The Favorite

The companion novel Green Tea Actress is currently updating

Blurb

A tomboy who never had her parents' favor x a cold, lovesick scion of a prominent official family

Song Mingcheng is the “prince” of the provincial medical university compound. The adults curry favor with him, the kids dislike him, and only Tang Shuyan is different.

She was Song Mingcheng's “little shadow” for eight years, until he said, “I don't like you.”

That day, she stopped bringing him the thermos she'd carried for him for eight years.

That day, her world began to crumble.

Three years later, he returned with a recommendation for university admission.

By her side stood Qin Wenze, who cooked for her, stayed up late with her, and sheltered her from wind and rain.

Song Mingcheng asked with red-rimmed eyes, “Can I still get in line?”

Tang Shuyan smiled. “Haven't you always had a number?”

But there were never just three people on this road.

Her mother had been her father's first love, until his father banished her to a remote county. Now she watched her coldly and said, “You won't fall into the same trap I did.”

Her twin sister envied everything she had and held up a secretly taken photo. “Song Mingcheng, want to have some fun with me?”

Even fate interfered. During a visit to the doctor, she encountered a demon with a sexual interest in children.

Standing by the river, for the first time she thought the sound of the water was so gentle.

They once believed that if they endured the growing pains of youth, they could be happy forever.

They loved each other in secret, fought fiercely, then made up quickly and stayed together in bliss.

He helped her escape the shadow of her stepfather, and she stayed by him through his family's pressures and glory.

They overcame every obstacle and made it to the day of their engagement.

He planned their future together, but she softly asked, “Could I... not go abroad?”

He flew into a rage. “Are you going to give me up for your family again?”

Until the very end, when her father begged her to take the blame for her sister, she was tired...

“Song Mingcheng, if we could start over, would you have taken that glass of water from me beside the basketball court that summer?”

“I would have taken it, and told everyone that the girl who brought me water was the one I loved.”

But life has no ifs.

Content warning: Realistic coming-of-age tragedy, with both angst and sweetness. Bad ending.

Theme: Unhappy people spend their lives healing from childhood