Can You Recommend Any Yandere Stories with an Obsessive, Extremely Possessive Male Lead?

After my boyfriend dumped me, I got involved with his yandere didi.

Translator’s note: Didi means “younger brother,” but here it’s just a younger guy; jiejie, coming up, means “older sister,” which he uses flirtatiously for an older woman. Yandere = obsessively, possessively lovesick.

That night, the younger man studied me with a cigarette between his lips.

“You two broke up?”

I was trembling terribly. “Just now.”

He raised a brow and opened the door to let me in.

On the first day after Shen Zheng and I broke up, he publicly announced his new girlfriend.

After discovering he had moved straight from me to her, I downed a bottle of red wine and went to his place to demand an explanation.

But the person who opened the door was his buddy—Si Yan.

A bath towel was tied around his waist, and his hair was half-wet. He had probably just showered.

I sucked in a breath. My cheeks instantly burned. After coughing a few times, I asked very quietly, “Is Shen Zheng home?”

Si Yan leaned lazily against the door. His smile was both exceedingly gentle and exceedingly cold.

“No.”

The answer was like a basin of cold water poured over my head, chilling me all over.

It was already midnight, and Shen Zheng still wasn’t back.

Whose tender embrace had he fallen into?

I clenched my fingers, anger burning inside me.

Maybe I wanted revenge on Shen Zheng. Maybe the alcohol had gone to my head. I wrapped my arms around Si Yan and recklessly asked:

“Aren’t you going to let me in?”

Si Yan pressed his tongue against his cheek, his tone casual.

“Take a good look, Jiejie. I’m not Shen Zheng.”

“He and I broke up.”

Si Yan froze for two seconds, then opened the door to let me in.

Once I followed him into his room, I sobered up considerably. I even felt a little scared.

He looked like a pretty good boy. I’d better not have… ruined him.

“Will you regret this?”

Si Yan laughed, the end of his sentence drawn out low.

“Scared, Jiejie?”

Was he provoking me?

“Heh.”

His laughter stopped. He bent until his eyes were level with mine, pinched my chin with his index finger, and said lazily:

“Then please be tender with me, Jiejie.”

I coughed violently several times. Whether I had choked or was… shy… my face flushed bright red.

Experience proved he didn’t need me to be tender with him at all.

In the middle of the night, Shen Zheng came home.

He messaged Si Yan: “Bro, has your iron tree finally blossomed?”

Si Yan gave a soft hum, a shallow dimple appearing at the corner of his mouth.

“Jiejie, I’m so tired. Reply for me.”

I was utterly limp and unbearably sleepy.

But at the thought that Shen Zheng was on the other end, my combat stats instantly maxed out again.

I took the phone and rested my head on Si Yan’s arm, barely alive as I typed:

“Mm.”

Shen Zheng perked up. “Nice. When are you introducing her to your buddy?”

Me: “Anytime.”

After a year with Shen Zheng, I knew very well how controlling he was.

Even if we had broken up, he would never accept me getting involved with someone around him.

If he saw me walk out of Si Yan’s room after dawn, his expression would be spectacular.

I couldn’t help laughing at the thought.

My laughter woke Si Yan.

He stared sleepily at the chat window, his voice husky.

“Jiejie, I told you to reply, and you really did?”

I swallowed, my heart inexplicably tightening.

He buried his face against my neck again and chuckled.

“Looks like you’re not tired enough yet.”

The next morning, Shen Zheng’s call woke me.

“I’m outside your place. Come out.”

I froze for several seconds before coming to my senses.

“What are you doing at my place?”

Why wasn’t he home?

I was still waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

On the other end, Shen Zheng sounded impossibly arrogant as he informed me:

“Lin Chaonian, from today on, I’m your boss. Whenever I want to see you, you’d better show up. Understand?”

Boom—

A bolt from the blue struck me squarely on the head.

Shen Zheng was actually this shameless?

Not only had he put a green hat on me, but now he wanted to oppress me at work, too!

“Shen Zheng, is this necessary?” I gritted my teeth, my voice full of hurt.

He laughed carelessly.

“If you dared deliberately approach me, you should have been ready to bear all the consequences. Understand?”

He really hated me to the bone.

Enough to abandon his comfortable young-master life and come to the company to make me suffer.

Well, the boss was his father, after all.

The young master could play however he pleased.

I gripped the phone in frustration, my chest rising and falling, my spirits extremely low.

At some point, Si Yan had woken. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly, and he drawled:

“Jiejie.”

In an instant, the atmosphere tightened.

Shen Zheng’s voice sank.

“Who’s beside you?”

I glanced at Si Yan and hurriedly covered his mouth.

Shen Zheng was my boss now. I couldn’t make him angry.

I exhaled slowly, suppressing my resentment.

“You heard wrong.”

Shen Zheng sneered.

“Oh. Hurry downstairs.”

Fortunately, Si Yan’s place was only a ten-minute walk from my apartment complex.

If I went back now, Shen Zheng shouldn’t suspect anything.

I tossed the phone aside and frantically pulled on my clothes.

Si Yan held down my short skirt and refused to move.

Growing anxious, I told him to let go.

He raised a brow. His fingers brushed the curve of my ear as he spoke slowly in a breathy voice.

“Jiejie, why won’t you tell Shen Zheng we’re together? Don’t tell me you want to sneak…”

Sneak…

He deliberately paused, his lips curving slightly.

All the blood in my body rushed straight to the top of my head.

Ahhh…

This didi knew perfectly well what a dog of a temper Shen Zheng had.

Did he want to get me killed ah?

“Lin Chaonian, if you don’t open the door, I’m coming to your home!”

Shen Zheng was still threatening me on the phone.

Si Yan picked it up and casually switched on speakerphone.

He wrapped both arms around my waist and smiled carelessly.

“Jiejie, why are you shaking?”

“Afraid Shen Zheng will find out you slept right… next door to him last night?”

He smiled again, meaningfully.

A layer of goose bumps broke out over me. I raised my voice sharply.

“Stop talking! Last night was—”

Realizing the call hadn’t ended, I guiltily lowered my voice to explain.

“Just treat it as an accident.”

“What happened last night? Who the hell are you talking to?”

On the phone, Shen Zheng was practically grinding his teeth.

Si Yan suddenly seemed like a different person. He seized my chin, madness surging in his eyes.

“Jiejie, you want to abandon me, hmm?”

My thoughts stalled. My breathing turned uneven.

I seemed to have gotten involved with a very difficult didi…

Kill me now.

I had been the one to initiate things last night. How could I leave him without looking like a scumbag?

I let out a long breath and tentatively proposed a solution.

“How about… I pay you?”

Si Yan pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice helpless.

“You want it again?”

Me: …

Did he think I was an animal?

“What I mean is…” I stammered for a while, then gritted my teeth and steeled myself. “I’ll pay you. You can’t tell anyone… about last night.”

Si Yan lowered his head and lit a cigarette.

“Jiejie really is heartless,” he said slowly.

His voice wasn’t loud, and there was little fluctuation in his emotions, yet somehow I felt oppressed.

My heart trembled. Instinctively, I ran for the door.

The instant I opened the bedroom door, I saw Si Yan make a shooting gesture.

“Bang—”

My eyes widened, and my back went rigid.

Ahhh… So scary.

Help. I was never meeting Si Yan again for the rest of my life.

Ten minutes later, I jogged home and found Shen Zheng standing at the entrance to my apartment complex, his face thunderous.

His eyes were full of scrutiny.

“Where did you go so early?”

“Exercising.”

Shen Zheng examined me closely. His gaze landed on my short skirt, and he frowned.

“Exercising can wrinkle a skirt that badly?”

Of course it could.

How ignorant.

I pressed my lips together and secretly rolled my eyes in my mind.

“What do you want? To get back together?” I deliberately needled him.

He laughed in anger.

“Am I that cheap?”

I nodded.

Shen Zheng was unused to my attitude and couldn’t hold back a curse.

“So you’re fucking done pretending?”

What was there to pretend in front of a scumbag?

I just let it all go to rot.

“What do you actually want? If it’s nothing, stop bothering me.”

With one hand in his pocket, Shen Zheng spoke arrogantly.

“You have three days to compile a detailed list of domestic and international formalwear from the past year and send it to me.”

“Heh. I’m not your personal secretary.”

“Heh, heh.”

He bent to meet my eyes, his tone threatening.

“Believe it or not, one word from me, and no company in the industry will dare hire a couture designer like you.”

“All you ever do is use that to pressure me.”

Hurt rose slowly from my heart. I lowered my head, my eyes stinging.

His tone was supremely arrogant.

“If you dare defy me, I’ve got plenty more tricks waiting for you.”

He really was such a… dog ah.

I couldn’t be bothered arguing and reluctantly lowered my head.

Ding. Shen Zheng’s phone rang.

He glanced at the screen, the corner of his mouth lifting, then leisurely switched on speakerphone.

A woman’s sweet voice came through.

“Shen Zheng-gege, this girl here wants to ask you out at noon today.”

Translator’s note: Gege means “older brother,” used here as a coy way to address a man.

“Sure.”

Shen Zheng’s insufferably arrogant gaze stuck to my face, his voice flippant.

“Come to 39 Fuyuan Road.”

After hanging up, he looked at me provocatively, his lips twitching, arrogance radiating from every inch of him.

I got it. He was here to show off.

Incredible.

I’d seen people move seamlessly into a new relationship before. I’d never seen someone be so brazen about it.

I wanted to see what heavenly beauty his new girlfriend was, to deserve him deliberately showing off in my face!

After Shen Zheng left, I went to Fuyuan Road fully disguised.

I pushed open the door, and sunlight poured over me.

The first thing I saw was a man lounging against a booth, smoking, laziness radiating from him.

As if sensing me, he raised his head and glanced over.

Our eyes met.

His beautiful peach-blossom eyes seemed to curve slightly in surprise.

“Jiejie.”

I froze where I stood. My legs felt weak.

Ahhh, why had I run into Si Yan…?

I instinctively shrank back. With his long legs, Si Yan reached me in a few strides. His large hand moved only slightly, and I lost my balance, falling backward.

I frowned and gave a soft cry.

He caught me securely, his tone casual.

“There are people here.”

Me: …

I couldn’t help questioning myself.

What exactly had I done that night for him to misunderstand me like this?

Dazed, I let Si Yan take my hand and lead me to a secluded corner.

While my mind remained blank, a familiar voice came from behind me, making my heart contract.

Shen Zheng.

“Bro, why are you hiding here?”

Why had he appeared?

My heart pounded like a drum. I took frantic deep breaths and forced myself to calm down.

Then inspiration struck—

I looked at Si Yan and quietly begged for help.

“Help me. Don’t let him find out it’s me.”

Si Yan lingered a moment, his Adam’s apple moving slowly.

“Jiejie, if you’re asking a favor, you should act like it.”

My lips trembled. Fear brought involuntary tears to the corners of my eyes.

“A Yan, help me.”

Si Yan paused slightly. His smile widened considerably. He was very pleased with my reaction.

Unhurriedly, he held me, his back toward Shen Zheng.

He was so close that his lips were only a few centimeters from mine.

I hardly dared breathe.

“Tsk, bro, that’s not very loyal. Leaving me aside while you flirt with a girl over here?”

Shen Zheng approached carelessly, his voice teasing.

Even though I couldn’t see him, his voice still made me jerk as if shocked by electricity.

Si Yan played with my fingers and smiled.

“She’s more interesting than you.”

“Oh?”

Shen Zheng grew interested.

“Is this the girl you brought home? The one who’s really good at…?”

My scalp tingled in waves.

Si Yan could still answer him carelessly.

“Yeah.”

“Tsk. Aren’t you going to introduce your buddy?”

Si Yan smoothed my hair, his voice relaxed but commanding.

“Do you want to meet him?”

I was almost crying. I shook my head like a rattle drum.

Si Yan laughed, his smile wicked.

“She’s shy around strangers.”

As soon as he said it, my back prickled, as though someone’s stare had burned a hole through it.

Fortunately, this spot was dark enough, and I was fully disguised. Shen Zheng didn’t know the woman sitting on Si Yan’s lap was me.

I let out a relieved breath.

Si Yan refused to let me relax. He deliberately frightened me.

“Jiejie, Shen Zheng’s angry…”

Behind me, Shen Zheng’s footsteps drew closer. He seemed about to sit beside Si Yan.

If he sat down, he would definitely discover me.

My mind was stretched taut. I was almost suffocating.

Seeing my terrified expression, Si Yan grew so excited that even his fingertips trembled. He breathed unevenly, the end of his sentence rising like a hook.

“Let’s have Shen Zheng add a little excitement for us. What do you say?”

My face was white. I was being driven mad.

“Am I that scary?” Shen Zheng sounded extremely displeased. “This chick’s never even seen me, and she shakes like that just hearing my voice?”

“I’m not playing with you two anymore.”

Finding it a mood killer, he made to leave.

“Wait.”

Si Yan stopped him. His clear eyes darkened little by little, like a spirit bewitching people’s hearts.

“Together?”

Together?!

What kind of tiger-and-wolf talk was that?

I was so frightened my head spun. I nearly jumped off Si Yan’s lap.

“Bro, you really don’t stand on ceremony.” Shen Zheng grinned wickedly.

Si Yan raised his eyelids, a sharp, cold gleam flashing through.

“I meant, leave together.”

Shen Zheng raised a brow, then belatedly let out a “Hai.”

I exhaled at length.

Si Yan glared fiercely at me. His meaning needed no words.

Fine. I was guilty…

Once they were far away, I ran out as though escaping for my life.

After all that trouble, I finally got home.

I had been embracing my sofa for less than five minutes when Shen Zheng’s threatening message arrived.

“Lin Chaonian, if you haven’t finished that assignment in three days, don’t blame me for punishing you.”

Was that something a human would say?

He was out living it up and still had the nerve to exploit his ex?

Did being the boss’s son make him so amazing?

Was he really so amazing?

What rotten luck.

If he appeared in front of me now, I would pound his dog head flat.

“Did you hear me?” Shen Zheng demanded again.

“1.”

Translator’s note: Replying “1” in a Chinese chat just means “got it.”

I turned my phone facedown and charged into the study as though injected with chicken blood, burying myself in work.

As I sorted design drawing after design drawing, the clock on the wall quietly reached five in the morning.

I was so tired my head felt foggy.

And I had only completed six percent of the task.

I was almost crying with anger.

Had I dug up Shen Zheng’s ancestral graves in my previous life?

Why was he still haunting and tormenting me after we broke up?

After a quick cry, I settled my emotions and went back to work.

It wasn’t that I insisted on clinging desperately to Shen Zheng’s company.

It was just that, a little while ago, the big boss had hinted my name was on the year-end promotion list.

Barring surprises, the design director’s position would be mine.

At this critical moment, I couldn’t let Shen Zheng get anything to hold against me.

The company respected designers’ creative inspiration and didn’t require us to clock in at a set time every day.

To meet Shen Zheng’s nasty demand, I locked myself at home and fought for three days without sleeping, resting, eating, or drinking.

Finally.

Task complete—

I didn’t dare waste another second. With dark circles under my eyes, I rushed to the company carrying the fruits of battle.

At eleven in the morning, Shen Zheng arrived.

A beautiful young woman was with him.

My mind went blank. Instinctively, I tried to leave.

“Lin Chaonian, where are you hiding?”

Shen Zheng spotted me immediately. My escaping footsteps froze.

He swaggered into the middle of the room, holding the woman’s hand.

“I have an announcement. This is your new design director.”

His voice was unusually gentle.

“Miss Ding Chuxing.”

The air instantly froze. Everyone tacitly turned toward me.

My eyes widened as I stared at him in shock.

He swept a contemptuous glance over me, sneered, then took Ding Chuxing to the CEO’s office.

The crowd gradually stirred.

“I thought the design director’s position was Niannian’s. How can President Shen Junior just parachute someone else in?”

“Exactly. At every annual company party, doesn’t President Shen Senior hint that Niannian has potential and that the company won’t let her down?”

“Quietly eating some melon here: Ding Chuxing seems to be President Shen Junior’s girlfriend. I saw them on Fuyuan Road a few days ago. They looked pretty intimate…”

In an instant, my heart sank to the bottom.

“Niannian, don’t be upset. If you really can’t swallow it, go ask President Shen Junior.”

“Right. You have to demand an explanation. You can’t just…”

My colleagues surrounded me, constantly offering suggestions.

I couldn’t withstand their enthusiasm, and I really did want to ask Shen Zheng what he meant. So I could only brace myself and enter his office.

When I pushed open the door, he and Ding Chuxing were playing an intimate little game.

My mind went blank for a few seconds before I gritted my teeth and interrupted.

“President Shen… I’ve finished organizing the information you asked for.”

Ding Chuxing smiled as she massaged Shen Zheng.

“Does that feel good?”

He let out a satisfied sigh.

I stood alone to one side, treated like air.

Ten minutes later, I raised my voice.

“Shen Zheng, the information is ready!”

“What are you shrieking about?”

He lifted his eyelids and snorted.

“Oh, that. I don’t need it anymore.”

It had clearly been ten days’ worth of work. I had exhausted myself like a dog, rushing desperately to finish it in three.

And now he said he didn’t need it.

I reached for the edge of the desk and barely supported myself.

When I spoke, my voice was urgent and shaking.

“You’re playing with me?”

Shen Zheng didn’t deny it.

His lips curved upward as he assigned my next task.

“Lin Chaonian, you’ll introduce the design director to her colleagues.”

Hearing my name, Ding Chuxing studied me closely.

There was an inexplicable sense of superiority in her gaze.

She smiled.

“I’ve seen your work. Average.”

Shen Zheng pulled her into his arms and smiled, too.

“You’ve been invited to fashion shows since childhood. How could Lin Chaonian compare with you?”

My throat tightened. Did using their parents’ connections to move in fashion circles make them noble? Did it give them the right to insult others at will?

I stubbornly looked at Shen Zheng, trying to find even a trace of apology on his face.

There was none.

He only felt he hadn’t tormented me badly enough.

Suddenly, it all seemed pointless.

With shaking hands, I took off my employee badge and slapped it down in front of him.

“I quit.”

When I left the company, it happened to be raining. Dense drops struck my body.

I didn’t understand how such tiny raindrops could hurt so much.

So much I couldn’t straighten my back.

So much my tears kept falling.

Full of hurt, I crouched on the ground.

An umbrella suddenly opened above my head.

I slowly looked up and actually saw Si Yan.

When he saw my expression, his brow furrowed slightly. He lowered his tall frame and held out a hand.

Time seemed to stop.

I kept sniffing. My lips trembled slightly from the cold.

“Why am I always such a mess whenever I see you?”

He didn’t answer. He took my hand and guided it to the umbrella handle.

“Jiejie, hold the umbrella.”

I looked at him in confusion.

Si Yan leisurely unfastened his coat and draped it over me.

The damp, heavy smell of the rainy day was instantly covered by a faint, cool fragrance.

I stared at him in surprise, at a loss.

He stroked the back of my head and smiled openly.

“If you’re still cold, hold on to me.”

My heartbeat seemed to speed up…

We walked aimlessly, not knowing where we were going or when we would stop.

Strangely, my restless, troubled heart gradually calmed.

I began trying to make conversation.

“Don’t you have work?”

“No classes at school.”

I stopped walking, a little stunned.

“You’re a student?”

…Was he an adult?

He saw right through me and smiled carelessly.

“Graduate school. Starting a business on the side.”

I relaxed.

He started laughing again.

“Who bullied you today? I’ll get back at them for you.”

Si Yan lit a cigarette.

At his question, the hurt surged up from my heart again. I stared at the red ember in his hand and suddenly acted on impulse.

“Can I try a puff?”

“Just one.”

“If you’re not used to it, it’ll make you cough.”

He caught my chin and kissed me without any warning.

“Try it this way.”

I choked until tears flew.

“No more, no more. It’s choking me.”

He laughed and put out the cigarette.

I panted softly, my face blazing.

“Jiejie, you get embarrassed so easily.”

He leaned closer, his eyes gradually darkening.

“I… don’t.”

I argued lamely.

If our surroundings hadn’t been so noisy, I would have been terrified he could hear my pounding heartbeat.

I hurriedly changed the subject to dispel the restlessness spreading inside me.

“I quit today.”

I was so upset that telling him made me want to cry.

“I was really stupid before. I foolishly ate up every big pie in the sky the boss painted for me. I worked diligently at the company, practically wanting to live there. Then today, his son gave the position he’d promised me to someone else.”

My voice grew more nasal. My heart was so clogged that my eyes couldn’t hold back the tears.

“You know what? The person parachuted into the job was Shen Zheng’s current girlfriend. When he brought her in today, they were both polished and glamorous. I wasn’t even wearing makeup.”

The more I thought about it, the angrier I grew. I sobbed.

“That woman even insulted me and said my work was average. I’ve won awards, too. What gives her the right…?”

“Jiejie.”

Si Yan suddenly cut me off, his tone stern and fierce.

“Don’t mention other men in front of me.”

“You were the one who asked.”

I puffed out my cheeks and gave him a tiny eye roll.

“Lin Chaonian—”

Just as we were bickering, someone suddenly called my name.

I looked toward the voice.

It was actually—

Shen Zheng!

He was soaked through and walked toward me step by step.

When he saw Si Yan, his expression froze, and his hand unconsciously clenched.

“You two know each other well?”

Si Yan and I answered at the same time.

“Very well.” I couldn’t wait to anger Shen Zheng to death.

“Not well.” Si Yan’s voice was calm.

I stared at him in astonishment. He had just kissed me, and now he said we weren’t close?

A scumbag’s friends really were scumbags, too!

Shen Zheng exhaled, seeming reassured.

“Lin Chaonian, you’re deliberately trying to upset me, aren’t you? My buddy already said he doesn’t know you well. He never lies.”

I said nothing, secretly cursing Si Yan a hundred times.

Shen Zheng swaggered between us.

“I’ll hold the umbrella.”

“You know I don’t like other people touching my things.”

Si Yan refused expressionlessly. He lifted his eyelids slightly, forceful and cold.

Shen Zheng’s brows drew into a little mountain.

The atmosphere suddenly grew strange.

I couldn’t stand awkwardness—

“You two hold it yourselves. Stop bothering me.”

Before either could react, I turned and slipped into a taxi parked by the road.

Before long, I received a WeChat message from Si Yan.

“Jiejie, you told me not to let anything slip in front of Shen Zheng. Wasn’t I obedient?”

Did he understand that circumstances changed?

Right now, all I wanted was to anger Shen Zheng to death.

I was just about to reply when a message from Shen Zheng arrived.

“Lin Chaonian, stay away from Si Yan. He comes from a genuine elite family. There’s no way he’d like you. Stop fucking throwing yourself at him.”

Sure enough, a young master’s friends were young masters, too.

I felt a little lost, as though countless tiny insects were biting my heart.

It wasn’t pain enough to kill me. I just couldn’t summon any energy.

I laughed bitterly and deleted everything I had been about to send Si Yan.

Then I typed again.

“Si Yan, let’s not see each other anymore. Even if we happen to run into each other, pretend you don’t know me. I’ll find an appropriate way to make up for the hurt I’ve caused you.”

Click. Send.

Time flowed by, second after second.

After I got home, washed up, and lay in bed, I picked up my phone again.

Si Yan still hadn’t replied.

Had he deleted me without saying a word?

I worried at my fingers. Should I try transferring him some money to check?

My balance was exactly one mao, ten cents. I sent it to Si Yan.

He replied almost instantly with a question mark.

Then: “This is your compensation?”

I covered my face with a pillow, so embarrassed I wanted to dig a whole castle out of the floor with my toes right where I was.

“No.”

After I sent it, WeChat showed that the recipient wasn’t my friend.

…He had blocked me.

My heart felt empty. My mood sank very low.

My best friend, who was video-calling me, couldn’t bear to watch. She invited me to stay with her in Diancheng for a few days.

The scenery there was beautiful, good for relaxing and gathering artistic inspiration.

After her repeated persuasion, I took my drawing supplies and went.

In the end, I stayed at her place for more than a month.

By the time I returned to Nancheng, winter had begun.

As soon as I got home, my mother shared some gossip.

“Daughter, while you were away, a young man kept coming to see you.”

I couldn’t suppress my curiosity.

“Who?”

My mother sounded very excited.

“He looks like a movie star. Tall, slim, fair, and clean-cut. So handsome.”

Could it be Si Yan?

Hadn’t he blocked me?

A strange feeling inexplicably welled up inside me. Quietly, I asked:

“Did he… say… what he wanted?”

“No. He just said your phone was off and he couldn’t reach you, so he came to check at home.”

I had two phone numbers: one for work and one private.

While gathering inspiration in Diancheng, I had only kept my private number active. Apart from family and my best friend, nobody knew it.

I hurriedly logged into my work account.

The screen was flooded with messages.

Most were greetings from colleagues, with a few of Shen Zheng’s sarcastic remarks mixed in.

I scrolled to the latest message.

Colleague A: “Niannian, when does your annual leave end?”

Completely confused, I asked, “Annual leave?”

They replied, “President Shen Junior said you were on leave.”

Me: “?”

What was he playing at?

“Why did you tell people I’m on leave?” I asked Shen Zheng directly.

He kept typing and reconsidering in the chat box. In the end, he sent:

“…”

I had already quit. Why should I keep tolerating him?

So I got snarky.

“Are you laying an egg?”

Him: “…”

Me: “Are you spawning?”

I had needled him into submission. Less than a second later, he called.

“Did you spend this time taking advanced classes in insulting people?”

I frowned and was about to curse him back.

But he didn’t follow the script.

“Get your ass back to work tomorrow.”

He paused, then added:

“Ding Chuxing isn’t design director yet. You two can each rely on your own ability and settle it with your spring 2023 collections. Understand?”

My brain couldn’t quite keep up. Why did this man keep switching to a new act every other minute?

I was about to ask him to explain when he abruptly hung up, expressing his displeasure with a busy tone.

…He really was unlikable.

What had I ever seen in him?

At one in the morning, I yawned and prepared to sleep.

Ding. A call came in.

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I glanced at the screen and saw Si Yan.

I was instantly awake, my feelings complicated.

After hesitating for a long time, I finally answered.

“Hello, Si… Si Yan…”

“You’re his girlfriend, right? He’s drunk on Fuyuan Road. Come get him.”

The voice was unfamiliar.

“Huh?”

I paused, then asked quietly:

“Can I not come?”

“Sure. I’ll just leave him here, then? Let someone else pick him up?”

“No!”

I hurriedly pulled on clothes, my voice threatening.

“You’d better keep an eye on him. If he’s missing even one hair, don’t blame me for smashing up your shop.”

A very soft, very casual laugh came from the other end.

My mind was muddled, and I didn’t think about it carefully. In less than twenty minutes, I rushed to Fuyuan Road.

I told the bar’s waiter I was looking for Si Yan, and he took me straight to a private room.

Opening the door, I saw Si Yan sleeping safely on the sofa. Only then did my hanging heart settle.

“Si Yan.”

I patted his back.

“Wake up. I’ll take you home.”

Under the light, his eyelashes trembled like two little butterflies fluttering their wings.

So beautiful.

I couldn’t help reaching out to touch them. He slowly opened his eyes. Our gazes met, and his face was teasing.

“You were pretending to sleep?”

I glared at him and hurriedly withdrew my hand.

He said nothing, only studied me closely with those reddened eyes.

His stare made me panic deep inside.

In the end, I surrendered, softening my tone.

“Where do you live? I’ll take you back.”

After thinking a moment, I added:

“To your own home. Not Shen Zheng’s place.”

His eyes closed, and he went to sleep again.

“Si Yan, don’t sleep.”

This time, no matter how much I bothered him, he wouldn’t wake.

I had no way to deal with him. I could only bring him home with me.

By the time I got him settled, it was three in the morning. I was exhausted. Finally, my strength gave out, and I fell deeply asleep…

When I woke the next day, I glanced at my watch.

I had actually slept until noon.

Rubbing my head, I sighed in annoyance. It felt as though I had forgotten someone.

After washing up, I passed the living room and glanced casually inside.

My eyeballs nearly fell out.

At the dining table, Si Yan sat with my parents, exchanging drinks. The scene was extraordinarily harmonious.

I froze, completely dumbfounded.

“You… What are you doing here?”

I hurried over and tugged at him.

“What are you doing?” My father actually scolded me. “Be nicer to Xiao Yan.”

Me: “?”

My mother smoothed things over.

“Niannian, when did you get a boyfriend without telling your family? Xiao Yan gets along so well with us. Let him chat with us properly.”

“No, that’s not—”

Si Yan coughed softly and interrupted.

“Niannian, sit down and eat first.”

Who had given him permission to call me that…?

“Xiao Yan, when did you meet our Niannian?”

That… that was definitely not something to be told. I was just about to make something up.

Si Yan answered, “Seven years ago.”

…He was an even better liar than I was.

“Did our Niannian pursue you?” My mother’s curiosity was far too lively.

Si Yan denied it.

“Ayi, I was the one who pursued Niannian. I had a secret crush on her.”

Translator’s note: Ayi is a respectful “auntie” for an older woman. Mama and Baba, used below, mean Mom and Dad.

My mother beamed like a flower.

“Everything about you is good, child. Except your taste.”

“Mama, am I really your biological daughter?”

My father always protected my mother and hurriedly changed the subject.

“Xiao Yan, have another drink.”

I sighed and stopped him with a headache.

“Baba, don’t make Si Yan drink anymore. He already had plenty last night.”

My mother teased:

“Old Lin, look at your daughter. She isn’t even married yet, and she’s already protecting our son-in-law.”

“Son-in-law” rolled off her tongue so naturally.

Me: …

I truly couldn’t wash myself clean even if I jumped into the Yellow River.

I simply ignored them and struggled through the meal with my head propped on my hand.

Later, my father spent two hours investigating eighteen generations of Si Yan’s ancestors before he could bear to let him leave.

I angrily took Si Yan into my room, locked the door, and interrogated him.

“How could you tell them you’re my boyfriend?”

“Ayi said I’m the first man you’ve brought home, so they assumed…”

Si Yan rubbed his cuff and mimicked my tone as he asked:

“Jiejie… how can you blame me?”

“You clearly had ulterior motives and just went along with it.”

“That’s true.”

He even dared admit it?

My mouth fell open. Suddenly, all my anger disappeared.

Perhaps because the windows were shut and the air couldn’t circulate, I was genuinely finding it hard to breathe.

Si Yan raised his brows slightly, a barely visible vulnerability on his face.

“Jiejie, you’ve hidden from me for so long. Are you still going to hide?”

“You were the one who blocked me.”

“Who told you to try to send me away with money?”

He glared at me, and even his glare felt seductive.

“Ah, forget it. Baby, I plead guilty.”

Ahhh, my heart was melting…

My horoscope said that this week, Aries had movement in the Ziwei star, prosperous money luck, and peach blossoms entering its fate.

The perfect time to return to the company and slaughter in all directions.

Today really was a refreshing day. After I returned, Shen Zheng not only stopped finding fault with me, but also gave me time to fully prepare my spring 2023 collection.

During lunch break, my colleagues swarmed around me.

“Niannian, we missed you to death while you were gone.”

“You have no idea how high and mighty Ding Chuxing is. Coordinating with her is exhausting.”

“Niannian, you must work hard and win that director’s position. You’re the hope of our whole department.”

Ding Chuxing strode toward us in clicking high heels, carrying herself as if she were about to ascend the throne.

“Who gave you permission to chatter during working hours?”

Wasn’t this lunch break?

Everyone dispersed with drooping heads. Ding Chuxing gave me a contemptuous glance.

“Lin Chaonian, you’re going to lose miserably this time.”

I glanced at her, my tone calm.

“We don’t know who’s going to lose yet.”

“Wait and see,” she threatened.

I shot back:

“Has the company started keeping a dog? Why do I hear barking?”

After declaring war on the plague god, I threw myself wholeheartedly into designing the new collection.

I worked until I lost track of day and night and came up with a forest theme.

But that was too one-dimensional…

While I was desperately anxious, Si Yan came to my home.

He opened the door, looked at the discarded paper covering the floor, and simply lifted me out of my chair.

“Jiejie, come take a walk with me.”

Mentally and physically exhausted, I clutched my drawing board.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Just around the neighborhood. You can keep drawing when we come back, all right?”

He paused for two seconds, then let out three words:

“Jiejie, be good.”

How could I let a kid coax me?

I could only compromise.

“Only for a little while.”

Si Yan and I strolled lazily along the road, shoulders touching, legs brushing. So close that we looked like a real couple.

I felt something pluck at my heart, and my face immediately reddened.

“Jiejie, are you fantasizing about me?”

Wasn’t that a little too direct?

I covered my face and instinctively denied it.

“When have I ever?”

“Lin Chaonian—”

He drew out my name, paused for several seconds, then added:

“Are you acting spoiled?”

My face burned red.

Amused, he laughed and pulled my hands away. An overwhelming impulse filled his eyes.

“What do I do? I want to pin you here and kiss you.”

Not that I’d say no…

“All right. I’ll stop teasing you.”

He just kept laughing.

Me: …

He was committing a sin!

After we listened to a song, he asked:

“Feeling better now?”

Honestly, the walk had cleared my head quite a bit, but I still had no direction for the design theme.

I couldn’t help sighing.

“What theme could win the early-spring show?”

“Didn’t you go to Diancheng to gather inspiration a little while ago? Did you get any ideas?”

Diancheng!

One sentence from him woke the dreamer.

I grabbed Si Yan’s arm in excitement.

“I’ve got it! I can incorporate ethnic-minority influences into the forest theme!”

“Jiejie is so clever.”

Si Yan held my hand tightly and smiled at me. He didn’t let go until he had taken me home.

Before I knew it, a third of winter had passed.

My “The Wizard of Oz” collection was finally finished in time for the spring 2023 show.

On the winter solstice, spring fashion week officially opened.

Inside, celebrities and socialites took their seats one after another. More and more guests arrived.

I stood outside, anxiously clutching my hair.

It was almost noon.

My lead runway model still hadn’t arrived!

“Xiao Zhou, what’s going on with Liliya and the others? Have you called them?”

The little secretary was almost crying with anxiety.

“Niannian-jie, their phones still won’t connect.”

I lowered my voice.

“Have you contacted the backup models?”

“All of them. Some say they’re out of Nancheng. Some say they aren’t feeling well. They’re using every strange excuse imaginable to turn us down.”

How could models who had worked with me for years all disappear as if they had arranged it together?

This couldn’t be coincidence.

Watching more and more guests sit down inside, I gradually lost control of my emotions.

Just then, Ding Chuxing came over.

“Lin Chaonian, after my 3D Blossoms collection finishes, it’s your models’ turn. I’m waiting to enjoy your… show.”

I understood at once.

She was behind it!

I laughed in anger.

“Ding Chuxing, are you so afraid of losing to me that you have to use these filthy tricks?”

She stroked her hair and asked innocently:

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

What a fine “don’t understand.”

“You think this will bring me down? Dream on.”

I didn’t have time to argue with her. Since the models couldn’t come, I would go on myself.

As for the menswear…

I instinctively thought of Si Yan.

The call had barely gone through for a second when he picked up.

“Jiejie, I’m taking a shower…”

“A Yan, help me.”

“All right.”

He didn’t even know what I wanted him to do, but he still agreed.

Warmth instantly filled my heart.

Twenty minutes later, Si Yan arrived at the venue, his hair half-wet. Short black strands lay across his forehead. He looked less cold and aloof than usual, a little more human.

After we each finished hair, makeup, and styling, we met backstage.

Watching Si Yan approach from afar, I suddenly understood how one glance could last ten thousand years.

Countless people surrounded us.

But my eyes could hold only him.

“Niannian-jie, this model of yours is so handsome.”

Even the stylist, who worked among celebrities, couldn’t help praising him.

I tried hard to keep the corners of my mouth from rising and nodded dazedly.

“It’s almost our turn. Nervous?”

He looked at me gravely, the darkness in his eyes deepening.

“Jiejie, that dress of yours… is truly… unforgivable.”

I wore a long blue-green vine-patterned dress with thin straps, a closely fitted waist, and sheer tulle adorning the hem. My legs appeared and disappeared among the vines…

It was indeed a little alluring.

“Put on a coat, hmm?”

“No. That would be disrespectful to my work.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, his gaze complicated and restrained.

“From now on, not allowed.”

When Si Yan and I appeared, the audience gasped in admiration.

Countless camera flashes lit up from below. Reporters shouted wildly:

“Over here! Here! Look this way!”

Si Yan and I exchanged a smile.

The frame froze.

We left the runway hand in hand.

After the event, “The Wizard of Oz” trended online and received praise across the internet.

Quite a few fans focused on their idols’ careers frantically tagged their gege’s or jiejie’s studios under my Weibo post.

[@yz Studio, get over here and learn something, you useless lot. Put my jiejie in this next time.]

[@dlrb Studio, hurry up and work with this designer. Stop wasting my jiejie’s great figure.]

…

Some people even started shipping Si Yan and me.

[Ahhhh, gege and jiejie look so good together! I’ve brought the civil affairs bureau to you. Please get married right here.]

[Kill me to add some fun for this stinky couple.]

[Help, they were showing off their love even onstage! Gege brushed confetti off jiejie’s collarbone. Ahhhh, so sexy. I’m shipping them to death.]

Si Yan was looking at the trending list, too. He set the photograph of us smiling at each other as his wallpaper.

I shyly glanced at him, pressed my lips together, and grinned foolishly.

Of all these past few months, today was the day I felt most at ease.

After changing clothes, Si Yan and I walked down an empty street. He wore a mask. His breath condensed into white frost on his eyelashes.

I took his arm first.

It was definitely because staying close together was much warmer.

A plane-tree leaf drifted gently down and landed right on my head.

I stopped.

So did he.

He reached up to brush it away. I looked up, and our eyes met.

Fireworks kept bursting in my mind. He blinked, then suddenly bent to kiss me.

To meet him, I tilted my head slightly upward. The tip of my nose touched his.

He paused, stunned for half a second, then drew close again.

When the kiss ended, the air was unbearably hot.

I shyly hid in his arms while he gently stroked the back of my head.

After he walked me home, I waited until his retreating figure grew small before skipping toward the house.

“Lin Chaonian—”

Shen Zheng appeared from nowhere.

He looked at me with eyes so cold they seemed to rain knives.

“Do you take me for an idiot?”

I guessed he had seen Si Yan walking me home.

I had nothing to fear. I wasn’t the one who cheated.

“We’ve already broken up. What I do is none of your business.”

I met his gaze without avoiding it.

“None of my business?”

Shen Zheng laughed at himself, then suddenly shoved me hard against the wall.

“You deliberately approached me from the start. Now you’re using me to get involved with my buddy. How can you face me?”

My throat tightened. I closed my eyes.

“Whether you believe it or not, when we got together, I had no idea you were my boss’s son.”

“Like I’d believe your bullshit. Are you going to argue that you didn’t know Si Yan was my buddy, too?”

“Lin Chaonian. Lin Chaonian.”

Shen Zheng reached out and viciously clamped a hand around my neck.

“How could I have fallen for such a disgusting woman?”

I struggled to open my mouth and breathe.

“Shen Zheng… let me go.”

He tightened his grip, veins bulging on his arm.

I was almost suffocating. Hot wetness streamed over my face.

Shen Zheng froze and let go as if in a daze.

I fell to the ground and coughed violently, as though I would cough my heart out.

Shen Zheng had gone mad.

He wanted to strangle me.

He had actually wanted to strangle me…

I shook like a sieve and kept shrinking backward.

Seeing me like that, a crack appeared in his furious expression.

“Lin Chaonian, I won’t fight with you out of spite anymore. I really like you. Can we get back together?”

I coldly lifted my eyelids. I almost laughed.

Last year, the company had sent me abroad. I met Shen Zheng there, and we dated for a year.

After returning to China, I went to the boss’s home to deliver some documents and discovered that Shen Zheng was his son.

The moment he saw me, Shen Zheng lost all reason.

He decided I had deliberately approached him and insisted on breaking up.

No matter how I explained, he refused to listen.

That same day, he publicly announced a new girlfriend.

Even after moving seamlessly into another relationship, he wouldn’t let me go.

Every day, he tripped me up and made things difficult, determined not to let me live peacefully.

Yet now he said it was all because he was being spiteful.

He said he liked me.

How was I supposed to bear that kind of affection?

How could I bear it?!

While Shen Zheng was distracted, I slipped my hand into my pocket and dialed my emergency contact.

Before long, Si Yan appeared before us, covered in sweat.

He narrowed his eyes, hostility surging through him, the veins at his temples bulging. He looked as though he might kick Shen Zheng to death in the next second.

But he didn’t.

He stepped forward and shielded me behind him, his voice as cold as ice.

“If you have a problem, come at me. Don’t touch her.”

“Si Yan, you’re fucking disgusting. You know perfectly well Lin Chaonian is my woman.”

Si Yan sneered.

“You broke up long ago. Does Lin Chaonian have to spend a few years keeping widowhood for you?”

Shen Zheng slammed a fist into the wall and cursed viciously.

Si Yan continued.

“If it weren’t for me, would you even know Lin Chaonian? You know very well I met her first.”

Humiliated and angry, Shen Zheng seemed afraid I would hear something. He roughly grabbed me and tried to pull me away.

Si Yan kicked out sharply. His cold shoe stamped hard onto Shen Zheng’s hand.

“Try touching her again.”

Shen Zheng fell to the ground, his face livid.

Si Yan radiated cold, his presence intimidating.

Seeing that they were about to fight, I instinctively wrapped my arms around Si Yan.

“A Yan, let’s go. I don’t want to see him.”

At that moment, Shen Zheng’s face was full of regret.

As we went upstairs, he called out to me.

Thinking he was going to keep pestering me, I didn’t turn around.

But unexpectedly, a quiet apology came from behind me.

“Lin Chaonian, I’m sorry.”

My steps stiffened. In that instant, the hurt I had accumulated for so long suddenly vanished.

Shen Zheng and I were even…

After I resigned from the company, a top luxury firm eagerly recruited me. I eventually became its design director.

I hadn’t expected Shen Zheng’s ex, Ding Chuxing, to come to my company for an interview.

When she saw I was the interviewer, the smile on her lips froze.

“Lin… Lin Chaonian, what are you doing here?”

My assistant asked in surprise:

“You know Director Lin?”

“Not well.”

My tone was bland. I returned the exact words she had used to insult me.

“Ding Chuxing, right? I’ve looked at your work. Average.”

The young lady’s eyes reddened on the spot.

My assistant frowned.

“What are you crying for? It’s your good fortune that Director Lin is giving you advice.”

“Does that already hurt?”

I offered her a pack of tissues.

“When you used your connections to snatch the position that should have been mine and freely humiliated me, I felt a hundred times worse than you do now.”

I withdrew my gaze and left the company feeling refreshed, then went to Si Yan’s bar.

39 Fuyuan Road.

Inside, Si Yan sat by the window in a white shirt. One long-fingered hand held down a book while the other took notes with a pen.

Warm yellow sunlight fell through the glass directly onto him, creating an extraordinarily romantic atmosphere.

Perhaps noticing my gaze, Si Yan looked up.

His eyes curved. They seemed to hold fragments of sunlight, sparkling and utterly captivating.

I tilted my head and waved.

“A Yan.”

Two little dimples appeared at the corners of his lips. He tilted his head, too.

“Jiejie.”

I ran over in little steps and hugged him tightly.

He held me, smoothed my hair, and slowly began telling a story about a secret crush.

“She was my xuejie. I had a crush on her for seven years. I secretly kept her photograph in my wallet, but my friend saw it. Before long, he got together with her. All I could do was watch her quietly from a corner.”

Translator’s note: Xuejie means a female student senior to someone at school.

“A Yan, who’s your xuejie?”

I asked with both nervousness and anticipation.

“Lin Chaonian.”

He spoke my name with deep affection, then pressed a solemn kiss to my lips.

“I’ve loved you for seven years.”

“I’ll love you for a lifetime.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back.

If I’d had a tail at that moment, I think it would have been raised high and wagging furiously.