DANMEI Reading List (RAW) Pt. 2

374. The Escort

Translator: Chrysanthemum Garden

Chapters: 59 + 5 Extras

Tags: modern, younger love interest

Synopsis:

Shao Mingwei is a student with great academic potential but for some reason he worked part-time as a bar escort and unexpectedly met Min Yu, a well-known local businessman who he once had an encounter with at his university.

Shao Mingwei considered himself a straight man, but step-by-step, he was unable to extricate himself from Min Yu's gentle and soft advances...

Impressions: ​This was sooo niceeee... I feel all warm and fluffy now.

So our MC is not exactly the luckiest boi in the world. Dead parents, sickly little sister, they are staying in ​​Beijing for the best doctors but the costs of living are high. He has scholarship at University and is working part-time nonstop but the money is just not enough. So..he becomes an escort. His job is to accompany guests to drink.

Then he meets our shou who is an alumni at his school and shou recognizes him at the nightclub. Shou promises to keep his job secret for him. He also shows some intention to our MC. But our MC knows he can't return shou's affections so he alienates him and later rejects him straightforwardly. But lil sis conditions deteriorates and he has no choice but to turn to shou for help. Shou lends him the money but did not agree to MC's offer to be his 'lover'. He just wants MC to treat him as a friend and no longer avoid him.

Some introspections, and MC wants to like shou for shou. Not because of gratitude or anything else. He also gets a sense of crisis when he sees that there are other men interested in shou. Laters, they get together and its basically smooth sailing from there. Some smol real life problems (whether to continue further studies or work after graduation) but they talk it out peacefully. Ending is MC's graduation and matriage proposal.

Extras is shou's diary and MC worried that his lil sis has a boyfriend and their couple life 10 years later.

I like this. Its pretty short, just 60+ chaps including the Extras. I actually picked this up cos of the no drama review I saw. And there is indeed no drama between MC & shou but there were some places that made me *sniff* mostly about MC's helplessness, like he is trying soo hard to keep it together and there were just too many problems for him to shoulder alone.

I like that our MC is very...self-aware. Like he will be vain, and he will be... hypocritical like rejecting shou before and then asking him for his help later. But MC will reflect on himself, he will berate himself for being such a person. In fact, our MC is a serious kind of person that's why he really thought about it first before deciding to be with shou. We kind of see his mental journey all throughout.

Uhm, shou is also really nice. He's kind/soft/cute and I can see why its hard for MC to reject him... Although he likes our MC, his way of liking is very unobstrusive so the initiative is still on MC's side.

Overall, its been awhile since I read a sweet novel I really like. Plus points since its short and there's smut (≧▽≦) Read this for younger gong MC x older shou. 

Nearest reco: Full Level Bigshot Only Takes the Career Path~