evening standard stories competition

In the eyes of Chi Zuxu, Chi Yi is a typical delinquent with the three big ‘NOs’— no morals, no virtues, no principles. To her, though, he is a classic baddie who is heartless, soulless, and inhuman. After the girl breaks and climbs through his glass window on the second story, she peeps at him with an innocent demeanor. “Chi Zuxu, lend me the other half of your bed!” she wolf-whistles at him blatantly. The man admonishes with a scowl, “Chi Yi, aren’t you shameless!” Inside the cinema, as Chi Yi’s little hands restlessly grope the man’s body without chagrin, she tells him smilingly, “Chi Zuxu, I want to do bad things with you!” Holding a look of woeful disgrace, he knocks her head. “Chi Yi, aren’t you embarrassed!” It is a lovely love story between a barefaced and a reticent. But, Mr Reticient, please don’t cry when Miss Barefaced finally slips away.

Introducing the new story "Return to '81: The Struggle of the Eldest Sister" – a heartwarming pampering tale, a tale of marital love, a tale of a woman's self-empowerment. That year, Ning Yunxi willingly married. On the day she took her vows, everyone around doubted the union, and her family declared, she shouldn't expect to receive a single penny from home. Her husband was an orphan with a bunch of little radish head siblings? No one believed her soldier husband would one day become a high-ranking official, no one imagined her Second Uncle would become a great scientist, and no one conceived that her young aunt would be a future superstar, let alone that the fourth child would be a natural-born tycoon. But truly, one day, all the futures Ning Yunxi saw came to fruition. Today, she has married a poor soldier and has become the sister-in-law in the military; raising the children of soldiers without fear, convinced she's betting not just on one potential stock, but on a multitude of leading stocks – with her newly acquired special abilities, she becomes a super teacher for the people! ----------------------------------------------------- All along, she had been recognized by the Wen Family as the least promising daughter, unremarkable in appearance and unnoticed, still unable to marry at the ripe age of twenty-nine. He, the son of a military family, born with privileges, deliberately concealed his identity at the matchmaking banquet, posing as an ordinary man. When they married, people sneered, "A pair of worn-out shoes matched with a bankrupt family, just perfect." Then one day, the gold buried in the sand shone with an immense brilliance...

Lee Minho, a bright but impoverished college student, stumbles upon a mysterious system. The system offers him unlimited wealth by drawing, but with a peculiar condition: he must constantly flaunt his newfound riches. Initially hesitant, Minho accepts the offer out of desperation, hoping to secure a better future for himself. As Minho's life transforms into a whirlwind of luxury, he grapples with the moral implications of his newfound wealth. He must navigate the challenges of maintaining his lavish lifestyle while trying to remain grounded and true to himself. Along the way, he encounters both envy and admiration, forming complex relationships with his peers and family. The system's demands push Minho to the brink, forcing him to question the true meaning of happiness and success. As he becomes increasingly entangled in the system's web, Minho must decide whether the pursuit of wealth is worth sacrificing his integrity and the relationships he holds dear. *[It's a BL Story] as per input in the tags (Yaoi)

Wen Meng transmigrated into a melodramatic interstellar novel, becoming the malicious supporting character and fake heiress. As a result, she was thrown into a desolate star's lake at the beginning and nearly drowned. Fortunately, she awakened the beast-taming ability, and with the help of the system, she successively tamed various young disaster beasts and lived together with the little ones. One day.. A pitch-black serpent coiled around Wen Meng's body, its head affectionately resting against her cheek. "Get off her!!" The white wolf at his feet suddenly transformed into a handsome man He clenched his fists and roared at the black serpent. "What's it to you?" The black snake spoke, its voice human-like. To assert its dominance, it coiled around her even tighter and flicked its tongue against her ear. "Can't you understand?" The man, burning with jealousy, grabbed the snake by the neck. "If you play like this, it won't be fun anymore." The black snake unexpectedly transformed into the handsome 858. The smoke cleared, and the two men were grappling with each other. The scene was extremely ugly. "How did they... turn into humans?!" Wen Meng couldn't believe her eyes. "So childish, still fighting." The big eagle spread his arms and hugged Wen Meng's waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder, greedily inhaling the fragrance of her neck. "Only beasts without confidence compete for mates." "Exactly!" The little bear comfortably rested its head on Wen Meng's snow-white thigh, rubbing its furry face vigorously. One of its paws was stretched out, and Wen Meng was trimming its nails. The little bear spoke in a soft, childish voice, "Not like me, I'm a good baby." But at this moment, Wen Meng had already come to her senses. She murmured, "You too can turn into humans, right?" Big Eagle: "..." Little Bear: "..." Later, they all wanted to have her to themselves. Using all their tricks to ruin the reputation of other disaster beasts, Filial piety turns sour, consumed by jealousy. Bai E: "Say you love me, that you love me the most, right?" Wen Meng: ... (I love, universal love) Anaconda: "Why can't we be together? Did you give birth to me?" Wen Meng: ... (You've grown up and become disobedient) Thunderbird: "Open your eyes and look at me. I don't believe your eyes are empty." Wen Meng: "Put your clothes on!!" (nosebleed gushing) Bear King: You think I have no feelings for you? I just go into heat a bit later. Wen Meng: ? (Bear hug, uh, can't breathe) And then later— Wen Meng found the culprit who had plotted against her. "Compete with me? You're not even worthy." That person glanced at Wen Meng with disdain Not a trace of remorse. She had never taken Wen Meng seriously. Wen Meng opened the space card. The most terrifying disaster beast in the galaxy appeared at the same time. The magnetic field and celestial phenomena of the Emperor Star were in complete chaos, as if it were the end of the world. These ancient god-like beasts of calamity bowed to her, Glaring at the enemy with fierce eyes. The woman's face turned pale, filled with terror "Did that scare you?" Wen Meng laughed "I've always wanted to ask you, do you really know, "Actually, you are the impostor?" Finally.. Wen Meng's former fiancé, General of the Empire, roared with reddened eyes, "Tell me! How many more men do I have to defeat to win your heart??" Chief Inspector of the police station, the mad scientist director, the aristocratic business tycoon... all being called out at the same time. And the one, two, three standing behind her... there were too many, Wen Meng couldn't remember them all. This world is a vast battlefield of Asuras.

[ Lynn, Sam and Mahone ] I put my t-shirt down, my hands shaking. I try to ignore them and stare at my reflection in the mirror. My hair color is dark brown and a vague hint of golden. My dad used to say that my eyes are ocean blue. A guy in my history class once said that I had perfect lips. Another guy said that I had a great body. They wanted to date me. And I dated few of them, too. I brush my fingers in my forehead. Then my dark, thick eyelashes. The side of my nose. My lips. I run my hand at my neck, then across my collarbone. Am I beautiful? Honestly, I don't know. Maybe I'm not. "You were wrong, Samlin Greenham." A voice inside my head suddenly whispers. "Calm down, Sammy," another voice whispers. It's the voice I loved. His voice is fading away. My hands start shake again, my breath rapidly quickening. I am losing control. I have to do something. "Goddammit!" I punch the mirror with my fist. It shatters into thousand pieces. My reflection has shattered into thousand pieces, too. The mirror now looks to me like an art. And my bloody knuckles. "I am sorry, Lynn. I can't promise you anymore, because you left me." I bite my lip to stop myself from crying. I won't cry. What's the point of crying? My sixth sense is suddenly alert. Somebody is watching me. I spin around. A guy is standing in front of the door, leaning against it. He wears a tight blue shirt, the sleeves folded. His black hair is ruffled and his hands are folded across his chest. The probable most amazing thing about him is his eyes. They are dark green. They are dangerous, beautiful and incredibly unreadable. And they are watching me.

A stubborn young Duke on the verge of being replaced by his heartless and greedy uncle comes to the realization that he needs to fight if he wants to keep what is his. But after the war he lost his will to fight, to live. He no longer fit in with high society, he was scared inside and out and he didn't know how to fight a battle with reputation instead of swords. On a mission to find an imposter, he runs into his late captain's younger sister. In a strange turn of events, she swears a life debt to him and immediately begins to improve his broken reputation with her wild and bright demeanor. The orphaned daughter of an Earl runs circles around her conniving guardians constantly ruining their attempts to marry her off so they can inherit the Earldom, all while secretly preventing the Poor Earldom she loves from going to ruin. Strong-willed and smart she thinks she's got it all figured out. She just needs to block all potential marriages and keep her land and people afloat for another year and a half and she'll be free. But what happens when she's outsmarted and out-maneuvered by someone unexpected? And is she really as immune to good looks and charm as she thought... or was she way overestimating herself?

Mazoku and his friends go on an epic conquest to eliminate all of the Forsaken Realm while also getting stronger to becone the next Power Kings!

Tsuguha Chifuyu is a 17-year-old Japanese orphan who is known to be mysterious and astute, famous in Paris as the Alabaster, a masked delinquent who enjoys messing with the police without revealing his true identity. One night, he meets Evening Anderson and started to form a friendship with her. Their secret meets didn't last long because of Eve's father, who is a senior investigator, Taylor Anderson. Eventually, Chifuyu began working for Taylor to finish cases around Paris, with the serial killer mastermind, The Reaper as their main investigation. Taylor begins to learn more about the mysterious Japanese boy; his mood swings, his intelligence and professionalism in a crime scene, his mischievous and self-confident side, how he is unreadable and many others, eventually how well he conceal his secrets from others around him.

Her life is suffering at sixes and sevens yet, In her guise, those eight years, she thought the life she lead was already measured , visualising the future possibilities of being maverick and headstrong. Shana Mish, an average teenage girl, demanded an intense drastic change from her life and became far more resilient than her divorced parents could realise. Natheless, those imperishable truths cause continual troubles to her. Her old days are comparable to an indelible marker pen, making marks that cannot be removed. And a little more to spill the beans, those are just the scenes depicting her nostalgic sketches. Her life turned out to be restyled after she met two boys. Will there be a fortunate stroke of serendipity or deal with some more life-threatening consequences. Read 'Autumn Days' to find out more.

Executive Jeff Wallace has lusted after Evan Hawthorne since the moment his new employee first stepped into his office for a job interview. Evan is almost ten years Jeff's junior, fresh out of grad school, and one of the best salesmen in the office. Jeff thinks he's hot as hell and as luck would have it, he knows Evan is just as interested.<br><br>The only problem? There's a sticky little paragraph in the employee handbook that keeps Jeff from doing anything more than fantasizing about his new employee. The clause that states, in plain English, that managers and their immediate employees cannot fraternize. They can't get together, not even outside the office, just because Jeff's the boss.<br><br>Jeff has pleaded with his own supervisor, Kirk Morris, to change the rules. Why shouldn't he? Kirk owns the damn company and spends most of his time bonking Jeff's secretary. But it's a no go ... until Jeff finds himself working late one evening with no one left in the office but Evan, who decides to take matters into his own hands regardless of what the employee manual might say.