Contract marriage + married first, love later + sweet romance as he wins her back
The Ruan family goes bankrupt and owes 800 million. When they are at their wits' end, the Huo family comes to them with an offer: if Ruan Zhiyi marries Huo Beichen, their grievously wounded, dying crime boss, the debt will be wiped clean.
Ruan Zhiyi enters the bridal suite prepared to die. Half the man's face is hidden in shadow, his complexion pale and his voice hoarse. “Sign the contract. I'll let you go after a year.”
She settles into life as Mrs. Huo, boiling medicine and wiping down Huo Beichen every day, all while waiting for the year to be up so she can take her compensation and leave for good.
But on the day the contract expires, she has barely climbed over the villa wall when Huo Beichen blocks her at the foot of it. Barefoot on the stone path, he grips her wrist tightly. His eyes flash with anger, but his voice is gentle. “Zhiyi, who said you could run?”
Ruan Zhiyi panics. “The contract says you'd let me go after a year!”
Huo Beichen scoops her up in his arms. His abdominal wound splits open and bleeds, but he doesn't even frown. He lowers his head and bites the tip of her ear. “I changed the contract. Now it's for life, my little princess. Try running again and see what happens.”
Later, everyone in Shanghai's underworld says that the little wife Huo picked up is always trying to run away, and Huo chases after her every time. He's not the least bit as ruthless as he used to be. The last time Ruan Zhiyi got so angry she went back to her hometown in southern Fujian to open a dessert shop, Huo Beichen bought up every ticket out of town and sat by her shop's entrance, helping her ring up customers and wipe the tables, waiting for his wife to cool off.
Someone asks if that's beneath him. Huo Beichen looks at Ruan Zhiyi, lazing in the corner and sneaking bites of candied hawthorn, and smiles adoringly. “I spoiled my little princess. Winning her back is a bargain.”
