Case File Compendium: Bing An Ben (Novel) Vol. 7

Case File Compendium: Bing An Ben (Novel) #7

by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

A DIRE INHERITANCE

The sudden death of He Yu’s father comes as a great shock to Xie Qingcheng…but he soon learns that the ramifications go far beyond grief. He Yu is now saddled with the role of chairman of his parents’ pharmaceutical company—and with horrifying new revelations that shake the foundations of his world.

As He Yu is swept up in his family’s connections to the crime boss Duan Wen and his sinister, scientifically-advanced organization, Xie Qingcheng finds himself facing him, for the first time, as an enemy. Is He Yu really cooperating with the organization that killed Xie Qingcheng’s parents? Has he truly been consumed by hatred—or could some vestiges of his feelings for Xie Qingcheng remain?

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Fantasy, Queer, Novels, Contemporary, M M Romance

380 pages, Paperback

Published January 27, 2026

About the author

Associated Names:
* Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou
* 肉包不吃肉 (Chinese Profile)
* โร่วเปาปู้ชือโร่ว (Thai Profile)
* Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat (English Profile)

Reviews

[anaya · Rating 1 out of 5]

[Review deleted, but the rating will remain]

I can’t believe the absurdity and hilarity of the situation I faced for a few seconds. Apparently, out of all places, Goodreads is not the place to express your thoughts. I find it not much, but a little bit funny maybe because my sense of humour is broken. I had my first fun little experiment with Twitter, and I shouted into the void, which is not bad, I guess. But time is precious, and I don’t want it to slip away like grains of sand. So farewell, old friends. I will never write anything negative related to anything that might trigger anyone. Peace is first and foremost.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.9/5

My Vol. 7 Emotional Breakdown
Call me crazy, but this volume gives you every emotion imaginable! I know people who DNF (did not finish) at the end of this volume, but I just can’t do that. I don't care for the smut, I would be fine without it. I have to see how this impacts them both, especially since this story has impacted me so deeply. The ending was beyond frustrating, and I desperately need Volume 8 to see what happens next. I'm also a reader who sees beyond what is written on the page. What a deeper meaning of these words can be and that's why I can never give this novel a bad review. There is way too many deeper meanings involved in this story.

So much happened in this novel and so much was revealed. I am still in utter shock! These two truly pain me. I would love for them to just sit down and lay everything out in the open: the lies, the misunderstandings, all of it. They need this discussion! They need communication.

Xie Qingcheng & He Yu
I seriously need Xie Qingcheng to talk! I need him to let out his emotions and tell He Yu everything, especially his true feelings!
And He Yu... what happened? How did things get so much worse just when we were starting to see development? He was becoming so gentle. What did they do to him?!

Honestly, it’s the classic Meatbun formula, and it absolutely destroyed me! It’s a toxic, heartbreaking cocktail of extreme angst, soul-crushing misunderstandings, and that cruel psychological manipulation that makes you want to scream. My heart is literally in pieces watching them get pushed to their absolute breaking point—I feel just as shattered and exhausted as they are!
Happy reading!🥺😭

SPOILERS FOR FUTURE VOLUMES IN MY COMMENTS = AUTOMATIC BLOCK

🪦The Villains & The Trauma (Major Spoilers/TW)🪦

Duan Wen absolutely played a part in the terrifying changes we see in He Yu. When He Yu has a flare-up, his physician, Anthony, uses hypnosis as a "treatment." What are they actually doing to him?!
Also, I loathe Anthony. He lied to Xie Qingcheng about sleeping with He Yu! There is no way He Yu would be with anyone else. Anthony knew the nature of their relationship and just wanted to get under Xie Qingcheng’s skin. It makes me furious!

The "Death" and the Aftermath
After He Yu’s "death," the impact on Xie Qingcheng was devastating. He lost sight in one eye, shed a single bloody tear, and was literally dying from grief. When he embraced the cold stone of He Yu’s anonymous tomb and said, "Little Devil... Let me hold you. One last time," I cried my eyes out! He finally sought treatment, and after a year, he finally shed the tears that had been bottled up for so long.

Of course, He Yu never died. His foot was severed and he fell into the ocean, but he was recovered, and likely tortured, in Australia. I only say tortured because he has changed so much.

The Truth Revealed
We finally found out who killed Xie Qingcheng’s parents: it was He Yu’s mother! But even she was a fraud. a woman who killed the real mother and took her place because she was obsessed with He Jiwei. When He Jiwei found out, he committed suicide via weed killer a month later. During that slow, painful death, he told He Yu the truth.

I believe He Yu only went to deliver those illegal drugs to Duan Wen to find a cure for Xie Qingcheng. That is how he "died" on a ship, suffering a flare-up after seeing Chen Man. He thought Xie Qingcheng was protecting Chen Man, when really, Xie Qingcheng was trying to protect him. To make matters worse, to ensure He Yu’s "loyalty," Duan Wen implanted a device in his heart. I hate that man so much!

[hope]

edit 1 (jan 8/26)
are we really ready for this volume? i know i am not, because based on what happened in volume 6 plus the synopsis of this one!? we're COOKED 😭 looks like meatbun isn't sparing us AT ALL 💔😭

reviews so far:
vol 1. - 3 stars
vol 2. - 5 stars
vol 3. - 4 stars
vol 4. - 4 stars
vol 5. - 5 stars
vol 6. - 5 stars

[Rose ✧⁎⁺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m disappointed.

[lyss · Rating 5 out of 5]

meatbun do you hate me... be honest... do you like to cause me pain?? and this isnt even as bad as her other series my god

[Queens Love Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Sometimes, when people failed to understand each other, it wasn't because they didn't have the ability or opportunity. It was because there was no intention to understand in the first place."



Gosh, my eyes became faucets. I did not expect this volume to hit me the way it did, and not always in a good way. It’s tragic, painful, and honestly frustrating, because it keeps teasing the idea that things are finally moving forward. Then suddenly, everything snaps back to square one. I know that kind of emotional whiplash is intentional, but living inside it for hundreds of pages was rough. I wasn’t bored, but I was worn down. By the end, I felt wrung out rather than satisfied, like the book wanted me to sit in the hurt instead of offering any kind of relief or grounding.

Xie Qingchen is written with almost brutal consistency. He is principled to a fault, self-denying, and emotionally shut down even when it costs him everything. I respect how unwavering he is, but over time that strength turns into a wall. His refusal to speak his feelings creates distance that never really closes, and I started to feel that gap as a reader too. He Yu, on the other hand, is reactive and volatile. He swings from vulnerable to controlling in ways that pulled me in but also exhausted me. Their relationship shifts from strained intimacy into something deeply imbalanced. I was invested, but also uncomfortable, because the emotional push and pull kept circling the same wounds without changing shape.

This book is very serious about what it wants to say. It focuses on how power, secrecy, and institutions slowly distort people, especially when authority and intimacy bleed into punishment. Suffering isn’t something to fix here. It just keeps accumulating. Accountability stays limited. Emotional repair is rare. If you’re looking for warmth, momentum, or a sense that damage will be addressed, this will probably feel draining. For readers who appreciate morally difficult stories and unresolved pain, there’s something compelling in how honest and harsh it is.

Date Read: 2026.02.09

[nark · Rating 5 out of 5]

give me the next volume NOW !!!!!!!

[Cyndi]

Soap opera levels of drama. Plot armor at every turn (of course they have advanced technology that even the military doesn't have access to). Misunderstandings born from the most frustrating levels of stubbornness ever depicted in written form. This series is truly bizarre and the cover for the next book tells me things are only going to get more outlandish from here.

I have no idea how to rate this because there were times when I thought this was the strongest volume yet, but the last few chapters walked the "romance" back so far that I might be beyond convincing at this point. But, of course, I'm going to keep reading it.

[Ky ! · Rating 5 out of 5]

The angst in this one was insane

[kaylina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Xie Qingcheng, Xie Qingcheng. I might never get to be He Yu again.

Let me hold my teddy bear one last time, okay? You have to remember how tightly I held you, the same way I’ll remember all the warmth you ever gave me.

……

Little Devil, won’t you come back?

note: god how i WISH i could share all the quotes i highlighted from this volume, just to have them speak for themselves….maybe soon i’ll reread it on kindle to share it with you all bc i don’t think my words give justice to how i feel about the story.

sigh…is this what it feels like to be as stubbornly loyal to something so controversial like xqc is with hy??

but here we go! to sum it all up, when i read vol.2, that’s when i knew what i was getting into with this series and i fully accepted it. it is really fucked up :’)

i still loved the characters, enough that he yu really struck out to me and then xie qingcheng also bowled me over in his complexity. so when i saw some negative comments on my goodreads feed about this story yesterday, i had to kind of just accept them after venting to a friend about it. it also made me rush to read this new volume to form my own opinion.

this series really isn’t for the feint of heart, and i respect anyone who knows this isn’t for them. if they get angry, i understand. but i personally feel there’s a lot of merit and heart to this story that can’t be erased, even when this pairing do such painful things to each other. there’s a lot of symbolism and small moments that are keyed in at crucial points to give you insight into the whirlwind going on in he yu’s head.

for example:

’Why did he stop resisting? Why did he stop paying attention? Why did he stop giving me any reaction—like he’s given up on me, like he’s already dead?!’

…’How strange’, he thought. He had debased Xie Qincheng so, yet the yawning void inside him only grew larger and larger. He felt like an idiot performing a monologue for himself. A surge of malice rampaged through his chest.

He Yu let that malice fuel him.

so the opinion that meatbun would purposefully write these non-con scenes just for kicks feels very strange, considering how multi-faceted she writes her characters beyond the explicit content.

we got a small taste of how far meatbun (the author) pushes her pairings with chu wanning & taxian-jun in ‘erha’. it just so happens that with ‘case file’, we’re getting the full brunt of it with he yu & xie qingcheng. they are the most dumbass pairing i’ve ever had the strange luck to discover, and their miscommunication is….heartbreaking as hell. this doesn’t even read like a dark romance to me, it’s just plain sad.

a lot of creative liberties are used as it feels like you’re constantly watching he yu switch back & forth between madness and sanity (the goddamn fucking idiot) to throw off the course of the story. but i still see a lot of depth in him, even in all his inexcusable actions. there’s just so much tension & chemistry in his scenes with xqc (especially in their reunion later on in this vol!!!), as bittersweet as things become. through that, i also can’t help but be compelled by how xie qingcheng responds to it as well.

xie qingcheng really felt like the star in this volume in all his grief & hurt. even when he yu wasn’t in the picture, you could see how irreversibly intertwined xqc was with him. they’re a twisted pairing that find cruel comfort in each other, but it reads so unmistakably human to me.

another example:

It was dark.
The lights of the amusement park had gone out. With that person [He Yu] gone, even his dreams lost all color.
And his eye, which had quietly shed a final trail of bloody tears in the night, seemed to be blind for good.

i see something really special in this story that makes me read it in one sitting with every volume. even with how bizarre the ending of this volume was (i don’t know what’s worse; a spit kink or piss kink….allo people scare me), it only makes me want to see more of what will happen between these two.

hexie are a one of a kind relationship, so of course i’ll stick with them to the end. lingering behind them is this top-secret criminal organization that keeps fueling the flames surrounding them, and that same org is also the heart of where all hexie’s madness began.

they hold a special place in my heart and the writing’s just always incredible, so idk…..to be continued, i suppose!!

[Stephrewritten · Rating 5 out of 5]

BAB Vol. 7… how do I even put it into words…oh yeah A MASTERPIECE OF DESTRUCTION.

That’s how I’m feeling after reading it.

I have to say, even though it’s been a couple months since reading the last volume, the MINUTE I picked it up I was transported back and didn’t want to put it down.

Meatbun’s use of imagery and the way she paints a picture of the emotion is something I’ll always be in awe of. There were SO many highlights of moments where I literally sat and stared, because her words were that powerful. Some highlights were:

“Don’t move.” “…Let me hold you for a while, okay? My heart’s breaking. You’re the only one who can settle me down at all.”
This moment and connecting it back to the cover… just always reminds me of the power of these stories. These are two characters in a book but the way these words GRIPPED my heart like a vice. The subtle heartbreak, the longing, the desperation for connection that is never as easy as we hope…it’s so relatable and gouging.

“After today…I might not…I might never get to be He Yu again.”
This is one of my favourite lines from this volume. Like damn it hits when you read it but when you finish and re read it… not only does Xie Qingcheng not know the depth but neither do we. The foreshadowing of the emotional TIDAL-WAVE we are about to experience…omg.

“They were eachothers healing salve”
This hurts 10 TIMES MORE knowing how this volume unfolded. I swear Hexie’s miscommunication is another level of painful.
But this. The slow morning they got to have. It was almost meatbun’s consolation to us as well. Seeing them have that peace that seems like they feel they don’t deserve, hidden away from the world, for their eyes only…it was such a beautiful kind of heartbreak.

I think this volume packed such a punch. After we’ve gone through SO much with them and honestly have truly gone through the 5 stages of grief. I’ve truly felt every emotion to both He Yu and Xie Qingcheng. But realizing from the very beginning how different He Yu’s life could have gone… and how intertwined their fates were from the very beginning. That to me is one of my FAVOURITE things. He Yu’s mother’s backstory really hit me in a very delicate spot.

It was actually painful seeing He Yu’s hurt being manifested back to how he was, well WORSE than he was in the beginning… it hurts. I MISS SIMPY LITTLE DEVIL. But I think that’s what makes Meatbun such a powerful author, she isn’t afraid to upset us or surprise us or make us HURT (pay for my therapy girl).

Also, I really appreciated the two-three year time skip, really getting to connect and see Xie Qingcheng’s grief. I feel like every time we get to see more inside of him the deeper my love and admiration for him grows. Also, his relationship with YaYa…ADORABLE. Him with glasses too…He Yu I don’t appreciate your mean words to him.

“not all tears brim over”
This is one of the reasons BAB is high ranking on my faves list. I know it has so many triggers and things that are atrocious and so uncomfortable… but the look at the darkness, the heartbreak, the quiet and loud suffering. It’s highlight of mental health…even in the bad is so powerful to me? The way it can surprises you and make you cry but also laugh. It’s so true to life in that way?

AND NOT THE PISS. MY JAW DROPPED. DROPPED.

I think for me one of the greatest joys is seeing how deeply Xie Qingcheng’s love goes, even when he isn’t outwardly able to express it. Like him holding lil He Yu… my heart.

But the last line?? CRIMINAL WAY TO END. I will be unwell until the next volume comes out.

“Let’s never see each other again.”

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

My eyes hurt from how much this volume made me cry.

The way grief and longing are portrayed is brilliant and beautiful. And just when there's a spark of hope, it's crushed.

There were so many developments in here, both in the plot and the characters. I know some people will be disappointed about the way this played out, but even when they make me angry, I just love these two so much. The awful things they do make sense for who they are and the trauma they've been through.

Xie Qingcheng and He Yu need each other. But they never realize it together; they are never on the same page.

I'm aching for the next volume. I don't know how everyone will come back from this, but I had that same fear in earlier volumes and my trust was rewarded, so I'm sure it will be again.

[khai · Rating 5 out of 5]

this put me through a psychosis.

[Belle 🫀 · Rating 5 out of 5]

My brain cells were completely fried after finishing this book. There are so many lines you have to sit with, contemplate, and read between, or you’ll miss what it’s really trying to say.

I felt almost every emotion possible while reading, but above all, hurt. This book hurt! After being dragged through a whirlwind of emotions, I was left in a daze, and somehow it made me feel… so alive 🫀

To feel so deeply, to experience so many human emotions just from reading a book, what an experience.

So many things started clicking into place, things I never saw coming, hitting me all at once like a tidal wave carrying debris with it. And I finally got a clear look at just how deep xqc’s feelings run for hy, something I really wanted to see since vol 1.

I’m still reeling. This book showed me absolutely no mercy. blow after blow, straight to the heart, leaving bruises. This was painfully beautiful ❤️‍🩹

[yari · Rating 5 out of 5]

that hurt but we move

[c1nnaden ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ⭐🐲

in this story, for one step forward in the relationship, shortly after they take a hundred steps back, and it becomes such a toxic situation for both of them that I don't even know how to comment 😭
i learned to appreciate both Xie Qingcheng, in his stoicism but also strong vulnerability that hit him after what happened to He Yu, and He Yu himself, who has faced a series of significant problems and traumas in the last volumes. they should both be protected but meatbun loves to make us suffer.. so much..
i hope for a reconciliation and above all for the beginning of a relationship between the two that is NOT toxic, but loving and made of loving gestures and not spite, jealousy and unspoken words 3
besides this, i think the plot is moving forward in a masterly way. meatbun is capable of criticizing the unattainable beauty standards that young women, and not only, are forced to measure themselves with EVERY day, especially in Chinese society and i love her for exposing herself so much through her stories, she is truly our queen!
see you next volume <3

[sato.mi.a · Rating 5 out of 5]

найважча частина, я буквально продиралась крізь текст, настільки це було боляче. майже після кожної глави було бажання відкласти і подихати, це якась прірва відчаю 💔 дуже їх люблю, але це ще більше розбиває серце 😭

[mara - hyrulevalkyrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m sorry, he did WHAT

[Sleepy Zirka · Rating 3 out of 5]

✧˖°.˗ˏˋ CASE FILE COMPENDIUM ˊ˗˖°.✧
----- ----- ----- ----- -----

That fragrance… It was a cold, clear scent that could only belong to Xie Qingcheng. He Yu craved more; he was almost overtaken by the urge to tear open Xie Qingcheng’s painted skin and sink his teeth into the flesh beneath, that flesh which bewitched his very soul, which he loved and hated in equal measure.

He longed to kiss him, to tear him apart.
To swallow him whole.

----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Characters: ★★★☆☆
World Building: ★★☆☆☆
Plot: ★★☆☆☆
Tension: ★★☆☆☆
Writing style: ★★★☆☆
Entertainment: ★★★★☆
Romance/Smut: ★★★☆☆

Overall Score: ★ 2.4/5.0 ★ 5/10 ★
Here we go again, more craziness from our two unhinged boys. I gave up on expectations long ago... Here we go!
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
˗ˏˋ The Story ˊ˗

Just as life is starting to get more complicated and mysteries start to intertwine, He Yu father suddenly dies, when he commited suicides. Leaving all his belongings, as well as his pharmaceutical company to his son. Becomming the chairman of such a wide scale operation brings not only the public eye on He Yu, but also glances from the undercity and the mafia.

Xie Qingcheng attempts to escape this turmoil all over the world, the conflicts and remnants of the past's mistakes catch up to them. The secrets about the substance RN-13 slowly leaking to the surface.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
˗ˏˋ My Two Cents ˊ˗

*Sips Tea* Haha~ Contrivences, plot armour off the railings, possessive and obsessive He Yu wanting to impregnate his old man so bad once more. Really vibing with it and not thinking much at this point.
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
- Series ☆ 2.7/5 ☆ -
[ Case File Compendium Vol. 1 ] ★ 2.7/5.0 ★ 5.5/10 ★
[ Case File Compendium Vol. 2 ] ★ 2.5/5.0 ★ 5/10 ★
[ Case File Compendium Vol. 3 ] ★ 2.9/5.0 ★ 6/10 ★
[ Case File Compendium Vol. 4 ] ★ 3.1/5.0 ★ 6/10 ★
[ Case File Compendium Vol. 5 ] ★ 3.4/5.0 ★ 7/10 ★
[ Case File Compendium Vol. 6 ] ★ 2.6/5.0 ★ 5/10 ★
[ Case File Compendium Vol. 7 ] ★ 2.4/5.0 ★ 5/10 ★
[ Case File Compendium Vol. 8 ] ★ TBA ★
[ Case File Compendium Vol. 9 ] ★ TBA ★
[ Case File Compendium Vol. 10 ] ★ TBA ★
----- ----- ----- ----- -----

[Mariam, · Rating 3 out of 5]

i’m tired ya’ll.

im so goddamn tired of this shit.

(yes i will be continuing to the next book)

(i dont know when volume 7 ends but i stopped at chapter 209 (chinese version) because fuck this shit. Volume 8 better be fucking good to prepare me for that hell that is volume 9’s cover. Oh and a might Fuck you to rubao laoshi, i hate you and your exquisite words of pain.) (what can i say? Xie qingcheng inspired me with his beautiful count of saying fuck)

[Saloua · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm paying for everybody's therapy after reading this volume 🙂 It had me fighting for my life, and I'm sure it had you fighting for yours too.

Also, those last chapters...all that character development we've been happy about for more than three volumes...POOOF. ALL FUCKING GONE.

We've transcended. He Yu is no longer unhinged. This MF doesn't have a door anymore.

I have no more hair left to tear, and He Yu better not meet me in an empty alley, unhinged or not, I'll beat his ass senseless.

[iz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not okay.

I want to destroy this book with He Yu together. It's a shame that this cover is so beautiful and innocent.

[Niki.reads.rainbow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just talk to each other, please, I’m begging

[Nacora KatAnna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Habría sido 5 estrellas si no fuera por el final...

[Chloe ⋆·˚ ༘ * · Rating 3 out of 5]

"They were each other's healing salve. It wasn't just He Yu who needed Xie Qingcheng; sunk into useless confusion, Xie Qingcheng also needed He Yu."

2.5 stars - god I'm so conflicted about this again. And just when He Yu was doing so well TvT. The first half of this volume was so well done, heartbreaking reading their first scene together in the rain then He Yu trying to take down Duan Wen on his own. Only for when he 'dies' he has the wrong impression of Xie Qingcheng's motives, and harbours that grudge for three years.

"I'm sorry, Little Devil. You told me do many times that you loved me, yet I never told you once that actually, I also..."

Really the whole of their issues is the fact that they're both so stubborn they refuse to communicate first. While other people haven't helped (Xie Lishen there's a special place in hell for you istg), if they just talked they would clear up so many misunderstandings. And He Yu wouldn't then decide to resort to terrible acts which make Xie Qingcheng hate him again. Genuinely didn't think I'd see the day piss kink(?) would be added to the list of trigger warnings but here we are TvT. My jaw dropped at the same time I read Xie Qingcheng's dropping because genuinely wtf He Yu.

The new art in this was absolutely gorgeous though, very well done. And there were still aspects I found sweet. In a bit of a morbid sense, to be fair, because it was mainly around the little moments in between that neither He Yu or Xie Qingcheng let the other see. But the way I was also tearing my hair out because He Yu's toxic jealous ass had to make things twenty times worse with the conference TvT. I'm really intrigued to see how everything plays out still though, especially with what really happened with He Yu's 'death' and 3-year stay in Australia and what he's doing. The cover for volume 8 really hasn't given me any sense of relief though I fear.

It's one step forward and three steps back constantly. And while I totally understand people that have said that they'll drop the series now, I feel like I've invested too much time to not see their happy ending TvT. Self-torture reading Meatbun's works but so good.

[Veronika · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Waiter! Why does this food have a dead dove in it!?"
"Madam, that's our dead dove inside do not eat special. This is your seventh time ordering it. You've had it six times before already."
"Six seven."
______________________
Whatever stragglers of the softer-hearted variety that may have been reading along still (Why? There's been much worse things in the earlier volumes) will inevitably give up at volume seven and leave angry reviews because of the second-to-last chapter. Unfortunately I have to say, you have been warned and this is not even as brutal as some of the early chapters!
So, if you actually have a stomach for some truly toxic yaoi, you will appreciate this volume for the treat it is. Unfortunately this treat will leave you crying and frustrated at the inability of these two men to communicate. (Truly I cannot complain about it as unrealistic; these are after all men and deeply closeted and homophobic straight guy types to add to the injury. Xie Qingcheng, the frustratingly MILFy boomer not being able to let out a single productive sentence that could rectify the situation easily is to be expected)
Volume 7 is, I think, the most difficult one to read. It's the divorce arc, then the widower arc and then it culminates with an extreme scene (which, just to set things straight, is not actually the most extreme because of the nature of the sexual acts or physical violence, it is such precisely because of the emotional aspect behind it. You will see that all this extreme play will get more screentime in a fully consensual setting later once the characters are not convinced the other one hates them and is cheating on them with). Meatbun's sex scenes are as always outstanding in a genre where it's incredibly easy to write unsexy slop, she truly brings the right kind of perverted energy you need for this job. The prose is compelling, flows naturally and is even beautiful. It sounds great in English, where a lot of danmei prose struggles because of a heavy-handed approach.
Overall a classic of toxic yaoi, thank you meatbun for inventing gay sex.

[sunaina · Rating 5 out of 5]

i waited for this volume for ages and let's just say it did not disappoint me because i saw this coming and the first 60% of the story was SOOOO well written and heartbreaking and made me cry actual tears, so i just had to rate this five stars. whatever happened after that.... yeah well... hahahahaha.... we'll just see in the next volume i guess ;-; (which i hope will be interesting with the mechanical pegasi and the new blondie lmao)
xie qingcheng being a girl-uncle is so canon like i totally love the idea of it. he's always given me such severe girl-dad vibes. also i fucking LOVE him. i will literally die for him. every single time he cried, i cried with him. i just want to give him a hug so bad :(((((((
my favourite part of the book was when he broke down in the streets of new york city, holding that bouquet so tightly to his chest as he mourned his dead lover.
and he yu before the naval battle... my heart will mourn you forever, twin. they really destroyed my baby in australia :(
and FUCK ANTHONY. i will literally murder him before xqc does istfg.
also i still find duan wen super interesting and i really want to know him as a character.
you know what's actually funny? the whole reason i started this series was because a certain twitter yaoi circle was talking about a particular scene (the most infamous one for some reason? although i would argue there are much more scandalous scenes) which seemed so absurd to me that i just had to know more about bing an ben and i ended up reading it. and that scene happens in this book and i was judging the fuck out of myself for ever seeming interested about it. ANYWAY.
whatever i read and enjoyed in this entire series is between me and god, please do not come at me.

[shakchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

compared to volume 6 this was a much easier read. the crime plot was a little interesting in this volume but the miscommunication pissed me off so much like bro just admit you weren't fucking chen man all this time 😭😭😭 that's LITERALLY THE ONLY THING THAT'S TRIGGERING TO HE YU like half of this book wouldn't exist if xqc just straight up started speaking truthfully to he yu. this book is like the prime example of why communication is important in relationships. at this point i feel bad for fucking chen man like bro doesn't do anything but exist around xqc and gets dragged into their fuckass relationship. also i have been pretty neutral to the smut in this book until the final one in this volume which just hit me so wrong like it just pissed me off much. thank god it was in the end or i would have dnf-ed the entire book instead of finishing that mess. but overall, i did get through this much easier than vol 6 and god I can't finally wait to get to vol 8 and be done with this series and never speak abt it again

[Claudine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is a lot of hurt with no comfort. The only glimpse of warmth is the bitter sweet night that HeXie share before He Yu will become president of his late father's company and after that everything starts to spiral. They withhold so much information from each other (and I know for a certain circumstance it can't be helped) but it's just so much hurt and misunderstanding that can be avoided.

it's really good too see the mystery of Xie QingCheng's parents' deaths finally have the answers and so fucked up what Wei Rong did.

I was tearing up at Xie QingCheng in his widow arc.

so bitterly angry with "Anthony" being so petty for a stupid ass reason. Also the fact he was lying to Xie QingCheng to get under his skin.

I'm just so upset that HeXie came so far only to end up back at square one again. I can't help but to feel bad for Xie QingCheng being humiliated time and time again put into such a sorry state. I have to wait until May to see what will happen next, the ending of this book seems to be giving off a looming dread.

[Chu Chu · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all I need to admit chapter 192 had me crying my eyes out at 1:30 a.m.

He Yu and Xie Qingcheng are two of the stupidest people I have ever met. Never have I encountered a love story that takes me trough so many emotions in just one book. There were moments where I loved them both, there were times when I just wanted to throw a chair at every single character in this book.

Meatbun is so cruel for giving He Yu character development in vol 5 and 6, only to make He Yu worse than he was is vol 1, 230 pages into this book.

To summarize:
I just want to give my poor baby Xie Qingcheng a hug (I know he is a 36 year old man, but I still feel the need to protect him).
Also Chen Yan, please go away, he is literally the catalyst for 50% of He Yu and Xie Qingcheng's relationship problem in this volume.
I also have an intense urge to slap He Yu, cause what the hell bro?
Lastly I need Xie Lishen dead yesterday. I have hated him ever since he opened his goddamn mouth a few volumes ago.