After My Husband Died, the Rugged Man Next Door Came Knocking Every Night

Newly married and widowed, Su Wan became the neighborhood’s most ill-omened “young widow.” Before the rumors and malice had even died down, the taciturn, rugged Lu Chen from next door began knocking on her door every night, right on time.

The meals he brought were warm, but his gaze was so intense it frightened her. Everyone said he was the repair shop’s most fearsome “living King of Hell” and warned her to stay away. But when her in-laws came to seize her inheritance, and when a late-night burglar tried to pick her lock, the tall figure who stood in front of her was always the same one, carrying the scent of motor oil.

Then one day, he cornered her against the wall, his hot breath brushing her ear. “Su Wan, the lock’s broken. I’m coming in to fix it.” This protection, which began with late-night knocks at her door, would eventually soothe all her pain.