At twenty-three, Gu Niannian’s own father married her off to a man she had never met in exchange for a bride price of 380,000 yuan.
When her veil was lifted, she discovered that the distant relative who supposedly ran a small business was Shen Yu of the Shen Group, the richest man in Nancheng.
There was no love, no fate.
She was the suitable choice her grandmother had picked: a woman with a simple background who wouldn’t cause trouble. He was the heir to a business empire, worn down by pressure to marry.
On their wedding night, she laid down three conditions: she would be allowed to work, he wouldn’t stand in the way of a divorce, and they would be honest with each other.
He had only one request: “Be a little nicer to Grandma.”
And so, two strangers began a marriage of convenience.
During the day, she interviewed for clerical jobs in the old commercial district. At night, she leaned on the sofa and figured out how to get along with his family;
He left early and came home late, and the light in his study was always the last to go out.
They thought they were just making do, never realizing that time together has a way of speaking for itself.
A daughter who had never been cherished, and a man who never spoke up: somehow, as they kept making do, their marriage began to mean something more.
