一念之私

by Hui Nan Que, 回南雀

我霸占着属于纪晨风的一切，地位、家世、亲人……明知自己是个冒牌货，仍旧鸠占鹊巢，毫无愧疚。

我的骨子里天生流淌着自私的基因，贪婪无度，卑鄙无耻，什么都想要，什么都要有，并且……不打算改变。

***

一念善，一念恶；一念贪，一念错。

当混蛋拥有了爱人的能力，或许就是老天对他混蛋的最大惩罚。

***

纪晨风x桑念，穷人家的贵公子x富人家的混蛋

Genres: Modern

Unknown Binding

First published September 26, 2021

About the author

Associated Names:
* Hui Nan Que
* 回南雀

Reviews

[Xantababy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before reading Old Injury, The Selfish Gene was the actual next on my list. I skipped it to read Old Injury first, and so The Selfish Gene undeniably became my next read. I love Old Injury so I was looking forward to reading this one. And of course, as expected, I love it. Hui Nan Jue’s works are never a miss. From Flying Gulls Never Land, Green Plum Island, Old Injury, and now, The Selfish Gene, all got a five-star rating from me.

The story started with Sang Nian, written in first-person perspective. I truly hated him at first. He was the kind of person I would never associate with in real life. But for some reason, unbeknownst to me, I suddenly became Team Sang Nian. My heart was slowly captured by this hunter as if I were the prey instead of Ji Chenfeng.

Ji Chenfeng got a hearing disability and that was probably one of the reasons I was on Ji Chenfeng’s side at first. I’m emotionally weak to people with disabilities. So even though he didn’t appear as weak as most, I still leaned towards him in the beginning. I immediately got a “danger” alarm going on in my head when he first appeared. I knew he wasn’t as soft as he appeared to be.

But what truly made this novel interesting was that the protagonist, Sang Nian in particular, was straight. And the same goes for the sub couple in the extras. What's more, Sang Nian was a homophobe. I truly enjoyed reading how a straight man slowly bent amidst his pride. How he slapped his face as the story progressed. That sounds so much like a sadist, but heh, maybe there is a bit of sadism in me. It was quite satisfying.

The positions, gong, and shou, were a bit ambiguous. I was trying to guess who the shou would be and was quite surprised when I found out. Unlike in the sub couple, I immediately knew who the shou would be, but as I was reading it, I honestly was secretly hoping it was the other way around. Haha.

The angst! Oh my god, the angst was so real. I could feel both protagonists’ pain and anger. And my heart was torn into two. I have gone from left to right, putting myself in Sang Nian’s shoes and then to Ji Chenfeng’s shoes alternately. And the way Sang Nian added fuel to the fire made me curse him in my heart, and then my heart softened for him again.

Their relationship confused me not once, not twice but a couple of times. Even though they were sweet and romantic, I could feel the tension between them. There was foreshadowing that was hard to ignore. It wasn’t written openly, but as a reader, I could just feel it. The way I interpreted it, their relationship even borders on obsession.

The ending was okay. It was sweet just as I expected. But it didn’t seem like an ending to me because of the extras. I truly enjoyed the extras, especially the story of the sub couple. It was amazing. They should have their own novel. But I guess, based on the author’s comment, she didn’t expect it to be that long either.

Also the plot, the story, and a bit of detail here and there, I noticed the author seems to want to try writing an omegaverse novel. And there indeed was an abo extra. It was a refreshing read, suited both the protagonists’ characters, not one out of character.

The Selfish Gene is a must-read! Hui Nan Jue is now one of my favorite authors, and I should start looking for her novels’ physical copies to add to my bookshelf. 🤭

PS. I read the ongoing English translation first then read the rest of the untranslated chapters in raw.

[Agnessa Contti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acabé de revisar mis estadísticas de Goodreads. Aparentemente, la única persona que tiene archivada esta novela soy yo. Angeline, nuevamente, marcando tendencias. 🥁

Muy bien, ¿de qué trata este libro desconocido para la plataforma? The Selfish Gene nos tiene una premisa que, probablemente, hemos visto ya en alguna telenovela turca —estoy convencida de que Hui Nan Que habrá visto mínimo una—: Una madre, inducida por la desesperación de sus circunstancias, intercambia a su hijo por el de una familia rica con el objetivo de que su bebé viva rodeado de lujos.

Si bien Sang Nian creció en cuna de oro, le faltó una cosa muy importante en su desarrollo como persona: un vínculo estable. Esta carencia emocional, sumada al trauma sufrido a manos de su niñera durante sus primeros años de vida, lo lleva a ser una persona con múltiples adicciones y una visión bastante retorcida de lo que llamamos «sociedad».

Sang Nian descubre la verdad tres años antes del punto de partida de la historia. Él siente que debe hacer lo imposible para mantener su estatus social. ¿Y qué sería lo imposible para alguien como Sang Nian? Seducir a Ji Chenfeng, el verdadero hijo de la familia Sang.

Obviamente, aquí es cuando aprovecho para citar esta magnífica canción que he tenido en la mente esta última semana: Te pintó pajaritos en el aire. Hubo un momento en donde me puse a analizar la situación desde el punto de vista de Ji Chenfeng y sonó otra melodía en mi cabeza: Sang Nian, you’re just a man, it’s just want you do. Jodido Sang Nian. Dejé de irle a su team por una escena bien específica.

Esta reseña me está quedando muy larga. Vamos a resumir mis puntos rápidamente:
1. Ya he mencionado que adoro la escritura de la autora. Tiene la capacidad de atraerte desde los primeros párrafos. No obstante, si la comparo con sus otras novelas, siento que The Selfish Gene no me tuvo tan intrigada. Otra vez, culpa de Sang Nian (que sí, que sé que al final le acabé teniendo lástima, pero fue por eso que estuvo a punto de hacer que le bajó puntos para mí).
2. Aunque comprendí los motivos detrás del enamoramiento de los protagonistas, sentí que les faltó esa chispa. Ambos se dicen frases muy hermosas, sí —a momentos, te quedas pensando: «Maldición, la autora sí que se lució con esta línea»—, pero no sé, me hizo falta esa emoción que debe caracterizar a uno cuando lee romance.
3. El arco de redención estuvo bien. «No puede ser» y «No sé ni qué decir» son mis frases gastadas. Reitero: Ji Chenfeng es mejor persona que yo. En mis zapatos, lo pongo a sufrir más.

Y ya, esa sería toda mi reseña por aquí. Son las 2:26 a.m. y yo debería estar escribiendo otra cosa...

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love an unlikable character.