Drunk on Thin Air

Older Man | An Old Flame Rekindled

*

Jiang Nuanyu fell for Liang Qi twice.

The first time, she was twenty. Through the falling snow, in the night-dark corridor of a club, he held a cigarette between his fingers. He wore only a thin shirt, with straight shoulders and a trim waist.

She gathered her courage to approach, only to see a beautiful woman already by his side. She could only retreat in embarrassment.

She fell in love and was heartbroken in the same breath. After crying her eyes out over a man she didn't even know, she thought she could let go as easily as she'd fallen in love, and put herself back together to get on with her life.

When they met again, she was twenty-six, an editor assigned to interview him, and he was the new "sugar daddy" sponsoring her publication.

Mature, composed, seasoned, and unfathomable, he was the kind of unattainable man one could only admire from afar.

Yet on a midsummer night, her heart stirred, and she said those earth-shattering words:

"I like you."

The man gave nothing away. He had never believed in love at first sight, much less in a bare declaration of love.

He neither accepted nor rejected her confession.

With the distance of a single cigarette between them, he taught her what an "adult's kiss" was.

"Want to get a little closer to me?" he asked. "How close is close?"

In public, he was the aloof and self-possessed Mr. Liang, untouchable and composed.

They discussed business and culture, his gaze restrained and his manners impeccable.

In private, he pulled her into his arms and teased her until she cried.

But he was warm yet distant, and she couldn't tell whether his tenderness was meant only for her or was simply good manners.

When a career opportunity came knocking, she left for Paris without a word, leaving their unanswered feelings behind.

She thought she was in control and could walk away unscathed.

But he cornered her in a car late at night, pinning her wrist against the door with one hand as he demanded in a husky voice, "Didn't you say you liked me? Why are you running?"

"Jiang Nuanyu," he murmured huskily, pressing her beneath him. "What kind of man do you take me for? Do you think I'd willingly play this game of push and pull with you?"

That night, the mask of the refined scoundrel was torn away for good.

He pressed forward at every turn while she retreated, weeping like a flower in the rain.

Only then did she understand: once you provoke some people, you can never get away.

Later, Jiang Nuanyu discovered:

Mr. Liang looked refined, but he wasn't "refined" at all.

He said, "Whatever you want," but he never actually did what she wanted.

Mr. Liang didn't say much, but he had plenty to say when he put words into action.

Mr. Liang never put on a tough front. His lips were even soft.

It was just... the rest of him was too hard.

Also known as:

"Has Mr. Liang Played a Trick on Me Today?"

"The Story of How I Slept with My Sugar Daddy"

Reader tips, please mind the warnings:

1. The male lead is a genuinely refined scoundrel, a sly old fox with schemes layered upon schemes. He's extremely brooding and devious, and specializes in luring his prey, but he's also as gentle as a living bodhisattva.

2. One-on-one pairing, happy ending. The male lead has an ex-girlfriend but has kept himself chaste. The heroine grows over the course of the story, and goes through a period of indecision and inner conflict, with a little emotional awkwardness.

3. A slow simmer, not a typical wish-fulfillment story. It features plenty of the push and pull that adults love, but if that's not your thing, read with caution.

Theme: Love yourself, and love me.