[A flirtatious, carefree CEO X a gentle, clear-eyed journalist]
Three years into their secret marriage, they were married in name only.
Cheng Jin was a carefree playboy, while Liu Xitang was gentle and dignified. Their personalities were worlds apart.
After the wedding, Liu Xitang accidentally discovered that his first love was going abroad for medical treatment. With his family pressuring him, Cheng Jin had married her just for show. She was easier to control than the other daughters of prominent families, and marrying her would make it easier for him to get out of the arrangement.
Liu Xitang gave up on him.
On the day they divorced, Cheng Jin held a cigarette between his lips and said, “You think I can’t live without you? Don’t flatter yourself.”
As Cheng Jin clung to her, Liu Xitang replied calmly, “I don’t like the smell of smoke on you.”
Cheng Jin gave a mocking laugh. “Why not just say you don’t like me?”
Liu Xitang said, “If that’s what you insist on believing, there’s nothing I can do.”
When Cheng Jin saw Liu Xitang standing with another man, laughing brightly,
It felt as if a boulder were crushing his chest, leaving him unable to breathe. The pain bent his back.
Liu Xitang was in danger.
Cheng Jin knelt for a long time before the Buddha, burning incense and bowing.
“Buddha above, I, your believer Cheng Jin, am willing to give up ten years of my life in exchange for my wife’s lifelong safety and peace. I know I am weak. Let all the consequences of karma fall upon me. Please keep her safe until the end of her days.”
Outside Lianhua Temple, the words were engraved on a stone stele:
Cheng Jin and his beloved wife, Liu Xitang: “May compassion reach all three thousand realms, and the Buddha’s light shine for billions of years.”
One day,
Their daughter sighed. “Dad argues even more than Doudou, the kid who sits next to me. Isn’t he embarrassed?”
Cheng Jin pulled her tightly against his waist and gave her a peck.
“Why do I feel even more in love after we argue?”
“Because I understand what you want now.”
