Zhu Miaomiao is a nineteen-year-old freshman at Beijing Dance University who grew up in poverty with her grandmother, Liu Chunjiao. Her mother, Fu Lan, remarried into the wealthy Huo Family, granting Zhu Miaomiao a stepfather and stepsister, Huo Yuan, but she has never received support from them. When her grandmother is diagnosed with kidney failure and requires expensive surgery, Zhu Miaomiao is desperate. She attempts to borrow money from the Huo Family but is publicly humiliated by her mother and rejected by her stepsister. Huo Yuan, resentful of Zhu Miaomiao’s presence, drugs her and takes her to a casino in Macau, intending to have her assaulted by enforcers to teach her a lesson about her lowly status.
In Macau, Zhu Miaomiao is bound and dragged toward violence by casino staff. She is rescued by Duan Siyu, the powerful and ruthless Tycoon of the Australian Circle, who happens to be present. Although Duan Siyu is known for his brutality and lack of interest in women, he is intrigued by Zhu Miaomiao’s pitiful appearance and the faint plea for help she whispers. He claims her from Huo Yuan, not out of altruism, but because he finds her resistance and beauty captivating. He takes her to his private lounge, where he plays a dangerous game of dominance, forcing her to light his cigarette and revealing that he recognizes her from the list of students his brother, Huo Chen, sponsors. Despite her fear, Zhu Miaomiao realizes Duan Siyu is her only chance for survival and agrees to travel back to Beijing with him on his private jet.
Upon returning to Beijing, Zhu Miaomiao discovers her grandmother has been evicted from the hospital by her mother, who signed papers to discontinue treatment to avoid financial burden. Enraged and desperate, Zhu Miaomiao confronts the Huo Family at their residence. She is beaten by the Huo family’s guards while Huo Chen watches indifferently, viewing her as a gold-digger unworthy of his family’s resources. Just as she is left broken in the snow, Duan Siyu arrives and offers her a ride. Instead of rejecting him, Zhu Miaomiao boldly asks for his business card, declaring her intention to get to know him. She understands that her beauty and vulnerability are her only assets in a world that has trampled her.
Zhu Miaomiao leverages her position as a dance student invited to the Huo Family’s annual gala to cross paths with Duan Siyu again. During her performance, Huo Yuan sabotages the stage by scattering glass shards, hoping to injure Zhu Miaomiao publicly. Despite bleeding through her feet, Zhu Miaomiao completes her Dunhuang dance flawlessly, captivating the audience and Duan Siyu. He carries her offstage and later reveals the sabotage to her, asking what she can offer in return for his protection. Zhu Miaomiao negotiates from a position of weakness, acknowledging her inferior status but asserting her determination. She visits Duan Siyu at his estate, Junwu Garden, on his birthday, where she attempts to seduce him to secure funds for her grandmother’s surgery. Their encounter is interrupted by Duan Siyu’s mentally unstable mother, who attacks Zhu Miaomiao, revealing the dark secrets of Duan Siyu’s family. Despite the danger and the revelation that Duan Siyu’s mother is insane, Zhu Miaomiao agrees to his terms: she will belong to him until he grows tired of her, in exchange for saving her grandmother. The story concludes with Zhu Miaomiao entering a transactional relationship with the dangerous tycoon, trading her autonomy for her grandmother’s life while navigating the hostile environment of Beijing’s elite circles.
