[1960s high-ranking official romance | Chaste Beijing official | Forbidden secret crush on a quasi-guardian | Family destroyed, then salvation | Angst first, sweetness later]
Late autumn, 1962. A fleeting glance at the gates of Jingdong No. 3 Middle School.
Shen Yanci, a promising senior official in the capital, was cool and chaste, carrying himself with such dignity that he kept everyone at a distance.
Yet he fell at first sight for the sixteen-year-old daughter of the man who had once saved his life.
Bound by their positions and the ethics between them, he could only deliberately act cold and put on an air of distance.
The shy little girl looked up at him and softly called him “Uncle-in-law.”
He gave her a cold, perfunctory reply, keeping her at arm's length.
For years, she misunderstood, believing he disliked her from the bottom of his heart. She avoided him at every turn and didn't dare get close.
No one knew that he kept his manner cool to maintain propriety, while his heart burned with love.
Then, in a sudden upheaval, the Su family was framed and destroyed overnight.
Her parents died, her fiancé turned against her, and her relatives took advantage of her misfortune. She went from a pampered young lady to an orphan, trapped in utter despair.
Just as she was breaking down, the usually distant Uncle-in-law broke through every social constraint and stood before her.
Before the funeral altar, he bowed and promised to use all his power to protect her and give her a peaceful life, and to clear her name and avenge her.
Everyone said he was upright and self-restrained, a strict keeper of social etiquette.
Only he knew that from the moment he first laid eyes on Su Wanying, his heart had been lost to her, never to be reclaimed.
The male and female protagonists are 18 years apart, they are old enough to be fathers, and they have been divorced. Although it is a marriage by agreement, they are still very estranged.