Beloved Enemy

❤️ Main Relationship

原炀 (Yuan Yang) × 顾青裴 (Gu Qingpei)

Fandom ship name: 原顾 (Yuán Gù); Gu Qingpei is affectionately nicknamed 天仙 ("the fairy") by readers

✨ Introduction

Zhen Feng Dui Jue is one of the cornerstones of Shui Qiancheng's "188 group" universe. Gu Qingpei, 33, is a star executive with a flawless smile and a calculating mind — divorced, discreetly gay, and very expensive. Yuan Lijiang hires him with a seven-figure salary to run his company and, as a side assignment, to discipline his son Yuan Yang: 22, nearly 1.9 meters of ex-army insubordination, recently dragged home from the military to inherit a business he despises.

Their war begins on day one. Yuan Yang tries to break his new boss with humiliation schemes; Gu Qingpei counters with bureaucratic judo and wins every round — until one revenge plot goes too far, and the fallout tears them apart for two years. The second half of the novel belongs to a changed Yuan Yang: he has grown into a sharp, ruthless young president, and he has spent two years building the leverage to win Gu Qingpei back for good.

🌏 Background

The setting is contemporary Beijing's business world: boardrooms, auctions, bank credit, and a long-running struggle over a private credit union that could control billions in cash flow. Around the central romance runs an unusually substantial corporate plot — equity battles, loan guarantees, a kidnapping, and a father-son cold war in which Gu Qingpei becomes both prize and battlefield. The 188 series signature is present but inverted: Yuan Yang is the rare "scumbag-adjacent" lead of the series who turns devoted early and stays devoted, making this the fandom's comfort read.

🎭 Themes & Tone

- Pride and power: who concedes first when neither will kneel

- Revenge and restitution: a cruel scheme that must be answered for

- Age gap and class friction: the polished executive versus the soldier heir

- Growth on the page: a wolf cub matures into a man who can protect what he loves

- Family pressure and inheritance, in business and in love

Tone: sharp, fast, and glossy, with boardroom tension, melodramatic highs, and unexpected comedy.

👥 Main Characters

- 原炀 (Yuan Yang) — 22, ex-army, brash and physically fearless; matures into a decisive, fiercely loyal president

- 顾青裴 (Gu Qingpei) — 33, elegant executive "old fox"; glamorous, self-protective, and secretly soft-hearted

- 王晋 (Wang Jin) — smooth rival executive who genuinely pursues Gu Qingpei and keeps Yuan Yang jealous for years

- 彭放 (Peng Fang) — Yuan Yang's loud, loyal, chronically unlucky best friend

- 原立江 (Yuan Lijiang) — the chairman father whose contempt sets the conflict in motion

✨ Iconic Quote

- 顾青裴 (Gu Qingpei): "Beijing is so big — ten lanes on Chang'an Avenue, and there is always one road where we will never meet." (北京城这么大，长安街十车道，总有一条是我们碰不上的。)

🎬 Adaptations

- Audio Drama: Completed — commercial version produced by Manbo app with Langsheng Yaji and 729 Voice Factory (two seasons; main CVs Gu Jiangshan as Yuan Yang × Jin Xuan as Gu Qingpei; a 30-episode cut aired on Maoer FM, Ximalaya, and NetEase Cloud Music from April 2022); several fan-produced versions also circulate, including a well-known seven-episode fan drama

- Manhua: Serialized (Kuaikan Manhua reported)

- Live-action: Aired — the 2017 iQiyi web drama Beloved Enemy (决对争锋), 15 episodes, directed by Sun Chengzhi, starring Shang Bai as Gu Qingpei and Gao Ming as Yuan Yang; the romance was adapted into a business-rivalry storyline

🔥 Why It’s Popular

- The flagship devoted-loyal-dog pairing of the 188 series: Yuan Yang never wavers, and readers adore him for it

- Gu Qingpei is one of danmei's most beloved mature shou characters — clever, vain, and heartbreakingly principled

- The business-war plot gives the romance real stakes beyond misunderstandings

- Endlessly re-read for the banter: two smart people fencing with words

- A rare happy, stable ending within a series famous for torturing its couples

📚 Reader Notes

Beginner-friendly: ★★★★☆ (no prior 188 series knowledge required)

Angst level: ★★★☆☆

Plot complexity: Medium

Romance visibility: High

Mystery focus: Low

Recommended for readers who like adult urban power games, witty banter, and an age gap where both sides fight hard and love harder.

✍️ Author

水千丞 (Shui Qiancheng)

Creator of the bestselling "188 group" shared universe of modern urban novels; her style is glossy, fast-moving melodrama built around business warfare and high-stakes emotion.

🌌 Similar IPs

If you like Beloved Enemy, you may also enjoy:

- Golden Terrace — a political marriage between two dangerous men

- The Submissive Emperor — devotion and intrigue inside a court power struggle

- Sunset Boulevard — show business, hidden longing, and a slow second chance

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