmate had bought it from a part-time job and begged him to take it so they could clock off early.
As the candle flickered, Meng Lihui closed her eyes and made a wish:
"I hope Grandpa Cheng will agree to Mom and Uncle Cheng's marriage soon. Then I'll have the same last name as my big brother."
Whoosh.
The candle went out, but Meng Lihui hadn't blown on it.
"Oh no, your wish won't come true." Cheng Huai raised an eyebrow, teasing her with mock regret.
He gently tapped the crease between her brows, smoothing it away.
Meng Lihui pouted and silently finished the cake, not leaving him a single bite.
That night, she happened to read in an insect magazine that the glassy tiger moth's caterpillars mainly feed and rest on black locust trees.
*
Cheng Huai's heart was a dead tree in the wilderness.
Meng Lihui's smile was the water that belonged only to him.
Too much water would rot the roots.
He willingly let himself drown in it.
Note:
1. The female and male leads are not on the same household register and are not related by blood.
2. The female lead's mother and the male lead's father never married or registered their marriage, and they are not a couple at the end, either.
3. Both leads are virgins and have only ever belonged to each other.
Core theme: Eighty thousand springs in half a heartbeat
